Out of the many additions for Kentucky basketball this offseason, Milan Momcilovic stood out among the rest. Why? Not only was he one of the top-ranked players in the transfer portal, but he was also the nation's best shooter last season. Making an Iowa State program record 136 threes, it's his shooting that had him so highly sought-after in the portal. Entering this season, he's looking to prove he is more than just a shooter.
In an appearance on the SEC Network desk at SEC Media Days, Momcilovic was very adamant about noting that in addition to his impressive shooting, he isn't a bad defender like people seem to think. "I'm a good team defender. A lot of people try to go at me, but I feel like I'm a good team defender." Mark Pope then went into detail about how the 6-9 forward has expanded his game and how he has shown that since arriving in Lexington.
"He's actually very, very skilled and capable in the post. I think we'll be able to buy space for him to work in the post," Pope said of Momcilovic at SEC Media Days. "He's becoming an elite-level cutter. He's made massive strides in his assist-turnover ratio since he's been with us this summer. He's grown in those spaces. T.J. (Otzelberger) does such an extraordinary job at Iowa State building his team defense. Milan comes to us as a very highly schooled defensive player. He's bringing some of that to us, where we're seeing him have an impact on our team also."
It's going to be very interesting to see how many different ways Momcilovic will be able to score, because we already know how good of a shooter he is, and even he himself said his goal is to break Kentucky's single-season threes record. If Momcilovic can show different ways he can create his own shots off the dribble and score in the post as well, he's likely going to have an All-American season in Lexington. Last season, he put up and made a lot of threes, but the freedom to create seemed limited at times. He'll have plenty of space in a Kentucky offense that loves ball movement and cutting.
Momcilovic is here to say he's much more than just a shooter, so don't sleep on him in other areas of the game.
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