Momcilovic = $6M Man?

[South jones]

With all due respect, seems you don't really have a lot of confidence in the players already on board. Does adding MM make this a one man team where if he has off. Nights the team is in trouble..

[bthaunert]

I'm thinking it's time to move on. From everything I've read , he is pretty much a one dimensional play
. Good shooter, poor defense, little rebounding. There is a reason the NBA didn't have him listed higher in the draft. If UL wants to pay the exorbitant price tag, I say let them have him.

I kinda like the team without him.
JMO

Why would you move on? "Hey I know we've put every ounce of our being in getting you here, but we are going to move on because you aren't making a decision quick enough". Does that make any sense?

[WeWant9]

I think Pope and UK needs to land Milan M. Feel he will raise our floor pretty significantly for the upcoming season.

[EKYCat]

With all due respect, seems you don't really have a lot of confidence in the players already on board. Does adding MM make this a one man team where if he has off. Nights the team is in trouble..

I don't have a lot of confidence in the roster. That's the point. We need a guy we can count on. I'd rather have him and him have an off night than not have him as an option. Like I said, he made 136 three point shots last year. Why would you not want him? He's the best available player still out there. What would make you pass on him?

[TrueblueCATfan]

When he is going to make his decision

[South jones]

I don't have a lot of confidence in the roster. That's the point. We need a guy we can count on. I'd rather have him and him have an off night than not have him as an option. Like I said, he made 136 three point shots last year. Why would you not want him? He's the best available player still out there. What would make you pass on him?

I would like to have this guy but at what expense? I don't know that a team should let themselves be held hostage, seems like another Stokes episode.

MMs 136 3s last year, while impressive, didn't take Arizona St very far. With MM on board, will you be disappointed if the Cats go out the same?

[bthaunert]

I would like to have this guy but at what expense? I don't know that a team should let themselves be held hostage, seems like another Stokes episode.

MMs 136 3s last year, while impressive, didn't take Arizona St very far. With MM on board, will you be disappointed if the Cats go out the same?

He played for Iowa State, not Arizona State. Of course people would be disappointed if we only made it to the Sweet 16 like Iowa State did this past year.

I'm trying to figure out why you're partially against bringing in the 2nd highest ranked player in the portal. No one is being held hostage. The guy is doing what most players do...leveraging themselves for the best possible deal.

[Pobilly]

I would like to have this guy but at what expense? I don't know that a team should let themselves be held hostage, seems like another Stokes episode.

MMs 136 3s last year, while impressive, didn't take Arizona St very far. With MM on board, will you be disappointed if the Cats go out the same?

Thinking you meant Iowa State. But get the point. Except Iowa State lost their best player in the game before ours. So MM while playing great, was open for a reason. They had a guy that could dominate games inside out. MM was the beneficiary of that. We have Moreno and he will improve, will he be dominate, time will tell. We have 2 guards with drive ability and 30% assist rates each. MM will benefit from that as well.

I think he will get his to the tune of 14 to 18 ppg.

[Catsrock]

I think he’s not quick and athletic enough to be a great defender. So, certainly, not a perfect player—and a liability defensively in the NBA against 5 elite athletes at a time. But he’ll be a truly valuable piece for someone next season. Potentially their leading scorer.

And Iowa St had a great season last year before losing their best player. They knocked us out without their best player. They’ve been good enough the last couple years their coach is typically mentioned among the top prospects when other openings appear. Including many people saying we should be after him soon.

Really hope we get him.

[UKHoops01]

I'm trying to figure out why you're partially against bringing in the 2nd highest ranked player in the portal.

While I can't speak for South Jones, I'll take a stab at this one.

I can't help but think that Momcilovic is being looked at as a guy that MIGHT help Mark Pope keep his job. If Milan commits to UK, Pope will be credited with landing a top recruit/transfer portal player. That could result in Kentucky having a decent season and possibly advancing further in the tournament. And fans ready to turn the page from the Mark Pope experiment probably aren't wanting that. They're wanting to see another coach brought in at the end of this year.

If I'm completely honest, I'm very much on the fence and can understand the concerns of fans thinking this way....heck, I'm one of them myself. Part of me wants to see UK land MM and still move on to a different coach at the end of the year. Sorry, but I don't see Mark Pope as the answer. I like him personally, there was just too much of a circus atmosphere that felt incredibly immature surrounding the team this past year....not to mention a lot of disappointment for a $22 million roster. That said, I'm rooting for Kentucky to land Momcilovic, have a great season, and we'll go from there. Maybe Pope will figure it out, and if not maybe the new AD will have some serious cojones and make the right choice regarding termination and future coaches, etc.

[Pete Hogwallop]

If someone doesn't want us to land a good recruit so our performance will be worse and our coach gets let go sooner, then I would say they aren't a fan of UK basketball.

[UKHoops01]

If someone doesn't want us to land a good recruit so our performance will be worse and our coach gets let go sooner, then I would say they aren't a fan of UK basketball.

I wouldn't necessarily say that. Could just be that they have higher standards for the program and don't want to see it mired in mediocrity. It's like the line from the movie When Harry Met Sally...."When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." ... only in this case, when you realize that you want a different (i.e. better) coach. I get it. If we could land someone like Billy Donovan as head coach next April I understand why people would be willing to accept one bad year in hopes of ten great ones and a national championship or two. It's a matter of how long are you willing to accept middle of the pack SEC regular seasons, a 23-13 record barely seeing the inside of the top 25 and exiting the SEC tournament and March Madness earlier than you'd like to?

[Pobilly]

We have here the same thing we see with Trump. We have Pope Nerd Syndrome or Barnhardt Derangement Syndrome. There is a portion of the fan base (not talking about Pete or UK hoops) in the last 2 post. Just saying there is a part of the fanbase that did not want Pope to begin with and did not want Mitch B making the choice for the next coach. They want him gone as quickly as possible. Then you have another part of the fan base that wants Pope here no matter what. Plus there are a ton that look at it game to game year to year (probably most of us). I want Pope to do as good as possible, but I want Pope to act like the head coach of KENTUCKY and not BYU or UTAH VALLEY STATE. He has to have the correct appearance to the fans, basketball community, recruits and our foes. He needs to give reason to fear KENTUCKY and not make fun of KENTUCKY. Can he turn it around, heck it is totally up to him. Do we get Mom, heck who knows. No matter Pope will be the coach this year and I want us to win every game like always. Do I expect to win all with or without Mom (nope), do I expect us to be a better team this year over last year with our without Mom, Yup. GO BIG BLUE!!!

[bthaunert]

While I can't speak for South Jones, I'll take a stab at this one.

I can't help but think that Momcilovic is being looked at as a guy that MIGHT help Mark Pope keep his job. If Milan commits to UK, Pope will be credited with landing a top recruit/transfer portal player. That could result in Kentucky having a decent season and possibly advancing further in the tournament. And fans ready to turn the page from the Mark Pope experiment probably aren't wanting that. They're wanting to see another coach brought in at the end of this year.

If I'm completely honest, I'm very much on the fence and can understand the concerns of fans thinking this way....heck, I'm one of them myself. Part of me wants to see UK land MM and still move on to a different coach at the end of the year. Sorry, but I don't see Mark Pope as the answer. I like him personally, there was just too much of a circus atmosphere that felt incredibly immature surrounding the team this past year....not to mention a lot of disappointment for a $22 million roster. That said, I'm rooting for Kentucky to land Momcilovic, have a great season, and we'll go from there. Maybe Pope will figure it out, and if not maybe the new AD will have some serious cojones and make the right choice regarding termination and future coaches, etc.

I'll never understand someone who wants a coach to fail so they can get a new coach. If he can land this guy, have a really good season and make a run in the NCAA Tournament...isn't that what everyone should want? I'm on the "Pope is in over his head train" too....but if he can win here and prove me wrong, I would love that. Getting MM makes that much more possible.

[bthaunert]

I wouldn't necessarily say that. Could just be that they have higher standards for the program and don't want to see it mired in mediocrity. It's like the line from the movie When Harry Met Sally...."When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." ... only in this case, when you realize that you want a different (i.e. better) coach. I get it. If we could land someone like Billy Donovan as head coach next April I understand why people would be willing to accept one bad year in hopes of ten great ones and a national championship or two. It's a matter of how long are you willing to accept middle of the pack SEC regular seasons, a 23-13 record barely seeing the inside of the top 25 and exiting the SEC tournament and March Madness earlier than you'd like to?

But if he does the latter, he's gone after next year. We aren't going to be mired in mediocrity under Pope with a new AD coming. He will be shown the door. So, if we have high standards and Pope can put together a good roster with MM joining it, why wouldn't we want that?