I’m not ashamed to admit that when Kenny Payne was hired to be the head coach at Louisville I thought he’d be the guy who would revive this once-great basketball program.
They say you can be loyal to a fault and I think my loyalty along with the University of Louisville’s loyalty was at fault for that disaster. Not only did he not revive the program but took it lower than ever before.
For two years most of us had forgotten what good basketball at Louisville looked like. We had forgot the joy that it could bring into our world. Most stopped watching and supporting the program all together.
Finally, things got so bad that the University was forced to end the Kenny Payne era and a new coaching search would begin. Sadly that wouldn’t be the end of our pain. Louisville Basketball fans would have to endure months of rejection from several big name coaches who would turn down the once prestigious job.
There for a while it felt like nobody was going to take the job. Then an unlikely candidate emerged. None of us knew much about Pat Kelsey and the hire failed to generate much excitement at first. But this guy hit the ground running and his passion and excitement became contagious.
Within months of his hire he had already generated more excitement and hope than the fan base had felt in years. And he would have us looking forward to a real reviVILLE.
Things looked much different inside the KFC Yum Monday night. An exciting brand of basketball has finally found its way back to Louisville. All that buzz and excitement Coach Kelsey had provided during the off-season made its way to the court.
It has been a long time since we have been able to enjoy good basketball and after years of torture the PTSD from Cardinal Nation was evident on social media during the game:
Not since Pitino’s bombinos had we seen the up and down style of basketball on display Monday. The Cardinals would hit 24 three point shots. That’s the most ever in a game for a Louisville team inside the Yum. 72 percent of their shots were threes and they hit 24 of 56. That made for 42.9 percent shooting from the three.
The Cards had 63 points at halftime. They did not score more than 54 points in a half in any game last season. If the exhibition game Monday was a glimpse of whats in store this season then we will all be able to take a deep breath and finally be able to move on.
Sure it’s been a long haul and at times didn’t feel like we’d ever feel good about basketball again. It’s never easy to get to anything good and there is always going to be some suffering involved. No Payne No gain. Hopefully its nothing but good times ahead.
L’s UP!
