Evaluating the Louisville Cardinals

Good news – there is more good than bad

Peyton Siva opens up the offense with his slashing abilities

By Shane McCarthy on February 17, 2012

The 18^th ranked Louisville Cardinals are currently flaunting a 20-6 overall record and are 8-5 in the Big East Conference. The Big East may not be what it has been in recent years, but their record is still respectable. With only five games remaining in the regular season and the Big East Conference Tournament quickly approaching, it is wide open to what type of seed Louisville will receive in the NCAA Tournament. Whatever it ends up being, the memory of them going down in the 1^st round last year as a 4 seed to the 13-seeded Morehead St. Eagles will loom large. Let us take a look at the positives and negatives of this year’s team.

We’ll get the negatives out of the way first.

• Shooting – Scoring is a pretty important aspect of the game of basketball, and Louisville certainly doesn’t excel at it. Shooting just 43.5% from the field, they are ranked 174^th in the nation.


• Foul shooting – Louisville currently ranks 210^th out of 344 Division 1 teams in FT%, shooting 68.1% from the charity stripe. They are also only converting 57% of the front-end of the 1 and 1s. If they are not going to shoot well from the field, they have to make it a priority to stand out from the free throw line.


• The team goes as Peyton Siva goes – Louisville was humming on all cylinders this past Tuesday night against Syracuse, at least for the first 10 minutes anyway, at which point Siva was yanked from the game after picking up his third foul. The offense seemed to lose its confidence and direction when he went out of the game. This team needs its junior point guard on the floor as often as possible as he drives the bus.
The positives…
• Coach Pitino – Even though they have gone out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament each of the last two years, it is an enormous positive to have a legendary coach that has a NCAA Championship on his resume.


• Hungry team – the core of this team (Kyle Kuric, Chris Smith and Peyton Siva) have experienced quick exits the last two years, and with Kuric and Smith seniors, they are looking for a deep run.


• Get away from conference play – Louisville is 12-1 in non-conference play this year, with that lone loss being a 7 point defeat at Kentucky, by no means a bad loss. The Big East teams know each other so well that it is very difficult to run the table. Seeing different jerseys on the court with them will be a relief, and should give them an advantage.


• Potential unexpected difference maker – This could easily come from the top recruit, freshman Wayne Blackshear. He just returned from injury a few games ago, but look for him to get more comfortable in the next three weeks and begin to play at a high level.


• Size and point guard – I listed Peyton Siva as a negative, but that is only when he’s not able to be on the floor. When he is on the floor, this team plays with confidence and high energy. They also have big athletic bodies down low to control the paint (Dieng and Behanan).


• Defense – I saved the best for last. With opponents shooting a mere 37.2% against, Louisville is the 4^th best team in the country in yielding opponent field goals. This alone keeps them in games. Their full-court press will make for an unwelcoming experience for opponents that have not seen them yet this year.
If Louisville can improve their shooting and maintain their defensive prowess, this team has the potential to make a deep run in the Tournament. The NCAA Tournament brings out each team’s best fight, which means that Louisville could be in for some close ugly games, but they have the upper classmen leadership and experienced coach to will them on to victory. After flaming out each of the last two years, they are due to make it to at least the second weekend.


@shane_t_mac