It hasn’t been pretty on the offensive side of the ball this season for the Cardinals, but they have bought into Coach Pitino and his defensive philosophy. That has helped them move to 5-0 in the early part of the season and that defense tonight helped them get a hard fought win over a pesky Cleveland State team. The Cards beat the Vikings 45-38 giving Coach Pitino his 700th win as a college coach. With the win the Cardinals are now 70-9 and have won 30 straight games against non conference opponents at the Yum Center.
It was another huge milestone tonight for a man that has left a mark on the game of basketball that will live on for many generations. At 700-245 all-time as a collegiate head coach Rick Pitino has seen and done it all. He’s a Hall of Fame coach who has built programs from scratch, returned programs to their glory, and now he’s just enjoying his life and teaching and molding players for their time between the lines and after. It has been a pleasure to watch Coach Pitino during my time as a college basketball fan, and even when he was on the enemy’s sideline it was hard not to respect his knowledge and understanding for the game. Pitino is just the sixth active coach with at least 700 career victories. I hope to see him win many more before he’s through.
It hasn’t taken very long for this Louisville Basketball program to feel the effects of losing their best shooter in Luke Hancock and their best scorer in Russ Smith. I don’t think the fans realized that the offense would take as big a step back as it has. Louisville’s 45 points tonight is the lowest score since 1997 vs. Temple, and the fewest points for the Cardinals in a winning effort since 1981. We do have some good offensive players in Wayne Blackshear, Terry Rozier, Chris Jones, and Montrezl Harrell, but we are going to need some guys on the bench to be developed throughout the season in order for the offense to improve. Louisville had 0 points off the bench tonight; first time since Dec. 5 2000 in a 70-63 loss to Georgetown. Guys like Quentin Snider and Shaqquan Aaron are pure scorers and have a ton of skill. When they learn the plays and get stronger it will help. Anton Gill is a good scorer but he is slumping right now… He will also come around. We didn’t have a very good night on the offensive side of the ball but got to give credit to Cleveland State they played a very good game and that zone defense really confused our guys tonight.
The good news is that this team is playing very good and very hard on the defensive side of the ball. They are also rebounding the ball very well at both ends of the floor. They are currently 5th in the country in FG% defense, 10th in scoring defense, 4th is steals per game, 5th in 3PT Defense, and 10th in total steals. They are currently 20th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game and 4th in the nation in offensive rebounding per game. The Cards are currently ranked #2 in Kenpoms Defense Adjustment Efficiency. The 59 points the Cardinals have allowed in two consecutive games is the lowest two game total since 1937. So right now defensive is the name of the game and it looks like that could be the identity of the 2014/15 group. The defense will also get stronger as more guys are developed.
Montrezl was marathon man tonight playing all 40 minutes of the game. His double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds really helped his team get over the hump tonight. He was the MVP of this game no doubt.
Terry Rozier is the most poised and mature player on the college level that you will ever see. Guys his age shouldn’t be able to see the big picture the way he does sometimes. That poise and big picture thinking carries over on the court and this kid goes out and does what he needs to do night in and night out. He had 11 rebounds tonight along with 9 points.
Wayne Blackshear has been able to string together a very good start for himself and he has also been a big lift to this team on the offensive side of the ball. Tonight he had 8 points and 5 rebounds.
I realize that there are going to be those fans that start freaking out and think the sky is falling especially after such a dismal offensive performance tonight. Coach Pitino tried to warn us that this game was going to be ugly and none of us listened. Yes the offense was bad, but this won’t be the norm. It will get better and this is a great defensive team. It is going to be fun watching the man that has 700 wins work his magic again this season and get the most out of this group of players. I’m ready to play some of the better teams on the schedule to see what our team is really made of. Tuesday will be a good test as Ohio State comes to town for the ACC/Big 10 Challenge. Go Cards!