That is flat-out impressive.

Yeah, and that has, like you just mentioned, it has carried them in some really, really, really important spots.

Obviously, four turnovers for Oklahoma this past weekend is going to boost that number a little bit.

But, I mean, Kentucky needed those four turnovers to find a way to win that one.

In Norman, they needed that pick six late when Oklahoma was trying to drive to kick a field goal after Kentucky got uber aggressive on fourth down in the red zone.

They needed an interception.

thankfully returned for a touchdown to sort of seal that game.

But talk to me about Kenny Menchie and the kind of dynamic he has with Will Stein and how this offense has really been able to churn out yards and points.

Now the question is, can he build on that even more and take that massive sophomore

leap that we so often see people take? I think that the big evaluation for me coming out of high school for Malachi was that he was a high floor player.

He was going to be able to do a lot of things well, maybe not anything masterfully, I guess I should say.

I don't really know how to phrase that.

But Pope said about a week or so ago, that Malachi Moreno looks basically unrecognizable relative to the freshman guy that we saw.

We saw, I think, a kid that, for lack of a better term, maybe had a little bit of baby fat, maybe was the most explosive player, wasn't the most aggressive, did not have a ton of touch around the rim, just had a lot of raw talent, but... maybe wasn't fully prepared to go out and start for Kentucky every game.

Again, JQ was supposed to be the guy there, and Moreno was supposed to be someone that was developing in the background, but he was thrown into the fire.

who is the x factor for this Kentucky team

Um, number two in our storylines, Lance, is there enough talent across the roster to compete at the level that Kentucky competes at? Is this Kentucky roster a Kentucky roster, is how I'll phrase it.

It depends on how you define talent, because I think that there are going to be a lot of people out there that look at this team and say, where are the McDonald's All-American five-star prospects that should litter this thing? We should be stocked to the gills with these five-star, high four-star prospects that are gonna be playing in the NBA.

Some people may define talent that way.

Some people may define talent as a point guard that averaged almost 16 points per game playing in the Big Ten, that's transferred over.

They may define talent as a guy who averaged almost 18 in Furman.

They may define talent as a guy who averaged almost 17 playing in the Big 12 as a coin flip shooter, the best shooter in America.

And then you may have somebody that looks at Malachi Marino who was, if I'm not mistaken, a McDonald's All-American.

Now the question is, can he build on that even more and take that massive sophomore leap that we so often see people take?

Mm-hmm.

Obviously, Milan Momcilovic, best three-point shooter in the country, and now you get Mark Mitchell, an all-SEC type guy who is averaging 18 points per game, and he does something for your offense that you desperately needed, which is he creates ugly offense.

Whenever this is not going well for the Cats down the stretch, whenever Mark Pope's offense isn't flying up and down the floor and, and jacking up threes and, and doing what they need to do, Mitchell can be a guy that goes and gets you an ugly bucket or gets you to the foul line.

He also provides, I think, um, some confidence at a position that you had maybe some concern at, at power forward, which is where I'm assuming that Mitchell will start at the nominal power forward, I guess technically is what you would call it with him and Momcilovic on the floor.

But with him, Momcilovic, Zu Diallo, a very talented point guard out of Washington, obviously Moreno, who was flirting with the NBA.

I mean, I, I completely agree with you.

This is the most talented roster that Mark Pope has put together, uh, between, I would argue between his time at Kentucky and possibly his time at BYU.

Yeah.

Like, do you think there's a chance that he might actually have a bit of an adverse effect in some ways?

I definitely think that that's a possibility.

I mean, we've seen in the four different spots that he's been at, UNLV, George Mason, UCF, and Auburn, he's wanted the ball in his hands to a degree at all four of those spots.

And some people called him a ball hog some people have called him a shot chucker and i definitely think that you could make the case at several spots that that's kind of what he's been as a guy who wants to go get his buckets however he sees fit and once he gets the ball he's not giving it up it's like michael the possession ends here porter jr you know it's players like that who are not necessarily the most fun to play with and can definitely break a team's chemistry at the same time though I also see the other side of this with Keyshawn Hall, and it's why I've been such an advocate for why I think he would be a good addition, is that I don't see the ball going to him as often as he had it at maybe an Auburn or a UCF because Kentucky has two creators in their backcourt that will set him up to finish plays.

And if he does get the ball, I think he is going to have an opportunity more consistently maybe than he did with the spacing at Auburn or UCF.

Kentucky, a different situation.

Again, this is all relative and context-dependent.

Which one feels like maybe a bit more of a value add for the Cats at this point?

Mm-hmm

... heading into this season, I would've been like, "Okay, let's rock with it." But I do like Mincey just because I think that while we haven't seen a ton of production from him yet, virtually all of it has been garbage time with the Fighting Irish, I think that his fundamentals, his mechanics, and the way that he just operates, just watching the little bit of tape that he has, he seems like a very poised and calm presence a- at quarterback.

That's something that I think Kentucky will want to have in their very RPO heavy, quick pass, bubble screen-type offense that Will Stein is gonna have here where you have a guy that can know how to make quick decisions, can make them calmly, and whenever things get under pressure, whenever you're under fire, he can still sort of make the right decision a- and again, just sort of be calm and process things, uh, quickly out there.

So I like what I've seen from Mincey.

During spring practice actually, he kind of went from just a guy with a very high floor to everyone describing him as a guy that actually might have a bit of a higher ceiling than we expect because he was makes- making some really impressive downfield throws.

I actually think he's been making some recently at some camps, uh, a- as of late.

But Mincey is somebody that I'm really intrigued by where I don't necessarily know if he's gonna be a top half of the league quarterback, but he's somebody that I think is gonna bring sta- stability.

Mm-hmm.

What do you make of this combo?

Well, I, I think that first and foremost, I think Kentucky gets their floor...

Their floor is, is raised by Moreno coming back.

He is a floor raiser in my opinion, just because of all the different little things that he does well.

Uh, I think that he's going to have to improve this off-season, Isaac.

I think there's a lot of things that he has to work on, specifically offensively around the rim, but I think he's a floor raiser.

I think he just does so many different good things that impact the game for the Cats on both ends of the floor, that he's gonna kind of stabilize you down low.

Do those two things complement each other then as we zoom out to the entire roster, or is the defensive liability that Milan is an issue?

What's been the biggest difference in Kentucky, the way it's changed its game or the way, I guess, it's executing here in the last month or so?

I think that the three major injuries that they've had to their starting lineup has kind of forced them to condense this rotation.

And now that players that have been playing basically out of position for most of the season are now kind of forced into their roles more comfortably, I guess I should say.

meaning they know from here on out for the rest of the season there's not going to be anybody coming back.

So they're game planning for these kids to play where they're playing right now, most specifically Denzel Aberdeen at point guard.

I would say that them being more comfortable in their role, knowing that the kids that are hurt are out for the rest of the year, and then also at the same time, I think just body language, mentality, and confidence, that's been shockingly a huge aspect of this run for Kentucky with this seven of their last eight.

After losing to Alabama, after losing to Missouri, you got to see in a few different blowouts earlier this year, Michigan State, Gonzaga, in Nashville, the Vanderbilt game as well, where Kentucky just looks like from the jump, they don't really seem that interested in playing basketball, especially when it comes to their so-called leaders at times on this team, just really seeming uninterested in doing anything related to basketball on the floor.

How do you see this game going tomorrow night?