Norlander Predicting UK for Milan

Padsfs07

All-Conference
Jan 19, 2013
3,803
3,595
108
I think many see it this way:

This year:
Diallo - M. Williams - Z. Hawthorne
Wilkins - Morton - Kam (2-3)

Additional depth over last year comes with having Diallo, Wilkins, Mason W., and Morton who can all play some PG. last year our PG depth was Lowe and then combo Aberdeen. MAYBE you could list Jasper has PG depth BEFORE the season but then we saw it was not so.

You're correct. It really fell apart when Jasper couldn't play the point. But we did have significant depth at the 2/3 both years.

I've seen nothing of Kam Williams that he can play the 2. He seemed more than fine backing up the 4 to me.

I just hope Williams and Morton can be solid when they have to come in. I think they can be ok, but I don't think they match up to years' past. We were debating who our starting guards would be the last two years.
 
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JimboBBN

Heisman
Jan 26, 2016
15,039
29,926
113
LOL - no they won't. Kelsey is still coaching them. It's impossible to predict how one of these frankenstein teams gels. It's why, sans last years UM team, retention is always key.
Being a favorite and actually winning it are two different things. Relax
 

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
6,230
11,441
108
Saying his "prediction right now" isn't a prediction. It's ' well it looks favorable towards Kentucky right now, but that could change' comment. Way to go out on a limb.
Norlander is doing his best Goodman impression on this one… I’d bet Norlander the $$$ amount of his choosing, he wouldn’t bet on that “prediction”!😂
 

Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
42,158
64,186
113
You're correct. It really fell apart when Jasper couldn't play the point. But we did have significant depth at the 2/3 both years.

I've seen nothing of Kam Williams that he can play the 2. He seemed more than fine backing up the 4 to me.

I just hope Williams and Morton can be solid when they have to come in. I think they can be ok, but I don't think they match up to years' past. We were debating who our starting guards would be the last two years.
Watching Morton, I am confident he is better than last year’s JJ. Now, JJ has skills that make him a potential first rounder some day, but he ain’t there now. Morton may have hit is ceiling, but that is better than JJ was last year. Dominque Hawkins is who I would compare him to.

Time will tell with Mason. He has a college ready body, the deficiency that contributed to JJ’s woes. So, maybe he can give us solid minutes.
 

Threedognight

Sophomore
May 26, 2026
102
136
18
Watching Morton, I am confident he is better than last year’s JJ. Now, JJ has skills that make him a potential first rounder some day, but he ain’t there now. Morton may have hit is ceiling, but that is better than JJ was last year. Dominque Hawkins is who I would compare him to.

Time will tell with Mason. He has a college ready body, the deficiency that contributed to JJ’s woes. So, maybe he can give us solid minutes.
Morton has some slick step backs and ball handling

he looks better than I originally thought
 

Threedognight

Sophomore
May 26, 2026
102
136
18
Milan said about a week ago that his decision won’t be purely financial. I have no clue how some X poster (yeah, I don’t know who that is) knows who is offering more. Where does that info come from?
Just assume Kentucky should have more money than 90% of schools rn and we are a good fit for Milan so I like the looks
 

Cats4321

All-Conference
Nov 18, 2025
940
2,710
93
Milan said about a week ago that his decision won’t be purely financial. I have no clue how some X poster (yeah, I don’t know who that is) knows who is offering more. Where does that info come from?
I share the frustration. People share random X accounts as if those people have genuine information. Most of those people are less knowledgeable than the anon accounts on here. You look at the profiles and quickly realize those X accounts are literally just making up garbage.
 

Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
42,158
64,186
113
I share the frustration. People share random X accounts as if those people have genuine information. Most of those people are less knowledgeable than the anon accounts on here. You look at the profiles and quickly realize those X accounts are literally just making up garbage.
That guy is a UL fanboy. Maybe he has inside info but doubt it. He also claimed UL kept its star WR from taking a bigger offer to go to Texas. Could have happened, but I see a trend in the way he promotes his Cards.
 

caytsBNA

Redshirt
Mar 3, 2019
18
33
12
I disagree.

24/25:
Butler - Kriisa - Perry
Robinson - Brea - Chandler - Oweh (2/3)

25/26:
Lowe - Johnson
Aberdeen - Chandler - Oweh (2/3)

This year:
Diallo - M. Williams - Z. Hawthorne
Wilkins - Morton

That's nowhere near what we thought we had in 24/25 & 25/26 depth-wise going into the season.

But I like Diallo better than either Butler or Lowe. Also, Wilkins is a really good option to shift to the 1 when Diallo is out. Either way, both will be getting 30+ minutes a game imo.

If you bring in the 3s (Oweh, Brea) then yeah, probably a little deeper in 24/25.

My thinking was more around true ballhandlers - guys that are comfortable with the ball in their hands, bringing it up the floor, etc. We really only had 1 guy last year (Lowe) and a guy that learned that role as the season went on - Aberdeen.

This year we have 4 guys. So maybe our wing depth is down, but our true 'guard' depth is more, IMO.
 

Runt#1969

All-American
Dec 13, 2010
21,225
8,726
113
Well that's good to see someone other than goobersinmymouth pontificating on where Milan ends up.

IF Momcilovic does come to Kentucky, let's try to take blue tinted glasses off and look at it objectively as we can, yes?

I still am of the opinion this team will be as good, and go as far as Diallo and Wilkins can lead us. I thikn we're in pretty good shape at the PG spot, maybe get one more solid backup SG and the roster is set.

Momcilovic would greatly benefit by Diallo and Wilkins both. He gives us spacing where either he becomes the dangeroius primary outside option ( with many others also capable of spreading the floor to hit a 3) so defenses can't take away both our guards driving to the rim AND our outside shots. Nor can they stop them pulling up for a midrange, or opting to play some inside - outside action to hit Milan or others with a drive and dish out for 3 point attempt. Defenses will have to give up something, they can't stop all the options we will have. I like our position here.

If we see the development of Moreno at Center like we hope to see, then there's another huge plus.... and so for me, how well does McBride or N'Djiaye (sp?) setup for us ? I think they have good flexibility and good enough shooting and offensive skill to do adequately well. Maybe they both can big a big surprise. I'd settle for just one of them to shine...

Add in big Franck Kepnang giving Moreno rest, he's good for 10 - 15 minutes a contest, with him and McBride in at the same time, they're going to be head hunting and looking for basketballs to swat from the air ... I like the defensive front we put up with that lineupon the floor... we stand in pretty good shape.

Still want to see several of the guys REALLY step up their game (we're going to need it) to be truly successful this year. But now we have a legit shot at truly making noise come March.

Most people already realize we have a top 15 portal team, and right now, another fringe top 20 team without Milan. Getting him takes us into solid top 10 - 15 territory without question. My guess is we get him, we will be ranked in the preseason 12, 13, or 14th. With our schedule, we can play into the top 10 quickly enough with good performances and beating those teams on our OOC schedule would raise our stock quickly.

Expectations should be tempered with optimism and a quiet confidence that we have a roster that we can all get behind 100% and stop this incessant whining and bitching about everything, and just rally positively for our team.

If you wakeup like I do each day, hitting my knees, thanking the Lord above for another day of life, after all I have been thru ( and continue to go thru) in living this life, and somehow, I am still here.... I'm thankful to have another day to follow Kentucky hoops and keep the faith.

Here's hoping everyone else can feel as good as I do about the upcoming season. It isn't going to be 40-0, you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think it. But yeah, we got a team that can prove it can compete for a title ... if we can get Momcilovic, we got a legit shot. I do believe they can at least show that they are vastly superior to any team Pope has thus far produced at UK. If we don't get Milan, it's going to be another white knuckle ride....

We shall see...

Go Big Blue !
 

The Ganner

Senior
Nov 21, 2009
307
816
93
I think many see it this way:

This year:
Diallo - M. Williams - Z. Hawthorne
Wilkins - Morton - Kam (2-3)

Additional depth over last year comes with having Diallo, Wilkins, Mason W., and Morton who can all play some PG. last year our PG depth was Lowe and then combo Aberdeen. MAYBE you could list Jasper has PG depth BEFORE the season but then we saw it was not so.
Quantity isn't quality. Morton has 3 years of evidence that he isn't likely to be a significant contributor at this level, Zyon wasn't recruited by anybody, and Mason is an outside the top 100 guy who might be really nice down the road but not the sort of prospect you want to rely on. Guard depth is my PRIMARY concern with this team.
 
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Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
42,158
64,186
113
Quantity isn't quality. Morton has 3 years of evidence that he isn't likely to be a significant contributor at this level, Zyon wasn't recruited by anybody, and Mason is an outside the top 100 guy who might be really nice down the road but not the sort of prospect you want to rely on. Guard depth is my PRIMARY concern with this team.
I probably have not seen as much Morton on the court as you have. He started 29 games for WSU. I hope a WSU starter can give us some minutes off the bench.
 

The Ganner

Senior
Nov 21, 2009
307
816
93
I probably have not seen as much Morton on the court as you have. He started 29 games for WSU. I hope a WSU starter can give us some minutes off the bench.
I haven't actually watched him much. I just can't see a role player starter on the 8th place WCC team (12-20 overall) being much more than Perry/Noah level player.
 

Bleedin Blue in Ohio

All-Conference
Feb 3, 2013
498
1,039
93
Quantity isn't quality. Morton has 3 years of evidence that he isn't likely to be a significant contributor at this level, Zyon wasn't recruited by anybody, and Mason is an outside the top 100 guy who might be really nice down the road but not the sort of prospect you want to rely on. Guard depth is my PRIMARY concern with this team.
Watch film on Mason Williams and don't just rely on rating services. Mason will contribute this season. He has a college body, good handle, and good shooter. He lacks explosion jumping which hurt him in recruiting. When the season starts in big games there will be a 3-man rotation in Zoom, Wilkens, and Diallo. By the time SEC play comes around Williams will be ready if called upon. Morton can distribute. he is not a scorer and will not have impressive stats but that 3rd guard he will fill that role quite nicely. This team is better prepared at guard than Coach Pope previous 2 seasons. The length of Zoom, Wilkens, and Morton will be impressive. I do fear how well they will defend those shorter penetrating guards that can shoot. Shorter guards usually are a little quicker than taller guards, We've seen that quite a bit in Cal's years here. Besides that I am excited about the guard play on this team.
 

MachineHead

All-Conference
Oct 20, 2009
1,181
2,465
77
I share the frustration. People share random X accounts as if those people have genuine information. Most of those people are less knowledgeable than the anon accounts on here. You look at the profiles and quickly realize those X accounts are literally just making up garbage.
…and they pay $5 or whatever it for a blue checkmark that gives them the illusion of being trustworthy. That site/app is pure garbage
 
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Feb 17, 2025
555
749
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He will not play for Pope I guarantee that top players and agents advised to stay clear of ky and Pope.They play the game till the end to jack up the offers but no intention of committing.
 

Maddmatt87

Freshman
Mar 31, 2025
46
85
17
Well that's good to see someone other than goobersinmymouth pontificating on where Milan ends up.

IF Momcilovic does come to Kentucky, let's try to take blue tinted glasses off and look at it objectively as we can, yes?

I still am of the opinion this team will be as good, and go as far as Diallo and Wilkins can lead us. I thikn we're in pretty good shape at the PG spot, maybe get one more solid backup SG and the roster is set.

Momcilovic would greatly benefit by Diallo and Wilkins both. He gives us spacing where either he becomes the dangeroius primary outside option ( with many others also capable of spreading the floor to hit a 3) so defenses can't take away both our guards driving to the rim AND our outside shots. Nor can they stop them pulling up for a midrange, or opting to play some inside - outside action to hit Milan or others with a drive and dish out for 3 point attempt. Defenses will have to give up something, they can't stop all the options we will have. I like our position here.

If we see the development of Moreno at Center like we hope to see, then there's another huge plus.... and so for me, how well does McBride or N'Djiaye (sp?) setup for us ? I think they have good flexibility and good enough shooting and offensive skill to do adequately well. Maybe they both can big a big surprise. I'd settle for just one of them to shine...

Add in big Franck Kepnang giving Moreno rest, he's good for 10 - 15 minutes a contest, with him and McBride in at the same time, they're going to be head hunting and looking for basketballs to swat from the air ... I like the defensive front we put up with that lineupon the floor... we stand in pretty good shape.

Still want to see several of the guys REALLY step up their game (we're going to need it) to be truly successful this year. But now we have a legit shot at truly making noise come March.

Most people already realize we have a top 15 portal team, and right now, another fringe top 20 team without Milan. Getting him takes us into solid top 10 - 15 territory without question. My guess is we get him, we will be ranked in the preseason 12, 13, or 14th. With our schedule, we can play into the top 10 quickly enough with good performances and beating those teams on our OOC schedule would raise our stock quickly.

Expectations should be tempered with optimism and a quiet confidence that we have a roster that we can all get behind 100% and stop this incessant whining and bitching about everything, and just rally positively for our team.

If you wakeup like I do each day, hitting my knees, thanking the Lord above for another day of life, after all I have been thru ( and continue to go thru) in living this life, and somehow, I am still here.... I'm thankful to have another day to follow Kentucky hoops and keep the faith.

Here's hoping everyone else can feel as good as I do about the upcoming season. It isn't going to be 40-0, you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think it. But yeah, we got a team that can prove it can compete for a title ... if we can get Momcilovic, we got a legit shot. I do believe they can at least show that they are vastly superior to any team Pope has thus far produced at UK. If we don't get Milan, it's going to be another white knuckle ride....

We shall see...

Go Big Blue !

What I like, at least on paper. is to total up the Per30 from last year of our presumed starters, and the Per10 of our presumed subs. With Mom it looks nice
 

Reggie Noble

Junior
Jul 5, 2025
199
286
63
Quantity isn't quality. Morton has 3 years of evidence that he isn't likely to be a significant contributor at this level, Zyon wasn't recruited by anybody, and Mason is an outside the top 100 guy who might be really nice down the road but not the sort of prospect you want to rely on. Guard depth is my PRIMARY concern with this team.
"He ended up starting 29 of his 32 games played in 2025-26, averaging 7.8 points, 2.6 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 43.8/38.8/82.0. He scored 16 points and 15 points in two matchups with Gonzaga, along with a nine-point, nine-assist game against St. Mary’s."

You're not going to get another stud to be a backup. He's a good back up.
 

Reggie Noble

Junior
Jul 5, 2025
199
286
63
Well that's good to see someone other than goobersinmymouth pontificating on where Milan ends up.

IF Momcilovic does come to Kentucky, let's try to take blue tinted glasses off and look at it objectively as we can, yes?

I still am of the opinion this team will be as good, and go as far as Diallo and Wilkins can lead us. I thikn we're in pretty good shape at the PG spot, maybe get one more solid backup SG and the roster is set.

Momcilovic would greatly benefit by Diallo and Wilkins both. He gives us spacing where either he becomes the dangeroius primary outside option ( with many others also capable of spreading the floor to hit a 3) so defenses can't take away both our guards driving to the rim AND our outside shots. Nor can they stop them pulling up for a midrange, or opting to play some inside - outside action to hit Milan or others with a drive and dish out for 3 point attempt. Defenses will have to give up something, they can't stop all the options we will have. I like our position here.

If we see the development of Moreno at Center like we hope to see, then there's another huge plus.... and so for me, how well does McBride or N'Djiaye (sp?) setup for us ? I think they have good flexibility and good enough shooting and offensive skill to do adequately well. Maybe they both can big a big surprise. I'd settle for just one of them to shine...

Add in big Franck Kepnang giving Moreno rest, he's good for 10 - 15 minutes a contest, with him and McBride in at the same time, they're going to be head hunting and looking for basketballs to swat from the air ... I like the defensive front we put up with that lineupon the floor... we stand in pretty good shape.

Still want to see several of the guys REALLY step up their game (we're going to need it) to be truly successful this year. But now we have a legit shot at truly making noise come March.

Most people already realize we have a top 15 portal team, and right now, another fringe top 20 team without Milan. Getting him takes us into solid top 10 - 15 territory without question. My guess is we get him, we will be ranked in the preseason 12, 13, or 14th. With our schedule, we can play into the top 10 quickly enough with good performances and beating those teams on our OOC schedule would raise our stock quickly.

Expectations should be tempered with optimism and a quiet confidence that we have a roster that we can all get behind 100% and stop this incessant whining and bitching about everything, and just rally positively for our team.

If you wakeup like I do each day, hitting my knees, thanking the Lord above for another day of life, after all I have been thru ( and continue to go thru) in living this life, and somehow, I am still here.... I'm thankful to have another day to follow Kentucky hoops and keep the faith.

Here's hoping everyone else can feel as good as I do about the upcoming season. It isn't going to be 40-0, you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think it. But yeah, we got a team that can prove it can compete for a title ... if we can get Momcilovic, we got a legit shot. I do believe they can at least show that they are vastly superior to any team Pope has thus far produced at UK. If we don't get Milan, it's going to be another white knuckle ride....

We shall see...

Go Big Blue !
Malachi will be playing against one of the most physical players in college basketball every day in pick-up, practice, and workouts, Franck Kepnang. That should help MM tremendously in getting used to physicality. I think this gets overlooked or not factored in.
 

theBlues

All-Conference
Oct 18, 2025
1,625
3,630
113
Well that's good to see someone other than goobersinmymouth pontificating on where Milan ends up.

IF Momcilovic does come to Kentucky, let's try to take blue tinted glasses off and look at it objectively as we can, yes?

I still am of the opinion this team will be as good, and go as far as Diallo and Wilkins can lead us. I thikn we're in pretty good shape at the PG spot, maybe get one more solid backup SG and the roster is set.

Momcilovic would greatly benefit by Diallo and Wilkins both. He gives us spacing where either he becomes the dangeroius primary outside option ( with many others also capable of spreading the floor to hit a 3) so defenses can't take away both our guards driving to the rim AND our outside shots. Nor can they stop them pulling up for a midrange, or opting to play some inside - outside action to hit Milan or others with a drive and dish out for 3 point attempt. Defenses will have to give up something, they can't stop all the options we will have. I like our position here.

If we see the development of Moreno at Center like we hope to see, then there's another huge plus.... and so for me, how well does McBride or N'Djiaye (sp?) setup for us ? I think they have good flexibility and good enough shooting and offensive skill to do adequately well. Maybe they both can big a big surprise. I'd settle for just one of them to shine...

Add in big Franck Kepnang giving Moreno rest, he's good for 10 - 15 minutes a contest, with him and McBride in at the same time, they're going to be head hunting and looking for basketballs to swat from the air ... I like the defensive front we put up with that lineupon the floor... we stand in pretty good shape.

Still want to see several of the guys REALLY step up their game (we're going to need it) to be truly successful this year. But now we have a legit shot at truly making noise come March.

Most people already realize we have a top 15 portal team, and right now, another fringe top 20 team without Milan. Getting him takes us into solid top 10 - 15 territory without question. My guess is we get him, we will be ranked in the preseason 12, 13, or 14th. With our schedule, we can play into the top 10 quickly enough with good performances and beating those teams on our OOC schedule would raise our stock quickly.

Expectations should be tempered with optimism and a quiet confidence that we have a roster that we can all get behind 100% and stop this incessant whining and bitching about everything, and just rally positively for our team.

If you wakeup like I do each day, hitting my knees, thanking the Lord above for another day of life, after all I have been thru ( and continue to go thru) in living this life, and somehow, I am still here.... I'm thankful to have another day to follow Kentucky hoops and keep the faith.

Here's hoping everyone else can feel as good as I do about the upcoming season. It isn't going to be 40-0, you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think it. But yeah, we got a team that can prove it can compete for a title ... if we can get Momcilovic, we got a legit shot. I do believe they can at least show that they are vastly superior to any team Pope has thus far produced at UK. If we don't get Milan, it's going to be another white knuckle ride....

We shall see...

Go Big Blue !
Don't forget about Brae. Top ceiling on the team.
 

BlueSince92

All-Conference
Jul 2, 2025
10,779
3,427
230
Momcilovic will get every penny we can muster
Not sure what this is supposed to mean but we’ll still need another guy to be great and if Pope is smart enough to know it the boosters will be smart enough to give him the bargaining power. Don’t go thinking they’ll be keen on throwing their own investment down the toilet a second year in a row.
 
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The Ganner

Senior
Nov 21, 2009
307
816
93
Kelsey has won everywhere he has been so what reason do you think he can't do it at Louisville with the talent they have brought in?
2 years of data AT Louisville shows that he can't win big games. He's 2-13 in Quad 1A games. Wins all the games he "should," 12-5 Quad 1B and only 1 loss in Quad 2. He's consistently mediocre.
 

UKWildcats1987

Heisman
Sep 9, 2021
19,965
35,150
113
If we get MM, I think we are still missing a piece to be an EE type team. Hope I'm wrong and we get MM and he elevates us to FF contention.

Id say top 15th ish. We make sweet 16 and lose a close one and pope and his cronies on here say progress and blah blah. But no closer to winning anything that matters.