Kerr Kriisa may be the most exciting player on the Kentucky Wildcats. His on-court performance is impressive, but what makes him exciting is the energy and fire he provides. He plays an animated, fiery style of basketball. He loves to hype up his players, and he's known for a little bit of trash-talking, though Pope calls it "competitive talking."
In the game against Bucknell, he even received a warning from the referees about this style of play. He was clapping and smiling on defense, and the referee told him to cool it. There was a smile shared with head coach Mark Pope as he agreed to take it down a notch.
Kerr Kriisa is giving his “competitive talking” to his opponent after each defensive play, smiling and clapping intensely. The official just told him “no more” and Kerr agreed to minimize it. He looked over at Mark Pope and they both smiled.
— Tres Terrell (@TerrellTres) November 9, 2024
I love the energy on defense.
That got Big Blue Nation talking, but what really went viral were his post-game comments about Duke. Kriisa, communicating that he's not worried about Duke, "It's just another game," took a shot at Cooper Flagg.
"The whole world is talking about Cooper Flagg. Excited to play against the No. 1 overall draft pick. Congrats to him on getting that already." -Kerr Kriisa
The humor he used to say this was his clear way of saying - 'they don't worry us. It's just another game, and we will approach it as such.' He wants Flagg and Duke to know, they are ready. His full comments were, "It's going to be exciting, probably more exciting for fans. The fans like a Duke / Kentucky matchup, but for us, it's just another game." Here's the clip:
Kerr Kriisa is ready for Duke on Tuesday 😳
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) November 10, 2024
"The whole world is talking about Cooper Flagg. Excited to play against the No. 1 overall draft pick. Congrats to him on getting that already"pic.twitter.com/tWivVKvL8s
While Mark Pope wouldn't go as far as the Flagg comments, Kriisa is echoing Kentucky's approach to this season. There are no big games; each game is the big game. Each game matters the most. He's been preaching that the game in front of them is the most important. For this week, though, the game in front of them is Duke.
You can watch that game on ESPN on Tuesday, November 12th, at approximately 9 p.m. It will air after the Michigan State vs. Kansas game, which takes place on the same court as Kentucky vs. Duke.