Wednesday's big Kentucky sports news item was Quade Green's decision to transfer from the Wildcat basketball program.
To break it what it means Cats Illustrated staffers and contributors chimed in at the site's familiar Roundtable.
Jeff Drummond, Managing Editor: In the short term, I think Quade Green's departure could hurt Kentucky. He's a guy that could give you some reliable offense and be counted on to hit some key perimeter shots in close games like the ones the Cats will be playing the next few weeks. In the long term, I think it's a net positive for both UK and Quade Green. He'll get an opportunity to log more minutes at another school, and John Calipari will get an opportunity to take the 15-20 minutes that Green was getting every game and redistribute those to Immanuel Quickley, Ashton Hagans and Tyler Herro. (Possibly Jemarl Baker, too, but I'm going to hold off on that a bit.) If UK is going to reach its goals of playing in the Final Four, it needs to develop the freshman trio. Calipari will be more likely to let those guys play through some mistakes now instead of pulling them in and out of the game with a guy like Green available on the bench.
Warren Taylor, Staff Writer: I think the timing hurts more than anything. Kentucky basketball hasn't inspired a lot of joy during the non-conference portion of the season for the BBN. A player transferring does not inspire a lot of faith in Coach Cal or his staff, no matter how valid the reason for the departure or how harmonious it played out in the press. I've already seen it raise questions about how Cal handles none one-and-done players on our message boards and social media. The Cats might be better off in the long run without Green but at the moment his leaving adds another degree of apprehension for the worried portion of the fan base.
Justin Rowland, Publisher: I understand Green's decision. He's in a familiar but uncomfortable position for a second-year Kentucky player and recently it has probably become clear that his role on the team, which seemed secure at one point, is in jeopardy as John Calipari starts to envision what he really sees as best. Green shot the ball well at times this year and he was Kentucky's best guard option in the pick and roll game but the turnover percentage was too high and he was, and probably always would have been, a defensive liability for the Wildcats. This does deal a blow to Kentucky's backcourt depth but the way Green's minutes were trending recently that probably would have been a tighter backcourt rotation by Calipari's own choice eventually anyways. I could have seen Green becoming a calming influence who knocked down some shots to keep opponents at bay in games later this season. But even when Green sometimes played like UK's best guard in earlier games, it always felt like he was going to have to take a backseat in February or March if this team was really going to reach its potential. I do agree with those who say this is part of Kentucky's problem right now. They're not getting the top 5 kids and they aren't getting the top 75-100 kids to stay three or four years. That kind of revolving door isn't healthy for the program and it's Calipari's job to figure it out.
