– A Banner, A Bullet, and A Beast

It was a great night for the Cardinal Nation. Basketball season has officially begun and the road to Atlanta started tonight in the KFC Yum Center. It was a night where we got to see a our 2012 Ncaa Final Four Banner revealed, got to formally give “The Bullet” Elisha Justice his Final Four ring, and got to see the freshman Montrezl Harrell have a beast of a night in the win over Pikeville 93-57.

The Cards showed flashes tonight of why they have such a lofty ranking to start the season. This team is deep, versatile, and loaded at every spot. Yes we played a very undermanned Pikeville squad but they are a very well coached team and a scrappy bunch. They found out quick like most teams will this season that this Cardinal squad is for real. The night began with a quick ceremony revealing the 2012 Final Four banner and Coach Pitino presenting Elisha Justice with his Final Four ring. Then the game got underway. If you have been reading this blog then you know what I have been saying about Montrezl Harrell all along. Tonight he made me look like a genius. He lead all scorers with 19 points, had 13 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. He was truely in beast mode. I got a few words for Mr. Behanan “You better wake up”. Coach Pitino would say after the game about Montrezl “He is a relentless player, and he is going to be great. He is a raw player who needs to work on his footwork and fundamentals. He is like a sponge wanting to soak up the information.”

There were other Cards that also had a great showing. Gorgui Dieng had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. He is a great defensive force for this team and is the foundation from which this defense works. Russ Smith and Peyton Siva finished the game with 17 points and both were very good on the defensive end of the floor. Coach Pitino said after the game “If there are 2 better guards in the nation I want to see them.” He raved about his guards saying that they will be “hard to deal with” for other teams.

FINAL STATS

It was a really good vibe in the Yum center tonight as over 20,000 fans got to welcome in the new season. Hopefully it will end with us all in Atlanta watching our Cards cut down the nets in the Final Four.

(FINAL FOUR BANNER REVEALED)