I'm really liking him as a freshman. He has a bright future IMO. Pretty good basketball IQ and plays within himself.
Moreno
- Thread starter wkycatfan7
- Start date
He’s going to be our best big all year long, I don’t see JQ being better than MM, especially being such a poor free throw shooter, and he can’t pass as well either.
It's not all about scoring!
Yes, Moreno appears to be a good rebounder, much better than Garrison who is a very bad rebounder for the position.
But what we expect JQ to bring is very good if not exceptional post defense. Moreno is not bad there, but he does play like a FR on defense. Garrison's defense is solid, although interestingly he is better away from the basket than near the rim. I don't see JQ letting us get punked in the paint.
JQ can pass, though not as good as Amari, his inside defense is what we need
We don't have anyone that can block shots
Moreno is really good and will be a monster part of the vision of next year’s team. Garrison will leave as he sees Moreno eating into his minutes going into his senior year imo.
Talented player, good physical tools, and a good head on his shoulders. Usually works out well, no surprise thus far that it is for him.
Talented player, good physical tools, and a good head on his shoulders. Usually works out well, no surprise thus far that it is for him.
In my opinion if you could combine Garrison and Moreno into 1 you could have a top 5 pick, Garrison is super athletic but has some of the worst basketball IQ that I can remember.
What we don't have is a Center that projects "don't bring that **** in here!" With time and experience I believe Moreno could be that Slcenter. I know JQ will be.
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Personally, I think by the end of the season, MM could be a 1st rounder. He is averaging 10/8 and is just going to get better and better
Man as aggravating as Amari was at times wouldn't it have been great if we had him for another year in our system.
Hard to see for me. Don’t think he rim protects, has the athleticism to switch onto NBA guards/wings, or stretches the floor like the NBA wants from its bigs. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him in college a few years.
Anyone got a good example of a recent first round draft pick center that didn’t block shots at an extremely high rate or stretch the floor? Only 1 I saw the last 5 years or so was Derik Queen.
This should only be a good thing for UK but I just see him as a much better college than NBA prospect right now.
A definite bright spot early in the season. Malachi is further along than most anticipated and his play warrants more minutes.
I'm starting to feel like UK's greatest asset (depth) is becoming the biggest liability. Guys are evenly matched and production isn't standing out making it harder for Pope to distribute minutes. There's a lot of mouths to feed and keep content.
Essentially, the staff may have stretched NIL $$$ out too much. Would you rather have 10-11 above avg and some good players, or a roster with 8 guys but 2 of which are great and the remaining 6 are above average?
Hopefully, the staff develops talent and having a deeper bench helps endure a long and demanding season.
I'm starting to feel like UK's greatest asset (depth) is becoming the biggest liability. Guys are evenly matched and production isn't standing out making it harder for Pope to distribute minutes. There's a lot of mouths to feed and keep content.
Essentially, the staff may have stretched NIL $$$ out too much. Would you rather have 10-11 above avg and some good players, or a roster with 8 guys but 2 of which are great and the remaining 6 are above average?
Hopefully, the staff develops talent and having a deeper bench helps endure a long and demanding season.
Yes. "Depth" is euphemism for "low ceiling". Even the platoon team settled into an 8 man rotation. Coaching failures later on doesn't change the fact that shortening the rotation is always the right move.
Saw another post last night that said if we are down to the "depth" guys, the season is done anyway. Again 100%.
Depth is useless. Need the elite top-end talent.
The level of madness in this thread is elite, as Coach might say.
Quaintence projects as Mobley-esque defensively. If he is even passable offensively he will be our most talented player. I like Moreno but let’s slow the roll on NBA prospects.
There are a lot of big men who have been effective dunkers. That’s more or less all MM has had to do. Great rebounding instincts but he had had smaller players rip rebounds from him. All that is to say he’s been a pleasant surprise. But there’s a lot of season left.
look I’d love it if MM went supernova but I’m just saying Kentucky fans are notorious for using tiny sample sizes and wildly over projecting positively and negatively against it. Which is fine! That’s what fans do!
but reality says JQ at 75% is your starting big and it ain’t close.
Quaintence projects as Mobley-esque defensively. If he is even passable offensively he will be our most talented player. I like Moreno but let’s slow the roll on NBA prospects.
There are a lot of big men who have been effective dunkers. That’s more or less all MM has had to do. Great rebounding instincts but he had had smaller players rip rebounds from him. All that is to say he’s been a pleasant surprise. But there’s a lot of season left.
look I’d love it if MM went supernova but I’m just saying Kentucky fans are notorious for using tiny sample sizes and wildly over projecting positively and negatively against it. Which is fine! That’s what fans do!
but reality says JQ at 75% is your starting big and it ain’t close.
Who is the elite, top end talent Florida had last season and how many stars did they have coming out of HS? Ill wait?
Correct. The issue isn’t “talent” at all. Many of the teams that won titles in recent years had no more than one, or in many cases zero top flight high school players. I combed through every single one of those rosters myself.
He’ll improve a lot as he matures, but he’s not ready for the NBA until he’s able to score without dunking it. Not saying he needs to shoot threes, but ability to score outside 2-3 feet is a must.
It's not just about high schoolers. Pope missed out on some stud transfer guy who really could have changed things.
we dont gave enough talent clearly lol, talent doesnt let you lose to georgetown and look poor vs nicholls
Well one thing we absolutely know for sure is garrison isn’t the answer and Moreno is our only other viable option at this point
We have more talent than Georgetown dude, lol. That game is a perfect example of what I’m pointing to. We didn’t get “out-talented” by Georgetown
Clayton was an elite shot maker and got drafted in the 1st rd. Basically a Brea that can create his own shot. The talent doesn't need to be frosh (but the best talent this yr is 100% freshmen). We missed on every elite portal target and non-KY elite freshman and settled to overpay 3rd tier players.
Miss me with this Jaland Lowe BS. Guy is a sloppy seconds role player who plays like he thinks he is better than he is and we gave him Wilson level $$.
we did tho, kj lewis and mack are better (more talented" than anyone on our team, whos better than them? chandler?
He'd trade the money, that's for sure. When it boils down to it, that's the real reason behind the frustration for me and, I would think, a lot of fans. If we weren't paying these guys, I'd be more understanding. But now that the stakes are higher, it just infuriates me that we are paying Lowe caliber players the $$ that could have gone to Wilson. With Wilson (or an even better recruit) on the floor, you can have a Chandler or Aberdeen run point.
Moreno is further ahead than everyone expected. He deserves the majority of the minutes at the 5 until JQ comes back!
Clayton was a 3 Star.
Portal transfers...that is as much about system fit as raw talent. All this crap about our lack of talent is hysterically out of left field. We are easily one of the most talented teams in the country
The point is not the 3 star, the point is what they do on the court. The top 12 or so elite freshmen all look good this year. Do you see anyone on this team at that level? One of those freshmen had his way with our supposedly talented and tough defenders. His teammates ran layup lines and took it right at our supposed "athletic" point guard.
Also, somewhat ironically, your username fits perfectly with this team. This team is basically the Cowboys -- a proud team with a formidable history that is currently wasting a ton of money.