Mark Pope: Moreno will be game changer

NerlensCat

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For freshmen

There will be Dilly and Reed that can exceed expectations

There will also be Edwards, Wagner and Bradshaw that play poorly

Hopefully our two freshmen can be in the first category in next season
My biggest concern is not skill. It is aggression. I don’t see them getting in someone’s face when there is a hard foul or defending a teammate. You have to have an edge to make the cut at a P5 school.
 

bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
24,397
29,352
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Remember when Pitino was coach and we had Dent/Riddick/Martinez rotating at the 5?

I could see Pope doing something like that with BG/JQ/MM.

If your big man is giving you everything they have, a 15/15/10 split could really wear teams down inside.

Also, would keep JQ fresh during the regular season.
 

KY_First

Sophomore
Jul 22, 2022
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Shot blocking. If you have no presence there, you don’t stand a chance. Pope has built a Florida like team.
 

ftp000

All-American
Mar 26, 2009
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My biggest concern is not skill. It is aggression. I don’t see them getting in someone’s face when there is a hard foul or defending a teammate. You have to have an edge to make the cut at a P5 school.
So you don't care how good they play, as long as they get T'd up occasionally?
You should be a recruiter.
 

NerlensCat

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So you don't care how good they play, as long as they get T'd up occasionally?
You should be a recruiter.
If given the same or similar talent, I will take the dude with a chip on his shoulder. Because that dude is more likely to get the most out of his ability. I have seen way too many guys with potential who won’t get near an offensive rebound(Skal, Boston, Bradshaw, Ivisic, etc). Give me the guy who will push the physical boundaries.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
39,852
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If we’re talking long term, of course he can be. I think he’s at least a two year player and a year banging around with Quaintance, Garrison and Jelavic as well as hitting the weights, should make him pretty potent in year two.
I agree, I see him as a 2-3 year player honestly. Hopefully it’s all here. A year in the weight room and he will be tough. I can see a really solid year his sophomore year before being a star his junior year. If he’s more advanced than we think especially defensively he could play a lot this year. Especially first half of the year.
 
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*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
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39,852
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Remember when Pitino was coach and we had Dent/Riddick/Martinez rotating at the 5?

I could see Pope doing something like that with BG/JQ/MM.

If your big man is giving you everything they have, a 15/15/10 split could really wear teams down inside.

Also, would keep JQ fresh during the regular season.
That would be nice but I think JQ will get 25 minutes easy when he gets fully healthy. Early on that would be best for his long term health though to ease him into playing shape.
 
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Sep 29, 2024
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My biggest concern is not skill. It is aggression. I don’t see them getting in someone’s face when there is a hard foul or defending a teammate. You have to have an edge to make the cut at a P5 school.
Look at who they will be practicing against, they're going to be tough.

I don't follow your logic on not being able to see them defending their teammates on a hard foul... like what?
 

Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
43,782
92,016
3
You need NBA talent to win the NCAA tourney, and this upcoming UK team will have it.

JQ could be a top 10 pick.
In future drafts, I expect to hear Moreno, Johnson, Oweh's names called. There's an outside chance at maybe even Williams, Garrison, Mo D, Jelavic, Chandler, and Lowe playing in the league someday.

This upcoming UK team is going to be very good.
 

Digger-Cat

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You need NBA talent to win the NCAA tourney, and this upcoming UK team will have it.

JQ could be a top 10 pick.
In future drafts, I expect to hear Moreno, Johnson, Oweh's names called. There's an outside chance at maybe even Williams, Garrison, Mo D, Jelavic, Chandler, and Lowe playing in the league someday.

This upcoming UK team is going to be very good.
On the NBA talent thing. There's a footnote on that.
Give me the guys that are upperclassmen that were so good that they played their way into the NBA. Seems like every title winner has at least one of those guys. This year, it was Walter Clayton and Martin. Divincenzo is another one off the top of my head.
Rob and Reed were great, but they were miles from being developed enough to lead.
UK and duke have had an exuberant amount of burger boys come through and all but 2 teams fell short. The 2 teams that won it, had really good veteran talent.
Most of these kids that Cal, K and Scheyer get/had, were NBA bound before they got to college and were gone before they were good enough to win anything in college.
Give me the senior that played himself into the NBA over the underdeveloped athlete that might be good some day.
I believe Oweh could be that guy this year and of course, it doesn't hurt to have Quaintance, especially now that he has to show what he can do on a surgically repaired knee.
 

Digger-Cat

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I feel like MM is in a great position. He doesn't have to be Batman at the 5, he just needs to play the Robin role and that's a great way for him to showcase what he can do.

I just hope he isn't a Bateman
 

bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
24,397
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That would be nice but I think JQ will get 25 minutes easy when he gets fully healthy. Early on that would be best for his long term health though to ease him into playing shape.
Yeah, but it will probably be mid-February before he starts giving us close to 25 minutes a game. Hopefully, with BG and MM around, we won’t need him to play that much until then. I want him fresh for March.
 

AJG-15

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Did he say if Moreno is on two year plan two like BG? I like Moreno, he is a skilled big man and has a good feeling for the game. If he can adjust for the physicality and speed of college playing especially SEC, he has the skills…
 

Skyguyb27

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Feb 12, 2008
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My biggest concern is not skill. It is aggression. I don’t see them getting in someone’s face when there is a hard foul or defending a teammate. You have to have an edge to make the cut at a P5 school.
I can see that but being around the guys that do have that edge sometimes turns into dog eat dog. I bet he progresses nicely throughout the year being around the guys with the described attitude.
 
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NerlensCat

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I can see that but being around the guys that do have that edge sometimes turns into dog eat dog. I bet he progresses nicely throughout the year being around the guys with the described attitude.
We want him closer to Cousins on the aggression scale than Skal. Right now, I think he is closer to a Bradshaw. Not as bad as Skal, but no where near Cousins or Towns.
 
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bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
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You need NBA talent to win the NCAA tourney, and this upcoming UK team will have it.

JQ could be a top 10 pick.
In future drafts, I expect to hear Moreno, Johnson, Oweh's names called. There's an outside chance at maybe even Williams, Garrison, Mo D, Jelavic, Chandler, and Lowe playing in the league someday.

This upcoming UK team is going to be very good.
I don’t think Oweh will ever get drafted. Maybe second round if he has an amazing year and shows out at the Combine.

Now he might make a roster at some point, but 6’4 shooting guards are a dime a dozen.
 

Skyguyb27

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I don’t think Oweh will ever get drafted. Maybe second round if he has an amazing year and shows out at the Combine.

Now he might make a roster at some point, but 6’4 shooting guards are a dime a dozen.
I wouldn’t even call him a shooting guard technically. Driving was is forte. I wouldn’t want him out there popping 3s all game. I think his skillset is really gonna limit what he does in the pro world. Maybe I’m wrong though.
 

bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
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I wouldn’t even call him a shooting guard technically. Driving was is forte. I wouldn’t want him out there popping 3s all game. I think his skillset is really gonna limit what he does in the pro world. Maybe I’m wrong though.
If you’re hung up on semantics and hate calling him a “shooting” guard, I guess we can call him a “scoring” guard or an “off” guard, or a “two” guard.

Regardless, he’s not a point guard and he is too short to play small forward in the NBA, which means he’s probably not getting drafted.
 

Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
43,782
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I don’t think Oweh will ever get drafted. Maybe second round if he has an amazing year and shows out at the Combine.

Now he might make a roster at some point, but 6’4 shooting guards are a dime a dozen.
Yeah. That's basically what I said. I'm always very careful with my words because I know how much people like to offer contrarian views on this message board.

I wrote that some of them would be playing in the league someday. Oweh has an outside chance. Jeff Sheppard played in the NBA, even though it was barely even one full season in the league.
 

AllBall

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I love Pope but he almost has toxic positivity. Definitely a glass half full kinda guy. Never a disparaging word and even talks up the cupcake opponents.
 
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yoshukai

Heisman
Dec 21, 2002
26,529
35,609
102
You need NBA talent to win the NCAA tourney, and this upcoming UK team will have it.

JQ could be a top 10 pick.
In future drafts, I expect to hear Moreno, Johnson, Oweh's names called. There's an outside chance at maybe even Williams, Garrison, Mo D, Jelavic, Chandler, and Lowe playing in the league someday.

This upcoming UK team is going to be very good.
Evidently the nba isn’t nearly as high on Oweh as a lot of UK fans are . I doubt he’ll ever be drafted .
 

bucsrule8872

Heisman
May 30, 2005
24,397
29,352
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I love Pope but he almost has toxic positivity. Definitely a glass half full kinda guy. Never a disparaging word and even talks up the cupcake opponents.
Beats Cal throwing them under the bus or making lame excuses like “we’re young.” At least he scouts the cupcakes enough to know what they are good at. Cal was too busy watching Little House on the Prairie to even know who we were playing from game to game.
 

Digger-Cat

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I love Pope but he almost has toxic positivity. Definitely a glass half full kinda guy. Never a disparaging word and even talks up the cupcake opponents.
Love the guy and I love how he handles tough interviews after a loss, but yeah, he's going to need to get some new material. He loves the word "beautiful" a little too much. Haha
 

Digger-Cat

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Evidently the nba isn’t nearly as high on Oweh as a lot of UK fans are . I doubt he’ll ever be drafted .
Seems like the ones that are great college players usually aren't NBA talents. The best seniors will sometimes get a nice cup of coffee with some sugar, but they aren't usually long term, max contract guys.
Steph Curry and a few others worked extremely hard to buck the trend and carve out great NBA careers.
 

ftp000

All-American
Mar 26, 2009
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I love Pope but he almost has toxic positivity. Definitely a glass half full kinda guy. Never a disparaging word and even talks up the cupcake opponents.
Any positivity is considered toxic on this board. So your philosophy is on brand.