It’s time for year three with head coach Mark Pope at the helm and, I feel, a good buzzword for the season ahead is “edgy.”
The new-look Wildcats have oscillated between stagnant and explosive. Dynamic and vulnerable.
A 3-0 record in exhibition left many Wildcat faithful with more questions than answers and more anxieties than exhilaration.
A lackluster 69-49 win over BBN legend Travis Ford and Arkansas-Little Rock left many fans frustrated with the often stagnant Wildcat offense.
Sharpshooter Milan Momcilovic paced the Cats with 16 points while fellow transfer Alex Wilkins added 11.
A slow shooting start ended with the Cats hitting 12/28 from beyond the arc, somewhat soothing fans’ concerns.
Then the Cats looked dominant against top-25 Texas Tech, beating the Red Raiders by a score of 76-65.
Inexplicably, in game three against UCF, the Cats squandered several second-half leads to rely on a last-second putback by Wilkins to force overtime.
To the Cats’ credit, they went for the jugular in overtime, outscoring the Knights 19-5 for a decisive 90-76 win.
Will the real Wildcats please stand up?
Kentucky vs Manhattan
In an interview with UK Athletics, Pope seemed to praise his team’s improvement throughout exhibition play.
“I thought we just showed so much growth and so much progress,” Pope said. “It was fun to mark them in the games. We saw tremendous trajectory growth in our turnover percentage going down, our assists going up. Our offensive rebound percentage on missed threes tripled from game one to game three. It was great progress there. There were so many ways we saw progress. It was fun to see players grow.”
The Cats are a 31.5-point favorite against the Jaspers.
While I feel confident saying nobody in Big Blue Nation expects the Cats to take it on the chin to start the season, scars of Evansville and other harrowing losses still burn the fanbase’s flesh.
Even if the Cats fail to cover the spread, all eyes will be on Zoom Diallo, who has been largely overshadowed by freshman fan-favorite Mason Williams.
In exhibition play, Williams has averaged 14 ppg while shooting nearly 70% from the field, including over 66% from three.
Meanwhile, Diallo has managed only 6 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game.
Expectations of being the Wildcats’ primary ball-handler have put a lot of pressure on Diallo.
A ball-heavy guard from Washington, Diallo is likely still experiencing growing pains from having to learn his role in the pass-and-move flowing system Pope likes to run.
Despite the “edgy” feeling from the fanbase, Kentucky fans need to practice patience while Diallo learns how to maximize his slashing ability to foster offensive opportunities for the rest of the squad.
Meanwhile, look for Moreno to continue to grow into his role as the big man on campus; excuse the pun.
A likely first-round pick in last year’s NBA Draft, Moreno came back to fine-tune his game and, hopefully, carry the Cats to greater heights.
Often facilitating offense from the top of the key, look for Moreno to continue to feast, playing with and without the ball in his hands.
A double-double with a few blocks and assists will have Big Blue Nation roaring for the Georgetown native.
Elsewhere, fans want to see Momcilovic look for his shot more and, perhaps more pressingly, see Pope’s offense scheme open looks for the outside marksman.
Game Prediction:
Momcilovic will find more of his footing against the Jaspers, knocking down at least four threes.
(Courtesy of Sydney Yonker | UK Athletics)
Meanwhile, Moreno, the other double-M, will likely flirt with a triple-double as he continues to learn how to be Pope’s next great “point center”.
My bold prediction is that Diallo has a miniature breakout, if you’ll excuse the football term. He’ll post an efficient 12 points to go along with 7 assists, a steal, and a few turnovers.
Williams and Wilkins will add double-digit figures as well.
Six Wildcats score in double figures as the Cats christen year three with Pope with an 89-62 win.
Go Cats!
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