Daily Archives: January 4, 2014

The Beak Basketball Breakdown: The Scarlet Knights

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Our Cardinals are no longer part of the Big East but will be making a Big East esque trip on Saturday as they will head to Piscataway New Jersey to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the RAC. Saturday evening’s contest marks the 13th meeting between the schools dating back to 1975, with the Cardinals holding an 11-1 advantage in victories. The Scarlet Knights are 1-4 at home versus UofL. The Scarlet Knights will be looking for their fourth straight, while the Cardinals will be looking to capture their second consecutive win and eighth in their past nine games.

The Cards earned a convincing 90-65 win at UCF on Tuesday in their AAC opener and looked very good in doing so. Russ, who leads the team with a 17.4 points-per-game average, shot 8-of-14 and 6-of-10 behind the arc to post 24 points as the team shot 55% and 52% from behind the arc. Russ added nine assists as UofL dished-out 28 on 34 field goals. The Cardinals lead the AAC in scoring offense (85.0), scoring margin (+23.6), turnover margin (+8.21), assist/turnover ratio (1.6) and three-point field goals made (8.5).

There hasn’t been a college program in the country with more trouble surrounding it during this past year. And the Rutgers basketball program was the top story. I’m sure you’ve see the video of former basketball coach Mike Rice throwing balls at his players. So now new head coach Eddie Jordan has the task of completely turning it around. There were a lot of defections from the Rice turmoil but the cupboard isn’t completely bare.
They do have some proven scorers back this season who are leading Jordan’s hybrid Princeton style offense. Myles Mack (16.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.4 assist), Kadeem Jack (14.3 points, 7 rebounds), J.J. Moore (12.6 points, 3.9 rebounds), Jerome Seagears (9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds), and Wally Judge (9.1 points, 7.3 rebounds). Mack is their leader and ranks third in the AAC in steals, fifth in assists, tied for sixth in three-point field goals made, and eighth in both scoring and free throw percentage. Jack was named Conference player of the week earlier this season. He’s a very good rebounder and versatile player. Moore is a transfer from Pitt and has give them a big lift with his scoring ability. Seagears is not as good of a scorer, but really does well on the defensive end of the floor. Judge is fifth in rebounding and sixth in field goal percentage in the AAC.

Rutgers comes into Saturdays game averaging 77.2 points-per-game, while shooting 45.3% from the floor and 36.3% from 3-point range. The Knights are converting 69.8% of its attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, Rutgers is allowing 74.8 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 42.1% from the floor. The Knights are out-rebounding their opponents 531-508 with a rebounding margin of +1.6 averaging 37.8 boards-per-contest.

Rutgers
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
77.2
79th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
37.9
91st
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
14.0
115th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.453
135th
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #206
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-107.8 ranks 257th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-105.5 ranks 140th

I wasn’t able to do a post game report after the opening game in the AAC on New Years Eve, but as I briefly mention above our Cardinals looked very good considering the hit they took losing to UK and one of their best players a couple days prior. I think this team has been through enough battles together that they aren’t going to miss a beat. Guys look like they are going to step up and the bad last week could actually be a spark moving forward. I don’t think Rutgers has the talent or the defensive ability to pose any type of threat Saturday. This will just be another tune-up game in preparation for the battle with #18 Memphis next Thursday night.

The Best Walk-On In College Basketball Gets A Scholarship

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Since I’ve been a Louisville basketball fan there have been players come and go. Some of them are remembered for a big game, a big shot, or big play. But there are others who come along that leave a lasting impression because of their passion for the program and their hard work and dedication just to be a part of the program. Then you have a guy like Tim Henderson who has all of those things rolled up into one. Tim Henderson has made the big play in the game and his passion, hard work and dedication are something that I will never forget.

He played high school basketball for Louisville Christian Academy and joined the Cardinals’ roster as a walk-on in 2010. He had Louisville pumping through his veins from birth as his father Jeff was a swimmer at UofL (1976-79), and his mother Beth played tennis at UofL. It was obvious when I first saw Tim play in the Red and White scrimmages that he was a kid that may have been a walk-on but didn’t carry himself that way. When he got his moments in the games he would make the best of them. I have said that if my son was old enough to go to the games with me and know what was going on that I would point to Tim as the example of what it’s all about. Tim defines the word “hustle” and whether he was in the game for 1 minute or 10 minutes that’s just what he did. He knew and accepted his role from the very beginning and made the best of it. Sure, most will remember Tim for those three point shots in that Final Four game against Wichita State, but I will also remember a guy who seized his opportunities no matter how small they were.

Today Tim was rewarded for his efforts over the last the last three years with a scholarship for the second semester. Coach Pitino said in his press conference today: “Well, I gave it to him while I was watching film with the team and saying how good his defense was and we’ve got to play defense like he plays it, and it’s a long time coming, but Tim will be given a scholarship second semester,” coach Rick Pitino said when replaying how he delivered the news. “He came up to thank me after practice and I said, ‘Don’t thank me, I’m the one who should thank you.” Very happy for Tim and think this is a very cool move by coach Pitino. This really is a feel good story and I sure needed it after the last few days around the program. Congrats Tim!

Charlie Strong Saga Part 2

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This is the part of the college football season that I dislike the most. News is dominated with coaches shuffling all over the college landscape and now there seems to be some uncertainty surrounding our head football coach. Here’s my two cents on this speculation.

On December 9, 2009, Charlie Strong was hired as Louisville’s 21st head coach. Strong had been a defensive coordinator for 11 years at South Carolina and the Florida Gators, studying under the likes of Lou Holtz and Urban Meyer. Strong has had an instant impact in getting the fan base fired up about football again. His passion and enthusiasm for the game has spread through Card Nation like a virus. Just this past season alone has seen some of the highest ticket sales ever for the Louisville Football program and every home game was a sell-out. Louisville Fans may not be “big-time” caliber but they are improving. More importantly, they are ingesting and processing what Strong wants them to know and do. But there are rumblings that even this rise in interest hasn’t fully satisfied coach Strong.

The wheels started to come off two seasons ago during the spring workouts. Our football program was getting ready for an upcoming season but the basketball team was heading to New Orleans for the Final Four. In a state like Kentucky, where basketball rules, the local media was particularly distracted by the round ball. That did not make Strong too happy. So, he banished the local media from practice for more than a week. He wanted the people to understand that the football program at Louisville was not going to sit in the back seat of the car, even if people thought of the place as a “basketball school.” And just maybe the straw that broke the camel’s back was the lack of coverage that the Russell Athletic Bowl got this past weekend amidst the coverage of the annual UofL vs UK basketball game. Of course this like most of the stuff you read about Coach Strong’s feelings are just speculation. He has complained about the fans, but has also called us the best in the country. Guess it just depends on the day of the week.

I really can’t hold it against coach Strong if he decides to take his ball and go home. The guy is football to the bone. He was born in the heart of football country and football is his greatest passion. And, he has now been in the heart of basketball country for the last 4 seasons. Unless your last name is Brohm you aren’t born a football fan in the state of Kentucky. This state is and will always be about basketball. And no matter how hard Charlie tries or how much he preaches about what the fans role is we are never going to live up to his expectations (In My Opinion). We are just cut from a different cloth around these parts.

If Charlie does decide to stick it out then, we (as fans) need to do our part and try to make it out to those spring games, those open practices and all the other events surrounding the football program. We do need to get to the games early and stay late. I think it will get better especially with the level of competition going up with the ACC coming to town. However, Charlie has to be more of a realist and he must understand that it is what it is. Louisville’s football fans are never going to be like those “big- time” football fans (whatever that is). There is just not enough of us. But even if we never see 100,000 butts in the seats on Saturdays the 50 or 60 thousand folks that are there will be cheering their hearts out for the Cardinal Red.

Regardless of who will be coaching next season (still a chance it will be Charlie), the fact remains that we will have a great group of young men returning and those kids are what deserve our support the most. And I would like to thank coach Strong and his staff for helping us reach that next plateau of performance. The dark days are gone and there is only a bright future ahead. #L1C4