By: Shane McCarthy
After a seemingly improbable run to the Final Four, how will
the Cardinals fare when a repeat trip is expected? This team should be even better than last
year’s, but the Big East and NCAA Tournament is a bear. So before they start booking their tickets for
Atlanta, they must take the season one game at a time.
Who’s Back:
Gorgui Dieng –C– Junior – 32.8
Min, 9.1 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.1 apg
Peyton Siva –G– Senior – 31.7
Min, 9.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 5.6 apg
Chane Behanan –F– Soph –
26.0 Min, 9.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 0.8 apg
Russ Smith –G– Junior – 21.5
Min, 11.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.9 apg
Wayne Blackshear –G/F– Soph
– 7.0 Min, 2.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.1 apg
Kevin Ware –G– Soph – 5.3 Min,
1.0 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.5 apg
Angel Nunez –F– Soph – 4.6
Min, 2.0 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.2 apg
Incoming
Recruits:
Montrezl Harrell – [Power
Forward] – 6 foot 7, 225
ESPN’s 90th ranked player and 18th ranked Power
Forward
Rivals.com’s 82nd ranked player and 20th ranked
Power Forward
Incoming
Transfers:
Luke Hancock –
[Guard/Forward] – 6 foot 5, 190
Luke, a transfer from George Mason who was forced to sit out the
2011-12 season, will now be an integral part of a title contender. As a sophomore at George Mason, he averaged
10.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 4.3 apg, and led the team to a 27-7 record and to the second
round of the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11.
Coach Pitino has named him co-captain of this year’s squad (along with
Peyton Siva) and is expecting big things from him. “Luke Hancock has been great this year.” Coach Pitino said. “He’s our best basketball player. He’s mentally the best player on the team and
physically the best player on the team.
He’s a true basketball player in every sense of the word.” So expect Luke to be more than just a role
player for the Cards this season.
Who’s
Out: Kyle Kuric, Chris
Smith, Rakeem Buckles, Jared Swopshire
Overview:
When you bring back this much talent from a team that went to the Final
Four the previous year – expectations are naturally going to run high, and
rightfully so. If they could do it last
year, they should be able to do it again.
Consistency is huge in college basketball, and that is why the Cards are
the #2 ranked team in both preseason polls.
It’s fair to expect a Final Four run, and it’s also fair to expect
improvements from last season. They no
doubt struggled in the middle of the season and there seemed to be a point
where getting into the NCAAs was in jeopardy.
They ended up finishing 11th in the Big East in scoring and
155th in the country. Much
of the struggles can be attributed to sloppy play, but injuries also played a
role.
Injuries cannot be predicted, but for what it’s worth – the Cards are
entering the 2012-13 season healthy. Last year they played much of the regular
season without Wayne Blackshear, a highly touted recruit who was rehabbing a
shoulder injury. When he finally got on
the court towards the end of conference play, he struggled. But on the big stage against Kentucky in the
Final Four he showed his potential by going for nine points and four rebounds
in just 14 minutes of playing time.
And the sloppy play from a year ago should be minimized as Peyton Siva
and Gorgui Dieng continue to improve and the young guys have a year of
experience. I already mentioned
Blackshear, but Chane Behanan is another player who improved as the season went
along and who could be in line for a massive year.
However, the erratic, sloppy and unpredictable play of Russ Smith does
return. He’s had some ridiculous (aka
russdiculous) moments in his career, but his work ethic and burst he brings off
the bench is uncanny. Expect some great
moments with an equal amount of head-slapping moments.
As for the newcomers, Luke Hancock will likely have the biggest
impact. He is a transfer from George
Mason who is expected to claim the starting spot that was filled by Kyle Kuric
last year. I tried to find a bad thing
said about Hancock, and I failed. Pitino
and all of his former coaches have nothing but great things to say about
him. He’s intelligent, trustworthy, and
athletic, has great awareness and can make the big shots. He sounds like the ideal basketball
player. Montrezl Harrell is a highly recruited
incoming freshman who will provide front court depth.
Not only does Louisville have essentially the same roster that went to
the Final Four a year ago who is expected to get back there again this year,
but Coach Pitino knows a little something about getting to back-to-back Final
Fours. He did it in the 90s at Kentucky. And he knows it’s no easy task. There are definitely those who worry that
this team was too erratic and untrustworthy last year to be making such bold
predictions before the season even starts.
But there are those (including myself) who believe this team never achieved
their full potential last year. They
waited until the Big East Tournament to really show off their defensive prowess
with their full court press, which suffocated opponents. They do not need to play that way every game,
but when they need to, they are a different team. Expect this team to be improved offensively
(especially Behanan, Blackshear and Dieng with the addition of Hancock), to go
along with their stout defense, to be one of the best teams in the country and
one that is a serious contender to become national champions.
Twitter: @shane_t_mac
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