Kentucky fans knew coming into the season how important Mian Momcilovic would be for the Wildcats this season. As the best shooter in college basketball, he is tailored to Mark Pope's offense, one that loves to have shooters and playmakers all over the floor. Momcilovic's impact was felt against Little Rock on Friday night.
After Kentucky finished the first half just 3-11 from three, they ended going 12-28 and a third of those makes were from Momcilovic, who Pope is giving the ultimate greenlight to shoot, and rightfully so as he aims to break Kentucky's single-season threes record. Many came away with the observation that there isn't really such thing as a 'bad' shot from Momcilovic. Mark Pope explains why he's such a dangerous shooter and why he is so important to Kentucky's success.
"He's gonna be really important for our team," Pope said of Momcilovic. "You can't rush him. He doesn't take bad shots because every shot he takes is impossible. He just makes impossible shots. Like, his shot selection was really hard tonight, but he just makes them. We had a minimalist play set tonight, we only had seven (offensive play sets) the whole night. We limited ourselves, so there wasn't a lot of creativity out there, but he is just a problem. His gravity is so elite, and you gotta chase him."
Mark Pope then went on to continue detailing that he is such a hard player for opponents to guard.
"They came in, I'm sure, with a focus on him because he's the best returning shooter in college basketball and he still was a really difficult guard. So, teams are gonna continue to send two, three defenders towards him. He got downhill a couple of times tonight. He had a barkley that he kind of turned down late that I was really excited about. He's a problem. He doesn't get rushed. He doesn't get flustered. One night, he's gonna go 0-7 and everyone in the gym's gonna be concerned except for him, because he'd be like, I'll probably finish 9-17. That's just how he is. ...As the guys get to learn him more and more, it's gonna be increasingly more fun for them to play with him."
As Momcilovic gets more and more comfortable playing in Pope's offense and with his new teammates, that can really elevate the potential of this Kentucky team.
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