It was another rough Saturday for Louisville fans as our beloved Cardinals lose to Georgetown 53-51 and drop their third straight game in Big East play. The last time the Cardinals lost their third game straight it was against Seton Hall on January 21st 2010.
For as long as I can remember Louisville Basketball has always had times during the regular season when they hit a bump in the road. Even when Coach Crum was at the helm I can remember him reassuring Cardinal fans during those rough stretches that the team would be ready for March. It seems to be a constant theme throughout my time being a fan. Today Coach Pitino said after the game “Some people panic. We don’t panic at Louisville. We’re judged in March.” And after last season why would we doubt this?
Last year the Cardinals started the season 12-0 and rose to No. 4 in the nation in both major polls. They ended the year in the Final Four; of course, riding an 8-0 run that included a Big East tournament title. In their other 20 games the Cards went 10-10. If you take out those two losses to that great UK team the Cards were 10-8. In other words, the games the Cards played during the Big East regular season. You can go back and see this pattern play out many times in the past. Coach Crum always had this program peaking at the right time and Coach Pitino has carried on that legacy.
The story of the game today however, was the overall struggles of the Cardinals’ offense. The point total for Louisville ended up being a whopping 24 points below their season average. Our Cardinals set season lows for field goals made and total points. I really don’t understand how a player of Peyton Siva’s caliber only attempts 2 field goals and goes scoreless. But I have no doubt that he will get it together. It was good to see Luke Hancock have a good shooting day, but Wayne Blackshear was 0 for 5 from the three. Would like to see these guys jump into the role that Kyle Kuric and Chris Smith played last year. Those guys hit 36 percent of their 399 attempted threes last season. If we could get that type of production out of Luke and Wayne it would be huge for this team. And those guys are very capable. The free-throw shooting was better for the first part of the game today as the Cardinals went 12 for 12 from the line in the first half but just 4 for 10 in the second, echoing a problem from recent games.
Even though the offensive struggles of this team have been very apparent during this three game losing streak the defense seems to be holding steady and is a big reason why Cardinal Nation should remain optimistic. The Cardinal defense held the Hoyas to 38% from the field, 29% from 3, had 10 steals and forced 16 turnovers. The Cards defense still ranks 2nd in the nation in turnover margin at +7.2, 3rd in steals per game at 11.3 and they are in the top 20 in the nation in scoring defense.
Defense wins in the post season folks and if you have any doubt about that all you have to do is look to last year. The Cardinal offense during that incredible 8 game post season win streak was dismal as they were averaging basically one point per possession and were just 140-for-315 from inside the arc. Guess what they won anyway because their defense was great.
Hopefully this team and the fan base can put this past week behind us and move forward. We get to return home to the friendly confines of the Yum Center to face Pittsburgh on Monday.
