We ready to be honest about Malachi?
- Thread starter BlueKnight2011
- Start date
Please let the Cal stuff go. He’s my favorite Kentucky coach ever but his last 4 seasons here were the least successful 4 season stretch in program history. Pope won more NCAAT games in his first season than Cal did in his last 4 seasons here. Cal’s talent acquisition dropped off too. The 2020-21 and 2022-23 rosters were awful. Sahvir Wheeler was one of the worst starting PG’s we ever had. Lance Ware was playing real minutes at one point.
He brought in future NBA superstars 2010-2019 and brought in future NBA role players at best 2020-2024. It was time for a change and it’s past time to let it go.
He’s a freshman. With lots of work this summer on conditioning and strengthening his lower body and hands he’s gonna be a really good player.
He'll always be somewhat athletically limited IMO, but if he takes strength and conditioning seriously in the off-season he'll have a great sophomore season.
If not, he'll be about the same (look good against subpar competition and invisible when we run into a team with a decent frontline).
If not, he'll be about the same (look good against subpar competition and invisible when we run into a team with a decent frontline).
He’s a frosh who had a really solid freshman year. I think he’s right on pace to glue a great college player. I just hope we don’t overpay to keep him. That being said, I really want to keep him.
I don’t understand the Moreno stuff. Moreno has been really good and also developed well. The SEC coaches agree with that, as they chose him as a 1st team All-Conference freshman. And again, he’s a freshman. Freshmen mostly make net negative plays. Moreno hasn’t. He’s smart, protects the ball, and has a strong frame that can easily put on muscle weight.
Moreno should have to earn his starting spot like every other player that comes back off of this squad, but I’m fine with Moreno being the perceived starting Center for next season. I think he’ll be one of the best Centers in the SEC next season, and may well end up being the best.
Moreno should have to earn his starting spot like every other player that comes back off of this squad, but I’m fine with Moreno being the perceived starting Center for next season. I think he’ll be one of the best Centers in the SEC next season, and may well end up being the best.
Hard to expect a young Freshman to carry the load in the paint for an SEC team. Too many fans thought that he might bolt for the NBA due to the early games but the rigors of the SEC schedule caught up with him when he was playing against grown men. He’ll be fine but needs to spend time in the weight room.
Calipari ruined the majority of this fan base. At least the ones that post on here. Not every freshmen is or needs to be an NBA all star. There's such a thing as players developing and becoming great by their junior and senior years. In fact, statistics show that this is what you need to win championships. But most of our fans are still brain washed by Cal's ********. The dude only won one championship in 13 years despite having all the 5 star freshman he wanted. Yet you guys still can't see that having players that stick around for a few years is a key component to success. Moreno had a solid Freshman year and will only improve. Y'all are miserable *****.
Me and you both. I was so impressed with him this season. He’s got a toughness and maturity about him and is absolutely going to be a very good player next season. I expect a major leap forward for Moreno.
If Pope is counting on him to be a key part of the team in terms of building around him, Pope is for sure going to fail. Pope thinking he can run the offense through Moreno at the top of the key is beyond moronic.
Moreno is further along than we all expected and he continues to improve daily. He needs pieces put around him!
I like Moreno quite a bit personally. He’s not currently a superstar, but it isn’t unusual for big men to need a little more development time. He does have a pretty nice game to build on though. Decent touch around the rim, has shown some passing ability, and is a much better rim protector than some of you are giving him credit for since he finished tied for 3rd in the conference in blocks. The biggest knock on him is that he doesn’t have much in the way of explosive athleticism. He’s absolutely going to have to work on getting stronger so that he can get better positioning both to score and rebound. He could be really good if he manages to do that.
That .
it‘s amazing that the same posters that were complaining about Cal’s one and one and how we don’t get 4 stars to develop and stay longer , now they are going after our freshman MM and JJ.
they are UK boys. give them time, show them love and no hate and they will pay you back with great games in the future as they grow up, mature and get better.
I want both JJ and MM back next year. Love them both !
show them love BBN!
He is a freshman. What were you expecting? Especially since he was considered a project to begin with.
Attacking 4 star freshmen because they didn't dominate is nuts.
You guys seem to forget players develop and improve.
I posted earlier: Sophomore Nick Richards averaged 4 and 3. The next year he was 1st team All-SEC.
Based on this post, I would assume you didn’t expect Richards to improve.
Moreno’s numbers are 8 and 6. Twice the points and twice the rebounds. As a FROSH. He’ll be even better next season.
I’m fine with the idea of bringing someone else in. Get the best players possible. But we complain that we don’t keep guys for 3 or 4 years. Then we complain when they’re not All-Americans as FROSH. And then act like they’ll never get any better.
OT ... it is interesting, if not amazing, to note that Ugonna Oyenso plays 18 minutes a game for Virginia ... who is 29-4 and ranked #10 in the country.
www.sports-reference.com
Ugonna Onyenso College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Ugonna Onyenso - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
www.sports-reference.com
I never said I didn’t think he’d get better. Nick barely played his sophomore year. Nick was also more athletic and a more natural shot blocker. I’m saying Pope can’t afford to bank on a center that’s been average in a critical 3rd season. He COULD take a leap his sophomore year but that’s never guaranteed and Pope needs to recruit over every guy that’s returning to elevate the roster to actual contention. I’ve talked a lot about how I like Malachi long term, but Pope is gonna need to be relentless this offseason to get us back where we need to be.
If we just run it back with most of this roster we’ll probably go to the NIT
He could be really good next year. Bulk up, develop an outside shot, and ball handling improvement. He is already a good passer.
Check out the stats of all the top bigs this season when they were freshman.
You will probably see that Moreno is on par or better as a freshman than almost all of the top bigs we covet from other teams.
Florida and Michigan’s bigs weren’t super stars as freshman. If they were, they would’ve been drafted.
You will probably see that Moreno is on par or better as a freshman than almost all of the top bigs we covet from other teams.
Florida and Michigan’s bigs weren’t super stars as freshman. If they were, they would’ve been drafted.
and when pope loses another 13-14 games next season because moreno is staring for uk but still "developing", like michigan's bigs he will likely transfer there and be really good.
If there is one thing that would be important to do, Malachi needs to not be hesitant on offense.
He's one of the tallest in the game. And has better moves than some we've had in the past.
I think he disrupts our flow sometimes, not attacking the basket whether offense or defense.
He's one of the tallest in the game. And has better moves than some we've had in the past.
I think he disrupts our flow sometimes, not attacking the basket whether offense or defense.
Ridiculous to even bring it up. He's fine and he's ahead of schedule. Unless you're a consensus Top 3 player like a Davis or Cousins, big men struggle physically to adjust to the game. WCS was an ok freshman, Labisserie was terrible, but going further back Nazr, Magloire, Morris, Turpin all had pretty pedestrian freshman years.