Will

@OfficialNBARefs When I saw this I thought they were about to explain how it wasn’t a travel and I was like

@mkh33r @CoachMarkPope Pope told Matt and KSR that if the team wasn’t winning he wanted them to CRUSH him. They haven’t done anything he didn’t ask them to do.

@CoachMarkPope Just remember there's a bunch of us that don't listen to KSR and we believe in you!!!

@_waywardpilgrim @CoachMarkPope @UKSportsNetwork @CoachRyanKY Maybe.. but for now it’s not.. so kentucky can’t do that cause nobody else is.

@WillyMakelt @CoachMarkPope @UKSportsNetwork @CoachRyanKY Performance clauses should be NCAA mandated for all teams, or else you’re going to see a lot of “load management” and other NBA BS in the college game.

@CoachRyanKY asked for my Chipotle order… figured dinner at Malone’s was a better answer!

@_waywardpilgrim @CoachMarkPope @UKSportsNetwork @CoachRyanKY If you put performance incentives in contracts you’ll get 0 players. Cause they can just go to the next school and get guaranteed contracts with no incentives.

@CoachMarkPope @UKSportsNetwork @CoachRyanKY Will there be a performance incentive for UK players going forward, so that more JQ types can’t rip us off again?

@MeManBoy0 Star pick money? Avg annual salary for 1st round picks between 24-30 is less than 4 million dollars per year. Very low salary by nba standards. He also was the 2nd tallest player at the combine behind Mayra.. that means something.

Let me expand a bit on why I think the talk of Moreno in the first round is most likely agent hype..... part of it is the timing of the chatter.... too early in the process for that part to make sense..... But.....The case against him going in the first round is stronger than people want to admit. He has zero proven floor spacing. None. In 2026, drafting a big man in the first round with no perimeter shooting is a massive gamble. You're betting a guaranteed contract on a skill he hasn't shown yet against NBA athletes. The athleticism is good but not elite. He's not a dynamic above the rim finisher and he's not a face up threat. That's a role player ceiling being priced like a franchise piece. He's too thin/weak for a drop coverage center right now. He'll get pushed around until he adds real strength and that development can take time for NBA bigs going against grown ass men His defensive rebounding rate was below average on the season. One freshman year in college ball. That's the entire resume. He also skipped the 5 on 5 scrimmages at the combine. Teams are being asked to spend first round capital on a guy who wouldn't compete in front of them in Chicago. Make that make sense. The 2027 draft class is projected to be significantly weaker. If Moreno comes back, dominates as a sophomore, and enters next year he likely goes top 20. Why would any team rush this evaluation and overpay now? And before someone says "but his archetype translates to the NBA" let me address that too. Yes, rim running shot blocking bigs have one of the better development curves in the league. Capela, Adams, DeAndre Jordan all carved out long careers without ever shooting threes. That part is real. But here's the problem. Those guys all had the one thing Moreno needs to add and almost never develops at the NBA level. The shooting. Big men who show zero perimeter touch in college almost never develop it as pros. The ones who do, like Brook Lopez, showed free throw touch and feel indicators early that pointed to it. Moreno's free throw shooting is encouraging but it's far from a guarantee.... and that one part is REQUIRED to make him worthy of a 1st round pick. The strength issue is more solvable. NBA player development is excellent at adding functional mass to young bigs and his frame has room to grow. That part I believe in....but it may come too late for him. But you're still looking at a best case scenario of a really good starting center. That's the ceiling if everything goes right. Teams drafting him in the first round are paying star pick money for a role player floor and banking on a skill developing that historically doesn't hit at a high level

@MeManBoy0 @chrisjo40312 He would’ve gotten MUCH more if he put his name in the portal.. went through the draft process.. and came back to college as a “free agent”

@chrisjo40312 I'm not sure that' accurate. 3 mil is on point for his skill. that's not a discount. But this could be an agent trying to up that number

All of this "Malachi Moreno has a first round draft guarantee" sounds like bullshit to me. Like...seriously. There is NO REASON any team would make such a promise at this point in the evaluation process. It makes no sense. There is no upside to giving a player such a "promise". The combine has barely started.... no player is going to withdraw from the draft today anyway. What's the purpose for an NBA team to make any promise to someone??? To me it sounds more like an NIL agent hyping up a player to increase his NIL value. There is also always a lot of BS floated by teams to throw off other teams, but that doesn't make much sense at this point. The lottery order just got set. To me, this sounds like Agent propoganda. I'm not saying NBA teams never tell a player they will take him in the first round....but this isn't the time those kinda things typically would happen anyway.

@CBeasmoreSports @TJWalkerRadio Or if 1 of them is 3-8 going into the game and the other is 7-4 it means nothing and there’s no anticipation

@TJWalkerRadio I get that, but I still like it at the end of the year because it builds anticipation all season. Plus, sometimes seasons are defined by that game. Kentucky had a chance to go bowling this year if they beat Louisville. Having that much on the line makes the rivalry even bigger.

I agree with Will Stein that Kentucky and Louisville need to keep the UK vs. U of L rivalry series going, but I don’t agree with moving it to the beginning of the season. Keep it at the end of the year. Fans look forward to rivalry week all season long. I still remember being at the 2023 game with Louisville sitting at 10-1 during their dream season, and Kentucky ruined it. Moments like that wouldn’t hit the same if the game was played in September.

@TheRealStewman @Nick_Palma1010 @JoshuaArieh @TodayInSportsCo Yes, biases aside.. this is the correct lineup imo

@WillyMakelt @Nick_Palma1010 @JoshuaArieh @TodayInSportsCo Point taken. So Kobe 6th man? Bron at point, MJ sg, KD sf, Duncan pf and Shaq at center?

This is a tough one….

@TheRealStewman @Nick_Palma1010 @JoshuaArieh @TodayInSportsCo KD BY FAR the best shooter. Nobody wants to hear this but Kobe and MJ the same player that do the same things. Kinda redundant to have them both out there with the other players.

@Nick_Palma1010 @JoshuaArieh @TodayInSportsCo The correct answer is KD.

@JoshuaArieh @TodayInSportsCo LeBron the closest thing to a point guard on this graphic.

@TodayInSportsCo With this lineup, LeBron is pretty worthless

@SmithTrevo14933 @jumpman21058 @BigBlueCarti Well. They were both listed at 185 coming out of high school. So.. either you’re wrong.. or Tennessee’s strength and conditioning program was much better putting weight on Nate.

@jumpman21058 @WillyMakelt @BigBlueCarti Yeah my comment was meant for the dude above you not you

Zoom / Williams Wilkins / Morton Milan / Kam Ndiaye / McBride Moreno / Kepnang

@jumpman21058 @SmithTrevo14933 @BigBlueCarti Well, they both finished as top 50 players in the same class. One listed at 6’8 185, the other listed at 6’9 185. One you said the reason he didn’t play was because of his body. And the other one averaged 17 and 6 and is going to be a lottery pick.. with the same body.

@WillyMakelt @SmithTrevo14933 @BigBlueCarti No way you’re comparing a dude that came up way late in the rankings to a dude that was an unanimous t5 recruit😂

@jumpman21058 @SmithTrevo14933 @BigBlueCarti 40%… but whatever.. he was good enough for an nba team to be taking him in the lottery this year. And his body is the same as hawthorne’s.. which is why you’re saying Hawthorne didn’t play last year.

@WillyMakelt @SmithTrevo14933 @BigBlueCarti He shot 39% from the field

@jumpman21058 @SmithTrevo14933 @BigBlueCarti Uh.. he averaged 17 points and 6 rebounds on an elite 8 team and is about to be a lottery pick. He played pretty well.

@WillyMakelt @SmithTrevo14933 @BigBlueCarti Real quick how did Nate ament play this yr? And he was a guy that was a t5 recruit that was getting a big check to play Hawthorne was not

@jumpman21058 @SmithTrevo14933 @BigBlueCarti If he’s not as good then he, in theory, would gradually get better each year like most players that don’t redshirt. How was Nate ament’s body ready for college basketball and hawthorne’s wasnt?

@WillyMakelt @SmithTrevo14933 @BigBlueCarti What if shit happens and he’s not as good?? Why the fuck would you just waste a year when you can redshirt are you that freaking stupid my goodness😂 Dude was a late riser on a team that was supposed to be rlly good and his body wasn’t ready for college basketball.

@TaninSmithKK @GocowboysGouk @jarred_combs @AllUKBall_HPS This is Kentucky. With all the resources in the world. I just watched a coach that was hired the same offseason as Pope win a national title at Michigan. While I watched kentucky lose 14 games, many of those by unbelievably embarrassing margins. That’s the standard I hold him to

@WillyMakelt @GocowboysGouk @jarred_combs @AllUKBall_HPS I guess he’s supposed to have magical powers and make every player a superstar. Do you hold every coach to that standard?

@GocowboysGouk @TaninSmithKK @jarred_combs @AllUKBall_HPS How was Garrison’s leap? How was Noah’s leap? Maybe should have worked on chandler’s ball handling

@TaninSmithKK @WillyMakelt @jarred_combs @AllUKBall_HPS Notice how there was 0 response after cuz ur 100% right chandler took a huge leap from year 1 to year 2 all bc of mark.

@SmithTrevo14933 @jumpman21058 @BigBlueCarti But if he’s that good.. he’s not gonna be in college 5 years anyway. So what’s the point? Once we realize we stink and have injuries and are playing Jasper minutes cause we have to.. if Hawthorne was what yall think he is.. sure would’ve helped to have had him last year

@WillyMakelt @jumpman21058 @BigBlueCarti It was set for him to redshirt when we thought we were gonna be a great team this year. By the time we knew we was bad it’s to late to burn a redshirt year. Not to mention he was to small to even be a reliable option

@jumpman21058 @BigBlueCarti What if anybody isn’t as good as they think? What are you talking about? 🤣. Every top 40 recruit that’s not a 1 and done should redshirt?

@WillyMakelt @BigBlueCarti But you literally don’t know if he’s gonna be that good. Why tf would you just waste a yr when u can save it?? What if you aren’t as good as you think and u don’t redshirt? It’s literally straight sped to sit out a szn and not redshirt if you’re him😂

@GocowboysGouk @TaninSmithKK @jarred_combs @AllUKBall_HPS Brother he was hurt his first year AND took 2 years off without playing at all. Of course he’s gonna get some better than when he showed up just naturally based off those facts. But he’s a top 35 recruit who was here for 2 years and averaged 9 points per game his sophomore year.

@jumpman21058 @BigBlueCarti Because if he’s as good as you’re saying he is.. he wouldn’t be in college 4 or 5 more years anyway. Nate Ament was awfully skinny last year as well and he seemed to do just fine and is about to be a lottery pick.

@WillyMakelt @BigBlueCarti Personally think he could’ve helped last yr but the redshirt wasn’t bc where his skill level was at it was bc his body wasn’t ready for cbb yet in the sec. Why would you potentially waste a yr of your college career when you can redshirt?