I have tried really hard this season not to buy too much into these early games with subpar competition but I have had a few observations that I think are going to be very favorable for the Cardinals going forward. I covered the game yesterday where our guys came out and manhandled Eastern Michigan 86-53 beating them by 33 points. Their average margin of victory this season is 30.6 points ranked 1st in the nation. For the 6th time this season they scored at least 85 points. The Cardinals are 103-0 under Coach Pitino when doing so. The Cardinals shot 53.4% from the field for the game and are averaging 51.6% through the first eight games of the season ranked 6th in the nation in field goal percentage. The Cardinals bench scored 34 points on Saturday and has scored 238 points from the bench this season. For a 5th time this season the Cardinals had at least four players in double figures. It is very important in March to have a team that shoots it well, can score points from all over the floor and has a deep bench. It appears this team will have all three.

They are who we thought they were:
Damion Lee is averaging 18.8 points a game while Trey Lewis is averaging 13.8 points. They are leading the way in point production and doing it very effectively. Lee is shooting 53.7% from the field while Lewis is shooting 41.7% from the field. They both are also averaging over 4 rebounds a game. These guys are also getting it done on the defensive side of the ball. Lee is leading the team in steals with 19 and Lewis is second on the team with 9 this season. Along with the solid leadership on and off the court these guys have been as big for this team as we all thought they would be and their veteran roles are going to be very important going forward.

Young Guys stepping up:
Donovan Mitchell is averaging 7.4 points a game and Ray Spalding is averaging 6.8 points. That is #6 and #7 in scoring on this team. These guys have also been very effective scorers. Mitchell is shooting 47.7% from the field while Spalding is averaging a scorching 76.7% from the field. Spalding is 3rd on the team in rebounding with 37 this season and Mitchell is 5th on the team with 33 this season. These guys have emerged as key guys coming off of the Louisville bench and both bring an energy with them when they enter that has an immediate impact. As these guys continue to adjust to the college game and learn the system they are going to continue to get better and that will be very good moving forward.

The hammer and the nails:
There are many players on this team that provide the nails and Quentin Snider is the hammer. He is the player on this team that brings it all together when they are on the floor. He is third on the team in scoring with 9.9 points a game but where he really shines is getting his teammates involved. He leads with 35 assist on the season. He is ranked 12th in the country in assist turnover ratio at 4.38. Nothing is more important on the road in big games and under the bright lights of March Madness than having a guy who takes care of the basketball and uses possessions wisely. Quentin Snider does both.

Like I said above I’m not going to buy too much into these games against lesser competition but I really like the direction this team appears to be heading and I’m looking forward to seeing just where that goes. Really love this group and they are very exciting to watch. They give great effort on both sides of the ball and appear to care just as much about how successful their teammates are as they do themselves. Good stuff! Go Cards!

Remember at all home games the Cardinals are asking fans to participate in the pre-game by yelling back “I got your back” during the video promo before starting line-ups. The Yum Center crowd did pretty good on Saturday but we can get better. This team deserves it.

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The Cardinals moved to 4-0 in the early season after an 85-41 victory over St. Francis last night. The Cardinals have been participating in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. This five-team, round-robin event will conclude on Saturday night when the Cardinals face St. Louis in Brooklyn. After the Cardinals finish up with this tournament they’ll then head to East Lansing to face the #3 Michigan St. Spartans in the annual Big 10/ACC Challenge. This is the 7th consecutive season that Louisville has started a basketball season 4-0 and they’ll need the positive momentum from these early victories to help them when they face these next two opponents.

Over the last few seasons the Cardinals have had to rely on great defense to help them overcome being anemic on the offensive end of the floor. This is usually the time of year when we are all wondering where the point production is going to come from. But if these early games are any indication this year offense is not going to be a problem. The Cardinals have shot better than 50% from the field in the first 4 games. This team is getting scoring from every position on the floor and the team is shooting a blistering 52% from the field. The Cardinals have 7 players who are shooting 50% or better from the field, have 7 players who are averaging 7 points or more per game, and as a team averaging 87 points per game. This team is currently 13th in the country in field goal percentage, and have moved up to 31st in the country in scoring offense. In the current Kenpom statistics Louisville’s adjusted offensive efficiency is 108.3 ranked 47th and their effective Field goal percentage is 56.5 ranked 31st. Having a team like this with some many weapons is something worth getting very excited about.

The Cardinals may not have to rely as much on their defense this season but that doesn’t mean they aren’t performing just as well on this side of the ball. Through the first 4 games of the season they are holding their opponents to 49.8 points per game and holding them to just 29% shooting from the field. In the current Kenpom statistics Louisville’s adjusted defensive efficiency is 90.6 and ranked 3rd and their effective field goal percentage defense is 34.7 ranked 5th. It might be against teams with less talent but so far the Cardinals are really getting it done on the defensive end and they look like they enjoy it just as much as they do when they have the ball in their hands. After the game last night Coach Willard said that they weren’t completely happy with the defense yet and talked about fine tuning some things. But I know they have to at least be happy with the effort.

I know it’s early but these guys are playing some solid basketball and they look like they are having fun doing it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do against both St. Louis and Michigan State. We will know exactly where they are after this stretch. They could come out in these next two games showing everyone that they will be a contender this season. I know they will be. Go Cards!

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It’s poetic justice that our Louisville Basketball team will start their 2015-16 campaign on Friday the 13th. There have been a lot of nightmarish distractions off of the court over the past month but that hasn’t slowed down this group of young Cardinals. They have stayed the course and Coach Pitino has placed his focus squarely on getting these guys ready for their tough slate ahead. The Cardinals will play 11 games this season against teams ranked among the nation’s top 25 or are receiving votes in the preseason USA Today coach’s poll, including six games among teams in the top six. They’ll also have trips to some very historically tough venues. This will be a fun ride that will have some bumps along the way but I think we’ve got another group that won’t let us down.

There is still a lot of mystery as to how this group will come together and evolve over the next five months. Louisville has just two players on its roster junior center Mango Mathiang and walk-on junior guard David Levitch that have played with the Cardinals more than a year. The Cards return just 17 percent of their scoring and a quarter of their assists from last season but I’m very optimistic that we could potentially have a decent run. This appears to be a very close group, we have some great size, length, athleticism and these guys are very versatile. We also have a very good freshmen class that will be able to make a solid contribution this season. I also think Coach Pitino may be as motivated as he’s ever been to get this group to reach their full potential.

You can’t really read that much into the exhibitions but these guys are going to be fun to watch. On the defensive side of the ball this group is going to give opponents fits this year. Deflections, Defensive rebounding, hustle and shot blocking are abundant. They pretty much limited Bellarmine to one shot and out for the entire game, and they are a team very fundamentally sound on the offensive end of the floor. They didn’t really ever allow them to have a clean look. On the offensive end of the court this group has size and skill everywhere. They all hit the offensive glass, all can play out on the perimeter and all of these guys are very good passers. I think you’ll see a lot of activity and movement this year. Get ready for the pick and roll and the give and go.

-Jaylen Johnson is a guy that really didn’t show me much during the Puerto Rico trip but in the exhibition games looked like a man on a mission. I do think he has made a lot of progress since seeing him this summer. The kid has cut his weight and body fat and that has resulted in a faster more versatile player on the floor. He was much more active around the basket and has developed into a player that can score facing the basket or with his back to the basket. And he can create his own scoring opportunities. If he continues down this improvement path he will be a beast this season.

-Quentin Snider made his impact felt immediately when he hit the floor in the exhibition games. His ability to run smooth offensive sets is unmatched by any guard on the team. He is the best guard on the team getting the offense into a good rhythm by finding open guys for open shots. The kid is a silent general on the basketball court. That experience he had in the Tourney last year has carried over and he is going to be big for us.

-Damion Lee will be the foundation of this group off of the court and he will keep them focused on their task ahead, and he is another smooth operator when he gets on the floor. He is a very good ball handler that has the ability to blow past his guy on the perimeter or to stop and pop on a dime for the bucket. He can also get hit the three point shot with consistency. I think he will give us our most consistent three point threat we’ve had in a while.

-Trey Lewis is another guy much like Quentin Snider who has that great court awareness and can find the open man. He threaded the needle many times on Sunday. He is also a great stop and pop shooter who really doesn’t have to have his set shot for it to go down with consistency. Once he fully feels at home he will be a solid floor general for this group.

-Magok Mathiang will also be a big part of everything this team does on the offensive and defensive side of the floor. When he played in the World Games this summer he rebounded the ball very well. That has carried over and he has rebounded well both on the Puerto Rico trip, the scrimmages and will hopefully continue through the season. Mango has improved every year and this season will be big for him.

-Chinanu Onuaku is another very important part of this team. He was very active around the basket in both of the exhibition games and really defended well. Most think he will end up being the most important part of this team and I think he’ll have a big season with hopes of getting to the next level after it’s over.

-Matz Stockman and Anas Mahmoud are more confident and have also transformed themselves physically. Anas showed off his athleticism and ability to make big plays in the scrimmages. Matz attempted a dunk from the free-throw line over three Bellarmine players. Talk about confidence. Looking forward to seeing these guys continue to improve and I think they’ll help out a lot this season.

-As I mentioned above I think a few of the freshman can really contribute some valuable minutes this season, but believe that Deng Adel will see significant time. He is slated for the start in the season opener on Friday night. He already has the strength and size to compete on the college level. He is a match-up nightmare and can score in a lot of ways. He can come at you off of the dribble or take it to the rack with power. He is going to be a fun one to watch.

We might not contend for a title and I’m not ready to even think about that at this point. I do think this group could be top 10ish and make a deep tourney run. We have one of the tallest and athletic teams in school history it just all has to come together. I know I’m really excited and ready for the season to start. GO CARDS!

Here’s a direct link to the Game Notes for Friday’s home opener against Samford:

Our Cardinals close out the Puerto Rico trip with another win. These games will benefit this team greatly and in just the last two games alone the improvement has been drastic. We really did get to watch this team grow up before our eyes over the past couple of days. What we could see of it anyway. Coach Pitino said before this trip that if they could win a couple of games that he would be very pleased with the effort. The Cardinals struggled in the first games but grew from those losses and were able to get two very nice wins to wrap things up. I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to watch and evaluate these guys so early. This team is still a work in progress but I think they’ll do big things this season. We’ve got scorers, legitimate big men, great wing players, and good bench play.

Here’s just a little assessment I had of some of the guys this week:

Damon Lee is going to be a good one… He had 118 points on this trip… Not too shabby! He will have to learn that he doesn’t have to shoulder all of the load like he did at Drexel. He forced some stuff this week and that will change. He will be a 20 pt. scorer this season.

Mango and Nanu have and will continue to get better. They are passing the ball much better and seem to be more active around the rim. Would like to see them be more physical and draw more fouls. Both can be very effective in the lane and this team will need that from them both.

Matz and ANAS are still works in progress. Both need to get much more physical and comfortable when they get the ball. Both still have a tendency to rush and be reluctant. They’ll get it.

Trey Lewis like Lee is going to be a scorer, but will have to learn that he isn’t a one man show any more like he was at Cleveland State. He’ll have to adjust to team ball and making the extra pass. He’ll help us win some tough ones this season.

Jaylen Johnson I didn’t really see the improvement I was hoping for out of him. He made some good plays and has worked on his mid-range shot, but is another guy that has to be more physical. Still a lot of time. I’ve got big expectations here.

Quentin Snider He was a stone cold killer in the run the Cardinals made in March. I did see flashes of that version of him tonight but overall it was a quiet trip for him. Didn’t amaze like I thought he would. May still be adjusting to his role on this team. I think he’ll start and play a lot of minutes this season. He creates plays and is a heady ball player.

Out of the new guys Mitchell, Adel, and Spalding it was Spalding that impressed me the most. He will be one of the hometown greats before his career in Louisville is over. The kid oozes big time potential. Active hands and all over the court on defense. His wing span is longer than Montrezls. And he has a soft touch around the basket and can finish with power when needed. I’m excited about him. Adel is also ready to play right now. He’s already physical and strong enough to compete in the ACC. He is a match-up problem and can post his man up or take him out to the perimeter. Shows very good skill set. Mitchell is going to be very good but out of the three he still has the most to learn IMO. He still rushes when he has the ball and that leads to poor decisions and turnovers. His potential is off the charts and he’s going to be great just needs time.

Biggest surprise for me was preferred walk-on Jay Henderson. This kid has a lot of game. He looks really comfortable and confident with the ball in his hand and really does command on the court. Really impressed with his ability and think he’ll see the court this season. Pretty cool to have another walk-on named Henderson. I think this one could be just as effective…

Here’s Coach Pitino’s Post game courtesy Eric Crawford’s Periscope:
COACH PITINO POST GAME