SB Nation - George Goode

Louisville Cardinals @ Kentucky Wildcats: Pre-game Analysis

Truzenzuzex — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:55:23 -0000

JIM ROGASH - AP

Calipari and Pitino in younger days in the NBA. They look like twin sons of different mothers.

The time has finally come for the biggest game of the season to date, at least for most A Sea of Blue readers -- the Kentucky Wildcats host the Louisville Cardinals tomorrow afternoon in ~~Freedom Hall~~ Rupp Arena.

No game on the schedule evokes such strong emotions of partisanship and passion. Since the re-birth of the "Dream Game" in the immediate aftermath of what was the first meeting of the Cards and 'Cats in 33 years in the NCAA regional finals in 1983, this game is circled on the calendar of fans of both teams.

UK/U of L is a storied, passionate and heated rivalry that is surely the equal of any rivalry in all of sport, professional or amateur, perhaps made all the more intense by the fact the teams only play once per year, unlike North Carolina/Duke or Indiana/Purdue. It seems to me the most intense rivalries, for example Auburn/Alabama, Oklahoma/Texas, or South Carolina/Clemson in football, share this characteristic.

John Calipari does not get this yet -- not at all, but he will. As coach of the Kentucky program, losing to Louisville is an absolute road to perdition, if you do it often enough. Forget banners and national championships. Forget trophies and national coach of the year awards. Forget SEC championships. Lose to the Cardinals, and the Kentucky fan base will blame you, Coach Cal. You will learn the true meaning of fan displeasure as you have never known it before.

In a rivalry like this, with one game per year, you have one shot to get it right. One shot at bragging rights. One shot at what is best in life: to "Crush your enemy, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women." If you lay down on this one, you have to listen to it from your rivals for an entire year before you dare dream of vengeance.

That has a way of focusing the mind.

More after the jump.

We will begin the analysis by the usual look at the dashboard. Keep in mind, this thing is interactive, and you can zoom in on various periods of time along the way to see how the teams have fared during different slices of the season.

Four Factors Analysis

As usual, thanks to A Sea of Blue member sylvar for producing the dashboard application above.

As you can see, these two teams are very comparable both offensively and defensively. Both teams are near top-10 levels offensively, with Kentucky being modestly better. Both teams have been fairly consistent in their OE all year long with the exception of their first game or so.

Kentucky has a solid advantage in offensive rebounding %, and ranks #1 in the country in that stat. But the Cardinals are no slouch, either, as they are ranked 10th in OR%. The Cardinals take better care of the basketball than Kentucky, but only by a small margin. Both teams get to the line a lot with the Wildcats coming out slightly on top. This stat is one that both teams need to improve.

Defensively, the Wildcats were much better than the Cardinals in the early part of the season, then the Cards surpassed the Wildcats on DE by a small margin and have held that advantage until perhaps last game, but Kentucky has played one more game than Louisville, so it's hard to say for sure. Essentially, the Cardinals have a tiny advantage in DE.

The Cardinals force more turnovers than UK does, and this has been a problem for Kentucky all year. As quick and strong as the Wildcats are, they don't force that many turnovers. Obviously, the Pitino pressing style has a lot to do with that disparity, and it will be interesting to see if the Cardinals can turn over the young Wildcats with pressure. It is sure to be rather difficult with both Wall and Bledsoe in the game at the same time, but this could be a spot where the Wildcats' youth may be exposed.

UK does a better job of keeping opponents off the offensive glass and off the free throw line than the Cardinals do. Kentucky is also a better 3-point shooting team, percentage wise, although they take significantly fewer threes than the Cardinals do. Louisville's bench is more productive than the 'Cats, and Louisville has generally played at a higher tempo, no doubt due to their pressing style.

Now for a look at the Cardinal roster:

Roster

Louisville Cardinals Basketball Roster

	#	Pos.	Comments	W	H	College
Chris Brickley	11	G	-	185	6-4	senior
Rakeem Buckles	4	F	Role player	215	6-8	freshman
Reginald Delk	12	G	Sometime starter, limited role payer	200	6-5	senior
George Goode	22	F	-	230	6-8	sophomore
Terrence Jennings	23	F	Role player	240	6-10	sophomore
Preston Knowles	2	G	Sometime starter, significant contributor, best defender	190	6-1	junior
Kyle Kuric	14	G	Limited role player, hot lately	190	6-4	sophomore
Mike Marra	33	G	Role player	200	6-5	freshman
Richie Phares	32	F	-	225	6-7	freshman
Samardo Samuels	15	F	Starter, Leading scorer & rebounder	260	6-9	sophomore
Peyton Siva	3	G	-	175	6-0	freshman
Chris Smith	5	G	-	200	6-2	junior
Jerry Smith	34	G	Starter, significant contributor	190	6-2	senior
Edgar Sosa	10	G	Starter, major contributor	175	6-2	senior
Jared Swopshire	21	F	Starter, role player	220	6-8	sophomore
Stephan Van Treese	44	F	-	230	6-9	freshman

Individual Statistics

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Samardo Samuels	13	25.5	5.5	10.2	53.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	5.5	8.0	68.3	3.6	4.0	7.6	1.1	1.7	0.5	0.9	2.4	16.4
Edgar Sosa	13	25.5	4.7	9.6	48.8	2.2	5.4	41.4	1.7	2.5	66.7	0.5	1.2	1.7	4.3	2.3	0.8	0.1	2.3	13.3
Jerry Smith	12	23.1	3.0	7.8	38.7	1.0	4.3	23.1	1.7	2.6	64.5	0.9	2.8	3.7	2.6	1.8	1.1	0.3	1.9	8.7
Preston Knowles	11	21.8	3.2	8.0	39.8	1.5	4.6	31.4	0.6	0.8	77.8	1.9	1.8	3.7	3.5	1.7	1.5	0.1	1.7	8.5
Jared Swopshire	13	23.4	2.5	6.1	41.8	0.6	1.8	33.3	2.3	2.8	83.3	1.7	4.0	5.7	0.8	1.1	0.9	0.4	2.2	8.0
Reginald Delk	13	19.9	2.5	5.0	49.2	1.3	2.8	47.2	0.5	0.8	60.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	1.4	0.5	0.5	0.4	1.0	6.7
Terrence Jennings	12	13.4	2.7	4.3	61.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.1	1.8	59.1	1.9	1.8	3.8	0.3	0.8	0.5	0.9	1.5	6.4
Peyton Siva	11	13.2	1.4	3.5	38.5	0.5	1.5	29.4	1.5	2.3	64.0	0.4	0.6	1.0	2.2	2.3	1.4	0.1	2.5	4.6
Kyle Kuric	12	14.5	1.6	3.8	42.2	0.3	1.8	19.0	1.0	1.3	75.0	1.5	1.8	3.3	0.4	0.6	1.0	0.0	1.4	4.5
Rakeem Buckles	13	12.9	1.5	3.1	50.0	0.1	0.4	20.0	0.9	1.4	66.7	1.7	2.6	4.3	0.5	0.8	0.7	0.2	2.4	4.1
Mike Marra	12	9.6	0.9	3.7	25.0	0.6	3.0	19.4	0.3	0.3	100.0	0.4	1.1	1.5	0.8	0.3	0.3	0.3	1.1	2.8
Chris Brickley	8	3.9	0.8	1.0	75.0	0.3	0.3	100.0	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	1.8
George Goode	5	5.8	0.4	1.0	40.0	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	1.0	1.2	0.0	0.4	0.2	0.4	1.2	0.8
Stephan Van Treese	10	3.3	0.3	0.5	60.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.3	0.5	0.8	0.3	0.5	0.0	0.2	0.5	0.6

Position Analysis: Point guard

The Cardinal's starting point guard is senior Edgar Sosa. Of course, Kentucky fans will remember Sosa well, since he hit a 24-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Kentucky in Freedom Hall last year.

Sosa is having a very good year for the Cardinals. He is shooting 41% from the arc, 49% overall, and is the second leading Cardinal scorer at 13.3 points and 4.3 assists per game. Sosa has fair size at 6'2"/175#, is very athletic and somewhat erratic. But Sosa is capable of having very big games, can get to the rim against anybody and can finish when he gets there.

Offensively, Sosa is more than capable of handling either one of Kentucky's guards. Sosa's offensive game is probably too advanced for Wall to hold down, and Bledsoe may fare a bit better on him. Wall has a size advantage, but Wall has not played particularly well against penetrating guards this year because of his youth, and Sosa is perhaps the best he has faced.

Defensively, Sosa cannot handle Wall at all. Even his experience is not sufficient, as Wall is quicker, taller, faster and just plain more talented. Sosa's mercurial and emotional nature will surely work against him versus the light-hearted but determined Wall, which means Preston Knowles will also get some time against him. Knowles is Louisville's best defender and is very poised and emotionally mature, but he has not had to face anything like John Wall off the bounce.

Louisville is better defensively at this spot, but offensively, Wall is peerless and virtually impossible for the Cardinal personnel to handle. That's just reality.

Advantage: Kentucky

Position Analysis: Shooting guard

Louisville's starting shooting guard is Jerry Smith. Smith, like Sosa, is a senior who has seen a ton of playing time at Louisville over the last few years. He is known as an outstanding perimeter shooter, but he has been struggling with his shot lately, averaging 8.7 points and shooting just 23% from three and only 38.7% from the floor.

Smith is not particularly athletic but can handle the ball and passes well from the off-guard spot, averaging almost 2.6 assists per game. Smith is a good but not great defender, but in the style of Pitino's teams of the past, tries to make up for his shortcomings with hustle, good positioning, and maximizing the advantage of his experience.

Offensively, Smith is capable of great games. Last year he averaged 41% from 3, and his struggles from the outside could disappear at any time. Smith averages almost 40% from three for his career, and it would not surprise anyone if he woke up and had a big game against Kentucky.

Defensively, Smith will have difficulty no matter who he draws as an assignment between Wall and Bledsoe. Both are much more athletic and better off the bounce than anyone Louisville has played so far this year, but Bledsoe is not nearly the threat John Wall is. So assuming that is Smith's assignment, his experience will likely offset most of Bledsoe's advantage in skill and athleticism.

Advantage: Draw

Position Analysis: Small Forward

The Cardinals have gone with a 3-guard lineup at times this year, but Preston Knowles is still recovering from a hand injury. Although he will play plenty, his hand has not recovered 100%, so I expect to see Reginald Delk starting at the 3 for the Cardinals.

Delk, of course, is a relative of UK's Tony Delk, and like Tony, Reginald is a capable 3-point shooter who is shooting 47% from the arc and 49% from the floor. Delk is mostly a perimeter player, and more than half of his shot attempts have been from beyond the 3-point arc.

Offensively, Delk can be a dangerous shooter, but he has only put up 36 3-pointers so far this year, about half of what Sosa has shot. He has been splitting a lot of time lately with Kyle Kuric and Rakeem Buckles.

Darius Miller will draw the assignment on Delk, and it is a good match up overall for Kentucky. Miller is bigger than Delk and just as quick, and even though Delk is a senior, this is only his second year in Rick Pitino's system. Miller will have to stay at home on Delk defensively, but offensively, Delk does not match up well with Miller.

Advantage: Kentucky

Position analysis: Power Forward

Jared Swopshire is the power forward for the Cardinals. Swopshire is a sophomore who is third on the team in minutes and averages 8 points and 5.6 rebounds. Sopshire has a decent offensive game, and can shoot the ball with range as well as inside.

Unfortunately for Louisville, Swopshire will be going up against Kentucky junior power forward Patrick Patterson, and there is no aspect of the game of basketball at which Swopshire is superior to Patterson. Swopshire is physically much smaller at 6'8"/220#, and has no shot whatever of guarding the accomplished player that is Patrick Patterson in the post.

Not only that, but now that Paterson has developed a perimeter game, the matchup for Swopshire gets even tougher. I expect to see a lot of Terrance Jennings on Patterson in relief of Swopshire, but that isn't really much better for the Cardinals, since Patterson can out-finesse Jennings as well as overpower him, even though Jennings is a better athlete and has superior size. Patterson can take Jennings away from the basket, where Jennings is not comfortable.

Advantage: Kentucky

Position Analysis: Center

If the Cardinals have a go-to player, it is 6'9"/260# Samardo Samuels, who averages 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest. Samuels is a big, strong inside player with good athleticism and soft, strong hands. Samuels is also a decent free throw shooter at 68% and is shooting 54% from the field.

Samuels draws a ton of fouls and is fifth in the nation in fouls drawn/40 minutes of play, and #51 in offensive rebound %. He has a strong lower and upper body, good footwork, and is generally a difficult matchup inside. Except for this game.

DeMarcus Cousins is taller, longer, and a bigger man than Samuels, and that is rare. Samardo Samuels relies a lot on his upper body strength to get the ball into the basket, and DeMarcus Cousins has shown that he is capable of handling absolutely anyone inside the paint on defense with his long arms and tendency not to go for shot fakes. Samuels has lots of moves inside, though, so it will will be interesting to see if Cousins can avoid drawing fouls, as Samuels is really great at that.

Defensively versus Cousins, Samuels has virtually all the same problems that Cousins has against him, only to a slightly greater degree. Cousins is a relentless rebounder of a kind Samuels has rarely experienced, except perhaps last year when he played against DeJuan Blair of Pitt. Cousins is like Blair, only bigger and longer.

DeMarcus Cousins is the #1 player in college basketball in offensive rebound %, the %1 player in percentage of possessions used (a measure of how many possessions he is responsible for ending), #3 in fouls drawn/40 minutes (even better than Samuels), and #43 in block percentage. This is by far the biggest challenge this year for Samardo Samuels, and bigger players have sometimes frustrated Samuels, as Colton Iverson did last year when the Cardinals played the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Samuels has more experience, but Cousins more raw talent. I give the edge to Kentucky, but that is debatable.

Advantage: Slight Kentucky

Bench Analysis

Louisville has a fine, fine bench which they utilize to their fullest. Not only do they have Terrence Jennings, Peyton Siva and Mike Mara seeing over 10 minutes per game, but also Rakeem Buckles, who is a dangerous freshman on both ends of the floor, and Kyle Kuric, who has been a remarkable rebounder so far this year.

Advantage: Draw

Coaching Records Comparison

Via Wikipedia, here is a comparison of the college coaching records of Rick Pitino and John Calipari (by special request):

Rick Pitino's College Head Coaching Record

John Calipari's Head Coaching Record

Season

Team

Overall

Conference

Standing

Postseason

Season

Team

Overall

Conference

Standing

Postseason

Boston University Terriers (Independent) (1978–1979)

Massachusetts Minutemen (Atlantic 10 Conference) (1988–1996)

1978–79

Boston U.

17–9

N/A

1988–89

Massachusetts

10–18

5–13

8th

Boston University Terriers (America East) (1979–1983)

1989–90

Massachusetts

17–14

10–8

6th

NIT 1st Round

1979–80

Boston U.

21–9

N/A

NIT Second Round

1990–91

Massachusetts

20–13

10–8

T-3rd

NIT 4th Place

1980–81

Boston U.

13–14

N/A

1991–92

Massachusetts

30–5

13–3

1st

NCAA Sweet 16

1981–82

Boston U.

19–9

6–2

T–2nd

1992–93

Massachusetts

24–7

11–3

1st

NCAA 2nd Round

1982–83

Boston U.

21–10

8–2

1st

NCAA Preliminary

1993–94

Massachusetts

28–7

14–2

1st

NCAA 2nd Round

Boston U.:

91–51

14-4

1994–95

Massachusetts

29–5

13–3

1st

NCAA Elite Eight

Providence Friars (Big East Conference) (1985–1987)

1995–96

Massachusetts

31–1 *

15–1

1st

NCAA Final Four (vacated)

1985–86

Providence

17–14

7–9

5th

NIT Elite Eight

Massachusetts:

189–70

91–41

1986–87

Providence

25–9

10–6

4th

NCAA Final Four

Memphis Tigers (Conference USA) (2000–2009)

Providence:

42–23

17–15

2000–01

Memphis

21–15

10–6

2nd (National)

NIT Third Place

Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (1989–1997)

2001–02

Memphis

27–9

12–4

1st (National)

NIT Champions

1989–90

Kentucky

14–14

10–8

T-9th

2002–03

Memphis

23–7

13–3

1st (National)

NCAA 1st Round

1990–91

Kentucky

22–6

14–4

T-8th

2003–04

Memphis

22–8

12–4

T-1st

NCAA 2nd Round

1991-92

Kentucky

29–7

12-4

1st / 1st

NCAA Elite Eight

2004–05

Memphis

22–16

9–7

T-6th

NIT Semifinals

1992–93

Kentucky

30–4

13-3

2nd / 1st

NCAA Final Four

2005–06

Memphis

33–4

13–1

1st

NCAA Elite Eight

1993–94

Kentucky

27–7

12-4

2nd / 1st

NCAA Second Round

2006–07

Memphis

33–4

16–0

1st

NCAA Elite Eight

1994-95

Kentucky

28–5

14-2

4th / 1st

NCAA Elite Eight

2007–08

Memphis

38–2 **

16–0

1st

NCAA Runner-up (vacated)

1995–96

Kentucky

34–2

16–0

1st / 2nd

NCAA Champion

2008–09

Memphis

33–4

16–0

1st

NCAA Sweet 16

1996-97

Kentucky

35–5

13-3

2nd / 1st

NCAA Finalist

Memphis:

214–67

101–25

Kentucky:

219–50

104–28

Kentucky Wildcats (Southeastern Conference) (2009–present)

Louisville Cardinals (Conference USA) (2001–2005)

2009–10

Kentucky

8–0

0–0

2001-02

Louisville

19–13

8-8

T-8th

NIT Second Round

Kentucky:

10–0

0–0

2002-03

Louisville

25-7

11-5

3rd / 1st

NCAA Second Round

Total:

413–137

75.09%

2003-04

Louisville

20-10

9-7

T-6th

NCAA First Round

2004-05

Louisville

33-5

14-2

1st / 1st

NCAA Final Four

Louisville Cardinals (Big East Conference) (2005–"present")

2005–06

Louisville

21-13

6-10

T-11th

NIT Semifinals

2006–07

Louisville

24-10

12–4

T–2nd

NCAA Second Round

2007–08

Louisville

27-9

14-4

T–2nd

NCAA Elite Eight

2008–09

Louisville

31-5

16-2

1st / 1st

NCAA Elite Eight

Louisville:

200–72

90-42

Total:

553–191

74.33%

Overall analysis

You might expect the Wildcats to have an overwhelming advantage in this game, but they absolutely don't. Louisville is loaded with young talent and has more experience at most positions than Kentucky. Kentucky has more raw talent at almost every position, but suffer from a significant dearth of experience.

In addition, Kentucky is likely to see the best zone defense they have seen all year, and maybe the best they will see. Louisville plays a ton of an extremely aggressive match-up zone, and Sosa, Knowles and Smith really pressure the basketball. A lot will depend upon how well UK can get the ball into the zone gaps to force rotation, and knock down three point shots.

Another big concern is Kentucky's 3-point defense, which has been poor this year. The Cardinals take a lot of 3-point shots and have a number of really good three-point shooters. If they are successful in that phase of the game, it will make it tougher for UK inside, where Samuels is a very tough player and can get the 'Cats into foul trouble.

Finally, Louisville presents what is arguably the best press in college basketball, and that is something UK has not faced much this year. They will likely be facing it for all 40 minutes unless Wall and Bledsoe prove that pressing them is a bad idea. I do know that if Wall catches the ball on the move a lot in our press offense, Louisville is likely to get into foul trouble. They have not seen anything like the speed of John Wall, and Wall hardly ever gets called for a charge.

In the half court, the Wildcats must play with fewer turnovers and get the ball into the soft spots in the Louisville zone. Kentucky must avoid giving the Cardinals a chance to run, because they run very well and have a bunch of interchangeable parts, which give them somewhat more flexibility, albeit considerably less size.

Projected score: Kentucky 75, Louisville 65.

Goode possibly done for the year

Mike Rutherford — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:31:10 -0000

I love George Goode. A lot.

I think he plays tremendously hard and cares about the team winning as much as anyone who's worn a Cardinal uniform in recent memory. I feel awful that injuries have forced him to miss so much action thus far in his U of L career and hope like hell that he gets the opportunity to perform at 100% for the next two years.

All that said, this is one of the greatest quotes in Louisville basketball history.

"Unfortunately George fell down yesterday," Pitino said of the sophomore forward, "He didn’t bang anything. He just fell down."

Goode, who is notoriously clumsy, has already suffered two concussions this season and now might be out for the rest of the year with a meniscus tear suffered at practice Thursday. Here's hoping the injury isn't as severe as it appears or that if it is, his recovery is swift.

The good news is that Preston (Preston!) Knowles and Peyton Siva have both been ruled good to go for Saturday's all-of-the-sudden very important game with Western Carolina. Jerry Smith, who just returned to practice, will not play.

Rick Pitino types stuff

Mike Rutherford — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:04:15 -0000

In the midst of what has likely been the most peculiar offseason of his coaching career, Rick Pitino took to the Internet today to answer some pressing - basketball-related - questions.

Here's a teaser:

Starting five for next year?

Edgar Sosa at the point. He will have a banner senior year. It takes certain players longer to mature than others.

Jerry Smith - We need him in shape ready to play and lead. Mr. Consistent will also have a terrific senior year.

?? Your guess is as good as anyone.

Reggie Delk must develop a more dedicated work ethic. Great person. Has to make the gym and weight room his second home.

Jared Swopshire. MDP on the team (Most Dedicated Player). Has an unbelievable work ethic. Will battle for time at both three and four.

Samardo Samuels- People would be surprised at how good a face up shooter he is from seventeen feet. Trying out for Jamaican National team.

Terrence Jennings- The sky’s the limit to how good he can be. With a Swopshire work ethic -- look out. Let’s hope he develops that desire.

Peyton Siva - Will see plenty of action as a freshman.

Preston Knowles - Is the best sixth man in the country (Ed. Note: boner).

Mike Marra - Must get stronger and quicker, but his jumper and range are outstanding.

Rakeem Buckles - “Rock” – Reminds me of Otis George. Will need time to mature physically. But has the desire to become a good player.

Stephen Van Treese - Tough young man who will not back down from contact of the BIG EAST. We will work hard to develop his low post game.

Kyle Kuric - Great in the weight room. Just has to work on his ball handling and spend more time in the gym. But he has the potential to be a very effective player.

George Goode - Helped us last year. Terrific person who has a difficult time with his conditioning. We have to monitor his diet to get his body fat under eight.

Hmmm, "Rock Buckles." It's about a 50/50 split between porn name and action name. Either way, welcome to the club my man.

Louisville 74, Morehead State 54

Mike Rutherford — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:05:57 -0000

I think we all had a pretty good idea of how the second half was going to play out, but I don't believe anyone who says they weren't freaking out at least a little bit during the 15 minutes of intermission.

It's easy to say our guys got complacent after building an early 10-point lead, or that this team is about ten times less dangerous when Earl Clark is on the bench, but I think Morehead State also deserves to have a healthy dose of praise hurled in its direction.

We knew they were going to play as if their lives depended on the game's outcome, but the Eagles also came out and executed their game plan brilliantly in the initial 20 minutes. They got Maze Stallworth open looks from the outside, they detected the right times to hit Faried and Buchanan in the post, and they frustrated the Cardinals by alternating defenses.

If the game's outcome was determined by effort and execution, Morehead is right there in the final minute, but the Eagles simply didn't have the athletes or the ballhandlers to stop what we all knew was coming after halftime.

Andre McGee officially finished the game with eight points, five steals and four assists, but it certainly felt like he had about three times all those numbers.

With Edgar Sosa appearing less and less capable of playing with any sense of poise, McGee's importance has never been greater. I think it was around steal number three when I made the comment that Andre might be the most important player on the team right now.

Apparently Rick Pitino agrees.

"Without question, Earl Clark and Terrence Williams are the professional athletes, potentially, on our basketball team," Pitino said, turning to McGee in his postgame news conference. "But there's no doubt about it, this young man is what makes our basketball team win. Andre McGee is the key, times 10, to our basketball team."

'Dre is getting a lot of national love this morning, and nobody deserves it more. The tail end of the man's Cardinal career is becoming increasingly O'Bannon-esque with each game.

In a strange way, Samardo Samuels's midseason struggles may end up being an enormous positive for this team. Not only was Terrence Jennings able to emerge as a solid contributor, but teams have become less and less likely to double Samuels, and recently he's been taking advantage accordingly.

Samuels played hungry last night on both ends of the floor and was as aggressive when the ball was in the air as he's been all season. He doesn't have to carry this team to Detroit, but he does need to be counted on for somewhere around 12 and eight for the next few weeks.

Token

Jerry Smith's bench antics are forcing me to miss large chunks of game action.

I was really happy to see Swop stroke that three near the end of the game. A large part of the reason he's struggled so mightily since the start of Big East play is that he's simply not ready to log these types of minutes at the four, but he's also been playing without any semblance of confidence since the new year, and maybe hitting a shot like that in his NCAA Tournament debut will restore some.

"Swopsher" is officially the new "Palashus."

Edgar Sosa didn't do much well outside of knocking down a couple treys, but he was up and cheering on the bench almost the entire game, which is a great sign for a kid who will be relied upon heavily in his senior season. There will be a game between now and the end of the season where this team will need Sosa to step up in a big way, and keeping the right attitude when things aren't going well could play a large part in his ability to succeed when that time comes.

Pitino said he played Swopshire instead of Terrence Jennings at the four because Swop is better at defending the wings out of the zone, but that still doesn't explain TJ not seeing any time at the five in the first half. Me thinks he did something to get himself in the doghouse this week.

It's hard to believe that we've gotten this far without mentioning T-Will, so...T-Will.

After our game, I was cheering for overtime first and Siena second. Both were good horses to saddle up with.

The Saints aren't going to change because they're facing Louisville, they're going to play fast, loose and free with the ball, and that's fine by me.

I hate that we have to play these guys because they're a team I enjoy watching, but sometimes in life you have to beat people you really like. It's in the Bible.

I'll be making the trip to Dayton on Sunday, and could not be happier about not having to deal with Ohio State fans. I've found that I do not mesh well with their kind.

I've made the switch to pajama pants, long-sleeve grey Louisville basketball shirt and backwards Louisville hat at halftime of each of the last three games. The Cards have outscored their opponents 128-70 in those three halves.

If you don't think those pants are going to be worn underneath my jeans on Sunday, then you've got a punch in the face coming your way. That might seem excessive, but it's March and Louisville is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, a fact that I've used to justify everything I've done over the past six days.

I still have a ridiculous amount of faith in Preston's outside shot. Keep pulling, young man.

I'd also invest every penny I own (both of them) in his on-ball defense. Bad economy, shmad shmashonomy.

Goode to see George on the floor again. See what I did there?

Earl Clark in March: still better than the best player from your high school. Still, I could do without the turnovers, E5. Just somethin' to think about.

Cleveland State was my big upset pick...and yet every bracket I've submitted is still in the bottom 50 percent of its pool.

There are few joys in life as absolute as being able to watch NCAA Tournament games all day with the knowledge that your team was victorious the night before.

One down.

Louisville 95, Seton Hall 78

Mike Rutherford — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:43:51 -0000

The amount of text messages I receive on game day is generally a pretty accurate gauge of how important or exciting that contest is, and yesterday my phone was as busy as it's been since the Connecticut loss.

A shot at a Big East title, the abhorrence for Bobby Gonzalez, the love for the quartet of Cardinals playing in Freedom Hall for the last time; it didn't matter that Seton Hall wasn't particularly interested in playing basketball, last night was big.

The game itself wasn't particularly beneficial.

Seton Hall did what Seton Hall does against good teams. They came out hitting anything and everything and put the fear of god into the home crowd. They failed to build a substantial lead by showing no interest in playing defense. They got tired and the miracle shots that were dropping earlier started coming up short. They made a mini-run but wilted the instant their opponent decided to respond.

Controlling emotions is always an issue on Senior night, but I was a little disappointed to see our guys let the way Seton Hall was playing affect them so much. There was far too much joking early in the second half, too many bad shots early in possessions, not enough attention paid to transition defense and T-Will really let Jeremy Hazell get into his head.

U of L buckled down when it had to, but the lead never should have dipped so close to single-digits. I get that this group loves to have fun, but too many times that lack of a killer instinct (Kentucky, Ole Miss, West Virginia, Villanova) has nearly cost them dearly. Teams that aren't able to let foot meet throat generally get a rude awakening at some point in March, and I'd hate to think that we could be one of those squads.

Last night was about honoring the seniors and it was OK to have fun once the game was in hand, I get it, but from now on everything should be about taking care of business. There's going to be a championship on the line every time this team takes the floor from here on out.

Bobby Gonzalez is a massive tool.

There isn't a member of Card nation who hasn't held the hope that Earl Clark would once again take his game up a notch once March rolled around, and last night was a pretty solid indication that it's a wish that may be granted.

I understand that big nights against teams like Seton Hall should be taken with a grain of salt, but Earl looked more focused and confident than he has since the Tennessee game last year. He made smart decisions with the ball, worked hard to get the best shot possible for himself (with rare exception) and never let his effort level be called into question.

Louisville doesn't have any shot at going to the Final Four without Earl Clark being better than he was in February (and he was good in February), so last night was very, very encouraging.

The media made an enormous fuss last year over Kevin Love's ability to flick his wrists and put a 75-foot chest pass on the money, but Terrence Williams can do the exact same thing.

Of course, what can't he do?

It was pretty obvious that he knew exactly what he needed to get a triple double, and it was hilarious to see his teammates get him the ball to give to Will Scott so both senior stat objectives could be met.

I'm really, really, really going to miss this kid.

The senior video was fantastic. Thanks to both TwistedEdge and Jerb for providing those of us who couldn't be there last night the opportunity to see it.

Everyone was hilarious, but the Earl cameo was the highlight for me.

It's ridiculous how happy Edgar Sosa is during these up-and-down no defense games. He carries the same look little kids have on their face during the height of present-opening on Christmas morning.

To his credit, Sosa seemed upbeat even before the game and was the first person on the floor to congratulate his teammates despite not playing for the game's first seven minutes. He also played very well with the exception of a forced jumper in transition and missing a wide-open Preston Knowles on another break (he offered up a "I know, my bad" following the latter transgression).

The national media is going to beat the fact that we don't have a big-name point guard into the ground for the next couple of weeks, but those of us who know better should sleep comfortably with the knowledge that Sosa and McGee - the second one especially - are both playing about as well as they have all season.

I wasn't able to hear it, but I'm told McGee's postgame speech was pretty awesome. If anyone wants to throw up a brief synopsis in the comments section, I'd appreciate it.

Jeremy Hazell has become even more unlikeable. Beating your chest when your team sucks and is down by 17 is no way to go to through life, son.

Also, you don't breathe T-Will's air let alone talk to him like that. That's awesome that you average so many more points. Enjoy the postseason.

Had Will Scott knocked down the three in the corner that he pushed long by about five feet, I think it would have been the loudest Freedom Hall had been since the Pitt game.

Adrenaline can do crazy things to shooters.

The color guy last night said Louisville was a three seed. Of course he also said that Williams and Clark were in the game with a minute and-a-half to go and a 19-point lead because of Seton Hall's explosive offense, so take that first item for what it's worth.

I love Billy Gillispie.

It was really nice to see George Goode get some quality PT.

Here's a guy who was a really pleasant surprise at the beginning of the season, got hurt, saw the man he beat out for playing time really emerge in his absence, and he's still been one of the most upbeat players on the bench all year.

No one should forget that we probably don't beat Kentucky without Goode. If he continues to improve then he'll be a huge asset to this program if Samuels or Jennings bail early.

Honest question: Is Terrence Jennings our best free-throw shooter right now? Seriously, who has been better from the stripe over the last three weeks?

If Jennings, who was as bad from the line at the Red-White scrimmage as anyone I've ever seen not named Joseph N'Sima, can improve that considerably in such a short amount of time, then there's no reason for guys like Clark, Samuels and Smith to have seemingly gotten worse.

We have zero shot at winning a national title if Clark, Samuels and Williams shoot free-throws the way they have been since mid-February. Zero shot.

Speaking of Jennings, another very solid performance. The progress he's made offensively is almost unbelievable, and it's not ridiculous to say that he might be the second best defensive center in the Big East.

It's scary how good this kid could end up being.

It would have been nice to have seen Samardo make more of an effort to score once he caught the ball down low, seeing as how Seton Hall has no real post presence.

There's going to be at least one game between now and the end of the season where this team really needs him to step up and have a big game offensively. Whether or not he's capable of answering that bell, I'm not sure.

Token

Got this text before the game: "Swop just missed a dunk and then tripped and fell."

It just hasn't been the man's month.

I want Reggie Delk to get an open look from three at a key moment in the Big East Tournament. For some reason, I'm insanely confident that he would drill any open look with the game on the line.

Don't ask me where that faith comes from.

Ladies and gentlemen: your final on-court, in-game Lee Steiden sighting until next year's Red-White scrimmage. Give 'em hell in warm-ups, Lee.

I legitimately could not be more excited about Saturday.

I'll post a reminder tomorrow night, but I think we're going to have to do an open thread here for the Pitt/UConn game at noon, and then we'll all have time to regroup and re-focus for the 9 p.m. tip in Morgantown.

A Big East title and No. 1 seed at stake in the GameDay game of the week would be indescribably cool.

I can't stop smiling, and it's not the drugs.

Go Cards.

Louisville 60, St. John's 47

Mike Rutherford — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:29:45 -0000

I said the same thing after we beat St. John's last year, but I think this is the Big East game that Louisville fans will have the hardest time remembering when we start to look back at the season in April.

Ugly? Yes. Boring? Totally. Final margin respectable enough that even those who watched it will have forgotten most of the details in four weeks? I'd say so.

While the first 32 minutes were more difficult to sit through than anything produced by Tyler Perry (I hate him, I really do), the Cards ultimately did what they had to do to pull out a win on a day when they hadn't played particularly well in a place where they've found wins hard to come by.

I'm not going to complain.

If Sunday was anything, it was a testimony to the maturity of Jerry Smith.

On a day when Terrence Williams struggled with his shot and Earl Clark again played erratically, U of L had to have someone else step up to avoid a devastating loss, and the person who did was the one with the most reason to sulk. Coming off the bench in a conference game for the first time in recent memory, Smith came up with big play after big play down the stretch, including an 11-for-11 performance from the charity stripe.

I said last week that I was worried about the freshmen center swap in the starting lineup because of the immaturity of both payers involved, but I never once had a problem with Preston Knowles starting over Smith because Jerry pouting or not giving maximum effort is never a concern. All the man wants to do is win, and he wants it as much as any player we've ever had here.

Next year's Senior Day: Jerry's last home game and the last Louisville game ever played in Freedom Hall. A trip to Sam's Club for a bulk Kleenex purchase is definitely going to be necessary.

I was pretty sure that something was wrong with T-Will yesterday, and then he came up short on a dunk attempt and I became positive that there was something wrong with T-Will yesterday. I don't know if he was sick or tweaked an ankle or something, but the usual bounce just wasn't there.

Even so, he made several key assists when we really needed a bucket, and he stepped up and hit two enormous free-throws late in the game. A hindered Terrence Williams is still better than about 90% of the players in college basketball.

You hate to see anyone this side of Tyler Perry get his teeth knocked out and sent to the hospital, but you really hate to see it when they're playing as well as Samardo Samuels was yesterday.

The surprising emergence of Terrence Jennings over the last three or four weeks has obviously been extremely beneficial, but I still think this team's best shot at making it to Detroit comes with an improved Samuels finishing strong around the bucket. There just aren't that many teams out there that can keep Williams and Clark out of the lane with any consistency, which means whoever's in at the five is going to keep getting opportunities for chippies.

Even though he was continually leaving 8-10 points on the floor (or 38 against Ole Miss) in December and January, Samuels is still the most polished of the trio of freshmen bigs, and him finishing as well as he did in the first half on Sunday was an extremely encouraging sign for this team's March prospects. He doesn't have to be Greg Oden, he doesn't even have to be Dejuan Blair, he just has to be the player he was yesterday.

All that said, this was a game Louisville would have been about three times more likely to lose had it been played in November, simply because neither Jennings nor George Goode were anywhere near ready to shoulder the load for an entire half. Yesterday, Jennings played 17 minutes in the second half, pulled down seven big boards, blocked four shots, scored four points and only gave the ball away once as his team outscored a physical conference foe by 16 in the final 20 minutes.

I don't know if the dim lighting makes everyone sleepy or if the scarcely attended games makes it harder to get up, but it feels like we play about three times slower inside Madison Square Garden than we do anywhere else. I can understand not playing well at a particular venue, but I can't understand not playing hard.

Not quite willing to call it a Bad Edgar sighting, but I think it was the closest we've come since the Kentucky game.

Earl Clark wasn't bad on Sunday, but he was far from spectacular. We need him to have an enormous offensive output sometime in the next couple of weeks to restore some of the confidence that seems to be sliding away.

Every time I watch St. John's play the game looks like a 9-on-9 playground game at a middle school recess. Three guys are tugging at the ball in the lane, no one's stopping play, and then finally one guy rips the ball away and chucks it at the goal as quickly as possible. It's pretty disgusting.

Norm Roberts is not very good at coaching basketball, but he might have some more success in the MEAC or Big South next season.

I don't care if they've lost seven straight and looked like Highland Middle at UCLA on Saturday, I'm worried about going to the Joyce Center on Thursday.

On the other hand, I'm not worried about at all about Depaul coming to Freedom Hall on Sunday, but that's for another day.

Almost Dunking Marques Maybin is still a hero, but don't be surprised if he gets the night off in three days. Nothing is official at the moment, but I'm just making the ADMM fanatics aware so that they can brace themselves.

Quick UConn thoughts

Mike Rutherford — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:21:52 -0000

1. Ordinarily, I'm not a person who feels especially excited or upset, "sleeps on it," and then wakes up feeling particularly different, but I felt far better about the loss on Tuesday morning than I did Monday night.

I hate the fact that the margin was so substantial, but this still isn't a defeat that's going to have an extreme effect on the psyche of this team or make them re-evaluate the way they're playing the game, because they've already proven too much.

Connecticut is tremendous - a statement I think we can all agree on now - and they were stomped at home by a Georgetown team that's proving itself to be pretty average. How have the Huskies responded since Dec. 29? They've rolled to ten straight Big East wins.

I think it's also important to note that Louisville played right with UConn for 37 minutes. If that 10-0 collapse with Kuric and Goode on the floor to end the first half doesn't happen, then this game is probably nip-tuck all the way down to the final horn. Of course Connecticut still almost definitely wins, but I'm just trying to say that this is a team we're capable of beating when they're not playing like the '89 Pistons.

2. If it were 2003 I'd be making a "so hot right now" joke in reference to Terrence Williams' play, but it's 2009 and I'm horribly out of the pop culture loop - are pogs still cool? - so I'll simply say that Terrence Williams is playing remarkable basketball right now.

My only fear is that Monday night's performance will lead to shot selection on Saturday that mirrors the first half of the South Florida game. I was fine with him taking those types of shots when we were trying to play catch-up against the Huskies because he was on fire and no one else in white appeared particularly motivated to do anything positive with the ball in their hands, but the man must remember that he's every bit as capable of having an Earl Clark vs. Connecticut shooting night as he is having a Terrence Williams vs. Connecticut shooting night.

T-Will got his game going by scoring in the lane, and then the outside shots started falling when the Huskies made the extra effort to take his drive away. That should always be No. 1's plan for success.

3. I've been told that Williams was limping when he was taken out of the game at the end of the first half, which makes me feel a little bit better about the otherwise inexplicable decision to sit him during that crucial stretch.

I'm accepting this as the rationale and moving on.

4. Tory Jackson, Scottie Reynolds and Levance Fields, cover your ears.

The second biggest reason Connecticut was able to trounce Louisville was the fact that their guards were so unflappable. A.J. Price didn't shoot the ball well, and he did turn it over four times, but he killed the Cardinal press with speedy cuts and quick, accurate decisions, and when he lost the ball he lost it in the lane or making a pass out of a set, not on his own end of the floor.

The Huskies as a team are incredibly composed. Each time U of L appeared on the verge of getting the margin into single-digits and sending the crowd into a frenzy, Connecticut would come up with an easy hoop and then a big stop.

5. I could do without the air boxing and screaming, but Jeff Adrien is a rock.

It seemed like each time the crowd needed a stop to get back into the game, Price would get the ball into Adrien who would calmly but quickly determine his next action, and then he'd either make a nice pass to Thabeet, score a relatively easy bucket, or get fouled.

The man is an absolute player.

6. Even with Williams' big night, I think it's safe to say that the man who might have made himself the most money by playing in front of those 31 NBA scouts on Monday night was Hasheem Thabeet.

When you're a 7-foot-3 shot-blocking machine who can knock down free-throws and 15-foot jumpers with consistency, well, I hear they pay good money for that type of thing.

7. Earl Clark...that can't happen in big games, friend.

I'm sure you've heard enough about it over the last 40 hours, so I'll just leave it at that.

8. My admiration for Jerry Smith has been well documented, so it pains me to say this, but there's nothing Jerry is doing right now that Preston Knowles isn't doing better, with the exception of knocking down the wide-open three-pointer that good teams aren't going to give him.

Knowles is defending better, he's passing better, he's taking care of the ball better, he's better at creating his own shot, and he's much better at getting off his own shot when mildly contested. Pitino's statement of his intent to start Knowles with the team's winning streak now snapped shows that he agrees.

The good news is that Jerry is selfless and mature enough to not let this move have any adverse effect on his effort or energy level. He'll come up big again before the end of the season.

9. I'm not as convinced by the move to take Samardo out of the starting lineup and replace him with Terrence Jennings. Yes, Jennings is playing better than the former national POY, but that's an awful lot of freshmen emotion to be fooling around with in early February.

10. Though he didn't shoot well, I still thought Edgar Sosa played well on Monday. He struggled to keep Price and Walker in front of him on defense, but I don't think there's one of us who really expected him to do otherwise.

11. Andre McGee's always going to bring the heat on defense, which is fantastic, but that doesn't give him a free pass to play foolishly on the offensive end. During key stretches we simply can't have our point guard throwing alley-oops from midcourt or air-balling contested three-pointers early in the shot clock.

The defense is always going to be there, but we also know that he's capable of running the offense effectively and knocking down the outside shot consistently because we've seen him do it. McGee needs to step up his game on the offensive end for the "microwave" to be truly lethal.

12. I don't know if he's still hurt or what, but if he isn't, there's no excuse for George Goode getting beat down the floor for lay-ups on consecutive trips. Goode has proven himself to be an effort guy to this point, so I was really surprised by his apparent laziness.

13. We're OK. We all knew it was going to happen. It has. Now we move on.

This team went 8-1 over the more difficult half of its Big East schedule, and its only loss was to the No. 1 team in the country.

I think it's safe to say that these guys still have some potential.

Louisville 80, South Florida 54

Mike Rutherford — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:23:35 -0000

Maybe it was the snow, maybe it was the fact that it was South Florida or maybe it was just that - for a change - you never really felt like the outcome was in doubt, but Wednesday night's game was sort of unexpectedly fun.

Seeing the team continue to roll, the players on the bench continually jumping around, guys like Jared Swopshire, Kyle Kuric and Reggie Delk have some success, and then being privy to the first Lee Steiden sighting of the season; it all made a win over USF feel better than it probably should have.

Put simply: it's far more enjoyable to follow this team than I ever thought possible seven weeks ago.

I'll be the first to call for his head if he attempts it in another single-digit game this season, but the T-Will between the legs pass to Earl Clark on the break was truly remarkable.

We might not have a player capable of doing the things Terrence Williams can do for quite some time, so my advice is to enjoy the show while you can.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing about last night's game was the way Williams responded after his so obviously inapt start.

When Rick Pitino politely told him at halftime that those types of shots were not to be attempted anymore, Williams reportedly responded: "I got you coach, I was dead wrong." And when Williams appeared determined to head to the hole early on in a second half possession, all it took was a "slow down, T-Will" from his head coach to make the senior co-captain pull the ball back out. The trip ended with an uncontested Edgar Sosa three-pointer from the corner.

The man has gotten the message, and his team is the hottest in the country because of it.

We may never have a player more willing to hug his teammates than Jerry Smith, and I couldn't love him more for it. The only thing more pleasant than Overly Excited Jerry is Unnecessarily Affectionate Jerry.

Also, Jerry, you and the mildly contested three-pointer could have a really great relationship. I'm telling you. I know she's not quite as sexy as the wide-open trey, but the girl can cook, clean and seamlessly carry on a meaningful conversation. Plus, her easy going family loves you.

Great to see George Goode back in action and looking like the lay-off is not going to have any seriously adverse effect on his game. It was nice to see him stroke those two free-throws, because being semi-reliable from the stripe could make him really valuable in a situation where Samuels has fouled out and having Jennings on the floor for any stretch of time is too risky.

Not a bad follow-up dunk, either.

Does anyone else get the feeling that Dominique Jones thinks he's just a tad bit better than he actually is? Don't get me wrong, Dominique, you're a solid player - you've definitely got me in a game of 1-on-1 or "Can You Dunk?" - but you're a solid player on the University of South Florida basketball team...chill out.

The defense of Andre McGee and Preston Knowles has been praised at length on here in recent weeks, so I just want to take this opportunity to compliment McGee on his two big three-pointers, and Knowles on his short jumper and great assist on one of Samardo's dunks.

Also, watching you two play defense gives me a massive erection.

I'm sorry, I couldn't help it.

Watching Jared Swopshire on Wednesday was like getting a glimpse of what he's capable of doing night in, night out in the Big East if he puts on a decent amount of muscle. The strides he made over the summer prove he's dedicated enough to make it happen, which is exciting.

Pop, lock and Swop it.

Someone told me that Terrence Jennings blocked the shot of an athletically-lacking center in the LSU/Tennessee game last night. It happened. His arms are that long.

Even more encouraging than the 12 points and three monster blocks was the fact that Earl Clark turned the ball over just once against a team known more for its speed than its size.

If Lee hadn't have gotten in last night, I would have lost it. If Lee had made that three from the corner last night, I would have lost it times two.

You would have thought the fact that it was the 800th game being played in Freedom Hall would have been more publicized, especially since it's the last big, round number that the arena will ever see. Oh well.

Seven Big East wins should have about 12th place in the conference locked up. Let's go ahead and shoot a little bit higher.

It's Huggy time.

Louisville 67, Syracuse 57

Mike Rutherford — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:21:46 -0000

Though none of us wanted to see it happen, this was a game the Cards had earned the right to lose.

Not one of us would have - or at least should have - raised a fuss if U of L, winners of seven straight and slayers of unbeatens and arch-rivals alike, had faltered on the road against the No. 8 team in the country, especially considering how well Syracuse had been playing at home and the fact that just two Cardinals came into Sunday having ever attempted a shot inside the Carrier Dome.

And yet...67-57...seven straight wins...6-0 in the Big East...4-0 on the road in the Big East...four wins over four top 20 opponents in 15 days.

It's been a decent little run.

All of us expect there to be losses between right now and the NCAA Tournament, but then again I think all of us expected there to be losses, or at least a loss, between the Kentucky game and right now. No matter what anyone tells you, there's no such thing as a good loss, so let's keep this thing rolling for as long as possible.

I can't wait to see just how good these guys can be.

Following in the footsteps of Reece Gaines, Francisco Garcia and David Padgett, Terrence Williams has officially become my panicky "just give the ball to ___" guy for this team. I never thought he'd get there, but given the number of times over the last two weeks that I've uttered that phrase with his name inserted at the end, I felt it was the appropriate time to make it official.

Congratulations, Mr. Williams. Please don't ever stop playing the way you are right now.

Did anyone else feel sort of bewildered at the end of the game? I'd either spent so much time mentally preparing myself for a heartstopping finish or become so acclimated with tight closing minutes that I was almost in shock when the clock hit zero and the final score showed us up by ten. I spent about three seconds looking around the room before giving a few consecutive soft claps and an excited but still noticeably confused "yeah."

Thanks for the extra couple of days of life, Syracuse.

Earl Clark's three to put us up 57-55 was easily the biggest "NNNNOOOO......YYYYESSSSS" moment of the season to date. In fact, I was so against the shot that I didn't even go that crazy when it went down. If you watch the replay of the game, you'll notice that the bench had a similar reaction. When Preston Knowles' initial shot went up, Will Scott and company looked about ready to explode. When Earl cocked and fired, everyone's face took on an "oh shit" expression, and when it went down everyone was so shocked that a few fist pumps and mini-jumps were all that could be mustered.

While Clark definitely had his fair share of mental lapses on Sunday, especially when he was pressured by the guys in the middle of the zone, he never once gave anyone reason to question his effort, and he scored five straight points and snagged two rebounds during the biggest three-possession stretch of the game. Big players step up big in big moments, and that's exactly what Earl did.

Speaking of "NNNNOOOOO....YYYYESSSS" moments, T-Will's shot in the final minute surprisingly wasn't one for me. For the first time in four years I had full confidence in a Terrence Williams outside jumper, and that confidence was rewarded.

Twenty-nine minutes, zero turnovers, 13 points and a couple of huge three-pointers. Aside from the foul in the last 30 seconds, this was about as complete a Good Edgar performance as we've seen.

It's OK to be excited, everybody, but just don't make it so obvious that he notices.

Terrence Jennings is simply light years ahead of where he was in November. Not only is he a shot-blocking machine, but he's appearing more and more capable on the offensive end.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: with the way he defends, if Jennings can just make uncontested lay-ups and dunks and avoid turning the ball over when we're running the offense, then he can provide an enormous boost for this team.

I thought Syracuse would probably take this one, but I don't feel anywhere near as silly about being wrong as a lot of these people do.

Arinze Onuaku scares me from 700 miles away. That man is a behemoth.

Just when I thought it was impossible for me to dislike one person as much as I dislike Eric Devendorf, the insufferable little boy started talking shit to Preston Knowles.

In case you haven't watched much Syracuse basketball over the past three seasons, here's a quick summary of Devendorf's role in most of their games against well-regarded opponents: Eric Devendorf does something well at some point in the first 38 minutes of the game, Eric Devendorf prematurely talks shit to someone on the other team, Eric Devendorf disappears or plays poorly in the game's final two minutes, Eric Devendorf's team loses.

You sir, are not worthy of humbly shaking Preston Knowles' hand.

Even though he sometimes does things on the court that make small children wearing Cardinal cheerleading outfits cry, the way Jerry Smith continually shows heart and cheers for his teammates makes him impossible to not root extra hard for.

He and Andre McGee are two guys whose selfless dedication to the team can never be called into question, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that both served up mature quotes in Eric Crawford's column this morning despite not playing particularly well on Sunday.

Knowes' airball may have been the worst three-point shot I've seen from a Louisville player since Tony Williams shot it behind the backboard from the corner during his senior season. Of course Preston drilled his next attempt from beyond the arc and got his hands on the ball on two of the next five defensive possessions.

"What we did is listen to our Hall of Fame coach instead of our own agendas,'' Williams said by phone late Sunday after the Cardinals returned from Syracuse. "We're thinking of we now, not our own agendas.''

"Defense is fun for this team,'' said Williams.

Terrence Williams is kind of cool.

Jim Burr: not all that atrocious? Everyone agree?

Despite his continued inability to make three-footers, I still think it looks like Samardo is coming around. He made a couple of nice passes out of the post, and put enough of a body on Onuaku on multiple occasions on both ends of the floor to allow Williams or Clark to come down with a rebound.

Everyone keeps talking about how good this team can be if it starts knocking down outside shots with some consistency, but if Samuels can start picking up the 8-10 points that he's leaving on the floor just about every game, well, that would be just about as big.

He's got an opportunity to have a monster game this weekend against a West Virginia team lacking any real post presence.

Jonny Flynn: 6-of-25 from the floor in two games against Louisville.

Our guards can defend.

Nice to hear that George Goode is back to being ready to contribute, because he's another guy who's really easy to cheer for. You never saw him sulking on the bench during any of the last six wins; he was always every bit as into the game as the guys who were taking short breathers.

Actually, when you think about it, it's amazing how much more of a team these guys appear to be now than they did when the season started. The bench is always into games, and you never really get the feeling that there's anyone who might secretly want another player wearing red to fail.

This has become a really great group to follow.

People, your favorite college basketball team is the hottest squad in the country.

From the dark end of the street to the bright side of the road. Let's enjoy it while we can.

Van Morrison said that. He also said "oh oh Domino, roll me over, Romeo," but that doesn't apply quite as much.

Louisville 71, South Florida 57

Mike Rutherford — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:17:02 -0000

I was really hoping that Sosa's shot (the time has come for "Sosa's shot" to be given an appropriately catchy official title...feel free to share your thoughts) would propel the boys to a start-to-finish throttling of the only sure thing in the Big East, but I'm willing to accept the fairly decisive, albeit not aesthetically pleasing, victory since "nothing is easy in the Big East" and this was actually our first true road game of the season.

Hope everyone enjoyed last night, because the comfortable viewing experience is on vacation until the Bulls come back to the Hall on Jan. 28.

At the risk of sounding like someone with unrealistically high expectations, Earl Clark should score 18-25 points against teams like South Florida. The Bulls have absolutely no talent in their frontcourt and even less of an answer for Clark than 95% of the teams on Louisville's schedule, which means he's basically going to be given the outside shot and he should still be able to beat his man to the tin.

Take the uncontested shot if it's given to you, go straight to the bucket if it's not. This can really be a simple game for Earl Clark.

Not that Clark's effort Wednesday night doesn't deserve to be applauded. Thirty-six minutes, nine boards, four steals AND he smiled.

Dante Cunningham awaits.

If someone out there could make this happen, I'd love to be able to juxtapose Edgar Sosa's stats from games in which he made his first shot with those from games where he missed his first shot. I said it for the first time somewhere around the halfway point of his freshman season, but the kid just plays at a considerably higher level when his first shot drops than he does when his initial attempt finds iron.

Sosa drilled a three right off the bat again on Wednesday, and just like that Good Edgar took his shoes off, put his feet up on the ottoman and got ready to read stories to adorable sick children for 40 minutes.

Sosa's been fantastic for two games, but neither Michael Porter nor Jesus Verdejo present anywhere near the challenge that the Scottie Reynolds/Corey Fisher combination will on Saturday. If Edgar plays within himself and delivers another stellar effort in a victory over 'Nova, then the "turned the corner" talk will have that much more legitimacy.

Kudos to our guards for wearing down Dominique Jones, who finished the night 1-of-10 and looked like he had zero legs after the first six or seven minutes of both halves.

I love the idea of wearing the black unis against South Florida. You can't just topple a curse in one game, you have to eat away at it slowly. During the '04-'05 season - commonly referred to as "The Year the Black Uni Curse Was Backpacking in Europe" - Louisville actually wore its black jerseys and scrimmaged the KCD junior varsity team every Wednesday from the start of practice up until the first round of the NCAA Tournament. You can't just take the power out of the jersey, you have to trick the jersey into believing that it has no power.

It was pretty obvious that Pitino was trying to get Samardo some work during the last four minutes of the game, and why not since the big man has been in foul trouble for about 110 of the team's last 120 minutes. He still looked like a man whose confidence has been considerably shaken for most of the night, but maybe that late jumper will serve as a solid boost heading into a game against another team that lacks a true center.

A very, very encouraging performance from Terrence Jennings, who seemed to be getting his hands on everything when South Florida had the ball. TJ got a chance to shine only due to Samuels' foul trouble and the fact that George Goode was resting the stress fracture in his right shin, but he played about as well as any of our big men have this season during his 17-minute stint on the floor.

Still, I don't think Jennings is a real option to play considerable minutes at the five just yet. The sloppy, up-and-down style that's always going to be prevalent in a game against South Florida allows for Jennings' raw skill to show itself, but outside of maybe Rutgers and St. John's, no one else in the league is going to allow the game to fall off to that level.

Last night showed exactly why Jennings can be a terrific center in this league, but it's going to take time and it's going to take effort, a pair of factors that are difficult to grasp for the modern prep basketball "star."

How much a power trip do you think the kid who undoubtedly spent at least one Halloween as a minor Star Wars character gets when he puts on the USF Bull costume every game? I could meet the kid before the game, know full well that he's 5-foot-3, 112-pounds, and if he told me to get him a pack of airheads while he was in that suit, I'd still sprint to the concession stand, knock over any woman or child in my way, give him his airheads, and then start bawling the moment it became obvious that he was going to let me live.

What a friggin' bad ass.

Jared Swopshire: weights and cake this summer, weights and cake.

Our first Reggie Delk experience in a couple of weeks was certainly a pleasant one. It was nice to see him have no qualms about pulling the trigger from deep, because that's an area where he might really be able to help us at some point down the road.

T-Will: still fully capable of dunking a basketball.

I wonder if Lee Steiden asked if he could dress for the game because he'd heard so many people ask who the manger was that prematurely ran on the floor after Sosa's game-winner. I'm not sure my heart is going to be able to take it if I don't witness a Lee shot attempt before the Big East Tournament.

Preston is second in the Big East in three-point field goal percentage, but I'm still not sure he's earned the right to launch an off-balance, contested trey one pass into a possession. He has, however, earned the right to a handful of any bag of candy I ever have in my possession. It's a big deal. I love candy.

"You gotta pick up your attitude or you're gonna deal with me in the locker room" instantly goes into the vault of Pitino classics. Apparently he was talking to McGee, whom he'd just gotten on for picking the ball up in the corner during the previous possession.

'Twas just not Andre's night.

Loved the pair of audible C-A-R-D-S chants at the beginning of the second half and near the end of the game. If you were in attendance, a tip of my cap in your direction.

And now we begin the two month "every night is going to give me a heart attack and I can tell that I'm driving everyone around me insane but I can't help it" tour of the Big East. I'd say that Villanova is an enormous game, but I feel it's a description that's going to be worn out before we even get into February.

Please check at this time to make sure your seat belts are securely fashioned, and that your tray tables are in their full and upright position.