Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: PJ Washington Tuesday Edition

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, and welcome to the Tuesday Morning Quickies.

Today, all eyes will be on PJ Washington, as they have been for the last week or so since the revelation of his foot sprain suffered in the SEC Tournament semifinal game against Tennessee. According to Coach Cal, the cast is supposed to come off today and the status of his injured foot evaluated.

Essentially, it’s likely to be a pain thing. If his foot hurts too much, he won’t be able to play. It’s possible it will be a game-time decision, because that seems to be the nature of this kind of injury.

There is naturally a lot of speculation as to whether or not Kentucky can win in the tournament now that we’re past the round of 32 without Washington, and that speculation is certainly warranted.

Without Washington, Kentucky is only eight players deep, and the front court is only four deep. That’s decent, but not ideal, and Washington is Kentucky’s best front-court passer by far. With him out, it has taken a major toll on Kentucky’s assist rate, which means scoring baskets is harder for everyone else without him in the lineup not even considering his ability to score.

Washington’s absence is less serious on defense, but it is showing up on the defensive glass, because PJ is the best defensive rebounder on the team and the second-best offensive rebounder. We managed to get by the first and second rounds without him, but his absence will be much more keenly felt against a team like Houston.

In sum, Kentucky is a significantly weaker team without Washington. The deeper UK gets into the tournament, the more impactful his absence will become. In fact, many are speculating that Kentucky is as deep as it can go without him. I hope we don’t have to find out if that’s true.

Tweet of the Morning

Well, this is nothing new, really. The FBI case strongly suggested this. And:

Heh.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Tackles will see Josh Allen in their nightmares. They compare him to Clay Matthews. I think he’d take that.

Kentucky basketball

• The status of PJ Washington remains unclear with Sweet Sixteen looming.

By the way, @MattNorlander, how did that Wofford pick over Kentucky work out for ya?

• PJ Washington’s father says NBA career not a major factor in Washington’s decision to return. Consider:

During a telephone conversation, Paul Washington read an exchange his son had had with a fan on social media.

“Better not quit on your brothers for money,” the elder Washington said the fan posted. “You’ll regret that (decision) your whole life.”

To which, PJ Washington posted a reply. “What’s wrong with some of you all?” his father read.

• SB Nation ranks remaining team’s chances for an NCAA Tournament championship in reverse order. Kentucky isn’t at the top, but it isn’t near the bottom, either.
• Kentucky players take pizza to homeless man in Lexington.
• Key to victory for Kentucky: Stopping Houston’s Corey Davis Jr.
• UK recruit (2019) Jaden McDaniels is keeping his finalist schools guessing.
• Kentucky is still fighting hard for Matthew Hurt, and his decision seems to be near.

Other Kentucky sports

• Kentucky hoops falls to NC State in 2nd round of NCAA Tournament. Respectable year, ladies. Well done.
• No. 9 Kentucky gymnastics lands in Athens for NCAA Regional.
• Kentucky-Ohio State softball game set for Wednesday has been postponed.

Links posts

• The Leach Report: Tuesday Wildcat Links

College football

• Missouri officially files appeal to NCAA sanctions.
• What’s up with all the Louisville football transfers?

College basketball

• A breakdown of the largely-chalk field in the NCAA Tournament. There is only one non-Power 6 team left, and Kentucky is playing them.
• Oregon star Kenny Wooten’s blocks have been among the most impressive things in the NCAA Tournament this season, individually.
• Alabama courting several top names for their new basketball coach.
• Players who stood out in practice at the McDonald’s All-America game.

Other sports news

• Famous Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti arrested on charges he attempted to extort millions from Nike by threatening to expose players that Nike allegedly paid to go to certain college programs.

I have always disliked this man, and I can’t say I’m surprised he’s found himself in trouble with the law. I think maybe he and Michael Cohen are brothers from another mother.

In another bizarre twist, celebrity lawyer of non-porn stars Mark Geragos has been identified as a co-conspirator with Avenatti (Attorney-1 in the indictment), but has not been arrested (yet) in the case. CNN decided to drop Geragos as a contributor in response to his naming as an unindicted co-conspirator.

Geragos has represented people like Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, and Jussie Smollett among many others.

Other news

• NASA’s historic all-female spacewalk no longer happening due to lack of proper sized spacesuits.
• Twisted Graphene is one of the most exciting physics stories of the year. Twisting near-absolute-zero graphene 1.1 degrees produced some amazing, and potentially useful results.
• Einstein’s general theory of relativity passes a supermassive test. That Albert Einstein was a pretty smart man, I’m told…