The L Yes! Report

March Madness: First Weekend Preview Podcast

2010-03-17T20:23:00.002-04:00

Trevor Kelsey and I sat down for an hour this afternoon to talk about Louisville's draw and the first weekend of March Madness. We touch on pretty much everything you'd ever want to know about Cal and even a little on possible second round with Duke. Check it out, you'll enjoy it...

Four Factors to Winning - CAL vs. CARDS

2010-03-17T16:53:00.003-04:00

NCAA Basketball

Cardinal Nine Dare Opponents To Score On Them

2010-03-11T18:45:00.007-05:00

Just when you thought manager Dan McDonnell couldn't top himself in just his 4th season at Louisville, he may be on his way to doing it again this season. Louisville is off their best start in school history (12-0) and are nationally ranked 8th in the country.

The Cardinal Nine will hope to continue the undefeated streak as they prepare to go on the road out of conference down to Oxford, Mississippi to meet #17 Ole Miss for a three game weekend series.

Last year the Cards used a high powered offense to get them into the post season for a 3rd straight year but while this team has shown it can slug it out, it has been an overpowering pitching staff that has helped this 12 game winning streak. Louisville pitchers have held opponent's to just .199 BA so far and are bolstering a 2.54 ERA.

Coach McDonnell has not only put together an impressive pitching staff but did so with a heavy local flavor. Half of the twelve pitchers the Cardinals have used this year are from the state of Kentucky, including 10 of Louisville's 12 wins this year have been awarded to a Kentucky native.

Leading the way has been Lexington's own Thomas Royse (pictured left), who has been the ace of this staff with 3 (tied for 1st in the country) wins in 3 starts while allowing just runs (only 1 was earned). Royse even pitched a 6 scoreless inning against Michigan in the Big Ten / Big East showdown. That shutout continued as Owensboro finest Neil Holland came in to pitch 3 more scoreless innings but pitching shutout baseball has been nothing new to Neil this year.

Holland has appeared in 6 games this season (12.2 IP) and has yet to allow any run, earned or otherwise, hell he has only allowed 1 hit and has 16 strikeouts. Gabrel Shaw (Paducah) is tied with Royse for wins with 3and has only allowed 1 earned run in this young season. Starter Dean Kiekhefer (Louisville) has just 1 win in 3 starts but has held batters to a .169 batting average with a 2.50 earned run average.

WWWHAT?????

2010-03-11T10:38:00.007-05:00

After an historic game to close Freedom Hall, once again, the Louisville Cardinals found a way to lose a perfectly winnable game against an inferior opponent. The Cardinals took a positive 1st half lead of nine points into halftime, only to start off the second half with one of their patented 7 minute scoring droughts, losing the lead and falling 66-69 to the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

The Cardinals, namely senior guard Edgar Sosa, started the game out smoking hot, making 3's seemingly at will in his home city. Louisville took advantage of 28% shooting from the field by the Bearcats to build up a 9 point lead going into the half. Louisville also had a big lead despite being badly beaten on the offensive boards 18 to 6. This glaring lack of offensive rebounding would come to haunt them later. Soon after the second half began, it was deja' vu all over again in terms UofL's offensive ineptitude. Edgar Sosa scored 5 points in the first minute and a half, from there, the Cardinals literally dissapeared from the scoring column for a FULL 7 MINUTES!!! until Samardo Samuels scored on a free throw. At that point, the score was 47-45 and the Bearcats confidence level was alive and well after a lackluster first half. The Bearcats built the lead up to 7 before Louisville staged a late comeback to be down only 1 ,66-67, on a Reginald Delk 3 pointer. After 2 free throws from the Bearcats, to make it 69-66, Edgar Sosa came down the court and promptly had the ball stripped with time running out on the clock. Game Over. Cards fly home early on a negative note.

Rebounds, rebounds, rebounds. The Cardinals were badly beaten in the rebounding category, 54-33. Sadly that wasn't even the worst stat. 28-9 was the offensive rebounding edge for the Bearcats as they made a habit of scoring on second chance points, which is exactly what happens when you give up that many offensive rebounds. This more than made up for their bad shooting from the field. One of Cincinnati's GUARDS had just as many rebounds,9, than Samardo Samuels and Terrence Jennings, COMBINED! Like I've said a million times before, rebounding is a sheer act of will. You have to want the ball, and The Cardinals just were not willing to get dirty down low on this night.

Substitions. I've had issues with Coach Pitino's substitution pattern (Is there one?) all year long, ever since he refused to start Terrence Jennings at the power forward position in the beginning of the season. It's as if Coach Pitino is outcoaching himself. It's become like clockwork, the Cardinals have a good first half and build up a good lead, Georgetown and Villanova are great examples. But in the second half they come out a completely different team and fall apart losing the lead. This is where the fun begins watching Coach Pitino. When the Cardinals go on these confusing minutes long scoring droughts, Coach Pitino freaks out and begins to substitute. If his first sub doesn't work, he'll sub another player in, and if that sub doesn't work he'll sub another player in. The longer the scoring drought, the more players Coach Pitino starts shuffling in and out. Coach Pitino will yank a player, usually Sosa, the instant a player makes a defensive or offensive mistake. This does nothing for a players confidence, wondering if and when the Coach is going to bench you after a bad play. The best anology is that the Cardinals are like a computer that Coach Pitino begins to give too much information to, too fast. It becomes so much that the computer, the Cardinals, freezes. Only problem here is that the Cardinals don't have a ctrl + alt + delete button.

Edgar Sosa scoring 28 points was the WORST thing that could have happend in this game. It built up his confidence level to him thinking he could shoot anywhere ,and way, he wanted. Fundamentally speaking, THIS MAKES NO BASKETBALL SENSE! You're point guard is supposed to be the distributor and initiator of your offense. When you point guard is doing all of the shooting, this means that you have noone to get the other players involved offensively. One of the players in this game that was misused entirely was senior forward, Reginald Delk. He was PERFECT from the field, 3 pt line, and free throw line and you refuse to look for him the entire second half?! A head scratcher. I don't think that this is that advanced or unorthadox of a concept.

No effort on the offensive boards was the main reason that the Cardinals lost to a ,fundamentally unsound, playground team. The Bearcats shot terrible from the field and the three point line, yet the Cardinals still let this game slip away. The messed up thing is, Coach Pitino is far too stubborn to admit that there is something wrong and make the proper adjustments. He seems to think that, because all of his philosophies worked perfectly with his 96 UK team, then it should work with all of his teams. This is obviously not the case. No matter who the Cardinals play in the NCAA's,(Yes I'm presuming that they're in), more than a couple of things have to happen. Edgar Sosa has got to pass more than he shoots and get other players involved. Clearly, him scoring didn't work against an awful team. The Cardinals have got to get Samardo Samuels the ball ,sooner than 7 minutes left in the first half, like they did against the Bearcats. Without Samardo, they become a one dimensional shooting team and that will get you no wins fast. EVERYBODY ON THE TEAM HAS GOT TO REBOUND!!! No player on earth is good enough to think that they don't have to put forth effort on rebounding. If the Cardinals don't execute these simple rules, they will be forced to leave the Dance early.

The Case for Kuric

2010-03-10T04:00:00.000-05:00

I know a lot of people are playing the whole "What should be Kyle Kuric's new nickname be?" on some popular radio shows and blogs this week. I say that question has already been answered. It's "Krazy Kracker". Enough said. The real question should be whether or not that one half against Syracuse proved enough to get the sophomore from Evansville a permanent spot in the starting line-up. I say it's an emphatic yes.

Rehashing to anyone that's been living under a rock or in a coma, Kuric had one of the top 2-3 halves of basketball by a Louisville player in the 20+ years I have been watching them religiously. 22 points, 4-5 threes, 4 dunks and a win over the #1 team in the land at the last game at Freedom Hall. It was the kind of performance movies are made about. The only other second half that compares is Larry O'Bannon's 24 points in the second half and OT against West Virginia in the 2005 Elite 8. Both players' games had extreme significance in the season of their particular team. O'Bannon's got his team in the Final 4 after being down by 1,000 pts at halftime and Kuric's closed out the legendary Freedom Hall in storybook fashion.

However, O'Bannon has started every game that year and played tons of minutes over the 4 previous years. Kuric has only started 2 games his whole career and was averaging a shade over 10 minutes a game before Saturday's explosion. Can Coach Pitino afford to continue playing Kuric the minutes of an 8th, 9th man off the bench when the guy produced like an All-American the game before?

I would be lying if I said I thought Kuric would have a game like that this early in his career. He has shown signs of brilliance the last couple years in limited action, but nothing close to what happened Saturday. Yet when given the opportunity and asked by Pitino to shine, he did just that. In just one half, Kuric proved he can hang with the best of the best, not only in the Big East but the country. It wouldn't be far-fetched to say that one half of basketball solidified him as the most athletic man on the team with his ally-oop dunks that looked more like Dominique Wilkins than Larry Bird.

Kuric has always been an excellent rebounder, prompting Pitino to call him the best "pound-for-pound' rebounder outside of T-Will on last year's team. Pitino is known for his rhetoric, but what has Kuric done to prove him wrong? If Pitino wasn't so loyal to struggling upperclassman, maybe this epiphany would have happened long ago. Reggie Delk, Jerry Smith and Mike Marra are all good college basketball players who have had their moments in the sun. Having said that, none have even come close to putting up as powerful a performance as Kuric did against Boeheim's squad. He is simply the better player at this time and should be rewarded with minutes.

The Krazy Kracker can't be sitting on the bench. It would be like Yankee manager Miller Huggins putting Wally Pipp back in the lineup for Lou Gehrig the day after his streak started or Bill Belicheck benching Tom Brady for a recovering Drew Bledsoe. You just don't mess with fate. And if it fizzles out, Pitino has the fortune of having solid ballplayers like Smith, Marra, and Delk to fall back on. At least we now know he is capable of just completely getting off.

You don't call a girl back the same night you get her number, you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't talk to a pitcher that has a no-hitter and you don't mess with a shooter with a hot-hand. Therefore, Kyle Kuric should see starters minutes tonight or I'll be convinced that the great Coach P is just screwing with us.

Big Blue Ship Sinking?

2010-03-09T20:00:00.006-05:00

Someone sent me this picture today and it is awesome. Sorry if I'm not crediting the right person out there, but whoever and wherever you are... good work.

The picture is in response to an article in the LEO yesterday by veteran sportswriter CD Kaplan. Kaplan is known as Seedy K in the publication and has a reputation to push the envelope in his writings. This time I don't think he's pushing it too far because the news has been around for months. Of course, the piece involves our favorite cheaters down I-64 and their two prized recruits - John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins...

There are now two sources, one a member of the national media, who indicate there is a race to reveal some NCAA transgressions by UK frosh stars, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.
I am told, though I have no personal knowledge nor evidence myself whatsoever, that the investigations concern cash money and, perhaps, real estate.
There are two nationally known media sources who are, according to sources, scurrying to obtain the last bit of evidence that will allow them to publish the story. One, I’m advised, is the New York Times. The other, one of the major online sports sites.
As per usual, neither of my sources mentioned UK coach John Calipari by name. Only the players were named. This is all I have at this time. Frankly, it’s not much. But, the facts are these. 1) John Calipari has a track record that would not rule out such a situation. 2) These two players, by their actions, indicated they would have played for Calipari at North Dakota A & M, if that’s where he was coaching. 3) None of the Tobacco Road schools surprisingly gave a serious look at Wall, though he was a local
kid.

Now this isn't new news to anyone that is as obsessive about the situation as most UK and UL fans are in this state. There has always been the strong rumor that either Pat Forde of ESPN, Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com, Pete Thamel of the New York Times or someone else had some serious dirt on Calipari and was just waiting to double, triple, even quadruple his sources before his paper/website decided to take on one of the more powerful fanbases, coaches, and programs in the country. It's been months since this news first came about and I have been waiting for it to finally hit print. That day hasn't come... yet.

However, you'd have to be blind to think the major news outlets aren't trying to get to the bottom of how all these big-time recruits are being filtered to Calipari. UK fans will dismiss this as a jealous witch-hunt done by guys who are either lacking credibility or would just like to see UK suffer. Yet, those are the same fans that asked the same questions about Cal when he was at Memphis. You just don't go from a program losing it's luster, coming of an NIT season with a recruiting class headed by Jon Hood and Daniel Orton to a powerhouse with 4 first-rounders in the starting line-up without doing something drastic. Right?

Like Kaplan said, there has to be a reason that a North Carolina boy like Wall wasn't coveted more by the big, in-state Tobacco Road schools. Remember, Wall wanted North Carolina to come calling, but a strained relationship with his handler Brian Clifton turned Roy Williams off. Why did Coach K not put up more of a fight for such a transcendent player right in his Durham backyard? Could it be because they knew something was fishy and weren't in as desperate a position as Kentucky to risk NCAA heat for his services?

Why was DeMarcus Cousins so in love with Mike Davis at UAB, knew he was only going to play for a year, but still asked that his letter of intent be amended in case Davis left? Davis had just signed a contract-extension through the 2012-13 season and had his 2rd straight 20 win season. Why would Cousins think Davis was leaving unless someone else sweetened the deal for him a little? These are the questions an article of this magnitude should answer and why it is taking the piece so long to be printed.

Something is up in Lexington and everyone knows it. There is a reason that Cal has been to two Final 4s that aren't in the record books anymore. He recruits players who are great, but not necessarily legal. Whether to the extent of what Kaplan said remains to be seen.

All I have to say is UK fans better hold on to those UK2K shirts because they could become a collectors item in the near future. For all the wrong reasons.

Smith Out, Kuric & Knowles In

2010-03-09T17:00:00.000-05:00

Coach Rick Pitino said Jerry Smith will be forced to sit out of this week's Big East tourney due to a thumb injury he suffered after a dunk during Saturday's win against Syracuse. In patented Jerry fashion, the thumb was not actually injured in the act of dunking, yet in an act of celebration following the jam. Smith scored 8 of the Cards' first 10 points Saturday before leaving the game and making way for that crazy cracker Kyle Kuric.

Whether or not Pitino is being straight-forward about Smith's status remains to be seen. It was almost as if Pitino thought the injury was more of a mental thing than anything else. As we have all seen over his 4 years in red, Smith's game feeds off his shot. Jerry could be effective in other phases, but since his shot won't be on point Pitino is worried it will hamper his game. A similar situation occurred with Preston Knowles and his thumb injury earlier this season. Normally, Knowles would be as tenacious of a defender as they come. However, the injury made him tentative and afraid of re-injury.

Where does this leave the Cards in the historic MSG this week? I say Kyle Kuric steps into Knowles' back-up slot and Knowles moves into the starting line-up. With Kuric's epic performance Saturday, Pitino would be crazy not to give him more clock. Many could argue a healthy Knowles is just as effective if not more than Smith this season. Pitino even said Edgar Sosa, who played the 2 in high school, actually looked comfortable playing there in practice, but sounded like he didn't want to be forced into that scenario. This is not as bad of a situation as an outsider would think. Remember, if Smith doesn't get injured on Saturday, you never have Kuric's legendary performance and the Cards are possibly...possibly... fighting for their NCAA lives this week.

The thing to worry about is how Smith missing such crucial games will affect team chemistry when he finally comes back. Pitino is loyal to his upperclassman almost to a fault. Regardless of how well Knowles and Kuric play in his absence, Smith will be inserted back into the line-up when Pitino feels he is ready. If that's in a pivotal NCAA second-round game or even Big East championship, you can only hope his return doesn't cause a hiccup. However, if anyone on the team can fit right back in after missing a few games, it's Jerry Smith.

Listen & watch to the whole Pitino presser from today on C-J website

Louisville is tentatively scheduled to play at 9 PM tomorrow (that'll never happen). Thinking it'll be more like 9:30. Their opponent will be determined tonight when Cincinnati takes on Rutgers at around 9;00 as well.

I love being a Cards fan

2010-03-08T15:34:00.006-05:00

I'm a fairly young Uofl fan. I'm also not from Louisville so I didn't grow up with the great stories of the 80's championship team. Hell, Darrell Griffith was actually sitting on my couch one night when i was a kid and I had zero clue that it was him or who he was for that matter. But I know sports, and I know what being a great fan is.

Being a great fan has nothing to do with how early you show up to tailgate. Nor does it have anything to do with how many people show up for College Gameday. It has nothing to do with how much paraphernalia you possess or how many games you attend. It doesn't really even matter how many people show up to the game at all.

Being a great fan comes down to one word: Appreciation. Great fans appreciate the fact that we get to cheer on one of the most recognizable Universities when it comes to sports. We appreciate that we live in a great city with great sports heroes that put things in perspective for us. This helps us appreciate guys like Kyle Kuric when he gets to showcase the talents that we all knew he had, but never got to truly see. We appreciate the fact that we have, and have had, great coaches in all of our sports that can recognize talent that doesn't just jump right out at you. Deion Branch, Jason Spitz, Angel McCoughtry, Chris Cates, Boomer Whiting, Harry Douglas, Larry O'Bannon, Taquan Dean, the list goes on for what seems like forever. What's great about being a Uofl fan right now is the fact that we appreciate the fact that these guys weren't "top 50" kinds of players. They have all cemented their place in the history of this program when they could have all been afterthoughts.

It's easy to look to the final four year or the orange bowl year as the best times to be a fan. But for me being a great fan is appreciating the adverse times for your program. People were stunned when we made the College World Series a few years ago. Now we're in the top ten and will more than likely stay there. Our football fell off the map during the Kragthorpe era. But Coach Strong has already made strides in turning the program back around. When people said that we wouldn't make the tournament another one of those not "top 50" guys cemented his name in the lore of Uofl basketball.

I love being a fan right now because of the unknown. I love not knowing what's going to come at the beginning of a season. But I love not being surprised when a guy like Kuric has the game of his life. I love not having the ridiculous idea that we should win a championship every year. I always have faith that our program will never fall too far.

Games like Saturday's win over the Orange make me feel bad for people that don't get to cheer for the 'ville. I love being a Uofl fan.

Winning "Kurics" All Ills

2010-03-07T17:25:00.008-05:00

A must win situation, backs against the wall, win or go home, loser shaves his head. All of those sports cliche's, described The Louisville Cardinals playing in Freedom Hall for the very last time against the #1 ranked team in the country, The Syracuse Orangemen. According to Head Coach Rick Pitino, and ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi ,the Cardinals needed to win two out of the last three games of the regular season to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals did just that and than some in what could best be described as a celebration of the Louisville Cardinals basketball team's past, present and future. After this game, the future looks bright.

The Cardinals defeated the Orangemen, 78-68, on a from-out-of-nowhere 22 point explosion from sophomore guard Kyle Kuric. Kuric scored all of his points in a second half that saw the Cardinals outscore the Orangemen by 15 points, 48-33, after being down 5 going into halftime, 35-30. The first half started out in what has frustratingly become the norm, with Louisville settling for 3 point jumpshots and absolutely refusing to try to get anything going in the low post with sophomore center, Samardo Samuels, against the Orangemens 2-3 zone defense. As a direct result of the Cardinals missing numerous outside jumpshots, the Orangemen were able to score on many fast break opportunities. These miscues on the offensive end, and a lack of offensive rebounding, gave the Orangemen a 35-30 lead going into halftime.

The second half would turnout to be a completely different story, but first, some recognition needed to be handed out to past Cardinals during halftime. The 1980 and 1986 national championship teams were both introduced, along with the seven previous All-Americans. After almost a quarter century, even the elusive UofL legend, Pervis Ellison, made an appearance at the final game in Freedom Hall. After that unforgettable ceremony, the present UofL basketball Cardinals had no choice but to close Freedom Hall in grand style. The Cardinals more than delivered, bringing the capacity crowd to a fever pitch with the help of guard Kyle Kuric putting on one of the best performances in Freedom Hall history. Kuric scored 22 points on 9 of 11 shooting, making 4 0f 6 of his three pointers. If Kuric wasn't dunking, he was sinking a three pointer, with all but 2 of his points coming from either dunks or three's.

The Orangemen had no answer for Kuric's onslaught as star senior shooting guard ,Andy Rautins, scored only 3 points on an atrocious 1 of 9 shooting from the field and 1 of 8 from the three point line. The other star for the Orangemen, still injured junior forward Wesley Johnson, had a little better game, scoring 18 points on 6 of 15 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free throw line. Senior power forward, Arinze Onuaku chipped in with 14 points and 7 rebounds.

Being old enough to appreciate the moment on a sunny Saturday afternoon, at Freedom Hall, is something I will never forget. I know how lucky I am to be able to watch roughly 20 years of basketball coached by two of the best coaches of all time. From 'Doctor Dunkenstein" Darrell Griffith, the greatest UofL legend of them all, to "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison, seeing all of the players who put Louisville basketball on the map, in one building, was a once in a lifetime experience. I couldn't have asked for a better closing to the best basketball arena I have ever been to. The Downtown Arena may be brand spanking new and have all the bells and whistles, but to me, it will never replace "The World Famous Freedom Hall".

A Dumb & Dumber Game

2010-03-03T19:36:00.005-05:00

Here are my bitter, bitter thoughts about last night's game. Nothing positive, what can I say...

The Cards had an embarrassing performance last night at the Bradley Center. Bottom line. Nothing said or done will be able to change the fact that the team went into a place where they have won 4 of 5 and get absolutely humiliated. However, was anyone out there taken aback by this? Caught off-guard? Shocked that this happened? I, amongst other Louisville fans, thought the team had turned a corner and were going to put these effortless outputs behind them. It wasn't the first time all year this team had people fooled with their inconsistency...

Only 2 Free Throws all game?

I want to blame the Big East officials for this. I really do. They did have their usual 7-10 questionable calls, but the Cards' ineffectiveness and complacency on the offensive end had the most to do with that. It's hard to get fouled on a jump shot and it's even harder if you're not taking the ball to the hoop aggressively. The coaching staff just could not figure out how to effectively get the ball into Samardo which forced the Cards to take jumpers all game. And the lack of aggression was frustrating. Do the Cards have a beef with the refs over lack of foul calls? Yes. Did they do enough to relive all doubt from those dope's minds? No.

Buzz Christmas or Lloyd Williams?

Buzz Williams took a page out of the Dumb & Dumber book of coaching fashion with his Lloyd Christmas get up last night. That was completely outrageous. i know he was trying to get a rise out of the fans on senior night in a huge game for Marquette, but c'mon man. In the day and age of HDTV, Williams made a bad choice. I will give the guy credit for sweating more than the majority of the players wearing red on the floor did. I just want to see him and Bruce Pearl play and both wear their orange/powder blue suits with the loser getting whacked in the back of the knee with a cane.

The Double Down - Samardo's Nemesis

Marquette did a great job in collapsing on Samuels when he got the ball. Due to their lack of height they had to or else Mardo would have dominated. Samuels didn't counter-act that by finding the open man after the double-team therefore Marquette did it every time he touched it. 4 points, 5 turnovers and 1 assist later, Mardo had his worst game of the year and his team lost by 21 points. For some reason the big guy didn't look quite into it last night. He was frustrated early and went downhill from there. It's not all Samardo's fault though. The team plays outstanding when they pass it 3 or more times in their offense and they failed as a whole in that respect last night.

Rotation...or lack thereof

Pitino is playing an alarming number of players at least a quarter of the game this season. 11 players are seeing at least 10 minutes a game. Playing a lot of guys and wearing the other team down with depth has always been a Pitino strong suit, however this season seems different. Guys like Mike Marra, Rakeem Buckles, and Kyle Kuric won't see action in one game and then end up starting the next. I understand playing the match-ups, but I don't understand how that could work with team chemistry and comfort-level. If you have 11 guys that play 10 minutes, then you play those guys every game. Right? Not in the Book of Pitino. For a team that "lacks talent", Pitino sure is playing a lot of guys he feels deserve minutes.

Swiss Cheese Defense

Aside from a blunder like last night, this year's team has been extremely efficient on offense. They average just as many points as the last two Elite 8 teams (09,08) and the Final Four team (05). What separates this team from those is defense. The gap in that separation is the size of Rosanne's ass. This team has failed to stop anyone on a consistent basis. They show flashes, but never for longer than say a half. It starts up top with the 4 guards (Sosa, Siva, Smith, Knowles) and trickles down to the paint. This team has to buckle down and play some defense or else Louisville fans will be watching more games at Freedom Hall.

Groundhog Day All Over Again

2010-03-03T02:11:00.013-05:00

After a huge and exciting win at UConn on Sunday, one would have thought that the Louisville Cardinals would take this positivity into the Bradley Center against the Marquette Golden Eagles, and guarantee themselves a spot in the NCAA's with a win. Instead, they put out an effort that was a mirror image of the second half against the Georgetown Hoyas, just one game before UConn. Fouls and free throws were the special of the day and Marquette had a feast fit for a king.

The Golden Eagles shot 22 free throws, making 18 for 81%. The Cardinals, on the other hand, shot 1 of 2 from the line. That is not a typo, only ONE PLAYER went to the free throw line! That one player wasn't an experienced senior, but freshman forward Rakeem Buckles. The Cardinals got off to a hot start, making two threes and a jumphook by senior guard Jerry Smith, to go up 8-3 in the first 2 minutes. From there Marquette settled down and implemented a suffocating 2-3 ,trapping in the post, zone that left sophomore center Samardo Samuels frustrated the entire night, keeping him from going to the basket and making passes out of the post. On offense, Marquette guards Darius Johnson-Odom and Maurice Acker ran the dribble-drive offense and took advantage of a lackluster Cardinal defense to score 22 and 15 points, respectively. The first half ended with the Golden Eagles ahead 33-23. In the second half, The Cardinals shooting woes continued as they were held scoreless for the first 7 minutes. The Cardinals fought back to bring the defecit to 10, but ran out of gas to end the game, losing by 21, 69-48.

Samardo Samuels easily had his worst game of the year. Scoring only 4 points on 2 for 5 shooting, he was literally shutdown the entire night. Samuels had no answers for a zone that trapped him down low every time he touched the ball. To make matters worse, he had a game high 5 turnovers. If he wasn't getting the ball slapped out of his hands, he was throwing an errant pass out of the post. I'm no Phog Allen, but major adjustments should have been made in the game with Samuels. When a post player is double teamed in the post, he can do one of two things. He can either pass the ball to a man cutting to the basket or take the ball to the double team and try to get fouled. Samuels did neither of these things and came up with 1 assist and no trips to the free throw line. Not getting fouled was especially frustrating because he could, and should have, controlled the entire game against a lineup whose tallest starter was 6-6! Samuels seemed out of it, and a second behind, from the tip. Realizing this, it seemed like Coach Pitino gave up on using him and benched him for most of the second half. He's just got to be ten times more aggresive moving forward.

Senior point guard, Edgar Sosa, didn't have that much better of a game than Samuels. He ended up with 9 points on 4 for 10 shooting, 3 assists and 3 turnovers. Marquette kept Sosa quiet by shutting down his trademark bull rushes to the basket, and constantly having a hand in his face when he was shooting.

Senior shooting guard, Jerry Smith, got 5 points in the first 2 minutes of the game and absolutely dissapeared the rest of the game. In front of many family and friends, an already dissapointing season for Smith just got a little worse. The wrong time and place for a senior to have a letdown.

Junior guard, Preston Knowles had a bad game putting up a goose egg on 0 for 3 shooting. If the starters are having a bad game and the Cardinals sixth-man is having a bad game, that's a recipe for disaster.

In a game where the Cardinals should have completely dominated the Golden Eagles in the low post all night, they brought nothing to the table in terms of energy, offense or defense. They just looked they were sleepwalking and going through the motions. To be beat at the free throw line by an undersized team 18 to 1 is beyond frustrating. Key adjustments were not made for whatever reason, be it coaching or players, and the end result was an awful game all around. If I knew what was wrong with this team, I'd be in coaching, but I do know something has to change across the board and it starts with the players energy. This is one of the least energetic teams I have seen in a long time. If the Cardinals bring this same type of effort to Freedom Hall on Saturday at 2 on ESPN, then it's going to be a more than bittersweet closing to Freedom Hall. I have Cardinal faith that we will close the Hall in grand fashion.

Pick a Game....Any Game

2010-03-02T12:11:00.000-05:00

The Ville has two more games before heading into the Big East Tournament. They are teetering on the edge of not getting an invite to the big dance. Experts are predicting that the Cards are in however, and will be placed anywhere between an 8-10 seed. It seem's like to secure a sport for sure the Cards might want to think about knocking off either Marquette on the road or Syracuse at home in Louisville's final game in Freedom Hall.

Which win does Louisville need the most? Another road win versus an upper mid level Big East squad who is recognized along the same line as Louisville is....or, a win at home against the #1 team in college basketball who they have already beaten? Now the answer might look obvious. You would think #1 ranked Syracuse in the last game at Freedom Hall would be the mort important win, but is that necessarily true? Of course I know all Cards fans would love to take down the The Orangeman by completing their sweep of them at home to close out The Hall, who wouldn't want to do that? Though would it be better than beating Marquette? a surging team, on the road. The Cards will be competing with them for tournament rights and seeding so shouldn't you you maybe want to beat them and secure your spot by beating the team who is just above you in conference on the road. Would beating Syracuse at home prove Louisville's true place in the conference? It might also. Confused yet? We'll you probably should be because I think either win would ensure us a spot in the field of 64....I just wanted to get your mind working a little bit. Here's a thought....How about the Cards just go undefeated in these last two games, and the conference tournament winning our 2nd in a row. Maybe bump us up to a 6 seed....It could happen. Now lets break down Marquette....

A team picked to finish 12 in the Big East Marquette has come up with 10 Big East wins this season and is fighting for a first round bye in the Big East tournament. If Louisville has anything to say about it they will have the rights to that first round bye which is still open to either school.

The Golden Eagles are coming off of a stretch where they only saw 1 loss out of their last 9 games. Though the 1 loss came against Pittsburgh which was clearly the toughest game during that stretch, the next set of tough games for them were all road games that went to overtime against the likes of Seton Hall, St. Johns and Cincinnati. Other than that I don't really know much about Marquette. Other than Lazar Hayward their senior leader should probably be stopped because there are only 2 others on their team who average double figures a night.

Honestly I am not worried about stopping Marquette. If I were the Cardinals I would be worried about doing what we need to do to not play like a bunch of reckless street ballers out there and play as a team. I think if they just worry about doing the right things and taking care of themselves they could easily come out a winner. Though if they don't rebound, take advantage on 2nd chance scoring opportunities or play with hustle, urgency or passion, they may find themselves in a must win at home against the #1 team in the country....and that is pressure they don't need.

In my opinion the key to a victory tonight are the role players. Samardo has sort of ben the corner stone to our winning important games. Though teams are starting to catch on to that ever since his 36 point performance against Notre Dame. So as long as he comes out and still goes to the rim hard and goes to the free throw line, plus those fore mentioned role guys come out to play and we see spurts from Preston Knowles, Jarred Swopshire, Peyton Siva and we have to see consistency from Sosa, I think the Cards have a good proven method to wrapping up any team in the country weather that be Marquette tonight or Syracuse this Saturday.

Listen to Evening Buzz Tonight at 9 PM

2010-03-01T20:37:00.003-05:00

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Long Makes Strides at Combine

2010-03-01T19:02:00.002-05:00

And people tried to say there was no talent on last year's team.

Scott Long was one of the few bright spots in the Krag era, and might have earned himself a spot on an NFL roster next year with his impressive performance at the Scouting Combine this weekend in Indianapolis. Among all the wideouts in attendance, Long had the highest vertical leap (41.5 inches) and fastest three-cone drill (6.45 seconds) & 60-yard shuttle (11.06 secs). Long tied for most bench press reps at 225 lbs (20) and was second in the 20-yard shuttle. The 6'2 219-pounder finished in the top 10 of every drill done by the wideouts and scored highest overall.

Even though he was dealt a bad hand in his time at Louisville, Long's performance this weekend bodes well for his pro chances. Many players have gone from Mr. Unknown to Mr. Popular solely based on their performance at the combine. TE Vernon Davis of the Niners via Maryland made himself some serious scratch with his combine freakishness a couple years back. Not that Long got himself into the first round, but scouts and GMs alike know who he is now.

With all the attitude problems surrounding the NFL these days, Scott Long is a GMs dream when it comes to respect and discipline. According to Aaron Wilson of the NationalFootballPost.com, Long has drawn interest from teams that are operated by no-nonsense guys. New England (The Hoody), Miami (The Tuna), New York Jets, Carolina, and Kansas City. I could realistically see Long seeing the field for any of these teams with the exception of New England.

The man they called "Baby T.O." at the Schnellenberger Complex put up a T.O.-esque performance in front of every NFL scout/exec/coach/writer who matters in Indy. Good thing is, I don't think Long will follow T.O. when it comes to attitude.

Hopefully the karma police pay Long back for his tumultuous times here and he spends some time cashing those big NFL paychecks. He deserves it.

The Tiger Emerges When it Counts

2010-03-01T10:54:00.000-05:00

Tied for 7th in scoring this game, Edgar Sosa's last two out of six points he scored were the most valuable of the game. He went in for a layup with eight seconds remaining on the game clock, and came out with the bucket the Cards needed to put away the U Conn Huskies, 78-76.

   This isn't the first game winning shot Sosa will be remembered for. He hit the game winner last season against arch rival Kentucky....like I have to remind Cards fans of that stat. Though Edgar has been taking a lot of heat from Cards fans this season. He hasn't seen the success or received the praise of past Louisville seniors like Terrence Williams and David Padgett who helped lead their teams to a successful seasons and trips to the Elite 8. Sosa was praised in his earlier years for playing beyond what most freshman and sophomores typically played. He was nicknamed the Tiger for his ability to pounce on the opposing team with confidence. Yet the last 2 years he seemed not to have grown at all.He could still be that player who could make things happen from time to time but still made bad decisions, and just all around didn't grow as a player from his early days. This Afternoon he did make one play....the play, that everyone will remember....and least for the rest of this season.

   Louisville played quite good even though they were dominated on the glass 22-50 and Kemba Walker put together a nice game scoring 28 points 4 rebounds 3 assists and 2 blocks. U Conn in the end just committed too many turn overs, or should I say Louisville forced too many. 15 of the 22 TO's U Conn committed were steals by the Cards. Peyton Siva and Preston Knowles played extremely well on defense each getting 3 steals and offense. Knowles hitting big shots and Siva taking on the roll of field general and utilizing his leadership skills. I personally can't wait to see these two guys starting, and working together next season.

   Louisville goes on the road again this week to take on Marquette, before heading back home for the last brawl in Freedom Hall against Syracuse. At least one more win should secure a spot in the NCAA tourney for the Cards. Though another win on the road or a win against one of the top 3 teams in the country could be tough. Stay tuned folks....

The Heart Stop Kids

2010-03-01T01:52:00.004-05:00

After a wild and crazy game, grades need to be given to the major players in the game. Here are my grades, and the reason for them, handed out for the UL/UConn game:

Edgar Sosa A: Edgar did not have his best game by no means, but he took his best shot when the game mattered most, taking and making the game-winning shot with 8.2 seconds left. His shots didn't fall, shooting 2 of 8 from the field, but he made up for it in the assist category tallying 6 assists with only one turnover. Before Edgar made the shot, I would have given him a C+, but winning cures all ills and Edgar is the classic example of the old phrase "It's not how you start, it's how you finish".

Samardo Samuels B-: Samardo had a rough shooting day, going 4 for 11 from the field, but still managed 14 points by shooting 6 of 7 from the free throw line. He also worked hard on the boards, getting 7 rebounds with 3 of them on the offensive glass. One season long blemish on Samardos' game is lack of ball security in the post. Too many times he easily gets the ball knocked out of his hands. In this game he had 4 turnovers as a direct result of soft hands. That's about 3 too many for a 6' 9" 260 pound man. Samardo only had 1 assist. At this point in the season, where all defenses are keying on him, he should thrive in the assist category when he is double and triple teamed. Our success in the post-season will literally depend on Samardo Samuels' hands.

Jerry Smith B-: Jerry had a really good game offensively, shooting 4 for 5 from the field and 3 for 3 from the free throw line for 12 points. But after those totals, he was pretty much absent from other categories. He had 0 rebounds, only 1 assist, and 2 steals. As a senior starting 2 guard, he simply has to do more at a much higher level. This whole season has been less than positive on the court, so let's hope this last game will give Jerry confidence to play better in the games coming up.

Terrence Jennings D: Terrence had 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting. After those numbers, he showed up in no other form or fashion, tallying 0 rebounds and 0 assists. The 0 rebounds is inexcusable. At 6' 10" and 240 pounds there is no reason he couldn't come up with at least 5 or 6 rebounds. This is nothing but a lack of effort and desire in the rebounding game, which is exactly what is required to be a great rebounder. I've told this story a million times. Former Pitt center, and now San Antonio Spur power forward, DeJuan Blair was an undersized center at 6' 7" and he also happend to play without ACL's in EITHER knee!! Yet he was able to vacuum in rebounds at an astonishing rate of 12 per game his senior year. For Blair, rebounding was an act of shear will and that is something that is sorely missing in Jennings' game. Terrence doesn't lack intensity the whole time because he did come up with 3 blocked shots, it's just that he needs to bring it every second of every game.

Reginald Delk D: In 17 minutes of play, Delk came up with 0 points, 1 rebound and 0 assists. Delk was a ghost in this game. I will never understand Coach Pitino's crazed persistence to leave upper-classman in a game when it is more than obvious that he is having a bad game. That is why you have a thing called a bench to put another player in to spell another player. Read on to find out who that other player could have been.

Mike Marra ?: For the third straight game Marra played zero minutes. Whether Marra kicked Pitinos dog or he forgot to bring doughnuts one time too many, we the paying public should know why in the world he has been turned into a modern day Rodrick Rhodes. I just don't get it.

Peyton Siva A+: Yeah, the grades a little high, but for a freshman point guard to perform the way he did in a big time must-win game in the Big East in enemy territory, he earned every bit of that A+. In only 17 minutes of play, Siva scored 8 points on 3 of 7 from the field with 2 three pointers, had 5 assists, got his quick hands on 3 steals and commited ZERO turnovers! Sivas performance was stellar as he was the key to the Cardinals comeback. What I did not understand at all was Coach Pitinos decision to take Siva out of the game for a slumping Sosa. As soon as Sosa came into the game, the 7 point lead that was built ,as a direct result of Siva, was gone in a matter of minutes. Taking out a younger player who's having a career game to keep a seniors mindset positive makes no sense to me. You keep the player, no matter what year he is, that is playing the best game at that time.

Preston Knowles A: Preston was terrific coming off the bench, scoring 12 points and getting 3 steals in 18 minutes of play. It seems like he's back to his super-sub form and that couldn't have come at a better time. Preston hit huge shots late and played superb defense and I have no question that he will get even better as his nagging injuries seemed to have finally worn off.

Jared Swopshire B: Jared a had bad shooting day, scoring 8 points on 3 of 11 shooting, but as usual his work ethic showed up on other parts of the stat sheet. He had 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. If only the rest of some of the players like Terrence, Samardo and Jerry had the no quit attitude of Jared, there is no telling where this team would be in the standings right now.

There you have it folks, my first report card for the UofL/UConn game. UofL needs one more win to solidify their spot in the NCAA's. The Cardinals should be able to ride the confidence from this game into Tuesdays game at 9:30 on ESPNU against Marquette at The Bradley Center. It's good to see the urgency from most of the players on the floor and especially on the scoreboard. The wild ride continues.

By the Numbers: Player Impact

2010-02-25T23:05:00.000-05:00

NCAA Basketball

Strong & Jurich Talked in October?

2010-02-25T20:04:00.004-05:00

According to those in attendance and a fellow blogger, Tom Jurich said he talked to Charlie Strong about the Cardinal head-coaching job back in October. Jurich and Strong were speaking at a Churchill Downs Turf Club meet & greet Wednesday night. Jurich was introducing Strong and spilled the beans a little. From Paul Sykes of UofLCardGame.com...

The plan to replace Steve Kragthorpe as football coach intensified after
former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy repeatedly confirmed Jurich’s
beliefs about Strong as the ideal candidate to take over Cardinal football.

U of L maintained contact with Strong during his final season as
Florida defensive coordinator. Strong told Jurich after the Florida vs. Arkansas
game in October, “There comes a time when you have to make a change in your life and Louisville is the place I want to be.”

Tony Dungy just went up 265,456 spots in my favorite people on Earth list after hearing that. Louisville fans should send that guy a Christmas card and when Strong wins a BCS bowl, Dungy should get a ring.

Although extremely awesome, this is in sharp contrast to the way the Louisville athletic department treated a story I wrote on OCTOBER, 7th for LouisvilleSportsBuzz.com. I was told by people that would have no reason to lead me wrong that Jurich had been searching for potential replacements for a coach who's name I won't make you cringe with. The story and I were then called "bogus" "erroneous" and "irresponsible" by everyone sans a few friends and truth bearers. These comments from Jurich further reassure that in October he was looking for new coaches, basically letting Kragthorpe ride-out the season as a lame-duck. Any claims to the contrary are bogus, erroneous, and irresponsible.

Did a meeting take place during the season? Yes. Was Kra..err...that coach present? That I am not sure of now. From what I understand, he was a gone after the PITT debacle on October 2nd. Jurich then told the in-the-know people that the mess was going to be cleaned up. The story was written October 7. The details thereafter are irrelevant.

I know it's like beating a dead-horse, but I want to reassure that when there's a report on here, it doesn't come out of thin air. We take a lot of pride in not writing rumors and innuendo unless we indicate that. The good thing is the Cards have a so-far spectacular new coach in Charlie Strong and that coach going to be out of sight, out of mind.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER (I have no life otherwise) - @RobJonesLyes

Pitino Watches Teague & More Cool Stuff

2010-02-25T06:21:00.000-05:00

- Good read by Matt Norlander of College Hoops Journal on how God-awful, terrible, disastrous, vile, horrid, atrocious, reprehensible, nauseating (plus any other synonym for dreadful you can come up with) the Big East officiating has been this year. This is not just a Louisville thing. There are some other pissed off individuals that have rooting interests elsewhere.

- Jody Demling said on his blog that Rick Pitino has been blazing the recruiting trail in the last week. First he saw 2011 commit Wayne Blackshear lead his Chicago Morgan Park team to the public school championship. Saturday he watched 2010 preferred walk-on Elisha Justice play against J'Town & Sunday he visited Huntington Prep - home of 2010 commit Justin Coleman and recruit Gorgui Sy Dieng. After spending a couple days to prepare for Georgetown, Pitino went to Conseco Fieldhouse last night to see prized recruit Marquis Teague's (pictured left) Indy Pike team defeat Lawrence North with the already committed Michael Chandler and Ryan Taylor. For a guy that's lost his passion, recruiting edge, and is taking the first plane he can get out of Louisville is sure spending a lot of time reassure the team's future.

- Speaking of Pitino, Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News had some interesting things to say regarding his return to the NBA...

1. What do you make of the reports that Louisville's Rick Pitino is
interested in the Nets' job?

DeCourcy: He already has issued an emphatic denial—which, of
course, he did when a similar story was reported regarding the Sacramento Kings
last spring. And that story was true. The Kings were contacted by someone
representing Pitino's interests. So I believe someone got in touch with the Nets
on Pitino's behalf.
The fact these stories are leaking, though, indicates
he's not being well-received at the NBA level. If your organization were serious
about getting a deal done with Pitino, you wouldn't want your intentions
bleeding all over the Internet months before an agreement is likely to be
consummated.
It's easy to understand, given the developments in his personal
life over the past year, why Louisville might no longer be a comfortable place
to live. Moving to another college would appear odd and awkward, and he'd likely
have to take a lesser (and lesser-paying) job if he did. The NBA would be a more
logical direction.
Pitino told ESPN.com, "I'm done with professional
basketball. I've put the professional ranks behind me." But these stories
suggest it's really more the other way around.

- Seedy K (CD Kaplan) of the LEO breaks down the Georgetown game as only Seedy K can. Couple good points on the lack of enthusiasm by the Freedom Hall faithful and a great anecdote about Samuels yelling at Sosa and demanding the ball. both pretty obvious statements, but the paper (C-J) or recruiting sites (Scout, Rivals) failed to mention it for some reason...

- Here's a two-part interview with potential 2011 recruit from Chicago Mike Shaw. It has been said that Shaw and Blackshear would be a "package deal" & with Blackshear recently committed, it looked good for the Cards. However, things may have changed a bit, but I'm sure Pitino is still going strong after the kid. He's a 5-star and ranked in the top 20 by most recruiting services.

Part 1 - Mike Shaw Interview

Part 2 - Mike Shaw Interview

- Not liking the attitude I am seeing from many Louisville fans on social media and message boards about Tuesday's loss. They went from NCAA noise-maker to NIT hopeful that fast? Let's be serious. Bottom line is Georgetown is one of the 10 best teams in the country and the Cards didn't play terrible at all. Austin Freeman wasn't letting anyone in the country beat the Hoyas and that includes Kansas, Syracuse and Kentucky. 2 more wins and the cards are definitely dancing. I'm hard on the team as much as the next guy, but you can't completely throw away the last 3 games after the performance Tuesday. A win at UCONN and the detractors will jump right back on the bandwagon. If Louisville fails to make the tournament after the stellar play they have shown since the loss to St. John's I would be completely shocked. Unfortunately, I wouldn't put it past this team to pull a shocker

Sosa's Roland Rating

2010-02-24T23:00:00.001-05:00

Here's an explaination of the Roland Ratings from 82games.com. It's a pretty cool way to gauge a player's value when he is on and off the court...

The main components of the 'Roland Ratings' are a production measure (a variant of John Hollinger's PER rating) for a player's own stats versus the counterpart player on the other team while he is on the court, as well as a simple on court/off court plus minus. This rating is actually more of a placeholder until the more sophisticated analysis we produce is made public, but still offers a good fast read on player performance.

College Basketball

Well That Sucked...

2010-02-24T21:15:00.001-05:00

It hasn't been 24 hours since the defeat so I have trouble separating my anger as a fan with trying to write something that doesn't make me look like Matt Jones. The Snowman already did a good job with breaking it down. Here are just a few thoughts I had from another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory for the Cards last night...

Edgar, Edgar, Edgar

Edgar Sosa had a good game with 24 pts 8 ast 1 TO, but without sounding like a broken record, it could have been great. Sosa had his lowest plus/minus rating (-2) of any loss the Cards have had all season. Sos' had great success taking the ball violently to the hoop and finishing in the first half, yet his luck (as the whole teams did) ran out in the second half. It looked to me like he was trying to do too much. Can't really blame him though with the rest of the team far from effective. The 8/1 AST/TO ratio has to be his highest in a long, long time. That's the thing with Eddie, even after a game like this he gets heavily criticized - rightfully or not.

Assists...or lack thereof

The senior back-court of Jerry Smith & Sosa had 11 assists. The rest of the team had as many as Chris Brickley & Clarence Holloway combined... ZERO. The main culprit in this stat is Samardo, who has to learn how to pass out of the post. I have flashbacks of Clifford Rozier whenever he gets the ball. He's played great, but it's like throwing the ball into the Grand Canyon - it ain't coming back.

The Quiet Killer : Austin Freeman

I'm not saying this just because he dropped 24 in the second half, almost single-handedly outscoring the whole Cards' team, but Austin Freeman is going to have at least a 10-year career in the NBA. No questions asked. He is Big East top-10 in minutes played, pts per game, field goal & free throw percentage. The sub-par Louisville defense left him open on a couple, but at least 3 of his perfect 6-6 treys in the half came with a defender in his jersey. Freeman is familiar with Freedom Hall - playing one other game with G'Town - but also was a member of the McDonald's AA team taht included Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo, Michael Beasley, Kevin Love & Eric Gordon. Freeman doesn't stick out because of his demeanor, but is definitely one of the nation's best.

A Swop, A Buck, or a TJ?

Jared Swopshire is going to be a great ball-player here one day. However, I have been watching basketball for years and can't put my finger on what separates him from Terrence Jennings & Rakeem Buckles when it comes to playing time. I've quit trying to figure it out and have just accepted that's how it is. I'm sure Pitino has his reasons, but his rotation has been strange all season. Last night Swop's +/- was a whopping -16 and he was constantly getting beat in his defensive responsibilities. On the other hand in less minutes, TJ & Buck combined for a +/- of (+1) and both either matched or outscored Swop. The only thing Swop has done better consistently all season is foul less.

At least we have the first half, right?

"We played a perfect first half". Straight from the mouth of Coach Pitino following the game and seconded by anyone that's followed the Cards this year. Sosa had 13, Delk 11 and the defense was holding the Hoyas to 37% shooting. The Cards didn't have their first turnover until the 3:35 mark and gave up zero second-chance points. For that one half, people actually saw the potential of this team. That all changed in the second half... I don't wanna talk about it....

Loss doesn't sting too bad

NCAA hopes didn't take as big of a bruise as the Cards' ego probably did. It would have been another marquee win to add to the resume, but the loss was not crippling. RPI rating slipped to #39. Strength of Schedule stayed strong at 4th. A lot of the talking-heads on ESPN were doubting the teams ability this morning though. I would be more worried of this team giving up yet another lead in the second half and what further damage it did to their psyche than this loss killing or cramping NCAA hopes. 2 of the next 3 would be golden, one would mean some work would need to be done at MSG, zero and Syracuse might not be the last game at the Hall.

A Tale Of Two Halves

2010-02-24T16:05:00.009-05:00

Dr. Jekyll reared his ugly head last night at Freedom Hall, this time in the form of, junior guard for the #13th ranked Georgetown Hoyas,Austin Freeman, and the Louisville Cardinals defense in the second. After being held to 5 points in the first half, Freeman simply erupted for 24 points in the second half finishing with 29 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field, 5 of 6 from the 3 point line(all 5 in the second half), and a perfect 6 0f 6 from the free throw line.In the first half, the Cardinals defense was superb against the Hoyas, keeping their stars, Greg Monroe and Austin Freeman, in check. The Hoyas went into the half down 6, 29 -35. When the second half began, Austin Freeman and his teammates, came out a completely different team. Freeman scored the first 8 points ,all in 2 minutes, for the Hoyas on two three pointers and a putback. From there, they went on a 24 -3 run that turned a 29-35 deficit at the half into a 53-38 lead in the middle of the second half, and at that point, the finish was academic.(Did I type the word half, enough?) The Cardinals had no answers on the offensive end in the second period, missing shot after shot from all over the basketball court, be it down low or from the 3 point line.

The lone positive performance for the Cardinals came from senior point guard Edgar Sosa, who scored 24 points, handed out 8 assists, and only had 1 turnover. To me the numbers don't tell the whole story. Sosa got a large majority of his points doing his usual move of putting his head down and making a bullrush for the basket. In these forays to the rim, Sosa is NEVER looking to pass out to an open teammate to get others involved, thus making him a one man team and offensively inefficient. This also poses a problem on the defensive transition because, instead of traditionally having 2 guards to get back on defense, you have only 1 guard exposed on a fast break when Sosa is stuck under the basket.

Sophomore power forward Samardo Samuels was held largely in check all night, only scoring 11 points on 5 of 12 shooting from the field. He only secured 6 rebounds and the most troubling stat line was his 0 assists. In a night where he was doubled, and sometimes triple teamed, the entire game, his lack of ability to pass the ball out to the open man proved to be one of the Cardinals undoing.

Samuels' opposition, sophomore center Greg Monroe, basically lit up Samuels on all facets of the game. Monroe ended up with 16 points 14 rebounds and 5 timely assists. Monroe could do anything he wanted against Samuels at anytime. He used numerous post moves in and around the basket to run circles against a seemingly flat-footed Samuels. Unlike Samuels, Monroe was constantly aware of the defense coming at him, therefore he was able to dish out assists when and where his teammates needed it. The kid is an instant lottery pick.

Sophomore center for the Cardinals, Terrence Jennings, played for most of the first half and had 4 points and 2 rebounds. I thought he did a good job of containing Monroe and the Hoyas down low in the first half. But then Jennings' nightmare season continued, where he saw the court sparingly. Clearly there is something behind the scenes that is going on between Coach Pitino and Jennings, that noone knows about. After a more than positive game against DePaul, I just don't think these random benchings help these kids confidence at all.

Speaking of random benchings, WHERE IS MIKE MARRA? After a, for Marra, breakout game against one of the best defenses in the country in Syracuse, he has played ZERO minutes in the past two games! What is going on here? When you ask Coach Pitino, he'll give you the old standby, "wasn't the right matchup". Of all games, Marra would have been perfect to stretch a defense that was clearly clogging the middle to keep the ball out of Samardo Samuels' hands. As I said before, I don't see how benching a kid for two whole games helps this kids already fragile confidence on any level.

The Louisville Cardinals' next game will be in Storrs, Connecticut against the UConn Huskies at 2pm Sunday on CBS. This will be a completely different team than the last one that played at Freedom Hall without their head coach Jim Calhoun. Calhoun gives his players a fire, fight and desire that was sorely missed during his medical absence. This game will have two hungry teams fighting for their lives to get into the tournament. It will all break down to (Sports Cliche' Alert!!) who wants it more.

Who is Elite in College Basketball Coaching Ranks.... Simple Math Tells The Story

2010-02-24T11:32:00.000-05:00

   There has been much controversy and debate over a local Kentucky sports writer's column on a national sports page. Matt Jones who runs KentuckySportsRadio.com got a chance to travel and report for CBSSports.com. After attending the Louisville, Depaul game in Chicago this past weekend, it inspired him to write an article bashing his teams former coach Rick Pitino. He wrote how Pitino is a mere shell of his former self and has basically fallen out of relevance when it comes to top college basketball coaches. Now Rick was King of the Hill in his days at Kentucky during the 90's and is no longer top of the pops. But he is still very relevant in his profession.

   As a writer for L YES! I also run another sports website WIDESPREAD SPORTS which covers local and national sporting news. We decided to rank the top 10 coaches over the last 5 years based on where there teams finished in the NCAA tournament. We came up with a mathematical formula to rank the coaches with out being bias or including our own opinion, and we wanted to share it with the readers of L YES! Here is the key to how the coaches were scored.

   Won National Title = 10pts National Champion Runner Up = 8pts Final Four = 6pts

Elite Eight = 4pts Sweet Sixteen = 2pts First Round Advance = 1 Point Didn't Make Tourney = -2

Let's now see how this list shakes out. There are a few surprises, but overall things look pretty consistent with the current state of college basketball. If you have any comments about the list we have put together you can let you voice be heard by visiting out webpage WIDESPREAD SPORTS and becoming a fan of ours on facebook

(number next to the coaches names represent the number of points the coaches scored)

1-Roy Williams-31

2-Ben Howland-21

3-Tom Izzo-17

4-Bill Self-16

5-Billy Donovan-16

6-Jay Wright-14

7-Rick Pitino -13

8-Jim Calhoun-9

9-Jamie Dixon-8

10-Bruce Pearl-8

List Notables:

No Surprise at #1 Roy Williams has won 2 National Titles
Tom Izzo and Ben Howland have been nothing but consistent in the NCAA tournament
Billy Donovan has had a rough past few years but won back to back National Titles, though is stock is falling
Rick Pitino in at #7 proves he truly isn't washed up and is still a very good coach
Bruce Pearl just barley makes the list by making 3 sweet 16's n the last 5 years, one with Milwaukee
Coach John Calipari misses being on the list because of a stripped appearance in the National Title, but is rapidly climbing this list.
Coach K I think would normally be listed as a top 10 coach, just not based on his last 5 years in the ncaa tournament

8 Hoya Paranoia Thoughts

2010-02-22T21:37:00.005-05:00

8 thoughts going into the second-to-last game ever at Freedom Hall (I'm not listening to you NIT guys)....

- I think it's absolutely marvelous that the last two teams to visit Freedom Hall are traditional powers like Georgetown & Syracuse. The closing of such a legendary place might have lost a little luster if the Cards welcomed Stan Heath & Bobby Gonzalez instead of JT3 & Jim Boeheim. The atmosohere should be iincredibly electric for both - giving the Cards even more of a home-court advantage than they already have. By the way, anybody have an extra ticket to either? I'll buy the pork burgers & crack beers all night.

- People are asking why Ron Mercer is always at games, sitting between the end of the bench and the man, myth and legend Kenny Klein. I have heard that Mercer wants to get into coaching, but needs to get a degree first before anyone considers him for a job. Like Walter McCarty, Mercer's NBA experience can do nothing but help in both Xs & Os and recruiting. It's all speculation, but I'm sure he's waiting for a spot to open up on the Cards' staff. Do we really want another UK retread on our bench? I'd rather have Andre McGee or Ellis Myles holding a clipboard.

- These are also the final 2 home games for Edgar Sosa. I know he's not the only senior, but he is the most polarizing. He's been dribbling the ball too much, taking bad shots, and playing poor defense. However, his play is essential to any success the Cards are going to have moving forward. Sos' is the type of player the needs appreciation and recognition as was evident when he claimed he wasn't getting enough attention for his play early in the year. If you're in front of your TV, cuss him all you want. But I wouldn't chastise Sosa at the Hall - a consequence could be poor play. I use the Steve Kragthorpe gauge when it comes to booing - only boo if they ruin your program and set it back 5 years. Sosa hasn't done that at all.

- The Bracket Matrix is a great barometer for all the different Bracketology's from around the information superhighway. The site averages about 50 different projections and makes one monster sheet. Currently Louisville sits at an average of a #9 seed. RealtimeRPI.com & some nerd named Schmolik put the Cards as a #7 seed (highest of any bracket). 4 sites (one being SportsIllustrated) projected a #12 seed (lowest). Six big East teams made the cut with UCONN, Cincy, and Seton Hall being a part of the last 8 out. For the record, G'Town is currently the highest #3 seed and Syracuse a #1 (3rd overall)

- From what I've watched of the Hoyas this year, they have 3 guys that can beat you. Austin Freeman is a husky shooter who rarely makes a mistake. Seems like an extension of JT3 almost. PG Chris Wright is pretty spuratic with the ball at times, but shows flashes of brilliance others. G'Town plays a Princeton-style offense full of backdoor cuts, relying a lot on the point making the right pass at the right time. If Wright is struggling with the ball, look for Freeman to take control of the ball-handling duties. The third amigo is a guy Louisville was strong after coming out of high school, Greg Monroe. The 6-10 forward started off the season strong, struggled during the middle, and now if back to his early season form. He will give the Cards' defense the most problems because of his size and quickness. Monroe is too big for Swop, too fast for Mardo, & too active for TJ. Now that I say that, he will put up an 0-fer...

- I was never a fan of the senior John Thompson who coached Georgetown during their glory years of Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson. He always seemed too pissed off all the time and a reverse racist for never having any white-boys on his team. It seemed to a youngster that he was doing it on purpose. However, I'm having trouble not like his son, JT3. Great coach, great recruiter, well-spoken. Still no white-boys though. I don't get it - other than the far-less-athletic part.

- T-Will has to have more SportsCenter top 10's per minutes played than anyone not named Jason McElwain. Another night, another rim-rattling dunk for the NJ Nets rookie. How this guy didn't get into the dunk contest over someone like Gerald Wallace is absolutely baffling to me. i need to get the Sports Guy on this.

- A week after Pitino said that he was shutting George Goode for the season, the allegedly-injured forward played the last 30 seconds of the first half against DePaul Saturday. Further proof that you can't trust 90% of the stuff Pitino says in press conferences. I don't think the guy likes Rally's as much as he say he does either.

Who's gonna hand the ball to Vic next year?

2010-02-22T21:10:00.005-05:00

The lack of production at the quarterback position last year was almost laughable. With Offensive Coordinator Mike Sanford implementing an entirely new system, we should rarely go to many new snaps without seeing the ball in a play-makers hands. Sanford is best known for being Urban Meyer's OC at Utah during the days of number one pick Alex Smith. Some say that Sanford had little to do with designing Meyer's offense but there's no doubt that he gained plenty of experience and knowledge of a great system. The Utes went 12-0 in 2004 and we literally unchallenged in every game. The offense was headlined by Smith but the team rushed for more touchdowns than they threw, and as a team they rushed for nearly 3,000 yards. It will be key for our running backs and receivers to get the ball in their hands as often as possible because none of our quarterbacks has the complete package for this system like Smith did.

Our issues at the quarterback position could make up an entire post so I won't get into it too much. But between Justin Burke's "injuries", Adam Froman's inaccuracies, and Will Stein's lack of arm strength, the cards offense had a tough time finding a suitable signal caller. It's anybody's guess who has the best shot at being the starter to open the season but Froman would seem to have an edge because of his mobility and game experience. However, he seemed flustered at times and lacked touch on his passes, neither of which works in a spread offense based on timing. Justin Burke started the 2009 strong with an impressive showing at Kentucky, but he tailed off after getting injured. ( I think. Our former coach guarded injury reports like an ugly girl guards her makeup) I could easily see him impressing the new coaching staff with his short passing accuracy and intangibles. He actually might be a better fit than Froman because he is less of a scrambler and most west-coast based systems are all about making a read and getting rid of the ball.

However, Coach Strong might decide to start from scratch and give one of the three quarterbacks he signed in the 2010 class a shot at it. Freshman Dominique Brown is the name that most Cards fans expect to hear a lot of for the next few years. Brown reminds me a lot of former Bowling Green star Josh Harris. He has tons of raw talent and athleticism, and with the system being based around short passes and quick screens, his lack of passing polish shouldn't be as much of an issue. I personally see him being at least a "wildcat" type of option from day one. Fellow freshman Luke Woodley enrolled in January and he will have an obvious leg up on the competition. Woodley is much more of a pocket passer, but his frame and passing technique gives him a good chance at flourishing early. Coach Strong has said that he will start freshman Marcus Smith off at the quarterback position but in my honest opinion I don't see him lasting very long there. This guy is a long fluid athlete and would be better used as a receiver or safety. Everything that I have read on him seems to say that he is open to play any position.

All of this could be moot by the beginning of next season with the verbal commitment of local standout DeMarcus Smith. Smith is being touted as one of the top quarterbacks in the country by every major recruiting service, and will most likely be the top recruit in the 2011 class. As of now Coach Strong doesn't look to be recruiting any other signal callers but Floridian Teddy Bridgewater might want to hook back up with two of his now former targets in Michaelee Harris and Corvin Lamb. With a couple of seniors and a good crop of young guys the position is looking up for the next few seasons.

The deep running back position will be next....

In Defense of Our Coach

2010-02-22T17:12:00.005-05:00

This is in direct response to the ludicrous claims by KentuckySportsRadio.com blogger Matt Jones on CBSSports.com that Rick Pitino has lost his luster. Let me preface this by saying I consider Jones a great-friend. We have worked together for the last couple years in radio & print and I have a great deal of respect for him & his work. With that being said, he over-stepped his boundaries this time on a national scale. This is an article that Jones has been waiting for the opportunity to write since Tom Jurich introduced his former hero as head-man of Jones' heated-rival in 2001.

Jones is an avid UK fan/blogger and should not have even been given the opportunity by a national media outlet to absolutely bash his rival's coach who used to coach the program he loves so dearly. This would be the equivalent of a jealous ex-boyfriend creating a Match.com profile for a heart-breaking ex-girlfriend - a well-constructed slug-fest that makes the writer feel better about himself for what she did, but forgetting that she was the best thing to happen to him. Sometimes you have to look at the conveyor and what his/her underlying issues are. Unfortunately, most casual basketball fans have no-idea that the writer of this certain piece is a hate-mongerer for everything Louisville and especially Rick Pitino.

UK fans (Jones included) will be forever bitter that the coach that put their program back on the map is now coaching their arch nemesis. They will jump to bash Pitino at any opportunity because they feel he is a traitor. Jones considers himself the talking-head for blue-bloods, thus seizing this liberty of writing on a national site to do just that: Demonize Rick Pitino not for what he has done at Louisville, but what he did to the Kayuts.

In the article, Jones is quick to point out the inconsistencies of this season without a mere mention of the team's success last year and the 2 lottery picks that departed. Louisville was the #1 overall seed last season and in the last 5 years have been prosperous to say the least with 3 Elite Eights, one Final Four, and a conference title in what was the best league college basketball has seen in 30 years. Most teams would dream of that kind of achievement in that span, including the blue-bloods who Jones worships. In that same time-period, Kentucky has only been past the first weekend of the tournament once.

The Syper-incident has become a complete afterthought, yet Jones used his platform to bring it up like a couch-burning, battery-slinging West Virginia fan. The only way the incident affected Pitino's coaching this season was a few scattered chants from opposing student-sections. Jones' attempt to bring this back to the forefront is case-and-point to these mud-slinging tactics. It would be like me bringing up Chris Mills, Eddie Sutton, and Emory packages.

Saying this team has no talent is absolutely proposterous. Just a few examples: Samardo Samuels was the National Player of the Year as a senior. Peyton Siva was named to the McDonald's All-American team just last season. Jerry Smith is the only player to win multiple Wisconsin Mr. Basketball's. Pitino has also been snake-bitten by multiple players leaving for the pros, something he never had to deal with at Kentucky. Imagine if he knew Sebastian Telfair, Jeremy Tyler, Amir Johnson, James Lang, and Donta Smith weren't ever going to show up on campus. Guys like Rajon Rondo would have been wearing Cardinal red instead. Also imagine if players were jumping from prep-to-pro in his Kentucky days. Ron Mercer, Antoine Walker and others wouldn't even know where Lexington is.

Not to mention the Cards have played worlds better than their 18-9 record indicates. The ball bounces a certain way and referees remove their heads from their posteriors, Pitino's team is in the top 10 at 22-5. Two potential #1 seed this year (Villanova & West Virginia) can say that they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the Cards. That's no excuse for the inexplicable losses, but Pitino's team has proven they can consistently compete with the nation's best this year.

The world is full of hypocrites. People that are angered when something doesn't support their particular theory, but are pronto to pile on when patronage is helpful in their thesis. UK fans & Jones are a perfect example of this. Whenever a national writer says something critical of their team, they cast them off like a leper. They bashed Jeff Goodman of FoxSports for saying Billy Gilispie was a terrible coach last season and vilified ESPN's Pat Forde for questioning the recruiting ethics of John Calipari this season. Most passionate, knowledgeable college hoops followers would agree what both writers said was true. Of course, not the blue bloods.

Remember, just two short years ago the current savior of UK basketball, John Calipari, was not even considered as an option to replace Tubby Smith because of his seedy recruiting practices and NCAA delinquency. UK was not going to stand for what Cal stood for. They were past buying titles and constantly being under NCAA investigation. Funny how two years changes the opinion of a whole fan base. Now, according to blue-bloods, Cal can do no wrong and everyone else is just envious of what a program a year-removed from the NIT has become. Before projecting our coach as a washed-up shadow of himself, maybe they should think about how the University of Kentucky completely sold what little soul they still had for a quick-fix. if there is a God, it will come back and bite them in their over-indulging ass.

So take this Matt Jones article with a grain of salt. It might as well have been a message board post on CatsPause.com. Just a bitter UK fan expressing his opinion on the national media stage. However, it has been the topic of conversation amongst many in Cardinal nation, so it needed to be addressed and shot down.

Hopefully one day I will be given the same opportunity as Matt Jones to write something about my beloved team's rival on a website such as CBSSports.com. And when it happens, part of me hopes Calipari hasn't ditched the Big Blue Charlatans like our coach did.

Survive & Advance

2010-02-22T15:59:00.010-05:00

"Survive and Advance"

After another unnecessarily close game that needed an 11-2 run late in the second half against the DePaul Blue Demons, those 3 words uttered by N.C. States coach Jim Valvano almost 30 years ago, could not ring more true for this years Louisville Cardinal team. In a 68-59 win at DePaul, the Cardinals seemed sluggish on both the offensive and defensive end against an inferior team at every level. Senior point guard, Edgar Sosa, led the way for the Cardinals with 13 points on 4 0f 5 shooting from the field and a perfect 5 0f 5 from the free throw line, all in only 18 minutes of play, due to late game foul trouble. Sosa truly shined on shot selection and in the assist department. Passing out 7 assists and only commiting 2 turnovers, this was one of Sosas best games of the year. He couldn't have picked a better time to start heating up.

We have a Terrence Jennings sighting. Like Punxsutawney Phil, coach Rick Pitino let Jennings out of his doghouse long enough to finally have an effective game. The sophomore forward got 9 points on 4 of 6 shooting from the field, grabbed 9 rebounds with 4 rebounds on the offensive end, and blocked 4 shots. The only negative to his game was his still awful shooting at the free throw line, where he shot 1 of 4 for a measley 25%. Coach Pitino touts his individual workout sessions for his players all the time. Well, why doesn't the coaching staff work on Jennings' free throws EVERY DAY, in these individual sessions? One other question I have is, why does Terrence Jennings not have at least ONE go-to post move after almost 2 years? I just don't understand why he has not improved in that area.

After scoring 36 points in his last game against Notre Dame, sophomore center, Samardo Samuels had a slightly better than average game with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field and coming up with only 3 rebounds. Against a clearly physically inferior team, Samuels should have dominated the low post, offensively, all day long. He should have made regular trips to the free throw line also, but instead, got to the line ony twice all game long. Another disturbing trend is Samuels' lack of rebounding. Whether it be his lack of fire or technique, something has to change for the Cardinals to make any kind of run, come tournament time.

Sophomore forward Jared Swopshire didn't have a good shooting night, but like any good basketball player, he put his imprint on the game in other parts of the stat line. Along with 5 points, Swopshire garnered 7 rebounds, dished out 5 assists and had 2 steals. Better get used to loving Jared Swopshire, Cardinal fans. Thrust into the power forward position early in the season, when coach Pitino benched Terrence Jennings, Swopshire struggled as an undersized player at that position. Since then, Swopshire has thrived after being moved back to his natural small forward position. He reminds me of a Garcia/Prince type player. A jack-of-all-trades master of none, type of player. Hustles all the time, especially at the rebounding and defensive end.

On the DePaul Blue Demons side, the ONLY bright spot was junior forward/center Mac Koshwal. He had an impressive outing, scoring 26 points on 11 of 16 from the field and garnering 10 rebounds. The Blue Demons best shooter, senior guard Will Walker, had what could only be described as a nightmare shooting day. He shot 2 of 14 from the field and 0 for 7 from the three point line, to only come up with 6 points. I counted at least 5 airballs from Walker. 2 airballs in a game are bad, but to shoot 5 airballs at home, is inexcusable.

Well, the Cardinals got another win, which, at the end of the day is all that counts. It's just frustrating to struggle against an opponent that is at the absolute bottom of the conference at 1-13. One problem I have with this team is never knowing which player is going to show up, game after game. On some levels, that problem can also be a good thing towards opposing teams defensive gameplanning. This Cardinal team is a true Jekyll and Hyde team, never knowing which team is going to come onto the floor. Luckily, right now, they are playing more like Jekyll. On Tuesday, Louisville is going to need everybody to show up, when the Georgetown Hoyas visit Freedom Hall. Georgetown is a really smart and always physically tough basketball team that the Cardinals will have to play a really good game against to get a win. Let's hope we see alot of Dr Jekyll's in white uniforms Tuesday.

Is This Harangody or Jack Cooley??

2010-02-18T20:34:00.003-05:00

Were we the only people to think that Notre Dame's supposed scrub-freshman Jack Cooley looked like Luke Harangody's clone last night? A little slower of foot? Less-athletic? Weaker? Just like a real clone would be. I'm convinced. They even have the same Frankenstein-like hair-cut....

Find out the answer to this question & break-down last night's game that took many years off our lives on the live Evening Buzz podcast tonight at 9 PM EST with myself and Trevor "Bacon" Kelsey. The knowledge flows like the salmon of Capistrano....

PODCAST - CLICK HERE

Irish Eyes Are Smiling, On The Cards. Finally

2010-02-18T15:54:00.006-05:00

After a January where they suffered bad break after bad break, luck has finally turned the Louisville Cardinals way. It continued with a hard fought, double overtime, 91-89 win against Notre Dame at Freedom Hall. From the beginning, Coach Rick Pitino drew up a gameplan that would include a steady diet of Samardo Samuels. The Cardinals dumped the ball down low, early and often, and the sophomore center responded with 36 points on 10 0f 19 from the field and an outstanding 16 of 19 from the free throw line.

On the defensive end, Louisville did more than a serviceable job, pressing in it's usual tireless manner and being no less than pesky in their trapping 2-3 zone in their halfcourt defense. At the freethrow line, the Cardinals were simply in a zone, shooting 35 of 40 from the free throw line on 87.5% shooting. Louisville also shot an excellent 8 of 17 from the three-point line for an efficient 47%.

Sophomore forward Jared Swopshire contributed greatly to the nights game, scoring 12 points and fighting for 9 rebounds. He was also very active on the defensive end with 3 blocked shots. Senior point guard, Edgar Sosa, chipped in with 12 points and 4 assists. I'm still having a hard time understanding how Sosa, after 4 years at point guard, continues to settle for defended jumpshots, instead of the extra pass, when double-teamed.

On the Notre Dame side, junior forward Tim Abromaitis more than held his own against Louisville's stifling defense. He shot a brilliant 11 for 18 from the field, 2 for 4 from the 3 point line, and 5 for 6 from the free-throw line. Abromaitis has a fundamentally sound, consistent, and smooth shooting stroke. Like the analysts say, he has a shooting form that, when he misses, you're surprised. Senior point guard, Tory Jackson, had an outstanding game with 19 points and 7 assists. He also played all 40 minutes of regulation, and all of both 5 minute overtimes. Senior point guard , Ben Hansbrough, (who will ALWAYS be known as Tyler's brother), added 21 points and 8 rebounds for the Fighting Irish.

At this time of year, no matter how pretty or ugly, you can never argue with a win. Yeah it was a little less than pretty, but Louisville never gave up on the effort the entire night, and that was a very good thing to see from this sometimes ill-focused team. The next game is at Depaul, at 2:00, on Saturday. This Cardinals team should, and with this team I stress the word should, win this game pretty handily and distance us even further away from the dreaded NCAA Tournament Bubble. All in all I was pleased with this team, and this game, tonight and look forward to seeing if they can string some more wins together. You certainly can't say that this team is lacking in drama. Stay tuned for game notes later tonight.

Louisville: By the Numbers

2010-02-17T04:05:00.007-05:00

You can tell a lot about a team by looking deep into the statistics. Since I have nothing better to do than wonder why the Cards don't have a better record and haven't been able to close games, I decided to spend a snow day gathering a massive amount of statistical information. I'm not going to bore you with all the useless information, but here are some of the highlights of my findings...

The computer rankings are very generous to Pitino's squad due to the fact they have played a top 10 schedule and (besides Western Carolina & St John's) have lost to tournament caliber teams. Here's how they shake out...

RPI - 32. Strength of Schedule - 4

Pomeroy - 26. Luck Rating - 315 of 347

Sagarin - 34. Strength of Schedule - 28

RPI Rankings on particular date...

11/17 - After 1st game of season - 9

12/16 - After Charlotte/W.Carolina losses - 104

01/09 - Before Villanova loss - 35

01/30 - After West Virginia loss - 46

02/14 - After Syracuse win - 32

4th in NCAA - Offensive Rebounds/game - 15.7

13th in NCAA - Points per Possession - 1.133

2nd in NCAA - Points per Game - 78.23

4th in NCAA - Assists per Game - 15.5

47th in NCAA - Rebounds per Game - 38.5

257th in NCAA - Defensive Rebounds per game - 22.7

Quick comment - This shows that this teams problem is not putting points on the board. Those offensive stats are up there with the best in the country. The biggest difference between this team and the previous 2 years is defense/defensive rebounding, bar none.

- Terrence Jennings is averaging only 13 minutes a game. However, if he somehow got to play 36 minutes a game he would presumably average 16 pts & 10 rebs. According to efficiency statistics, TJ is the most efficient Card offensively.

- Peyton Siva would average 16 pts & 6 ast in the same 36 minute scenario, but he would never make it that far because he averages 7.7 fouls/per 36

- People that say Samardo should touch the ball every time down the court are statistically correct. The big guy averages 1.1 points per play. That includes times when he gets to the foul-line and assists on a FG

-Jared Swopshire is 7th in the Big East conference in Free Throw percentage at 82%. Swop could be very effective if he played more agressive and got to the line more often. He ranks 37th in the Big East with only 76 FTAs

- In the Cards' last 5 losses (STJ, WVU, SHU, PITT, NOVA) the senior backcourt of Edgar Sosa & Jerry Smith are a combined minus 98 in the plus/minus system most commonly used in hockey. When they were on the court, the team was 98 points in the negative. Louisville lost those 5 games by a combined 38 points. In the same span (playing less minutes of course), the combo of Peyton Siva & Preston Knowles was only at a negative 12. That doesn't mean if they switched spots it would be any different, but it is very interesting.

- If Stevie Van Treese was forced to play 40 minutes a game for some odd reason that I hope I never see, He would average 8 pts 6 rebs 3 ast & 2 blks with an astonishing 5 TOs & 8 fouls. Let's hope this doesn't happen anytime soon...

Live Podcast Tonight at 9:30

2010-02-16T20:22:00.003-05:00

Trevor "Bacon" Kelsey, Rashaan Myers of InsidetheVille.com, and I will host a live call-in show tonight on BlogTalkRadio.com at 9:30 PM EST. Of course, we will breakdown the Cards' huge win over Syracuse on Sunday and what it means for their NCAA tournament chances. Coach Pitino had a presser today, so we will cover that as well.

Feel free to call-in toll-free at 646.381.4206 with your take on if the cards have finally seen the light or was Sunday's victory just a flash in the pan. Rashaan and myself can also answer any recruiting questions you might have with both the '10 & '11 basketball classes.

If you can't listen live, the show will be available onDemand at the BlogTalkRadio.com site or via the link "Evening Buzz Podcast" to the right on the L Yes! homepage. If you enjoy the site, you will enjoy the podcast. Check it out!

Back In the Thick of It

2010-02-16T19:16:00.002-05:00

"Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in"

After the utter disaster against St. John's last week, a lot of folks believed that the Cards had used up all their chances and were destined for the N.I.T. No way were they going to beat the #3 team in the country on the road after getting embarrassed by a Big East bottom-feeder by 20. The Cards showed no heart or effort against the Johnnies, so it was going to be more of the same against the 'Cuse. Right? The Cards were 15-10, 1-6 on the road, carrying multiple god-awful losses at home, and had zero notable wins to speak of. Fans were looking for answers and blaming everyone but Denny Crum himself for the poor performance.

Yet, like the famous Michael Corleone quote in Godfather III that Silvio Dante used to imitate to get a laugh from Tony on The Sopranos, the Cards pulled everyone back in. Just when almost all hope had been abandoned the Cards go into the Carrier Dome, come away with a victory, and bring back some optimism. Bracket-nerd Joe Lunardi said they were out of the dance, now they are in. Doug Gottlieb took some time out from stealing credit cards and calling Louisville a "bit-player" to sing praises to the Cards for their 66-60 victory. Fans who were ready to part ways with Coach Pitino (aka morons) now look at him salivating like a UK fan watching the John Wall dance on YouTube for the 76,645th time. Kind of funny how one game can make people do a complete 180 with their opinion. I've been called the biggest Cardinal apologist out there and I even thought things looked bleek for any March Madness festivities.

However awesome the victory on Sunday was, if the Cards don't take care of business down the home stretch it will be all for naught. Notre Dame, UCONN, & Marquette are fighting for their post-season lives. Louisville plays the latter two on the road where there record is still a dismal 2-6. Syracuse will be looking for revenge is the season finale and Georgetown has always played Pitino coached teams tough. Sprinkle in a trap game with DePaul and the terrain is looking rough in the next few weeks. As we have found out with the Cards' performance with big leads, nothing is guaranteed in such a competitive conference.

Pitino's troops will take this victory one of two ways: 1. They use it as a spring board to rejuvenate a team that looked on the brink of surrender or 2. They let the victory get to their ego and play over-confident. There is no in-between. Following with a home game should help. The Freedom Hall faithful can sense a team that is playing with a victory-hangover and will let the squad know as soon as the turn south is sniffed.

Even before the New year turned, anyone around the Louisville program pointed to the game at the Carrier Dome as one the Cards desperately needed to make up for some early-season slip-ups. They took care of business there. In the coming weeks they can avenge the bad losses even more with a few more good wins. The great thing about it is the Cards are now worthy of post-season conversation again. Something they couldn't say after the St. John's loss.

Dana O'Neil breaks down the Cards win at Syracuse

A little football during basketball season.

2010-02-15T15:01:00.006-05:00

With March Madness right around the corner and most cards fans devoting their attention to finishing strong in the Big East and the final few games at the world famous Freedom Hall. So I figured I would delve into the 2011 Louisville Cardinal football season with a little look into the depth chart. We'll start with Special Teams:

We've fallen very far from the days of Broderick Clark, Zek Parker, Nate Smith, and the immortal Art Carmody. With lone bright spot Trent Guy moving on to the next phase of his career, there isn't a lot to look forward to for the upcoming season when it comes to special teams. With that being said, I think that in the coming years we will have one of the best special teams units in the Big East. One of the positives to having coach Strong on the sidelines is the fact that he has worked with a handful of great coaches. And all great coaches understand that you have to be good in all three phases of the game. It doesn't get much better than working for Lou Holtz and Urban Meyer in that regard. Holtz of course coached "Rocket" Ismail and is known for bringing up special teams during his analysis on ESPN. Urban Meyer has put such a premium on special teams that players look at it as the highest honor to make the punt block team. That squad gets first dibs at training table and other special treatment. Hopefully coach Strong took a few things from these guys and it pays dividends.

The cupboard isn't completely bare on the special teams unit however. Kicker Chris Philpot proved to be extremely consistent down the stretch. He hit all five of his field goals, including a 44-yarder. He also had five kickoffs end up as touchbacks, which is somewhat rare at the college level. Odds are that he will be entrenched at the kicker spot for the next couple of years. Coach Strong has trimmed a lot of the fat from the roster so far and it shows at the kicker spot. Tim Doughtery and Ryan Payne are no longer listed on the depth chart and coach Strong brought in three kickers either by grayshirt or walk-on. Also look for Jay Wilmott and Johnathan Quintero as kicking prospects for the 2011 class.

Cory Geottsche has exhausted his eligibility so the first punt we see next year will be the first punt of that punters career. Jon Payne and Josh Bleser are the only punters on the roster with Payne earning two varsity letters in his three years here. Odds are that coach Strong will look to develop one of the kickers on the roster into a punter for the future.

Trent Guy was one of the most electrifying return men that we have had the pleasure of cheering on at UofL. He leaves a gaping hole at both return spots. But we have said this before and out of all of the skilled position guys that we have on the roster, there are a few that stand out as possible replacements for Guy. Jacques Caldwell is likely to get a chance at the kick and punt returner spots. He is a speedster that can hit the corner and flat out fly. Jeremy Wright is a redshirt freshman that should get an opportunity to show what he can do in the return game. He has a little more wiggle to his game than Caldwell and could probably keep up in a foot race. Scott Radcliffe will more than likely get a chance at the punt returner spot. He proved to be fearless and sure-handed when he got his shot towards the end of last season. Look for Kamal Hogan, Corvin Lamb, and Stephan Robinson to get a shot at the position also. Senorise Perry, Shenard Holton, and C.J. Peake are a few guys that could make an impact on special teams that might not show up in the box score.

I will be back soon with a preview of the offense for the 2011 season.

Blast Back to the Past?

2010-02-12T11:04:00.007-05:00

Yesterday rumors started flying about Rick Pitino heading back to the NBA, to be the next head coach of the New Jersey Nets. Quickly denials from both Pitino's camp as well as the front office of the Net's organization were released. Pitino addressed the media by saying that "he" never had any "direct" contact with the team. What a way to dance around allegations. Either way reports stated the team really had no interest in Rick...."allegedly." Now in the last 24 hours the Net's head coaching job has become the most interesting job in the country.

New names are now surfacing from all across the college basketball landscape. This being said I still don't know if you can rule out Pitino still possibly leaving depending on how things play out. But now we are hearing rumblings about Duke head coach Mike Kzernjtuckysuzcksi (however you spell it) or as we all just call him Coach K. Would he leave his beloved Blue Devils for a big pay day and a shot at Lebron James or Dwayne Wade and possibly John Wall if the ping pong balls land just right? Maybe so, but he did have the opportunity to move to L.A. to coach a historic Lakers team who already had Kobe Bryant, and passed it up. He could have a change of heart and go for the glory. But that being said, as much as I don't like the guy I think he actually does like working with young athletes, being a coach/mentor to them and coaching at a place like Duke, which you have to respect.

The other college coach we've heard, and the guy I think would be way more likely to get this job, if it were to be a current college coach would be John Calipari. Calipari had already coached the Net's in the late 90's and was fired in 1999, but these are different times. Coach Cal is sort of the it guy right now at Kentucky and would be slick enough to move on to bigger and better things after only one year at UK, if the situation was right for him. He also has a solid relationship with Lebron James, who may consider the Nets when he becomes a free agent this summer. Also with the chance that the Nets will have a top pick in the NBA draft Calipari could acquire one of his current players he coaches now in either John Wall or DeMarcus Cousins.

Some may argue, why would an NBA team who needs to rebuild hire a college coach? When so many times it hasn't worked out in the past, and with 2 out of the 3 coaches mentioned for this job being the primes examples we speak of. Well, when Phil Jackson stepped down from the Lakers for the one year Kobe wanted nothing more than to have coach K on his bench. So if Lebron James being seen at Kentucky games means he would love to play for Calipari, then the Net's need not think too long and hard about offering Coach Cal their head coaching job, if nothing more to get LBJ into a New Jersey Net uniform. If it doesn't work out you fire the guy. At least you probably landed arguably the best player in the NBA....Plus it would be hysterical to watch Kentucky loose their Pride and Joy.

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Podcast After Game

2010-02-11T19:34:00.006-05:00

Looks like we might have a lot more to talk about besides Coach Pitino and his possible flirtations with The League.

Trevor and I will breakdown tonight's St. John's game and talk about the rumors of Pitino's return to the NBA on The Evening Buzz on blogtalkradio.com. We'll start the broadcast about 15-30 minutes after final buzzer and hopefully a Louisville victory.

Call in live at 646.381.5206 (come on it's toll-free).

Pitino Looking Elsewhere?

2010-02-11T09:10:00.006-05:00

Mitch Lawrence from the New York Daily News reports that Rick Pitino is going out of his way to throw his name in the hat for the New Jersey Nets head coaching job.

It's reported while Pitino was at the funeral of Dick Mcquire, he spoke with some New Jersey Nets officials about taking on the overhauling of the Nets program next year. The job is now held by GM and interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe, who is more than expected to be gone at seasons end with the Nets on pace to set all time NBA records in losses. Would Pitino be a good fit for the Nets? Do the Nets even want Pitino?

Rod Thorne (Nets team president)is denying that the conversation never happened. It appears all of the interest has been pretty lopsided, leaning toward Pitino trying to get his name on the short list the Nets had already drawn up. That list has never had Pitino's name on it, and it seems like it never will. The Net's seem to be leaning toward Jeff Van Gundy to take over in 2011.

Whats next for Pitino? Has he grown weary of The Ville in his 9 years? This has been his longest tenured at any program college or pro. Will he continue to seek out other jobs or will he continue with business as usual at Louisville? Lot's of questions are now to be answered. Louisville fans and media won't let this issue go to rest, or at least they shouldn't. It's one thing for your name to be mentioned by a team. But when a coach goes looking on his own, that's where things can get a bit sketchy. Is Rick just looking for a change? Is the Sypher scandal getting to be too much for him living in the city where it all went down? Is Calipari's success at Kentucky rubbing him the wrong way or is a combination of everything?

Maybe Pitino should check his ego at the door being that he could have lost his job this past summer when all the facts came out about his affair. Instead he got the support of Louisville AD Tom Jurich, his players and all the Louisville fans. Not to say he would have been a bum on the streets if he lost his gig here. He would have been coaching again by 2011 after a year off. but does the support of everyone in Louisville especially his boss and his players mean nothing? Stay Tuned to find out...

Swop Returning to Starting Lineup

2010-02-10T19:52:00.004-05:00

The Louisville team arrived in New York City for Thursday night's match-up against St. John's a day early due to the snow barrage that has slammed the majority of the East. It was either that or gameday and last time they traveled day-of they took a beating at the hands of Notre Dame last year. The team arrived safely last night, which was confirmed via the players' obsession with Twitter (Hey, I'm obsessed too). Due to the early arrival in the Big Apple, Coach Pitino had his pregame press conference via the phone. It's what the old-timers call a teleconference.

As Trevor so beautifully told us earlier, George Goode will not return to the Cards this season due to some bad luck and injury. I have a funny feeling we have seen the last of Mr. Goode due to the fact that Pitino is going after next year's class heavier than he ever has and 2011 could be six-deep. The schollys just don't match up if you look at it. Unfortunate because I thought Goode was always a great defender at the 4 spot and when I saw him in practice he could knock down a 15-footer like he was playing in the wrong era. Here's to a speedy recovery for George.

Now to the players currently on the floor... Pitino said today that Jared Swopshire would be back in the starting lineup at the 4 spot for Terrence Jennings. St. John's plays a smaller lineup and even though he has been slow of foot at times this season, Swop is a better match-up in this one. T.J. has just not been playing good defense when his man floats outside and Norm Sloan's Red Storm are the type of team that could possibly exploit that. Pitino, I'm sure, knows that his team can't have a brain fart against a team they should most-definitely handle with ease.

Swop has been the butt of many jokes amongst both Louisville fans and our adversaries. I won't say whether he deserves it or not, but consistency has definitely been a problem. The last two games against UCONN and Rutgers, Swop has came off the bench for some of his best play of the season. 9 & 9 vs. UCONN and 13 & 8 vs. Rutgers. What people fail to see is that Swop played 32 & 34 minutes respectively in both contests - those are starters minutes so it shouldn't make that much of a difference. Fact of the matter is, Jennings and Swop both have problems defensively. Swop inside and Jennings outside. They both need to improve moving into the teeth of the season. It's just a matter of which one Pitino thinks fits better in a particular game to get starters minutes.

The C-J's C.L Brown touches on the Swop to Start Subject

We'll find out tomorrow whether Swop plays better coming off the bench or if it doesn't really matter as long as he gets the big minutes.

Yea They Took The SAT

2010-02-10T19:43:00.006-05:00

Maybe the same guy who John Calapri gets to take his players SAT tests should have been called upon to oversee the making of Kentcuky jerseys. I hear DeMarcus Cousins is still trying to figure out what the problem is.

Pitino Previews St. John’s

2010-02-10T19:23:00.005-05:00

Here is today’s press conference with Rick Pitino. He talks about losses to Charlotte and Western Carolina, Terrence Jennings needs to look into a mirror, and even gives some thoughts on Charlie Strong…

LINK

No Good For George Goode

2010-02-10T15:35:00.003-05:00

Louisville Sophomore forward George Goode will likely miss the rest of the season according to coach Rick Pitino at his Wednesday press conference to preview St. John’s.

Goode has not played this season since a 22 point loss to Charlotte back on December 5th and was averaging under a point a game.

Pitino stated that Goode, who has been battling bad luck and injuries all year, fell during practice recently and an MRI has been scheduled to determine whether it is a meniscus tear or not.

Cards Announce Football Schedule

2010-02-10T15:06:00.002-05:00

Louisville Cardinals released the first schedule for rookie head coach Charlie Strong on Wednesday and here it is…

Sat, Sep 04 Kentucky TBA

Sat, Sep 11 Eastern Kentucky TBA

Sat, Sep 18 at Oregon State TBA

Sat, Oct 02 at Arkansas State TBA

Sat, Oct 09 Memphis TBA*

Fri, Oct 15 Cincinnati 8:00 p.m. ESPN*

Sat, Oct 23 Connecticut TBA*

Sat, Oct 30 at Pittsburgh TBA*

Sat, Nov 06 at Syracuse TBA*

Sat, Nov 13 USF TBA*

Sat, Nov 20 West Virginia TBA*

Fri, Nov 26 at Rutgers TBA

The Ugly Ex Back On The Market

2010-02-10T01:58:00.003-05:00

Looks like the ugly ex-girlfriend that Louisville fans as a whole aretrying to forget about is back in the news. You know the one youstarted dating after that spectatular woman dumped you for a plasticsurgeon/trust-fund baby (aka the NFL)? The one that was a little belowyour standards but still attractive because you thought it was safefor a broken hearted individual such as yourself at the time? Yea...That one.

The ugly ex who you dropped like a sack of potatoes after realizingwhat a collosal mistake was made even starting such a fling might havefound some new work. Soon after departure, you were told about howmany options were on the table (aka multiple BCS offensive coordinatoropportunities) that somehow vanished or ended up not existing in thefirst place. Hell, even heard a story that the ex attempted torekindle an old flame with a former lover - let's call it Tulsa - butwith less quality time and attention (aka money & title). Well I guessboth options fell through. This time the ex is back in the news as apossible candidate for the Texas A&M QB coaching job.

According to CollegeFootballTalk and Tom Deinhart of Rivals, the ugly ex has or is slated to interview with A&M headman Mike Sherman todirect the signal callers in College Station.

Two reasons come to mind on why this might be an actual suitor for"the one that Tom wanted to get away" and not bogus like the otherrumors. One, as we all know from his constant barrage of namedropping in pressers, the ex worked at A&M under RC Slocum a few jobsback. You would have though Slocum was Bear Bryant or even DickJauron. It was almost like when a girl constantly talks about herprevious realtionships, simply annoying. It reminded me of thered-head in American Pie whenever he brought up A&M...

"One time at A&M, RC Slocum let me watch film with him and we stayedout past MIDNIGHT!!!"

Completely ridiculous. A&M needs to make the hire just to pay him backfor all the free advertising he gave the school the last 3 years.Second, A&M throws the ball about 10% of the time - or something likethat. I think the ex can handle teaching the QB/RB exchange and notmuch else for 3 hours a day. Although I wouldn't really give him a lotmore responsibility than that. You don't want to move that fast afterbeing in the business end of a traumatic dumping. Ask Tom Jurich.

If this scenario comes to fruition, both parties will finally be movedon in different directions. One with a new-found hope and the otherwith a sense of desperation. Even though it doesn't happen everytime,Tom Jurich came out on top in this break-up.

New York State of Mind

2010-02-09T13:02:00.009-05:00

Pitino and The Cards gear up for a road trip to New York this week, where they'll look to extend their winning streak to 3 when they go up against St. Johns and to 4 if they can knock off Syracuse. But we'll try not to get ahead of ourselves, Cardinal fans, let's back up and look at St. Johns. The Cards have had their ups and downs in Madison Square Garden, but if they handle the Red Storm like the 12-10 (2-8 in conference) team that they are, and don't stumble, they should be heading to the Carrier Dome with that winning steak extended as planned. That would be their longest since before Christmas when they rattled off wins against Louisiana-Lafayette, Radford and South Florida.

St. Johns is going to put up a fight trying not to loose their 6th game in a row, and they certainly won't be a push over at home. If you'll remember just over a month ago, St. Johns outscored Louisville in the first half of their meeting at Freedom Hall and only wound up loosing by 7. DJ Kennedy scored 20 points with 8 rebounds and could be motivated to put on another show in the garden. Straggly Jarred Swopshire and Jerry Smith who had been struggling at the time had their best games for The Ville that day. They both have played up and down all year, down for the most part, but just recently shined this past weekend at Rutgers. Hopefully, they can continue their up swing for this game in The Big Apple.

This will be the first meeting between Syracuse & Louisville this year but The Cardinals are no strangers to big time Big East showdowns. After Playing hard against respectful foes Pitt, Nova and West Virgina (I said the teams were respectful, not the fans of all the foes *cough Mountaineer in-breds*....excuse me I've been sick, sorry) we wound up blowing large leads by the conclusions of those games. That being said we have the tools in the box to beat a top rated team like the Orangeman. We just need to make sure we use those tools correctly. Shutting down Wes Johnson would be a good start to coming home with that key victory we need.

A split on this road trip would be suitable for the Cards but it doesn't take much to figure out that Louisville would really benefit from a Marquee win against a team to begin to solidify a spot in the NCAA tournament. Two road wins including a win over a top 3 team would almost ensure we get a bid as long as we can win the rest of our home games and take care of those opponents we're expected to defeat.

What do you say Cards?....Feel like proving something to those who doubt your toughness and ability to close?

T-Will Lobbying for Spot in Dunk Contest

2010-02-08T20:36:00.008-05:00

Terrence Williams in the Slam Dunk Contest? Everyone knows this should happen. T-Will is most-definitely one of the top-5 most explosive, stylistic dunkers in the league (as a rookie) excluding the guys that refuse to particpate anymore or ever for whaever reason - like LeBron, Josh Smith, Dwayne Wade or Dwight Howard. Anyone that followed Louisville the last 4 years knows that Terrence Williams can dunk with the best around. He originally was excluded from both the Rookie/Sophomore game & Dunk-Off. More than likely coming from how pathetic the New Jersey Nets are playing this season. The Nets are on pace to tie the worst record in the history of the NBA currently at 4-46.

However, last night on his Twitter ( @TheRealTWill ) he said he would be "finding out" if he was getting into the dunk contest today. From around 9PM last night....

Finding out tomorrow if I'm in the dunking contest

T-Will being T-Will went on to ask people for suggestions on dunks he could throw into his reportoire in 140 characters or less. This year's dunk contest has 5 contestants so far - defending champion Nate Robinson of the Knicks, Shannon Brown of the Lakers, and Gerald Wallace of the Bobcats. A new wrinkle "dunk-off" for the 4th and final spot is slated to happen before the All-Star Saturday night tradition between Eric Gordon of the Clippers and DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors. However, both Wallace and DeRozan are nursing injuries and have missed some time in the last week and could decide to sit out this weekend's festivities. T-Will could be right there to fill in for an injured competitor.

Should have an answer by tonight or tomorrow morning so stay tuned.

Aron Phillips at DimeMag.com touches on the subject as well

Earl Heyman - Super Bowl Champ

2010-02-08T17:43:00.003-05:00

Earl Heyman hoisted the Lombardi trophy last night as a Super Bowl champion member of the New Orleans Saints. The Saints in their infinite wisdom signed the former Louisville defensive tackle to a three-year contract after he went inexplicably undrafted last season. Heyman was a part of the Cardinals Orange Bowl team and is a product of Ballard High School. Big Earl, who's brother Dexter is a returning defensive end for Charlie Strong, can always tell his grandkids that he was a part of a defense that stopped the almighty Peyton Manning and won the title. He will forever be enshrined in Super Bowl and New Orleans lore for his accomplishment.

OK, that was a little over the top. So what if he was just a part of the Saints' practice squad all year? I don't think Earl minds at all. Heyman still can claim himself to be a champion in both the Big East and the Super Bowl. He got to compete against the high-powered Drew Brees/ Sean Payton offense, score some serious bling in the form of a championship ring (yes, practice squad players do get rings from what I'm told) and probably threw a few beads out/Hurricane's back on Bourbon Street along the way.

Maybe this will pay off for Earl this offseason and he can secure a spot on an active roster in 2010 - Saints or not. I'm sure there was a learning curve this season for Heyman due to the fact he was coached by a bum his final years here. Although, he did have a season under Ron English, so hopefully it wasn't that tough to fix. I don't think his little brother is going to have the same problem.

Congrats to Earl Heyman. Louisville grown Super Bowl Champ.

Super Bowl Lacks Local Flavor

2010-02-07T17:23:00.007-05:00

While Indianapolis is just 2 hours north of Louisville, there are few players representing the local schools in this years Super Bowl.

In fact there is zero former Cards in this game. It breaks a two-year streak for the Cards, who has had a player on one of the two rosters 6 out of the last 9 Super Bowls.

Former Kentucky standout tight end Jacob Tamme is on the Colts, while the Saints have two former Hoosiers in Tracy Porter and Courtney Roby.

William Gay making a tackle in last years Super Bowl

Sam Madison was a member of the Champion Giants

Deion Branch is the only former Card to win Super Bowl MVP

Roman Oben celebrating his Super Bowl victory in 2002

Chris Redman got his ring as a backup for the Baltimore Ravens in 2001

No Place Like Home

2010-02-07T16:00:00.004-05:00

Rick Pitino said after Louisville’s win over Rutgers that the Cards needed to still win 5 out 8 remaining games as to avoid having to sweat getting into the NCAA tournament.

Good news and bad news for the Cards though. Good news is that 4 of those 8 games are against opponents that the Cards “should” be able to beat. Bad news is that 3 of those 4 and 5 of the last 8 games are on the road.

Three previous teams under Pitino in Louisville have finished with a .500 or less record. Two of those teams went to the N.I.T. tournament, while the other was a #10 seed first round exit. One of those was the 2005-2006 team (2-9 away record) that this roster has been compared to in several ways.

This years team is now 1-5 in their opponents homes and unless Louisville can put something together history may repeat it self. If Louisville can win the rest of their road games they will finish over .500 at 6-5.

These road games mean more than just avoiding history. Louisville this season still truly lacks a “marquee” win and can not afford a losing road record when it comes to being on the bubble of getting in the tournament.

If the Cards can run the table away from the Hall they could kill to birds with one stone (can’t believe I just used that cliché). Winning out would put them above .500 as well give them that win that they need, a Valentine Day match up at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Louisville can lose that game and still finish 5-5 if they pull out their other games.

While the Cards have struggled on the road those “other” games are more than just winnable. St. John’s and DePaul have been bottom feeders in the Big East, while UConn has been fading and Marquette has had worse luck the Louisville.

Cardinal Nation can not overlook any of these games still. Yes coach I agree, you should have to win 5 out of 8 to breath easy but unless you can win at least 4 out of 5 on the road neither that goal or this team will reach their expectations.

Pitino Lands Coleman for 2010

2010-02-06T01:41:00.001-05:00

Louisville and Coach Rick Pitino got a much-needed 2010 commitment from Huntington, WV swingman Justin Coleman. Coleman is considered a top-25 prospect and held an offer from Kentucky amongst other traditional powers. Coleman was originally from Richmond, VA.

Coleman is just what the doctor ordered for Pitino. He said earlier in the season that the Cards needed to get "more-athletic". Coleman will be the solution to the coach's alleged problems. He is known as an explosive leaper and has a halfway decent jumper that extends beyond
the 3-point arch. With Reginald Delk graduating after this season, Coleman will more-than-likely step into the backup at the small forward next year.

Eligibility is an issue with Coleman. The guy hasn't qualified yet, but according to Jody Demling, is working very hard to get himself able to play next year. As opposed to other conferences, the Big East does not accept partial qualifiers so the fact that Coleman even committed to Louisville is an advantage. Pitino will give his damndest to get the guy eligible...trust that.

The fact that the Cards can wait this long to get a top-notch recruit is a testament to the coaching staff's persistance and a knock on people's doubts about their abilities. Hopefully he gets eligible and can help the team next season. Coleman will join fellow necomers in Manhattan tranfer Chris Smith and New York's Russ Smith, both guards.

Strong Fills Out Staff with Jean-Mary

2010-02-04T22:00:00.004-05:00

As was mentioned here last week and was confirmed by the Atlanta Journal Constitution today, Charlie Strong has filled out his first coaching staff with Brian Jean-Mary who spent the last 6 seasons with Georgia Tech linebackers coach. Jean-Mary (pronounced Jon-Muree) will serve as assistant head coach and linebackers coach on Strong's staff. He spent time in 2000 on the Louisville staff under coach John L. Smith as assistant strength-and-conditioning coach. Jean-Mary commented to the AJC on how tough the decision was to leave Tech

"Always scary when you are going from a team that just won its conference
to a team that hasn't gone to a bowl in two years," Jean-Mary said. "[My] career
goal is to be a head coach one day. That was the No. 1 reason why I left. I have
a lot of love for Tech, it's a special place."

Jean-Mary, a Haitian American, will have a young unit that just picked up some good talent on signing day in Deon Rogers & Preston Brown to add to returning starter Brandon Heath and young up-and-comers Mike Privott and Horace Miller. He'll have his hands full, but judging by the class in which he left Tech, he will be a great fit with Strong's staff. Only 51 days until Spring practice...

Taking a Look at Tourney Chances

2010-02-04T18:35:00.006-05:00

The last six games have been a whirlwind for Coach Pitino and his Cards. What could have very well been a 6-0 run and spot in the top 20 turned into a 2-4 run with naysayers shouting "NIT". The Cards haven't played bad at all, sans the final scores. With the exception of a couple bad shooting nights they have proven that they can "hang" with the country's elite. However, like Mitch Williams when he faced Joe Carter in the World Series or myself when some young lady shows interest at a local watering hole...the Cards could not close. Losses to Seton Hall, Villanova, PITT and West Virginia all could have been wins if certain things happen. They didn't. It's so bad that Byung Hung Kim and Brad Lidge are sitting at a bar somewhere laughing.

It's a frustrating thing, I'm sure, for players, coaches and fans alike. It's hard to justify that the Cards played well in all six games when they came out with four losses, including one to Seton Hall and their troll of a coach. Yet, they haven't shot under 42% from the field in any of the losses and the only team that dominated the boards was PITT (40-26). Not to bring up bad memories but, they led PITT by 5 with 30 seconds left, had a 17 point first half advantage vs. Nova, and West Virginia by 12 with 10 remaining. All 3 of those teams are considered legitimate Final Four contenders and Louisville had them beat. Sure they dropped the two games before Christmas that are absolutely unforgivable, but the Cards are worlds better than their 14-8 record indicates. The problem lies in convincing the NCAA committee that is the case.

In the almighty computer rankings, the Cards are sitting pretty well. Ken Pomeroy has the Cards at a healthy 26. He also ranks teams based on how lucky they are through some Beautiful Mind type of formula - fittingly the Cards sit at 335 of 347. Wow. In the current RPI rankings, they sit at 40 with the 5th hardest schedule in the country. Both of those ratings could improve based on how well the losses to UK, Nova and West Virginia look later on in the year. If you went strictly by computer rankings, which I hope the NCAA doesn't even in this case, the Cards have to be in the tourney.

Where the Cards aren't strong is road wins and marquee victories. You can get away without having one of the two accounted for, but not both. Louisville is currently 3-6 against RPI top 50 teams with wins against USF (46) Cincy (47) & UCONN (49). Not exactly the attention getting W's you would like. A late-season match with Georgetown (8) and two games with Syracuse (2) could change that very fast. The Cards' road record is a putrid 1-5 with only a single win over Providence and a neutral floor victory over Arkansas. That will not look well on the NCAA tourney resume, but like with marquee wins, there are opportunities to improve that standing. Road tussles with St. John's, Syracuse, DePaul, UCONN and Marquette still await. Say the Cards go 4-1 in that stretch - a 5-6 record against the opponents they faced is very respectable.

The Cards dug themselves a pretty large hole by dropping the two homes games before Christmas. Nonetheless, they can dig their way out in the next month. If they win just the games they should (STJ, RUT, ND, DePAUL) that will put them at 18 wins overall and 9 in conference. that leaves UCONN, MARQ, 2x CUSE, and G'TOWN. 5 games where the Cards will prove whether they deserve an NCAA tournament berth. Win one, they need to have some success in the BE tourney or be sweating it out on selection Sunday like Tim Tebow at the Bunny Ranch. Win two and they are sitting pretty, but haven't made things easy for themselves. Win three or four? You might be looking at one of the sleeper teams going into the tournament.

Things aren't simple for the Cards, but the battle isn't as uphill as most are making it out to be. The team has proven that they have the ability to beat any team remaining on their schedule, it's just a matter of closing out the games down the stretch that they couldn't previously.It's there for the taking. Let's see if Pitino and his squad can rise to the occasion and relieve the Cards' fans of another NIT bid.

Checking in with Caracter

2010-02-04T17:00:00.004-05:00

What if? It's one of the cornerstones of sports arguments and I love to talk trash about sports all the time. Just this season there's: What if Cousins gets thrown out for the elbow on Swop? What if Coach Pitino played Samardo and TJ the whole year? What if the Big East officials didn't call the game with their heads up their ass? The answers to those questions aren't definite by any means, therefore excellent fodder for some smack talk. One that I've been pondering all year is :

What if Louisville still had Derrick Caracter?

Let me preface this by saying that DC and Pitino never hit it off from jump street. DC was a basketball prodigy who had a bad attitude and was coddled too much. Pitino is as demanding as it gets and will not give anyone special treatment who disrespects his rules and regulations. Both parties are in a better place now. Pitino in Freedom Hall and Caracter at UTEP.

There's a great article in the El Paso Times By Bill Knight that got me thinking about the former savior turned tragic cast off. By the looks of it Caracter is a changed man under UTEP coach Tony Barbee. The laziness is gone...allegedly. The horrible work ethic cured...supposedly. The bad attitude turned good...possibly. With that being said, Caracter is averaging 14 pts and close to 9 boards a game for the Miners and is was honored as C-USA player of the week recently. In 14 games he has 6 double-doubles and is shooting 57% from the field. He has games if 15-15, 20-13 & 21-10. Plus he rocks a fro-hawk haircut now instead of the wannabe Anthony Mason garbage he used to sport. His competition might not be that of the Big East, but it's not completely awful. No off the court incidents or poor grades added and it looks like The Derrick Caracter project has turned out to be a success so far in El Paso.

We all know what happened between him and Coach Pitino in his stay at Louisville with the weight restrictions, constant ignorance to nutrition, multiple violations of curfew, insubordination, ect. ect (the rumors and stories out there are crazy - don't know how many are true). One would assume Pitino saw his immense talent and kept giving him opportunities to redeem himself but to no avail. I mean, this guy used to take Greg Oden to school on a regular basis on the prep circuit. Pitino even went as far as to get Caracter's mom to send an application to Dunkin' Donuts to her son for motivation. Pitino probably thought at times: Hell, Ellis Myles did it with a lot less talent...why can't Caracter? For some reason, things didn't click for DC until the opportunity here had passed.

Now DC would have been a senior this year at Louisville. Does his presence help or hurt the Cards going into the tournament last season? It's fun to debate, but I would lean on the side of hurt. It's hard to say the Cards could have done much better than a #1 overall seed in the tourney with the big guy. Also Caracter had a brother like relationship with Earl Clark. They were somewhat bad influences on each other while here and you'd have to suspect that it would have continued. In addition, you can't forget about the alleged incident at halftime of the Carolina Elite 8 game where he and Pitino got into it because DC thought he should be playing over David Padgett. All that stuff taken into account along with numerous other rumored problems, Pitino STILL gave him another shot to come back after sitting indefinitely. Caracter refused. Pitino was done with it like he currently is with the Big East refs... and rightfully so.

But can you imagine Samardo, TJ and Caracter this year or a rotation of DC, Samuels, Clark and Jennings last year? If the Cards got the Mr Hyde DC that can play 25-30 productive minutes in cases if fatigue or foul trouble, do they make a deeper run in March? If they get the Dr Jekyl DC that is a locker room cancer and rule breaker, do they make it past the first weekend? These are the things I think about at night in between trolling in facebook and watching NBA TV. DC chose to continue to break the rules, therefore we never got the chance to see it happen.

Last years team might have hit the absolute peak regardless of who joined. However, I think this years team could use DC And use him well. He could split minutes with TJ at the 4 and allow Swop to move to the more natural 3 or be the backup at forward and center. If anything it would keep Samardo fresh late in games and allow TJ to play tougher defense without worrying about foul trouble. If only he would have stayed away from the Jumbo Buffet and Golden Corral, show some self control, and respect a curfew, DC might have been able to finally showcase his skills this year as a battle-tested grizzly-veteran of the Big East.

It's all for naught. Like i said, fodder for debate. Caracter burned all his bridges in Louisville and had to nearly hit rock-bottom before he realized he had almost wasted a potential lottery pick of talent into a washed up has-been in less than 4 years. Looks like he's turned the corner though. Louisville fans should be happy for him. It's just unfortunate that it couldn't happen here when DC had the potential to be one of the all-time fan favorites. It's easy to bash and say he should have done what Pitino said, but for him it took a humbling experience like getting dismissed to get his priorities straight. Yet maybe if Pitino was just a little big more patient it would paid off in the long run.

What if Derrick Caracter still played for Louisville? I think I'm more confused as to what would happen now than I was before I started writing this. So many good possibilities, so many bad. But for the record, DC had 22 points and 13 rebounds in a Miner victory last night over Houston. Looks like the good just needed to happen someplace else.

louisvillesportsbuzz.com

Coach Strong at Signing Day Party

2010-02-03T22:27:00.003-05:00

Thanks to UofLCardGame.com, here's Charlie being Charlie at the Parrish House with a bunch of Card fans celebrating today's successful signing day. And to the guy that says "Beat Kentucky"... can we have a day off without bringing those guys up to prove ourselves. In my opinion, we have bigger fish to fry...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQIeaAhWY0M&feature=player_embedded

4 to Watch from Signing Day

2010-02-03T19:54:00.002-05:00

A class highlighted by 19 players ranked three-star or higher (via Rivals) made this signing day more enjoyable for Cardinal fans than in recent years. Although it didn't end up as well as he had hoped it would, first-year coach Charlie Strong's first recruiting class was still better than anyone associated with Louisville thought it would be only two short months ago. He re-established the previously tarnished pipelines to the southeast and proved that Louisville is the type of school that can compete for players with traditional powers in the Big Ten & SEC. Check out the whole class via scout.com. Could be the first step back to a conference championship and national relevance.

It's extremely hard to predict which guys are going to fulfill their potential and which aren't. Guys like Amobi Okoye come in underrated and leave top-10 draft picks. Some are like Woodny Turrene or LT Walker who come in 4-stars and leave duds. That being said, I think there are 4 guys that have the coaching staff drooling like Emmanuele Chirique is washing a car in front of them and that could potentially be all-conference-types in 2013 or 2014...

OLB Deon Rogers - 6'3 200 - Treasure Coast HS - Port St. Lucie, FL

Rogers is a speedy outside linebacker who was previously committed to Georgia. the Bulldogs replaced their whole defensive staff and the new regime decided to install a 3-4 defensive scheme, something that Rogers didn't feel he would mold into well. He has been clocked in the 4.5 in the 40 and was rated a 3-star by both major recruiting services. He is the same tall, athletic type of backer that Charlie Strong has had success for years coaching. He has the type of frame that new strength coach Pat Moorer can mold into a 6'3 230lb machine and not lose a lick of speed. Plus it never hurts that he played his high school ball in Florida against some of the best competition there is. Something that was overlooked for the Cards in the past couple years was the solid play of the linebacking corps, with all 3 starters moving on, Neon Deon might be forced to grab the torch sooner than later. Even though Rogers is the lowest rated of the 4 players highlighted, to borrow a phrase mostly used at the NBA Draft...he has the most upside.

DE/LB/HOSS B.J Butler - 6'3 253 - Osceola HS - Kissimmee, FL (VIDEO)

Whenever you see a guy pick Louisville over home state powers Florida & Florida St. and defending national champion Alabama you immediately think something is wrong with him. That is not the case with this 4-star load. Funny thing is, Louisville didn't even go after Butler thinking they had no shot until Strong took over. Butler took a liking to Strong after his commitment to Georgia wavered due to the defensive staff like Deon Rogers. Butler, a guy of his caliber, actually publicly stated he was interested in the Cards before being offered a scholarship. According to Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel, Butler was one of the state of Florida's premier defensive lineman "with great speed off the edge and knack for getting in the face of opposing quarterbacks.". In videos I've seen and accounts I've heard, this guy can get into the backfield with ease - something the Cardinal defense has been lacking under the previous staff. Butler has the capability to turn into one of the Big East's elite sack artists after a year or two of tutelage from Strong and new d-line coach Clint Hurtt.

WR Michaelee Harris - 6'0 180 - Miami Northwesten H.S. - Miami, FL (VIDEO)

Notice how all three I've mentioned so far are from the state of Florida? Harris is the big-play guy that both Strong and new offensive coordinator Mike Sanford need for the future. He doesn't have the eye-opening, blazing speed that gets people's attention on paper (4.5 40) but he does have the hands and route running ability to make up for it. Harris was ranked in the Top 100 players in Florida by the Orlando Sentinel and is said to have possibly the best set of ball skills (hands, concentration, coordination) of any receiver in the entire 2010 class. Plus, he has a really unique name that sticks in your head after even just one time hearing it. Michaelee Harris. Give thanks to fellow recruit Corvin Lamb of Miami NW for picking the Cards first and swaying his teammate to come along. No better way to recruit in the country than through other recruits.

ATH Dominique Brown - 6'2 200 - Winton Woods HS - Cincinnati, OH (VIDEO)

I have seen a lot of people describe this guy as a "Michael Bush-type" and anytime #19's name pops up, I listen. As did Bush, Brown wants to play QB in college as he did in high school. With the new spread offense that Sanford and Strong are installing, that might be a distinct possibility. Brown is known for his scrambling ability and elusiveness with the ball, but has also been praised for his touch throwing it. It's been thrown around that Louisville might go with 2 QBs in the spread with someone like Brown running the majority of the time in a wildcat-like set and another QB coming in to throw the ball more. Whether or not that will work remains to be seen (did for the Tebow/Leake combo at FL) yet if it doesn't, Brown could find himself at a number of positions around the field, most likely RB or WR. Athletes with the combination of size and speed like Brown will find their place on the field eventually and have success when it's found. If he turns into hal the player Mike Bush was, Cards fans will rejoice.

I wouldn't expect any of these guys to make what you would call an immediate impact in 2010. Having said that, Strong stated clearly that he brought in guys that filled needs. All 4 play positions where the Cards are either losing a ton or didn't have anything to begin with so they could be thrown into the fire sooner than perhaps they should. Let's hope they all finish getting qualified and keep their respective noses clean over the summer so once Coach Strong and staff get a hold of them they are ready to go to work. Strong worked his tail off getting them to come to Louisville, the least they can do is return the favor.

Louisville Baseball Raising Money for Haiti

2010-01-27T15:34:00.003-05:00

From the Louisville Athletic Department...

Louisville Baseball Donates to "Pinch Hit for Haiti" Effort

U of L players, coaches donate more than $700 to disaster relief effort started at Elon University

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Players from the University of Louisville baseball team recently joined the "Pinch Hit for Haiti" effort by donating $724 to the Red Cross for relief efforts in the island nation which was ravaged by a 7.0 earthquake last Tuesday.

The "Pinch Hit for Haiti" effort was spearheaded by Elon University senior catcher Mike Melillo. After thinking about the amount of money that could be raised if every athlete gave just $1, Melillo came up with the "Pinch Hit for Haiti" concept. In less than one week, the effort has raised nearly $10,000 through donations from collegiate baseball players, coaches and fans around the nation.

The 7.0 earthquake in Haiti has had an effect on nearly 3,000,000 people in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The capital city of Port-au-Prince was nearly leveled and many people are still missing. Estimates have casualties numbering in the 10's of thousands.

More information on the "Pinch Hit for Haiti" effort is available online at http://www.elon.edu/e-web/athletics/pinchitforhaiti.xhtml.

Steps to joining Pinch Hit for Haiti:
As a team:
1. An individual from your school collects $1.00 from each member of the team.
2. That individual visits http://www.redcross.org/ and donates the amount
collected via credit or debit card.
3. Once the process has been completed, Red Cross will provide you
with a page that has your tracking number, name, and the amount
donated.
4. Copy the information and paste it into an email document.
5. Email the information along with your team/school name to
pinchhitforhaiti@gmail.com
6. Pay it forward and tell as many student-athletes as you can about
our objective.

As an individual:
1.Visit http://www.redcross.org/ and donates the amount collected via credit
or debit card.
2. Once the process has been completed, Red Cross will provide you
with a page that has your tracking number, name, and the amount
donated.
3. Copy the information and paste it into an email document.
4. Email the information along with the school you cheer for or the
school you wish to represent to pinchhitforhaiti@gmail.com
5. Pay it forward and tell as many people as you can about our objective.

Pitino Needs Teague to Join Cards

2010-01-27T00:00:00.000-05:00

Marquis Teague is only a junior in high school. Yet right now the 17 year old has Rick Pitino and the rest of the Cardinal Nation by the short-and-curlies in anticipation of his decision of what college he will attend. The point guard from Indianapolis Pike is a special talent - John Wall/Derrick Rose special - and has been thought to be a lock to show up on Louisville's campus in the fall of 2011. Two main elements factor into most people's assumption - Teague's father, Shawn, played for Coach Pitino at Boston University & his AAU coach, Shabaka Lands, was hired by Louisville as a special assistant prior to this season. By that, you would think Pitino has Teague hook, line, and sinker.

That could be, but is not necessarily the case.

Teague is a program changer. Many scouts and recruiting insiders say whoever gets him will become an instant Final Four contender. He has been compared to a more-athletic Chris Paul and Louisville has been in on him since Day 1. The only problem is, so has everyone else. If this sounds familiar, it is. All world PG DaJuan Wagner of New Jersey was the son of someone with a strong connection to the program - his father Milt who's number hangs in honor at Freedom Hall. After years of assuming he would become a Cardinal, John Calipari swooped in, hired Milt as an assistant coach and logically DaJuan followed. Fortunately for the Cards, DaJuan didn't turn out to be the impact player that he was thought to be. I wouldn't expect the same from Marquis.

Teague is the most important recruit of the Pitino era. Francisco Garcia & Terrence Williams took the program to great heights and will go down as all-time greats but Teague would mean more in the long run. If you add his services to already the already committed 2011 class - SG Wayne Blackshear, C Michael Chandler, SF Ryan Taylor & PF Zach Price - Louisville would have a 5-star class that rivals this year's Kentucky and other historically great classes. With that season's possible return of Samardo Samuels, Terrence Jennings (seniors) & Peyton Siva (junior) that makes one fierce 8-man rotation that would put Louisville as a preseason favorite to win the national title.

So what's holding him up? It could just be he wants to get the Jesus Shuttlesworth treatment at every visit. He's the number one player in his class and I can't really blame him for taking it all in - especially the women. Indiana and Kentucky are hot on his trail as well, so Pitino will have to prove he still has it against the nation's best recruiters.

Marquis Teague doesn't need Pitino and the Cards to make it to the next level, but Pitino and the Cards desperately need him to come in order to accomplish the goal of a championship that most people thought would have been closer.

Listen to The Buzz Tonight at 8:30

2010-01-25T19:06:00.007-05:00

Through our partners in crime - Louisville Sports Buzz - Trevor "Bacon" Kelsey and myself will host a 2 hour podcast tonight as we do every Monday-Thursday 8:30-10:30 PM EST. It is known as The Evening Buzz - a no-holds-barred attack at local sports with numerous local insiders to provide insight and intellectual stimulus on the happenings in the sports world. You can call in, ask questions, or give opinions at (646) 381-4206. Too shy to call? E-mail us at eveningbuzz@gmail.com

On tonight's show we will break down the weekend's big games - Cats/Hogs, Ville/Cincy & the rest of college basketball. Also, we will talk about the excellent NFL Championship weekend & the upcoming Super Bowl match-up between New Orleans & Indianapolis. We will have Raashaan Myers from Scout.com to talk Charlie Strong's recent commitments and Marquis Teague's interesting weekend visit to Coach Pitino. Any Cat fans out there, don't fret, we will talk about the newly crowned #1 team as unbiased as is possible for 2 born-and-raised Card fans.

You can listen to the show streaming through the link on the left side of this page, LouisvilleSportsBuzz.com, or by clicking this link to get the streaming page on BlogTalkRadio.com. You are also able to subscribe to the podcast if you can't listen live through the links on the left on this site or the BTR site.

You don't want to break these poor girl's hearts... Do you?

Fabris Stepping Down, Hurtt In?

2010-01-24T01:13:00.003-05:00

According to a website that chronicles coaching moves at all levels - footballscoop.com - Louisville new defensive line coach John Fabris will step down before coaching a game. From FootballScoop.com...

Louisville: Our sources tell us former Miami defensive line coach
Clint Hurtt will be coaching the defensive line. We hear that defensive
line coach Jon Fabris is stepping down. We have heard that Louisville will
be looking to hire their linebackers coach after signing day.

I don't want to speculate, could be a number of issues as to why he is stepping down, but you can only hope for the best for his future. Fabris had spent the previous nine seasons at Georgia coaching pros like Charles Grant and David Pollack. Along with Coach Strong, he was the main connection with stud Georgia decommit DE BJ Butler. Butler is very high on Charlie Strong so it is pretty clear this won't effect his choice, but we will continue to monitor the situation moving toward signing day February 3rd.

Clint Hurtt has been rumored to join the staff for a few weeks now and is an excellent hire. He just finished his 3rd season as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator for Miami. It is expected for him to fill the same role here at Louisville. A young guy who finished playing at Miami in 2001 has recruited guys like Jacory Harris and coached 1st rounder like Calais Campbell (AZ). Also, he is overly knowledgeable about the hotbed that is Florida high school football.

As the passage said, this will leave a hole at the linebackers coach position that Strong had hoped would be filled by Tennessee's Lance Thompson who now looks to be staying with new coach Derek Dooley, but don't rule him out. Strong has also interviewed Georgia Tech linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary for a position, possibly the same one as he has in Atlanta. We will keep you updated as soon as something happens.

Is It Time to Pass the Torch?

2010-01-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not one to panic about a Rick Pitino coached team. Only once in his career at Louisville has a team gone into the season with promise and failed to go to the NCAA. Unfortunately, that was the 05-06 team that went to the NIT. That is also the last time the Cards lost three games in sequence in the Murderer's Row known as Big East basketball. That 05-06 team lost 3 major players - Francisco Garcia, Larry O'Bannon and Ellis Myles - from the previous year. As we all know, this year's team lost two lottery picks - Earl Clark and Terrence Williams. The correlation is too much to overlook.

How can this be prevented from happening again? Well if you remember, the NIT team had a upperclassman backcourt of Brandon Jenkins and Taquan Dean. Two good players who made their fair share of plays over their careers, but never could be expected to carry the team alone. Both Robins who needed a Batman to compliment their powers. Not taking anything away from them, that's just how it was. I'm starting to see the similarities between that backcourt...and this year's duo of seniors - Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa.

Only the 05-06 back-court lacked quality back-ups. An overweight freshman Andre McGee and over-matched Brad Gianinny were Dean and Jenkins' replacements. That is where the difference lies. This years teams supposed "back-ups" are not a step down whatsoever. One is a ball of fire with confidence in his shot and tenacious defense in Preston Knowles. The other is a pure point guard who had recruiting analysts drooling in freshman Peyton Siva. Neither has been able to get into a rhythm this year (with the exception of Knowles against PITT) due to Pitino's extreme loyalties to Sosa and Smith. To avoid history repeating itself, something of a changing of the guard must occur ASAP. Smith and Sosa haven't given the senior leadership that was expected.

Let's face it, Sosa and Smith are having trouble getting the job done this season. Smith has gone from having the nickname "Raindrops" to "The Drought" overnight. His shot isn't falling and it is affecting his whole game - intensity, rebounding and defense. Plus, it seems at times like he's just going through the motions, waiting for the game to end. The frustrating part is that he was the complete opposite for the last three seasons. Even if his shot wasn't falling, he would make it up on the defensive end (most of the time). This year his confidence is shot and that's not a good recipe for a shooting guard who regrettably feeds off his offense. Sosa has been brilliant at times, but immature at others. He can fill up the buckets with the best of them, yet that isn't a pre-requisite for a solid point guard. Whether it be the missed foul shots at PITT or the poor decisions against Seton Hall, Sosa hasn't become the distributor Pitino would have liked him to be by now. Both players have given their all to the Cards and Pitino has been extremely loyal (almost to a fault), but it's hard to justify not playing the Siva/Knowles combo the majority of the minutes based on performance.

Former coach and Hall of Famer Denny Crum said on his radio show that if he had Peyton Siva on this team, he would play 38 minutes a game. Every time the guy gets into the game something good seems to happen. He plays with a swagger and confidence unmatched by anyone but Knowles. As a pure point guard, he distributes and facilitates before looking for his shot. The freshman conducts himself on and off the court like a person 10 years older. Siva is downright electric, yet he hasn't played more than 11 minutes (Nova) since the conference opener. In that game, he had 12 points. Why not give the guy 30 minutes to see what happens? Can't get much worse. Right?

Caoch Pitino is stubborn sometimes. He went into the season saying "Preston Knowles will be the best 6th man in college basketball" so that's what was going to happen. What happens if he completely outplays the guy ahead of him? Is he still the 6th man or has he deserved a start? There is no one on the team with the confidence in his shot like Knowles and after a small slump early on, his shot is back on track. He has even shown he can run the offense with some success in Sosa/Siva's absence. I have tried to justify playing Jerry Smith more minutes than Knowles, but it is impossible. Knowles is simply the better option and it is evident in every aspect of the game.

A 3-guard line-up with Sosa/Knowles/Siva or a small back-court of Siva/Sosa would work as well. However, a new wrinkle must be added soon or else this team will end up playing the last game in Freedom Hall in the NIT. The team doesn't deserve that. The fans don't deserve that. Most of all, the hollowed floor of Freedom Hall doesn't deserve to have the last game played on it be involved with the NIT.

A little change could prevent that.

More Recruits Drinking Strong Kool-Aid

2010-01-22T00:26:00.004-05:00

Three more top-notched recruits have surfaced this week as having interest in Charlie Strong and the rejuvenated Cardinal football team. Two of the trio have have decommitted from big-time BCS schools and the third might be a diamond in the rough.

Delvin Jones (left) is a 6-6 230lb defensive end from Miami Palmetto and had recently decommitted from The Fighting Derek Dooley's in Tennessee last week. Known for his size and athleticism, Jones had NFL size and speed (4.6 40) at a position in which the Cards are in desperate need of depth. It has not been confirmed that Delvin will be in town this weekend, but that is the strong rumor (no pun). He's set to visit Ole Miss next weekend and holds offers from a who's who of college football - USC, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Nebraska, and Oregon - just to name a few. Ranked the 25th DE by ESPN and 32 by Scout. Cardinal Comparison - Brandon Johnson or Michael Josiah

QB Barry Brunetti (right) would be an outstanding grab by Strong and his staff. Not only because he is one of the Top 20 gunslingers in his class, but that he is recently decommitted from that couch burning, battery throwing school West Virginia. The 6-0 200lb pocket-passer has been praised for his presence and arm-strength, but criticized for his size. A few analysts have said he would be an ideal "spread-option" signal caller. That could be the reason why it is said that the Memphis-area QB is choosing between the Mountaineers and two Urban Meyer disciples - Strong and Miss St. coach Dan Mullen - all schools that run similar spread-option attacks. It has been confirmed that Brunetti will be in town this weekend to check out the Louisville facilities and spend some time with the coaching staff. He participated in the US Army All-American game and was ranked the 13th QB by ESPN and 20th by Scout. Cardinal Comparison - Shorter Dave Ragone

Jamaine Brooks is a teammate of Delvin Jones at Miami Palmetto and will absolutely be here this weekend on an official visit. The 6-4 285lb DT has been flying under the radar with many of the national services having him unranked. However, if you look at this highlight tape, I believe he could be a steal and also help bring Jones with him. Coach Strong has always said he is looking to play guys wherever they best fit to help the team - Brooks has the size and pedigree to find somewhere to be effective. I could see him beefing up and becoming a serviceable offensive lineman. Either way, it's good to see that Florida pipeline opening up again. Cardinal Connection - Adrian Grady

Jeremy Makes Cards Life Living Hazell

2010-01-21T21:36:00.007-05:00

Junior Jeremy Hazell has given every coach he has faced nightmares since the minute he got to Seton Hall campus. Louisville has been no exception. As Seton Hall beat the Cards for the second straight time at home, 80-77.

Hazell torched the Cards two years ago in his home arena for 29 and it seems that hot hand-held over to tonight's game. Cardinals had no answer for him, allowing him to score in several different ways for a 25 point effort on 9-12 shooting.

Bad news for Louisville, who lost their 3rd straight game, Hazell wasn't the only Pirate that the Cards allowed to score at ease. Seton Hall as a team shot 52.7% from the field, including 5-12 from behind the arc.

As easy as Louisville made it for Seton Hall to score, they were just as bad from the free throw line...again. Cards finished a horrible 14-25 for a Shaq-like 56%. Louisville would outbound the Pirates 34-33 but it didn't seem that way. In the rare times when Seton Hall would miss a shot it seemed that they would get a second or even third chance regularly.

All five starters for Seton Hall finished in double figures, led by Hazell, while only leading Cardinal scorer Edgar Sosa reached that milestone for Louisville with a team high 15 points.

Freshman Mike Marra joined him as the only other Card to score double digits with 10 points but only scored one of those in the second half. Fellow Freshman Rakeem Buckles, who got the start over Swopshire, finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds. He was 3-9 from the field though and looked lost on defense on more than one occasion.

Samardo Samuels who has been an unstoppable force over the last 2 losses was a completely nofactor in the game. He would get 9 points and 6 rebounds but got no offensive touches. Samuels would take only 7 shots, hitting 4 of them. Three of those four field goals were offensive put backs.

Louisville have now lost 3 games in a row in the Big East. Only the second time under Pitino that has happened. The last time was 05/06 season when the Cards lost to Pittsburgh, at St. John's, and UConn that year. That year they also went to the N.I.T. tournament. Louisville has no time to dwell on this loss with Cincinnati coming to Freedom Hall on Sunday.

Cards Hope To Avoid Deja Vu

2010-01-21T19:26:00.004-05:00

The last time Louisville and Rick Pitino visited Seton Hall, it was January 19th, 2008. It was a trip that I am sure both coach Pitino and all Card fans would like to forget.

The Cards allowed the Pirates to shoot the lights out from inside and outside the arc and no one took advantage of that more than guard Jeremy Hazell. The then Freshman from Harlem would hit 8 three pointers (only 14 attempts) on Louisville. He would finish with 29 points in the Seton Hall 92-82 win.

Since then Hazell has been a thorn in all Big East coaches sides as well as giving all score keepers cramps from writing so much. Hazell, now a Junior, is in his second straight season averaging over 22 points per game. He has scored more than 30 points in a game five times this year, including 41 in a loss to West Virginia.

Louisville "held" Hazell in check last season as best as you can. Forcing him to take unwanted shots that resulted in a 4-13 day from behind the arc. Hazell would finish the game with 18 points still but Louisville got the win.

Opponents are entering this game shooting 34% from downtown on Louisville, with an average of 6 three pointers allowed a game by the Cards.

Rick Pitino and company are looking to avoid a 3 game losing streak and get to far behind a cut throat Big East. Louisville through history is 8-4 versus Seton Hall, while 3-3 all-time in South Orange.

Samuels Becomes Go-to Guy

2010-01-21T00:10:00.018-05:00

Who is Coach Rick Pitino's go-to guy?

That was one of the biggest question marks going into the season for the Louisville basketball team. When the shot-clock is winding down and the squad is in desperate need of a bucket, who do they get the ball to? With two patented "go-to" guys going in the first 14 picks in the draft, that was a gaping hole coming in and the product of a few sleepless nights for Rick Pitino, I'm sure.

Is it Edgar Sosa? Despite popular opinion, No. He's too reckless and unpredictable. Jerry Smith? Has a tough time creating his own shot from inside 25 feet. Preston Knowles? Maybe... hell, he might not even be in the game though. Jared Swopshire? See: Final shot at Pitt. Chris Brickley? Sorry Bricks but it ain't happening. It can't be Samardo Samuels can it?

It can and it should. After the first part of the season, nearly every Card fan would have said that's crazy talk. He's too passive. He doesn't demand the ball. He can't get it done against a quality big-man. Definitely not vocal enough. Although that rang true in many early season contests, it couldn't be further from the truth after the last few contests.

In Big East play, Samardo is shooting a robust 57% from the field and playing worlds tougher than he has before. His previously suspect foul shooting has risen to 87%. Instead of looking apathetic and unconcerned about getting the ball, he is now actively demanding the post pass. Two premier teams in the country - Pitt and Villanova - could not handle Samuels in the low-block. He averaged 23 points in the last two games by making quicker decisions with the ball, using both hands, and going up to the basket with authority. Unfortunately, both games were heartbreaking Louisville losses.

In both games Louisville had the game won and somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of

victory after playing very well. One of the main reasons was not riding home on the horse that brought them. In both late stretches, the Cardinals' perimeter players went away from getting the ball inside to Samardo for an unknown, strange reason. Similar to the time of David Padgett, good things happen when the offense runs through Samuels. If he gets double-teamed, someone has an open shot. If not, he can take his man, score, or get to the line. Seems simple. However, Samuels didn't even touch the ball once in the final minute and overtime at Pitt and was forgotten about in crucial times against Nova. It seems as though he has to earn his team's trust just like he has the fans.

The team must look for him in the post more often for the Cards to overcome their demons. I was very impressed with the inside-outside game Samardo had with Knowles in the Pitt game and Peyton Siva is always looking to get the big guy involved. It is up to the two senior guards to swallow their pride and look to him more often. Sosa and Smith have hit big shots over the course of their careers, but this offense runs best when the Jamaican sophomore touches the ball. It will only get everyone else on the team better shots. Samuels will never play above-the-rim, but if this new-found tenacity and resilience continues it won't matter.

Some thought it would happen sooner, but it looks like Samardo Samuels is starting to become the player everyone and their mother thought he could be. To me, it seems he is the answer to the question of who the Cards' go-to guy really is.

Strong Getting the Job Done...So Far

2010-01-19T22:58:00.002-05:00

New Louisville football coach Charlie Strong has done a lot for himself in only 5 short weeks. A school that a short time and a different regime ago was battling with mediocre programs like Ohio and Middle Tennessee for one-star preps is now beating out perennial powers like Florida and LSU for elite recruits. A 2010 class full of question marks may now turn into one of the best classes in school history. Strong has changed everyone's perspective of this program -from the fans to the administration to the coaches in the Schnellenberger Complex in just 5 short week. Also, remember he spent most of the month preparing his Florida defense for the Sugar Bowl.

Stud offensive guard Torrian Wilson from Miami Northwestern and Georgia dual-threat QB Marcus Smith both spurned offers from the mighty Gators by choosing Louisville this week. Both should be factors in some way next year whether it be on the offensive or defensive side of the ball. Strong won't be afraid to switch a guy positions or even sides of the ball if he feels he can help the team better elsewhere. Wilson and Smith join a slew of other recruits that include one of the best receivers in the country in Miami Northwestern standout Michaelee Harris and devastating Defensive end from Georgia BJ Butler. Harris chose Louisville over Miami FL and Tennessee with many analysts calling him the best "possession" guy in his class. Butler is a monster judging by his write-ups and decided to join former Georgia and new Cards defensive line coach John Fabris and spurn a verbal agreement with the Dawgs. Can you really blame the guy?

In the coming weeks expect decisions from a few other top recruits that are very high on Strong and Louisville. Former Texas Tech recruit WR Kadron Boone is down to the Cards and LSU. DT Todd Chandler (Wilson and Harris' HS teammate) is expected to choose the Cards soon after a very successful visit a couple weeks back. That would give the Cards 4 players from Miami Northwestern, a school known for producing top-notch talent since the days Schnelly coaches the Canes, in one class. Another guy to look at is Fred Harvey, a bruising OLB from the Memphis area who holds an offer from the Tennessee Dooleys. Unless the hostesses were retained by Vince's son I think the Cards should most likely land him as well. All these guys are very highly respected prospects and despite what people might think will qualify and contribute if they were to choose the Cards.

Locally, the big decision has yet to be made by Central star defender Tim Patterson. It's between the Cards and the Cats on this one and Patterson seems to be taking his time in choosing red or blue. All indications point to Patterson picking the Cards, but it seems he wants to ride out the "Jesus Shuttleworth Treatment" as long as he can. Teammate Stefon Robinson already chose Strong like 2 days into his tenure and local studs Quan Weaver and Harris Bivin held their previous commitments and will wear the red and black. I have always said I think it's essential for Strong to lock-down the top recruits in Kentucky and he seems to be doing just that.

It's an exciting time for Louisville football again and Spring practice is still a ways away. Funny how things can change when the head man has what it takes to recruit at a BCS school with great facilities. It might not happen this year, but by the way things are looking on the recruiting front, Charlie Strong will have the Cards back in the championship picture in the near future. It looks like the nightmare is over.

Pitino Staying Put

2009-05-09T17:34:00.002-04:00

After a few days of rumors and innuendos that led many to believe Coach Rick Pitino's days at Louisville were numbered, Card fans were given reassurance that he is staying put. No Sacramento Kings, no retirement.

Louisville SID Kenny Klein and FoxSports.com's Jeff Goodman both said yesterday that coach was neither going to coach nor interested in the Sacramento Kings opening. These are contrary to alleged confirmed reports by ESPN yesterday the said Pitino's "camp" had initiated contact with the Maloof brothers, owners of the Kings. In a release through the university, Pitino stated:

"I'm not sure how these rumors get started, but there is absolutely no truth that there has been any dialog, either directly or indirectly, with the Kings and I'm sure they would confirm that. I am not represented by an agent, I don't have a "camp," and no one representing me nor have I had any contact with the Kings. Anything else said to the contrary is false. These invalid rumors are unfair to the Kings and are misleading to the many outstanding young men we are recruiting to attend U of L. "

"I'm so proud of our players that have worked so hard to win the BIG EAST Conference regular season and tournament championships in arguably the toughest season since its inception last year. At the same time, our team has also performed very well in the classroom, earning a collective team grade point average over a 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) during the past year. We have worked extremely hard to attract the type of players that have helped us reach the NCAA Elite Eight the past two seasons and have kept us among the top ten in the nation the last two seasons.
"I have great respect for the Kings, their ownership and (President for Basketball Operations) Geoff Petrie. However, I have been totally committed to U of L the past eight seasons and I am looking forward to the future more than ever. We are all very anxious for the start of next season and will concentrate our efforts on what we can control, not on what we can't."

A Perfect Storm?

2009-05-08T05:00:00.001-04:00

I can't help but look at this picture and see Back to the Future where all the faces are dissolving of Marty McFly's family members...

The "Pitino contemplates retirement" rumors turned into "Pitino to Sacramento" rumors in a matter of hours Thursday. KentuckySportsRadio, a site that I write for on occasion, first had a post earlier in the day saying there was a "buzz" around town and unreliable Louisville sources said Pitino was "contemplating hanging them up". The posts on KSR are very pro-Kentucky, almost to propagandist levels, so I just took it as blue-bloods being blue-bloods and wrote it off.

This actually seems to have some legs. The rumor became so rampant that UofL SID Kenny Klein's inbox was flooded by people wanting answers and it prompted a call to Pitino, who is in Florida for a charity event. According to The Courier-Journal's CL Brown, Pitino shot the rumor down as bogus through Klein and told KK to tell veteran writer Rick Bozich he'd be "stuck with him" for a while and he "wasn't going anywhere". A few hours later, Adrian Wojnorowski of Yahoo! reported that there has been mutual interest shown between Pitino and the Sacramento Kings which would reunite him with Francisco Garcia. Wojno cites many NCAA and NBA sources who say that both sides have been in contact. I asked a few of my media friends how serious I should take this and it was a consensus that if Wojnorowski is reporting it, it should be taken very seriously.

Pitino is going through one of the hardest times in his life and this recent situation might have caused him to take a step back and re-evaluate a few things. One being whether he would be able to overcome such an ordeal in Louisville - the smallest big-city in America. Various sources have told me that coach took the extortion fiasco very hard (obviously) and coach needed to get away from all the rumors and constant bombardment of questions, so he left town to escape. It's purely speculation, but there's a possibility he decided it was time to explore what else is out there.

These type of rumors come around every year. Last year, it was that idiot Greg Doyell saying Pitino was going to the Miami Heat, then the Arizona rumors this year turned out to be unsubstantiated as well. This is different though. All the recent mess combined with his son leaving for Florida, and his procrastination of naming a new assistant lead me to believe he might be more interested in this than any of the previous flirtations. With continued support from his family and the fans, Coach Pitino should be here for years to come. However, he did say he wouldn't coach for another athletic director and Tom Jurich has been rumored to be flirting with some big-money from UCLA. The waves, wind and lightning look to be on the horizon.

Wojnorowski does state that Pitino isn't the only candidate and Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof. As of right now, former Wizards coach Eddie Jordan is the leading candidate. So this could just be a case of a college basketball reporter looking for some work during a dead time of year and stumbling across this. Pitino has always said he would listen if anyone was interested. Whether or not he goes any further into talks remains to be seen.

We all know Pitino failed miserably in the NBA with the Celtics, but he seems like the type of person that would like to atone his mistakes. Maybe I'm paranoid (very good odds), but this looks to be a possible "perfect storm" that leaves us scratching our heads and looking for a replacement. With the new arena coming very soon, new practice facilities and great support he has here in Louisville, I don't see him going anywhere unless he wants to start anew and can't take the heat for the Sypher situation. After Bobby Petrino, John L. and Pitino at Kentucky, I'd rather err on the side of caution.

There were rumors of a possible press conference tomorrow regarding either the Pitino/Jurich situations, but none has been confirmed as of yet.

Stay tuned in for more updates....

Rumor Mill: Pitino a Candidate for Sacramento Kings Job

2009-05-07T22:53:00.002-04:00

This according to a story reported tonight on Yahoo Sports.

According to Yahoo, "it is believed that Pitino intermediaries initiated the contact," and that "several NCAA and NBA sources strongly insist that Pitino has talked by phone with at least one member of the family and has been a major topic of discussion within the organization the past week."

The Courier Journal's take on the rumor was a little less upsetting. Louisville Sports Spokesman Kenny Klien downplayed the rumors, telling the C-J Pitino is "not going anywhere."

Wizards coach Eddie Jordan is reportedly the front-runner for the job, and the Kings have also expressed an interest in Paul Westphal and Mike Fratello.

More on the saga later. Stay tuned to the L Yes! Report. Seriously. Do it.

So I Just Started Runnin'....

2009-05-07T06:00:00.001-04:00

After the disappointing end to the basketball season I decided to take a little time off from the blogging thing to recharge my battery. I'd compare it to when Forrest Gump "just started runnin'" after Jenny left him like a thief in the night. Just too much to take and then write about it so I had to get way for the best interest of my future. It was a blown opportunity at the end of a pretty magical season followed by a fiasco that has more conspiricy theories than the JFK shooting. However, nothing should be taken away from the departing seniors (and junior) and their accomplishments this year. The bad part looks to be behind.

- I haven't touched on the Karen Sypher extortion fiasco and I won't anymore after this. I think it is very unfortunate that a coach coming on one of his best regular season's ever has top basically go into hiding because of a crazy woman who is obviously in the wrong. We should be seeing Rick on PTI and at Millionaire's Row talking about his great season and how no new coach is going to change who is on top right now. Instead, we have to hear about that stinky substance up I-64. All the rumors and speculation will continue until this woman and her accomplices are dealt with by the justice system. I have my sources about the situation and all the crazy rumors are simply that...crazy and probably started by the inhabitants of that stinky substance. Card fans should show there support for a coach that has guided us to 2 elite 8's and a final 4 in the last 5 years. If he were in the wrong, he wouldn't have gone to the FBI. Simple as that.

What's even crazier is the fact that Sypher's mom pretty much threatened Coach Pitino's life to Pat Forde in his ESPN.com article covering the situation. "I want to kill him for what he has done to my family". What he has done? It sounds like she's more angry about what he didn't do. Sorry Mrs. Cunagin, you're going to have to find another way to upgrade to the quarter slots and the name-brand cigarettes. This is just completely ridiculous that our coach is getting dragged around in the mud by this trash. The next news we'll hear about this is how much time the goldy-locked gold-digger and her minions are going to spend in jail.

- Pitino's next order of business will be to name a replacement for his son Richard who left to join Billy Donovan's staff at Florida. the obvious choice is former UK and NBA player Ron Mercer, who traveled closely with the team over the course of last season. Also, i have seen mercer sporting Louisville basketball gear around town, so take that for what it's worth. I can not confirm in any way if this will be the choice or not. I'm just using deductive reasoning. I think having a former pro as an assistant is great for recruiting and competition in practice, but 3 former UK players as assistants for the former Godfather of UK basketball wearing Louisville red? I never thought I'd see the day. I expect the elder Pitino, Walter McCarty and Steve Masiello to increase their recruiting workload for the time being and name an assistant sooner than later.

- It hasn't been completely confirmed, but the reasoning behind Richard's departure had nothing to do with his father's situation. By my understanding, it was just a matter of him trying to get away from the father's shoulders and make a name for himself and had been in the works for weeks. Still he will have the comfort of someone I'm sure he is familiar with in Donovan. Whether or not the extortion case pushed him away is unclear, but I believe it was just a matter of a father allowing and helping a son develop his own identity as a coach. His recruiting will be missed and as of right now all the guys he got to commit are still on board.

- Jeremy Tyler is another story. As you've probably heard, Tyler is doing something Brandon Bender mentioned in 2000 and is skipping his senior year in high school to play professional ball in Europe. I'm just glad this time the Cards have enough time to recover and sign someone close to his caliber in the 2010 class. Donte Smith, Amir Johnson and Sebastian Telfair have all burned Pitino is recent years causing him to miss out on the likes of Rajon Rondo. I thought the NBA's age limit would put an end to that, but I guess loopholes are meant to be found. Tyler would probably have been amazing in a Louisville jersey, but for how long and at what price? The days of going after kids like that should be in the past for Pitino.

- T-Will's draft stock is rising faster by the day and he is currently right inside the lottery at #13 according to draftexpress.com. The lottery selections don't come out for another couple weeks, but that spot is presently occupied by the Indiana Pacers. Depending how the ping-pong balls fall, both T-Will and Earl Clark could easily get into the top 10. Earl Clark is currently projected as the 10th overall pick to the Milwaukee Bucks. I think it would be great to see one get drafted by the New York Knicks as they continue to shave money off their salary cap in preparation to go after as many as 3 max contract superstars in 2010. LeBron, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Josh Howard, Shaq, D-Wade, and Steve Nash are just a few of the marquee names that will become free agents that year. Put E5 or T-Will with a couple of those guys and it would be must-see-tv for Cards fans. The Nets are also in a similar situation and both should have top 10 picks. With Cisco banished to the land of Vlade Divac, it would be refreshing to see one or both of those guys get drafted by a team with the potential to be on TNT with Ernie, Kenny and Charles.

- I'm back to posting the latest in the world of Cardinal sports on a daily basis. Expect updates on former players such as Larry O'Bannon and recruits such as 2010's Josh Smith, Fab Melo and Dominique Ferguson along with 2011 standouts Tony Wroten and Marquis Teague. Keep checking back for updates as long as TC's not still upset that I took a vacation and gave him the keys to this Porche.

Derby Posts

2009-04-29T13:34:00.003-04:00

What would a Louisville, Kentucky-based sports site be without a little Derby chatter?

Today the posts were drawn for the 135th Kentucky Derby.

Favorite I Want Revenge will break from position 13 on Saturday. His morning line had him at 3-1.

Two ponies, Dunkirk and Pioneerof the Nile, (pictured because the Santa Anita Derby winner is this blogger's pick) were at 4-1 this morning and will be posting at positions 15 and 16, respectively.

Louisiana Derby winner Friesan Fire is 5-1 and has a good starting position at post number 6.

Good luck, ladies and gentlemen.

Derby Eve Bash

2009-04-29T01:00:00.000-04:00

Keep Checking Back for some new news on recruiting....

As a lot of you know, I produce for The Freak Show with John Renshaw which streams live weeknights at 11:30PM on louisvillesportsbuzz.com as well as being broadcasted on television via WBKI-34 (Channel 7 on Insight). LouisvilleSportsBuzz is putting on a Derby Eve Bash with live music and an abundance of pro athletes that you will have the opportunity to meet. This is all in addition to a selection of beer and liqour, but I think that goes without saying. Tickets can be purchased at the Buzz Store at LouisvilleSportsBuzz.com or if you have any problems email me @ lyesreport@gmail.com and i'll get you set up.

For the record, If you knew what die-hard Eagles fan and L Yes! contributor Trevor Kelsey said he would say to Terrell Owens if he ever encountered him, you would pay hundreds of dollars, not just the inexpensive $15 ($20 at the door). Chalk-talk with Bob Stoops or drink a Natty Ice with Matty Ice. It's being held close to the corner of Floyd/Central, which is definitely walking distance from the track. Click on the flyer for more details...

Eric Wood to Buffalo

2009-04-27T11:53:00.003-04:00

Former Louisville center and L Yes! favorite Eric Wood was drafted in the first round and No. 28 overall by the AFC East's Buffalo Bills Saturday.

He was the second center taken in the draft.

OT George Bussey was drafted in the fifth round by the the New England Patriots.

Congrats to both former Cardinal linemen.

Backcourt Help Coming for the Cards

2009-04-23T20:59:00.003-04:00

Chris Smith, a New Jersey native, will be coming to the Ville, the Courier reported tonight.

Smith is the little brother of J.R. Smith of the Denver Nuggets. He's transferring from Manhattan, where he averaged better than 15 and 5 boards per game. He'll sit out next year but has two years of eligibility left.

Welcome to Louisville, good news.

Wolfe to Transfer

2009-04-23T15:38:00.003-04:00

The University of Louisville Athletic Dept. has announced that QB Tyler Wolfe will transfer at the end of the spring semester, most likely to a I-AA school so he would be eligible immediately.

Wolfe's transfer will bring Coach Kragthorpe's count to 8,162 in the department of premature departures.

"I'm sorry to see Tyler leave our program," said Kragthorpe. "He is a solid person and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

Speaking of bad news and the name Tyler, if you haven't heard already, (former) Louisville hoops commit Jeremy Tyler is reportedly foregoing his senior year of high school to play ball overseas, meaning he won't wear a Cardinal uniform.

In other news the University confirmed it will be changing its banner off I-65 from "Welcome to Louisville: The Greatest College Sports Town in America" to "Welcome to Louisville: Where When It Rains, It Pours."

McShay: Eric Wood to go Early in Round 2

2009-04-21T17:15:00.002-04:00

In ESPN's Todd McShay's latest 2009 NFL Mock Draft, former Louisville center and L Yes! favorite Eric Wood is projected as the No. 6 pick in the second round. Wood, a Cincinnati native, would be swooped up by the Bungles -er, Bengals if McShay's projection is on the money.

I hope it's not.

Wood is McShay's No. 2 center in this year's crop.

McShay has Hunter Cantwell going in the sixth round to the the Denver Broncos and OT George Bussey late in the seventh, also to Denver.

Former Georgia QB Matthew Stafford is the projected overall No. 1 pick to the Lions.

Reynolds to Enter Draft

2009-04-21T16:48:00.002-04:00

Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds will cease to be a thorn in the side of Cards fans, as it was announced today that he is to enter the NBA draft.

Maybe.

Reynolds didn't hire an agent, leaving open the possibility of a return to Jay Wright and the Wildcats for his senior season.

As a junior, Reynolds averaged better than 15 points per game.

What is going on up here?

2009-04-19T15:06:00.002-04:00

It has been a busy day full of rumors and allegations as well as he said she said crap floating all over town like a turd in the toilet. In case your in a coma, you have heard the news of Rick Pitino and the FBI being involved in an extortion case.

Yes her name is now being leaked all over the media and even one of this websites contributor's has posted a photo of her. I will keep referring to the woman as "her" instead of an actual name due to the fact this isn't just an average story. This has the attention of the FBI and I am the last person who needs to bring attention to myself from any form of the law.

This statement was released by Pitino last night regarding the situation....

"My family and I were recently threatened as part of a criminal scheme to extort money," Pitino said in a statement. "Upon receiving these threats, we reported this extortion attempt to the FBI. While I did not want to make this matter public, I recently learned that the individual behind this extortion attempt has already gone to the media with false, defamatory and outrageous allegations in an attempt to pressure me to cave in to this scheme.

"I want to make it clear that I intend to vigorously defend my reputation and the character of my family against any criminal scheme to extort money. I am hopeful that the media and public will recognize the slanderous nature of this direct and malicious attack."

This is a very messy story and I can guarantee you even after it is resolved in the media, know one is really going to know the truth. This morning the husband of the woman, Tim Sypher released this statement...

"I am devastated by the bizarre allegations that my estranged wife is making against both Coach Pitino and myself. At this point, my primary concern is for my young daughter and four stepsons, both to the impact of their mother's actions on them, as well as the impact on Coach's family and the University. I love my children, and want to protect them. At the same time, I intend to defend the allegations vigorously and will have no additional comment at this time. "

This isn't something that is going to go away quickly. This is going to be drawn out and talked about on the message boards for hours and hours over the next few months or more. I don't read message boards. I am smarter then that. Every media outlet is keeping the info of this story close to their vest and sorry everyone but I am doing the same.

Pitino: A Victim of Extortion

2009-04-19T12:40:00.004-04:00

The FBI is looking into Coach Rick Pitino's allegation that he is being extorted by the estranged wife of U of L equipment manager, Tim Sypher, the Courier-Journal is reporting.

Her name is Karen Sypher, and oh yeah - the L Yes! got a picture.

ESPN has picked up the story too.

So has Fox Sports, Gary Parrish at CBS, and the good folks at Sports Illustrated.

So I guess the good news is that it's flying well under the radar, huh?

Stay tuned to the L Yes! Report for your up-t0-the-minute sex scandal/extortion/FBI investigations updates.

What is going on up here?

2009-04-18T20:14:00.007-04:00

I have no life but watching sports, movies and tv sitcoms so why not share the thoughts and ideas that are floating around in this head of mine....

At first hearing about Richard Pitino leaving Louisville to be an assistant at Florida puzzled me. Jeff Goodman broke the story. Then it was brought to my attention of him "stepping out of his fathers shadow" and that made since to me. Makes more sense then the absurd rumors that I am sure are UK fans are starting about some kind of sex scandal or point shaving. I am sorry Kentucky fans that your program once were dirty enough to do that it doesn't mean we are or did. I understand that Richard wants to be a head coach and no matter what he does at Louisville, people are going to try to claim its because of his dad. He was up for the Boston University job and didn't get it. Was that really the reason? I mean first off you are Boston University. This is basketball not hockey, you have really little room to be that picky. On the other hand it wouldn't shock me if that had something to do with it. Not everybody is as intelligent as me. So Richard will move to Florida, wanting to make a name for himself. Where better to go then dad's friend, who could use a recruiter and assistant and who has produced several head coaches himself. If this is really the reason for the move then I will be shocked if Richard is at Florida more then two years.

Maybe most people don't like the NBA but I love it. The Bulls and Celtics was a good game and while the Celtics will win the series I am going to enjoy watching Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo match up over the next 5 games or less. Yea the Bulls won and Rose had a great game but so did Rondo. I know its bad to talk about a UK player on here maybe but the fact is he is a great on ball and team defender and while he still does struggle with his jump shot he he doesn't force his shot. Rondo out up 21 points in game one and had 6 assists with zero turnovers. Rose had 8 assists but 4 turnovers. The Celtics are a better team, with or without KG, and that will show in the long run but doesn't mean we can't enjoys watching these two young guards go one on one every now in then.

I am a huge fan of what the Hawks have done and of Joe Johnson. He is still underrated despite getting an All-Star bid this year. Their (Hawks) series with the Heat should be a slug fest with every game being great to watch. Horford against O'Neal (Jermaine of course) and Johnson against Wade will be worth your time. The Hawks are a deeper team though and will win this in a tough 6 or maybe 7 game series. That being said I want it to be known now that I think the Hawks are good enough to knock off the Cavs. I'll get into that another day though.

Baseball is here and I couldn't be more bored at times. I have the privilege of listening to the Reds broadcasts for work, I also "Tweet" updates of the game on my twitter account

Anyway...the Reds need offense. Joey Votto is good and I will give you Brandon Phillips but they (Reds) just don't out enough runs up to be a real contender. Harang despite a 1-1 record has looked solid as has Johnny Cueto and Bronson Arroyo but you can't win if you can't score. Starting shortstop Alex Gonzalez has one hit this season. To quote Harry Doyle "That's all we got, one goddamn hit? "

Johnny Be Gone

2009-04-14T14:04:00.003-04:00

Syracuse point guard Johnny Flynn will sign with an agent, according to sources close to the program.

This comes days after Syracuse starters Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris announced they would test the NBA waters.

Some sources are reporting that Flynn's decision to enter the draft a year earlier than expected has something to do with his reluctance to match-up against Louisville's incoming freshman Peyton Siva next season.

McCaughtry #1 Overall Pick in WNBA Draft

2009-04-09T18:50:00.002-04:00

Louisville's own living legend of women's basketball, Angel McCaughtry, has joined former stand-out center Pervis Ellison as the lone Cardinals to be selected #1 overall in their respective drafts. Angel was drafted by the Atlanta Dream earlier today, so make sure you save up for that authentic jersey.

Not that I'm a WNBA fan by any means, but it is great to see McCaughtry get the respect she deserves and continue to be an ambassador for the university. The Dream could use all the help they can get, as they finished a DePaul-esque 4-30 in it's inaugural season in the league. They have added former Tennessee stand-out Chamique Holdsclaw as well to try to get on that win train. Congrats and Good Luck to Angel as she attempts to dominate the pros just as she did college.

Dream Draft McCaughtry with First Pick (ESPN.com)
Watch McCaughtry's reaction to Selection (Must have Windows Media Player) (WNBA.com)

T-Will Awarded Second Team All-American by ESPN

2009-04-08T09:00:00.003-04:00

The self-annointed Worldwide Leader in Sports annointed Louisville senior Terrence Williams Second Team All-American. First Team members included Ty Lawson, James Harden, Tyler Hansborough, Dejuan Blair, and Player of the Year Blake Griffin.

Joining T-Will on the Second Team was Hasheem Thabeet, Gerald Henderson, Stephen Curry, and Jodie Meeks.

Tuesday Afternoon National Championship Reads

2009-04-07T13:25:00.003-04:00

For your viewing pleasure. Check out these links to get your Louisville-is-playing-UConn-for-the-National-Championship-tonight fix.

Doug Fienburg at Yahoo Sports says Geno Auriemma insists his Huskies are beatable.

UConn is on the verge of a “dynasty” and the sole reason we should all tune in tonight, according to the folks at USA Today.

A UConn insider’s take regarding the relationship between Coach Auriemma and senior guard Renee Montgomery.

Eric Crawford has a good piece on one of this writer’s favorite Lady Cards, senior Candyce Bingham.

And finally, if you haven’t yet, don’t forget to get the full scouting report on the Lady Huskies from your friends here at the L Yes! Report. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Gov. Beshear to Wage Ham Against Huskies Tonight

2009-04-07T11:40:00.005-04:00

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has placed a "friendly bet" with Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell on tonight's National Championship game between Louisville and the Lady Huskies.

Beshear has put up a Kentucky country ham, while Gov. Rell waged a lobster dinner for two.

It doesn't look like Beshear is getting the 16.5 points the Lady Cards are underdogs. It's also unclear whether this is part of his campaign to implement expanded gaming in the Commonwealth.

Said Beshear: “As a great seafood lover, I gladly welcome Gov. Rell’s lobster dinner wager. The First Lady and I will savor this lobster just as we will savor the NCAA victory of our University of Louisville Lady Cardinals.”

That's governor talk for "it's on like donkey kong."

Let's keep the ham in the K-Y. Go Cards!

Best 3 Minutes in Sports

2009-04-07T02:52:00.000-04:00

I'm sure this will be taken down soon, so enjoy it while you can....

Show Me My Opponent - Connecticut Huskies

2009-04-06T16:31:00.012-04:00

Event: 2009 Women’s NCAA Basketball National Championship

Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Time: 8:30 p.m. EST

Site: The Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri

TV: ESPN

Radio: 840 WHAS in Louisville, also available on Sirius Radio

Series History: U of L trails 1-7 all-time, its only win coming back in 1993 (0-2 at home, 1-4 at UConn, 0-1 neutral)

Last Meeting: UConn 75, Louisville 36; March 10 in Hartford, Connecticut

Spread: Louisville plus 16.5

National Rankings: Louisville ended the season ranked 7th in the AP poll, while UConn has remained the No. 1 team in the country in all polls since Week 1

University of Connecticut Huskies

Location - Storrs, CT

Arena- Gampel Pavilion

Head Coach – Geno Auriemma (695-122 and 5 National Championships in 24 seasons at UConn; 6 time Coach of the Year)

Assistants – Chris Daly, Jamelle Elliot, Shea Ralph

Record – 38-0, 16-0

Famous alumni
Moby (musician)
Paige Turco (actress, best known for her role as April O’Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Meg Ryan (actress)
Leigh Montville (legendary sports writer)
Kirk Ferentz (Iowa football coach)

Women basketball alumni
Ashley Battle (Liberty)
Sue Bird (1st overall pick in the 2002 WNBA draft, Storm)
Asjha Jones (Sun)
Rebecca Lobo (former WNBA player and current analyst for ESPN)
Jessica Moore (Sparks)
Shea Ralph (Starzz)
Nykesha Sales (former WNBA player)
Ann Strother (Dream)
Ketia Swainer (Sun)
Dianna Taurasi (Mercury)
Tamika Williams (Sun)

Probable Starters
#23 Maya Moore F
#31 Tina Charles C
# 3 Tiffany Hayes G
#30 Renee Montgomery G
#32 Kalana Green G

Outlook
The Cards (34-4) upset No. 2 seeded Baylor in the Sweet 16, then No. 1 seeded Maryland in the Elite 8 to march to the Arch, where Sunday night they handled No. 1 seeded Oklahoma. Not to mention they had to play No. 6 seeded LSU on their home floor to advance in the second round. Their reward? A second rematch with the No. 1 overall and undefeated Connecticut Huskies for the National Championship.

So, this team is good. The storyline going into Tuesday night’s game will be how the Huskies destroyed the Cards by an average of 33.5 points in two meetings this season. Player of the Year Maya Moore led the way, averaging 27.5. This may have something to do with all the “experts” at the Worldwide Leader going with the undisputed No. 1 team. But it must be pointed out that both games were in Connecticut, the first at UConn in Storrs, and the second in Hartford, UConn’s second home.

But it may not make any difference where these teams meet. UConn coach Geno Auriemma is a perfect 5-0 in National Title contests. His current squad has beaten everybody on the schedule by double-digits and is coming off two consecutive 83-64 wins to reach the Championship game. Both Moore and guard Renee Montgomery are All-Americans. 6’4 center Tina Charles is arguably the best center in the Big East and had her way with the Cards both outings this season, averaging 19.5 points and 12.5 boards.

But don’t count the Lady Cards out. Under the tutelage of Coach Jeff Walz, who’s become a household name in women’s college hoops since taking over at Louisville, the Cards are playing inspired ball. He’ll call on Deseree Byrd to slow down Montgomery, and look for the Cards to try to pick up the tempo to keep Charles out of the game.

For Louisville to stay competitive, its All American, Angel McCoughtry will have to come out to play both halves. The X-factor in keeping this one close will be Angel’s fellow senior, Candyce Bingham, who’s been a steady hand for the Cards in their historical Final Four run.

Nobody, including top 5 teams Oklahoma and North Carolina, has been able to keep up with the Huskies this season. But the Cards have relished in their role as underdog in the tourney. Coach Walz has been brilliant in implementing strategy to get his girls to where they are today. And who can forget the Biblical story of David slaying Goliath, especially this close to Easter Sunday?

If the Cards can keep it close, or maybe even grab a piece of a lead, it’ll be interesting to see how the mighty Huskies respond. But to the “experts” at ESPN: This is why we play the game. Let's see just one more bit of Madness before the season concludes.

Go Cards.

Lady Cards Look To Shock The World

2009-04-06T15:51:00.006-04:00

39 and 28 points. 168 to 101. Those are the deficits and combined scores of Louisville's Lady Cards previous match ups this season with UCONN. The Huskies handed Louisville two of it's four losses this season. The last time they met for the Big East Tournament finals, UCONN beat the Lady Cards by 39 points, while Louisville only scored 36 points as a team. Maya Moore (UCONN) scored 28 points by herself. Angel McCoughtry led Louisville with 9 points (3-16).

The Huskies haven't lost a game since this time last year when they fell to Stanford in the Final Four (a game they got revenge for this year). That is 38 in a row. A streak that doesn't have a win that isn't by double digits. In fact the closest anyone has got to UCONN is ten points in defeat (Notre Dame and Rutgers). They (UCONN) are beating this years tournament opponents by an average of 25 points a game. Well no one is giving Louisville a chance in this game, the Lady Cards are a 16 point underdog.

You think any of this matters to coach Jeff Walz and the rest of the team?

"Nobody expected us to be here," McCoughtry said after the upset of Oklahoma. "We have not one high school All-American on our team, but these girls worked hard. I'm so proud of them."

If Angel McCoughtry and the rest of the Lady Cards can pull off the upset it would truly shock the world in a 1983 North Carolina State size upset. Louisville will have to control the tempo or they (Louisville) will get destroyed as expected. The Lady Cards can not get into a track meet with a much deeper bench. I loved watching coach Walz throw junk defense's (box and 1, triangle 2) at Oklahoma, while mixing in man to man (or woman to woman) to confuse the Sooners and try to prevent them from feeding the Paris sisters.

Tempo and turnovers are the keys, as they are in a lot of games. Louisville can not lose the turnover battle. They (Louisville) only committed 9 turnovers as at team against Oklahoma (forcing 17) but in their two meeting against UCONN this year they (Louisville) turned the ball over a combined 38 times (23 and 15). If Louisville is going to have any chance they must keep their turnovers down (single digits). I was going to put my prediction on here but I think I don't want to do it. Lets just say I think the Huskies will cover the spread but I really want to see Louisville pull off this upset so I will go out with this final score...

Lady Cards - 68

Lady Huskies - 65

Cards Baseball Is Rolling

2009-04-06T13:08:00.000-04:00

Well basketball season is over and the first game in football isn't for 5 months. You know what that means? It's baseball season and manger Dan McDonnell's Louisville Cardinals are off to a great 20-9 start. To steal a line from the great Harry Doyle, "In case you haven't noticed and judging by the attendance you haven't". The Cardinals are 16-2 at home this season and since dropping their first three games in Gainsville against the #11th ranked Gators, Louisville has gone 20-6.

Third baseman Chris Dominguez (drafted 5th round by Rockies) decided to return to Louisville and has been destroying the ball. He is leading the team in home runs (9), RBIs (40), and slugging percentage (.641) but is also leading the Cards in strikeouts (24). He is hitting .333, good for 4th on the team behind Phil Wunderlich (.348), Josh Richmond (.336), and Freshman Ryan Wright (.336).

Wunderlich just recently had a career high 3 home runs in one game against Cincinnati. First baseman Andrew Clark, who was big in the Cards post season run last season, is one of six Cards batting over .300 (.313) and has hit 4 home runs with 26 RBIs.

Louisville returned several key players from last season but has also added to that with the additions of Freshman Ryan Wright and JUCO Adam Duvall. Both have been consistent starters and contributors. Wright (2B/SS) is second on the Cards in batting while recording 2 home runs, 2 triples, and 5 doubles so far. He (Wright) is from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Adam Duvall (2B) come to the Cards from Chipola JC, where he was named to All-World Series Team after leading Chipola to Junior College World Series. He (Duvall) is batting .329 (5th on team) and 11 doubles (tied for 1st on team) this season but has committed 8 errors (2nd on team, Dominguez leads with 9) already.

The Cards pitching staff has been led by Justin Marks, who is 4-2 with a 3.43 ERA in 7 starts. Marks has been impressive as expected this season, holding batters to a .235 BA, striking out 57 batters in 42 IP and only allowing 1 home run. The Cards pitching staff is kinda shaky after Marks though. Sophomore Dean Kiekhefer has also started 7 times, going 2-2 with a 6.40 ERA. Freshman Mike Nastold has added 4 starts this year, recording a 2-0 record with a respectable 4.44 ERA. Louisville's pitching staff as a whole has a 4.40 ERA and holding opponents to a .258 BA.

The Cards will begin a five game home stretch at Jim Patterson Stadium (where it is free to go to), starting with Indiana on Tuesday (April 7th) at 6:00 PM followed by three game series against Big East foe Pittsburgh (4/9 & 4/10 at 6 PM and 4/11 at 1 PM) capped off with a showdown with Kentucky (4/14 at 6 PM).

The Dance Party Continues

2009-04-05T21:27:00.002-04:00

The University of Louisville women's basketball team upset the Oklahoma Sooners to advance to its first NCAA National Championship, despite a poor first half after which they found themselves down 12.

Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham led the way with 18 and 14, respectively.

They await the winner of the Stanford/UConn match-up. I'm going with UConn.

The Cards will play for the National Championship Tuesday night. 'Til then, you know what time it is.

Reds 2009 Team Preview

2009-04-05T11:25:00.007-04:00

Projected Starting Lineup

CF- Willy Taveras
LF- Chris Dickerson
1B- Joey Votto
2B- Brandon Phillips
RF- Jay Bruce
3B- Edwin Encarnacion
C- Ramon Hernandez
SS- Alex Gonzalez
P- Aaron Harang

Break Down:

The Reds have an exciting new look this season. Without veterans Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. general manager Walt Jocketty has put a young and exciting team on the field. The Reds had another disappointing season last year with a 74-88 record. They are looking to avoid their 10th straight losing season. Many people are saying that the Reds are this years “dark horse”. Some are even comparing them to the 2008 Rays. I would not go that far yet.

Best Player: Brandon Phillips- Phillips is without a doubt one of the best second basemen in the game. He is coming of a Gold Glove season and is a consistent hitter, but could still get better. He is the new leader of this team and he needs to take the young players under his wings and make them better.

Best Pitcher: Edinson Volquez- If he can pitch like he did last season he could be one of the best in the game. He is coming off of a 2008 All-Star appearance.

Pitching: The Reds might have the best rotation they have had in years. They are actually having a battle for the fifth spot in the rotation. Homer Bailey and Micah Owings who was acquired in the Adam Dunn trade last season, will be battling for that fifth spot. A key to the Reds success is that their “ace” Aaron Harang starts pitching like he did in 2007. He needs to have a nice bounce back year.

Infield: The infield is very solid this season with young players on the corners. Joey Votto at first, gold glover Brandon Phillips at second, veteran Alex Gonzalez coming back after missing the 2008 season with an injury will be at shortstop and Edwin Encarnacion will be at third base. Also new catcher Ramon Hernandez will hopefully bring some consistency behind the plate for the first time in several years.

Outfield: The outfield will be occupied with a young core. In right will be second year player Jay Bruce. In center will be the newly acquired Willy Taveras, and in left will probably be the young Chris Dickerson.

Bullpen: The bullpen should be strong this season after resigning veterans Mike Lincoln and David Weathers. There is a chance if Homer Bailey does not make the starting rotation that he might come out of the bullpen as a long reliever. Also solid closer Francisco Cordero will be coming in to close the door.

Prediction:
Record: 82-80
Finishing 3rd in the NL Central

Louisville's Home Schedule

2009-04-03T09:31:00.004-04:00

Tom Heiser at the Courier-Journal describes the U of L football team's home schedule as "deplorable." I used the investigative journalism tactics I've acquired while writing for the L Yes! Report and discovered that means it sucks.

You be the judge. Here's who's visiting the Pizza Palace this season:

Sep 5 - Indiana State

Oct 2 - Pittsburgh (Friday night at 8:00 pm)

Oct 10 - Southern Miss

Oct 31 - Arkansas State

Nov 14 - Syracuse

Nov 28 - Rutgers

Heiser might be on to something. But there are two sides to the coin, as he acknowledges. BCS bowls are fun, but the (dare I say "ultimate") goal for this year's Cards is six wins and bowl eligibilty. With away games at UConn, Utah, South Florida, Morgantown, and Lexington, it's safe to say there's a chance we may drop one or two on the road. And, in the event you forgot about the state of affairs on the gridiron during hoops season, it's becoming increasingly clear that Coach Steve Kragthorpe's support in this town isn't unconditional.

This is a young team. Whoever's under center on opening day will likely be taking his first snap in a Louisville uniform. (I say "likely" because one candidate, Tyler Wolfe, was 2 for 4 on passing last season for 14 yards.) It'll be a different offense than we saw last season. Our defensive personnel is littered with more question marks than X's and O's. That side of the ball will also be integrating a different system under new DC Brent Guy. Yes, I'd be more inclined to get pumped up if it were Kansas State, Miami, FSU, or even UNC invading Papa John's, as opposed to the Indiana State Sycamores. But, unfortunately, we've been shoved back into the trenches of mediocrity since that 2007 Orange Bowl Championship. Are we trapped? Not completely. But ISU and Arkansas State will give this green and unpredictable 2009 team a better chance to climb out than the Hurricanes or Seminoles.

I say (with a sigh): Bring on the Sycamores.

T-Will a Wooden All-American

2009-04-02T21:04:00.003-04:00

Louisville senior Terrence Williams was named to the John Wooden All-American Team Wednesday. He was one of 11 players selected. The rest are household names: DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Hasheem Thabeet, Luke Harangody, Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin, Tyler Hansbrough, James Harden, Gerald Henderson, and Ty Lawson.

Congrats T-Will.

McDonald's All-American Game Tonight

2009-04-01T18:26:00.003-04:00

Don't forget to pick up a Big Mac on the way home from work and check out McDonald's All-American and Louisville signee Peyton Siva on ESPN tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Peyton Siva on ESPN2

2009-03-31T13:43:00.002-04:00

Tonight ESPN2 will air the 2009 All-American dunk and three-point contests at 8:00 pm. Louisville signee Peyton Siva competes in the dunk contest. Yes, he's got what the kids call "bunnies." (That's just a hip and cool way of saying he can jump high. You can use it.)

The Lady Cards Make History

2009-03-31T02:10:00.005-04:00

One day after Louisville's men's team watched their final four dreams crash like pookie when the crack was all gone. The Lady Cards kept the schools final four and championship dreams alive beating the #1 seed Maryland to advance to the final four in St. Louis for the first time in school history.

Louisville wasn't intimidated by Maryland's top seed as the Lady Cards came out firing on the Terps and never looked back. Superstar and all everything Angel McCoughtry led the Cards with her 3rd straight 20 plus game, putting up a game high 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. McCoughty wasn't alone in this game though. Fellow Senior Candyce Bingham had 15 points and Deseree Byrd added 17 points and nine assists.

The Lady Cards forced Maryland into 21 turnovers and held them to just 38% shooting for the game. Louisville outrebounded the Terps 37-35 (Cards had 16 offensive rebounds) and collected 12 steals as a team (Bingham and McCoughtry with 3 each). Maryland had no answer, like everyone else but UCONN this year, for Louisville's 2-2-1 press and spread offense.

With just under 3 minutes to play, Maryland made their final push at the Cards but it and the game was slammed shut as Angel spotted up for three (her only one, 1-6 for the game) to put the Cards up 65-52 and seal the deal on Louisville's first final four.

Congrats to coach Jeff Walz and the Lady Cards. They will now wait and play the winner of Oklahoma and Purdue on Sunday, April 5th.

Coming Up Short

2009-03-29T18:13:00.012-04:00

Louisville shot 38% from the field and allowed Michigan State to shoot 46%. Louisville's had 12 assists and 12 turnovers, while Michigan State had 19 assists and 12 turnovers. Louisville had 27 rebounds and Michigan State had 35. Those three stat lines tell you why the Cards lost the game. I have said the Cards play Rope-a-Dope basketball this year but in this game Michigan State didn't wear down and just kept punching finally landing a haymaker, which I think came when Chris Allen went back door and just slammed the ball with 4:31 to play, putting the Spartans up 60-46 and slamming the coffin on the Louisville Cardinals season...

-Of course the Cards would end up losing 64-52 and as I said in the breakdown of this game that Louisville was more talented then Michigan State. I still feel I am right about that. I also said though that Tom Izzo teams no matter what the talent level is will always make you play their style (tempo) and will attack all rebounds and loose balls harder then their opponent, who this time unfortunately was Louisville. I hate being right so much. The Cards lost the battle of tempo and on the boards and those were the most important things in the game when you play the Cards. When Louisville doesn't win at least one of those two things, they lose. Just look at Minnesota, Western Kentucky, UCONN, Notre Dame, and now Michigan State.

-Goran Sutan played the greatest game of his life. He will never play any better then he did today. Don't get me wrong, he is a solid player. I pointed that out in the breakdown but he was hitting three pointers with guys in his face as the shot clock was winding down...twice. He got his hand on basically every rebound, whether he grabbed it or not,his hands touched it. Every time the Spartans needed a shot, Sutan hit it. Nothing is more deflating then playing good defense just to have a 6'10 guy hit a three in your face. Sutan may have only scored 2 of his 19 in the second half but he was just as effective even when he wasn't scoring.

-I loved the intensity that the Cards showed after halftime. They came out and went right after the Spartans throat. I guess no one told Durrell Summers that he was supposed to choke cause the 6'4 guard answered the Louisville attack alone. Nailing back to back threes, followed by a Kalin Lucas bankshot for three. It was the run, with 10 minutes left, that turned the entire game and if it weren't for Summers (who scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half), this game could have gone down to the wire.

- Despite how much Gus Johnson wanted to go Ammad Rashad all over the Spartans guards how they handled Louisville's press, lets keep in mind that Louisville never had the chance to even get their press going. Credit Michigan State for that because when the Cards did get the press set up it drove MSU crazy and was very affective. But hey Gus does call Terrence Williams, T-Williams the entire game. I don't like that whole nickname thing and refuse to use it but if you are going to try to act "hip" and "cool" Gus at least get it right.

-Terrence Williams did not play that bad a game. People around the country who don't know Louisville and haven't watched them play like me and others have would know that. Michigan State did a great job face guarding him and every time he touched the ball, he was swarmed like an ice cream truck at a fat kids camp. I was disappointed by the way he disappeared on the glass after the first 5 minutes of the game. MSU had 12 offensive rebounds and that's not going to cut it if your Louisville. Williams all year was best at taking the ball of the backboard on the defensive end, only giving team one not so good look. He finished the game with 5 rebounds. He had 4 of them in the first 5 minutes of the game. Williams finished the game 1-7 from the field with 5 of those forced bad shots, including 2 0f his 3 deep attempts (missing all three). It wasn't the type of game you would like to see a guy like Terrence end his Cardinal career on but if he would have had a typical Terrence game, the Cards would be cutting down nets instead of trying to keep their heads up.

-A big turning point in the game came around the 13 minute mark when the refs and MSU took Edgar Sosa out of the game. Sosa had just knocked down a 3 point shot (would be his only shot) and was playing solid defense on the press. Edgar then would sorta flop and there was no call. No problem there but the falling couple plays turned the tide, Sosa wound get mugged on the floor with no call and then would be whistled for back to back fouls that looked like they came from the Don Denkinger school of officiating. I saw the death in Sosa's eyes as he headed to the bench. We could have really used Sosa's offense in this game.

-Preston Knowles is a very good player. He played his heart out in this game but Louisville is not at it's best when Knowles is forced to play 24 minutes. He is suited at this point in his career for 15 at the most and that should be during the month of January. I love his intensity on defense (he almost lost it at one point though) and his ability to hit the three is always appreciated from Card fans. Preston put out 11 points on solid shooting (4-7) but he is a limited offensive player. All Preston can so is sit back and shoot the ball. Michigan State knew that,not allowing Williams to penetrate takes Preston out of the game.

- Jerry Smith shot the ball well. He did a great job of moving without the ball but it doesn't help when you get into foul trouble. Smith has had problems all year with foul trouble, he slaps at the ball to much and has trouble moving his feet, getting most his fouls in the back court while pressing.

-Earl Clark forced some bad shots but you know what, everybody did so that will no longer be mentioned. Clark was the only one that was aggressive on offense, shooting 8-17 for 19 points but he only had 5 rebounds. He wasn't very aggressive on the glass and I only saw the anger in his eyes that makes him play like a lottery pick once through the entire game.

- Samardo Samuels was 0-6 shooting, committed 4 turnovers, and never scored. Good news is after this game I am pretty sure he will return. Samuels struggled with Sutan's ability to play up high like he was David Padgett, while struggling even more with Sutans obvious size advantage. It looked like when George Zidek shutdown Corliss Williamson in the 1995 title game. Samuels was solid when he was forced to play low post defense on Sutan but that was very few and far between when Sutan was on the low post.

Two Are In Detroit, Still Two To Go

2009-03-28T22:00:00.000-04:00

Well two of the four have been decided and so far it's Big East - 2, rest of the country - 0. With the Cards playing later today it could (and should) make it three out of four. I went into Saturday's games waiting to see UCONN beat Missouri and to watch Villanova go to war with Pittsburgh ans I got everything I wanted and then some. Here is what I came away with after watching two good games....

- I knew Missouri wasn't going to go down like a punk but I also didn't think they could really threaten UCONN. They showed a little more heart then I expected from them but as I assumed in the end UCONN was to much. The Huskies kept the Tigers at arms length the entire game. Every time Missouri would get with in a point or two or even tie the game UCONN would have answer from A.J. Price (18 points) or the star of the game, Freshman Kemba Walker. He (Walker) hit big shot after big shot, putting up a game high (and matching his career high) 23 points off the bench. I mean with UCONN's size and skill in the post with Jeff Adrien, Hasheem Thabeet, and Stanley Robinson (two Seniors and Junior), that matched with the guard play of Walker and Price. UCONN is such a scary scary team to have to play.

- Villanova and Pittsburgh didn't disappoint when I said they would have a slug out battle for the final four. The Wildcats jumped out early but Pittsburgh rallied right away and from then out this game went back and forth, blow for blow. Sam Young was just awesome in what turned out to be his last game. He scored 28 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, including hitting a huge three to pull the Panthers with in 1 at 72-71 with under a minute to play. 'Nova's own Senior big man Dante Cunningham had a slow first half (4 points) but came out in the second half with a new fire and finished the game with 14 points and 5 rebounds, of course most importantly he made a David Tyree like catch on the last inbounds play to set up teammate Scottie Reynolds to do his Bryce Drew / Tyus Edney / Danny Ainge (stop me cause I can go all day) impersonation to win the game. Reynolds struggled from the field throughout the game but even though he was 4-11 from the field only one of those really mattered. He did go 7-7 from the free throw line and finished with 17 points. DeJuan Blair was his usual beast like self as well, going 9-9 from the floor (20 points) to go along with his 10 rebounds.

- As I thought though, Villanova's depth was the big difference. Well that and the fact Villanova shot 22-23 from the free throw line (Pitt was 21-29) and outrebounded the Panthers 29-27 but the minutes that the Wildcats bench brings, most notably the Corey's, was a huge lift. Fisher (Corey) and Stokes (Corey) were big, with Fisher throwing in 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists and Stokes contributed 7 points and 2 rebounds. What doesn't show up in the stats though is the relentless defense these two brought and their ability to play the point guard position with out the team missing a beat. Taking much needed pressure off the normal point guard Reynolds at times in the game.

- I have bragged all year that no team is deeper at the guard position then Louisville. I altered that opinion about a month ago when I admitted to maybe be second to Villanova's guard rotation. I am still on the fence between the two but this is more of a 1A and 1B thing then a 1 and 2 thing.

Meet The Spartans

2009-03-28T19:40:00.010-04:00

I have to start this breakdown of the Spartans by saying I really haven't watched Michigan State play much this season. No disrespect the the Big Ten's finest but I have an easier time staying awake watching James Lipton interview Janeane Garofalo about her up coming Lifetime movie "Girl's Best Friend", then I would watching an entire Big Ten game.

I have though spent the last few hours watching highlights, reading scouting reports, and combing over their roster from top to bottom to learn everything there is to know about the Spartans of Michigan State and trying to find this woman's name and number cause she has a cool attitude toward things. I couldn't find out her identity but here are some of my thoughts about the Cards next victim.....uh uh I mean opponent....

- Kalin Lucas is the heart and soul of this team. He is an explosive at times Sophomore guard, who is put up 14.7 points a game this season to lead the Spartans. He had 18 in their win over Kansas, including a big three point play to give the Michigan State the lead. Lucas can be a threat from deep, shooting 38% on the season but has only taken 21 attempts (hit 10 of them) from deep in the last 8 games. In fact he hasn't hit more then 1 three in a game since 3/13 (4 games), when he went 2-4 against Minnesota. Kalin is a talented Sophomore but he isn't ready for this Louisville defense. He has a Allen Iverson mind set to scoring though. Meaning 20 points is usually the result of a minimum 20 shot attempts. While he is leading and averaging 4.5 assists a game, he is turning it over 2 times a game. Over the last two games though he has been excellent controlling the ball. Collecting 14 assists to just 3 turnovers.

- If Lucas is the heart and soul, then Raymor Morgan is their legs. He is a stereo type swing man athlete. The Spartans have struggled on the offense at times this year but their ups and downs basically coincide with Morgans ups and downs. Michigan State is 13-1 this season when the 6'7 Junior scores in double figures. Their only loss coming to North Carolina (He had 21 in that loss). Raymor torched Oklahoma State for 29 earlier and 16 in their first round blowout of Robert Morris. He has been off the last two games though, scoring a combined 7 points in rounds two and three, including shooting 1-10 from the field in that span. When he gets to the free throw line is when he helps the Spartans the most but is he does disappearing acts, this team will struggle to beat anyone.

- So Lucas is heart and soul, Morgan is the legs, then that would leave the arms to be the 6'10 445 pound creature they call Goran Suton. If Morgan is a stereo type swing man, then Suton is a stereo type Big Ten goofy white guy center. Yes in the long but lustrous line of goofy white centers from the Big Ten that included MSU owns Paul Davis, Purdue's Brian Cardinal and Brad Miller, Minnesota's Joel Przybilla, and my personal favorite Indiana's Uwe Blab. I know there are many more to be named but I had to start some where. Now back to the current guy. For real though, Suton has been a force in the paint for Tom Izzo, putting up 20 points (keeping them in the game) and 9 rebounds against Kansas. He has had 10 or more rebounds in 6 out of his last 10 games, grabbing 17 against Robert Morris. Goron the Great has collected 10 offensive rebounds through the three games in this tournament. Louisville has to keep him off the glass or MSU could win this game.

-Well I guess I pretty much covered the entire anatomy of the Spartans here, oh wait, I almost forgot the head and brains. Who else could that be but Tom "UK job is a joke to me" Izzo. Do the Cards have better guards the MSU? Yes. Doth Cards have a better big men the MSU? Yes. Are the Cards deeper then MSU? Yep. Hell, are the Cards more talented and better overall then MSU? Your damn skippy. Problem though is that Michigan State does have talent, even if it's not as much as the Cards and no one this side of Rick Pitino gets more out of his kids then maybe Tom Izzo. His teams will always make you play the style they want (my grandmother can run the mile faster then this team can score 70 points in a game) and will do everything in their power to beat you on the loose balls and rebounds. Tempo and rebounding are two huge keys in this game. Tempo most of all. Louisville must do to Michigan State that they did to Arizona. Go at the Spartans guards like Peter McNeeley and harass them like a wife finding another girls panties in your car.

Louisville plays the speed they want and keep Michigan State to one shot and done possessions, I am not going to lie and sound to over confident but the Cards will cruise if they do those things and will win by at least 12 points or more. Can they do those thing? I can't answer that yes as quick as I did before but I think they can.
My prediction....

Louisville 79

Michigan State 68

Final Four Is Almost Here

2009-03-28T15:43:00.007-04:00

I am so pumped up and ready for Louisville's game on Sunday but at least there are two good games to hold me over today, I hope. I watched Missouri's beat down at the hands of Kansas and even though it hurt to do, I watched UCONN's win over Louisville. I also watched about half of Villanova and Pittsburghs first and only match up this season. 'Nova won that game 67-57 on January 28th. I'll tell you what though, these games have a big act to follow. This DII game between Findlay (Its in Ohio) and Cal Poly Pomona is still going in overtime tied at 51 as I type. While they are at a timeout in the game I will tell the millions and millions of L-Yes Report readers my thoughts on today's games...

- After watching Missouri a couple of times more now and reminding myself how UCONN handled Louisville's pressure defense, I am thinking this (like the rest of UCONNs games) will end with the Huskies moving on. I like this Missouri team and I am a fan of their talented Senior DeMarre Carroll but this UCONN team is on a mission and is just plain to good for the Tigers. On top of that I am starting to think more and more that this will be Jim Calhoun's last season. His team has definitely looked focused on what their goal is and that may be sending him out with a championship. I can't say they will do that and I can't so that Jim Calhoun will retire after the season but I will say that regardless the Huskies will be in the Final Four after today.

- Just on a side note, in that great and exiting DII game. Findlay went up 2 and then Cal Poly tied it up wit 11 seconds, only to force two misses by....what the hell is Findlay's mascot? Oh well, long story short a Senior from Circleville, Ohio (I know this cause the announcers screamed it over and over but don't know his name) would nailed a fade away three pointer at the buzzer (looked a lot like Ty Rogers for WKU last season) to give Findlay the championship.....Tyler Evans is his name. For those who really cared.

- I can not wait to watch the match up between Pittsburgh and Villanova. I think this game will be a slug out fight between two very good teams. Yes I know Pittsburgh has looked less then impressive in their three wins but I still think they have the most talented starting line up in the country. Villanova on the other hand has looked as good as UCONN and Louisville (most impressive teams) since the 10 minute mark in the first round against American, when they were down 14 to end up winning by 13.

- The match ups are off the charts here in this game though. Dante Cunningham ('Nova) and Sam Young (Pitt) is the match up I am excited about watching but then again a Levance Fields and Scottie Reynolds match up will be something to watch. This is a tough game for me to pick. On the one hand I love the Panthers Senior leadership and clutch play of Fields and Young. That along with stingy defense and ah some monster of a human being known as DeJuan Blair in the middle but Villanova has Senior leadership as well in Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson. Reynolds and Reggie Redding (led 'Nova with 18 in win over Pitt this year) are Juniors, while the Corey boys ( not Haim and Feldman though) Fisher and Stokes are Sophomores. Wow this is tough. I think I'm going with Villanova in this one. I think their depth and hot play will be enough to knock off Pittsburgh. Regardless who win this one though. This is going to be a battle.

Lady Cards Elite Eight Bound

2009-03-28T14:33:00.006-04:00

The Lady Cards, like the men, dismantled their sweet sixteen opponent in the #2 seeded Baylor Lady Bears. Louisville dominated the entire game, rolling to a 56-39 win and sending them to the first regional championship game in school history.

Angel McCoughtry may have had a off day shooting the ball (10-28) but still managed 22 points and 12 rebounds. Not bad stats for someone who only went to the free throw line 3 times and was 0-6 from beyond the arc. She hit the shots when they were most needed though, as did fellow Senior Candyce Bingham. She and McCoughtry were the only Cards in double figures for the game. Bingham was Earl Clark like on the boards, grabbing 15 total, 7 of them on the offensive glass and knocked down a pair of critical 3-pointers during Louisville's decisive 12-0 spurt in the final eight minutes. Bingham would finish the game with 15 points and the Lady Cards closed the game and Baylor's season on an 18-2 run.

Baylor scored 39 points as a team. McCoughtry and Bingham combined for 37 by themselves. So it was obvious that the Louisville didn't need a lot of more help on the offensive side of the ball.

Jeff Walz has the Lady Cards playing maybe even better defense then Rick Pitino's men. Frustrating Baylor's guards the entire game. Forcing them (Baylor) to take rushed and challenged shots, if they weren't turning the ball over( Louisville scored 15 points off turnovers). The Lady Bears finished the game shooting just 25.5% (13-51) from the field. I am glad I watched this game cause if I hadn't watched it with my own eyes, I would have a hard time figuring out how a team, men or woman, ranked in the top 8 in the country could be held to just 25.5% for an entire game. Then again Villanova held Duke to 26% (16-60) in their sweet 16 match up.

With the win Louisville now will face the winner of the #1 seed Maryland and #4 Vanderbilt on Monday night.

Lady Cards In The Sweet Sixteen

2009-03-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

The Cards men's team isn't the only Cardinal basketball team looking like a buzz saw through the tournament. The Lady Cards are in their second straight sweet 16 and have a match up with the #2 seeded Baylor. First of all the fact that Louisville is a three seed is a crime. This team rolled all year with only four losses and two of those were against UCONN. They had to play on the #6th seeded LSU's home court in the second round.

That is in the past though and so are LSU and Liberty (Cards first round opponent). While Louisville has been beating the odds and their opponents, Baylor has had two dog fight like games. I guess I should have said cat fight but that would be to easy. The Lady Bears had to go to overtime against the 1 seed, the first time a 15 seed has ever even forced overtime in woman's basketball. No seed higher then 12 has ever one a first round game. A buzzer beater in the second round sets up their show down with the Lady Cards.

Angel McCaughtry is a dominant force (#4th in country in scoring at 23.5 points a game). She is the Blake Griffin of woman's basketball. She is averaging 20 points and 7 rebounds a game through the tournament, all while facing double and triple teams with every touch. She averages 4.3 steals a game this season and 9.3 rebounds, while shooting 44% from the field.

Candyce Bingham has to be able to take pressure off of Angel and she has to this point. Averaging 15 points and 5 rebounds in the first two rounds. Bingham averaged 12.7 points and 7 rebounds a game during the regular season.

On the stat sheet these teams are as close as they come. Louisville averages 72 points and allows 57.4 points a game. Baylor on the other hand average 70.2 points and allow 57.5 points a game. And to tell you the truth I really don't watch to many Lady Bear games (or to many Lady Cards games) as maybe I should so the stats are all I really have to work with.