Cardinals Survive Against Their Doppelgänger

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Was that game March Madness enough for you? It’s about surviving and advancing during this time of the year. The Cardinals did survive a gutsy performance by Steve Masiello’s Jasper’s winning 71-64. Last year the Cardinals had their survive moment in the Final Four when they had to squeak out a win over Wichita State. Hopefully we won’t have any more close calls and can use the experience gained in this game tonight as a spring board the rest of the way. With the win tonight Louisville has now achieved its 8th 30-win season in school history, and won 7 straight games in the NCAA Tourney.

The Jasper’s were able to hang around in this game because they played some excellent defense and held the Cards to 36.5% from the field, 30.8% from the 3 point line and forced 12 turnovers. In my opinion Louisville won’t get another defensive effort like these guys thrown at them tonight.
The Cardinals had a pretty good effort tonight as well on the defensive side of the ball forcing 15 turnovers, and getting 11 steals with 8 blocked shots. This game really was like putting two magnets together. Two teams that mirrored each other at every facet of the game. Coach Pitino: “I knew this game was going to be this way. When we play ourselves in practice, it’s a nightmare.”

The Cardinals had four players in double figure scoring, but the difference was Luke and Russ’s clutch performances down the stretch. Russ got the momentum rolling the Cards way with his big three point shot, then Luke took over from where he left off in last years NCAA Tournament with two clutch threes. Luke said after the game: We’re just trying to build a legacy.” Montrezl was huge on the glass with 13 rebounds, and the silent assassins also came up big with Stephan Van Treese grabbing 7 rebounds and Wayne Blackshear providing a spark off the bench. Coach Pitino: “Russ had an off night tonight, Wayne was an unsung hero.”
It is also important to note that Russ became the all-time steals leader at Louisville with his two tonight. He has 256 for his career.

Coach Pitino: “We needed this type of game. Winning by 60 and 40 doesn’t make you a better basketball team.”
Games like this do make teams tougher. The Cardinals learned more about themselves tonight than they have in the last month in my opinion. Sometimes it takes more than athleticism and talent. Sometimes it takes grit and determination, and that’s what our guys showed tonight. We should all be proud of how they pulled it out.

One down and five more to go Cardinal fans. Next up is St Louis at around 2:45 pm on Saturday. We can now take a day off and enjoy tomorrow our guys survived and advanced. Go Cards!

Luke Hancock After The Game:

Wayne Blackshear After The Game:

Montrezl Harrell After The Game:

Russ Smith After The Game:

Chris Jones After The Game:

Stephan Van Treese After The Game:

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The Beak First Round Breakdown: The Jasper’s

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We are less than 24 hours from getting to watch our Cards defend their National Title. The Cardinals will start their march towards Dallas with a first round match-up with Manhattan College who earned a #13 seed in the Midwest after securing the automatic bid out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Both the Cardinals and the Jasper’s have won 11 of their last 12 games. Both of these teams come into the NCAA Tournament winning their last 5 games. The Jaspers are in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time and the first time since 2004, when Manhattan advanced to the round of 32 as a #12 seed. The Jaspers have won their first-round game in two of their last three appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinals hold the overall lead in this series 6-2 including a 79-51 win the last time these teams played back in 2012.

Former Pitino assistant Coach Steve Masiello has done a remarkable job in just a few seasons at Manhattan and has brought a winning culture back to that program. His coaching resembles that of his former boss and his team is pretty much a mirror image of the Cardinals offense and defense. Like the Cardinals their defensive pressure has been their signature all season long. They apply a suffocating half-court defense, trying to force opponents into turnovers and poor shots. Manhattan ranks 16th in the country in turnover percentage defense (22.1 percent) leading to many fast-break opportunities.

Even though they will run a similar style offense they don’t exactly have the same offensive weapons as the Cardinals. Their team isn’t exceptionally athletic or talented offensively. Like most low-majors, Manhattan will be undersized against high-major foe Louisville. The guys leading the way on the offensive end for the Jasper’s is Rhamel Brown (10.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 0.7 apg), Ashton Pankey (6.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.2 apg), George Beamon (19.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 0.8 apg), RaShawn Stores (5.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.0 apg), Michael Alvarado (12.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.0 apg), and Shane Richards (8.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.7 apg).
George Beamon is their best player and he can fill it up if he gets going. A long and bouncy athlete (6-foot-4), Beamon has scored 20 or more points 17 times this season and excels at hitting 15-foot jumpers and 3-pointers when left alone in transition.
Manhattan shoots 36.7 percent from beyond the arc and Shane Richards is their most explosive, yet inconsistent threat off the bench. A 41-percent 3-point shooter, Richards scored 14 points to help Manhattan down Iona.

Manhattan Jasper Rankings:
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Manhattan has a decent ball team, and it really is bad luck for Steve Masiello to have to open up against his mentor. His team relies on forcing the opponent into turning the ball over at a high rate and his team loves to put pressure on opposing guards to force them into mistakes. That’s not going to happen Thursday night. The last time these teams played Russ Smith led the Cardinals scoring 23 points on 8-18 shooting and making 4 of 13 from the 3 point line. Smith was also disruptive on the defensive end, with five steals. It will be much the same on Thursday night. Montrezl will also have his way in the front court against a much less physical Manhattan. The Cardinals have too many athletes and too much experience for the Jasper’s to handle. This one isn’t going to be close and Coach Pitino should be able to use his bench in order to rest the guys for a much tougher opponent in the second round.

The wait is almost over Cardinal fans. I’m ready to stop hearing everyone talk about it and ready to see all these teams go at it. I’m looking forward to the most exciting sports day of the year. Go Cards!

Our Cardinals Are Champs Again

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Our Cardinals are AAC Champions after beating the Huskies 71-61 in the AAC Tournament. This is the fifth straight win over the Huskies and we end the series with them for the foreseeable future as Louisville is now ACC bound. The win tonight gives the Cardinals their 40th NCAA Tourney birth, three straight league tournament titles, and they have won 19 of their past 20 post-season games. All of this to go with their share of the regular-season title with Cincinnati. This season has been another remarkable one, and now it’s time to go win six more in the next couple of weeks.

As expected UCONN played a pretty solid game, but just couldn’t overcome the 14 point lead the Cards built in the first half. It’s a tall task to do that against the Cardinals defense. The Cardinals forced 13 turnovers and scored 13 off of those turnovers. They had 8 steals and held the Huskies to 25% three point shooting and 44% Field goal shooting. The Cardinals kept constant pressure on their back-court and made it hard for them to get anything consistent going. Another very positive stat was that the Cardinals out-rebounded the Huskies 38-33 after being beat up on the boards last night.

Montrezl Harrell finished off his AAC tourney with a monster outing getting his tenth double-double of the year and earning a spot on the all-tourney team. He had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. You can’t say enough about the progression of this kid over the last 3 or 4 months, and the writing was pretty much on the wall after he had such a great off season winning his gold medal. Folks that saw him in the summer predicted the kind of year he has had and they were right on the money. He has flourished in Rick’s system and now it’s time for him to help the Cards get #4.

Russ Smith had another great showing as well scoring 19 points with 3 assist and 5 steals. He was the tournaments most outstanding player. After the performance tonight he is 10th overall in assist for a season, top 5 in scoring and ties Peyton Siva for the all-time steals lead. We are some lucky folks to be witness to the Russ phenomenon. Players like him only happen once a lifetime and we now have our Tyra, Unseld, Griffith, Ellison. We will see that #2 hoisted to the rafters someday. Can’t wait to see what he pulls off in the NCAA Tourney.

Luke Hancock had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist and while that performance doesn’t jump off the page at you it’s his leadership that stood out in this one. A reporter at the game overheard Luke telling Terry to “calm down and be serious” when the young fella was being a little goofy before the game. When ask about the nets after the game Luke responded: “I walked right by them. We didn’t do it last year until the end and we’re not doing it this year.” Cool hand Luke!

Chris Jones who earned a spot on the all tourney team had a good night in his home town scoring 11 points and 4 rebounds. He is playing well and has adapted very nicely in his role on this team heading into the NCAA Tourney.
I’ve gotta give mention to Mr Hustle Stephan Van Treese for his 8 rebounds, 3 assist and 2 steals. At one point we were up 20 and he was diving on the floor for a loose ball. He brings so much to the table that goes unnoticed. Having a kid like this on your team come Tourney time is huge.
And last but certainly not least is our fab freshman Terry Rozier who showed some moxie tonight with some great plays. He had 7 points. I have a feeling that he will replace Russ as a fan favorite next season. He’s got a huge upside and he’s itching to get his moment.

Now we celebrate and enjoy another great Cardinal Basketball achievement. It’s been an awesome run and we’ll find out tomorrow evening what the road will look like for this team to go after #4. There’s a lot of talk about seeding, but I don’t think that matters much when a team is focused and tuned in. To be the best you have to beat the best. Last season we had a 1 seed, but played probably 5 of the best teams to win a title. So I say bring it on! Ready for the Madness to begin. Go Cards!

Cardinals celebrate another Title:

Luke after the game:

Chris Jones after the game:

Stephan Van Treese after the game:

Montrezl Harrell after the game:

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The Beak Basketball Breakdown: The AAC Title Game

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It’s going to be a battle for the AAC tournament title tonight, but it’s going to have a Big East feel as the Huskies and Cards lock up one last time. Usually this story would have played out in front of a packed Madison Square Garden on a Saturday Night, but tonight the story will end in Memphis and it’s hard to say what the crowd will be like since they have been thin all week. The Cardinals lead this series 10-6 and have won four straight against the Huskies including that 33 point drubbing on senior day last weekend.

After a year of sitting out of post season play UCONN is one of the hungriest teams in college basketball right now looking forward to getting their chance at a deep NCAA run. Coach Kevin Ollie did an excellent job keeping his team playing hard last year, and this season has been no different. They could have folded their tents after that beat down in Louisville last weekend, but they have now beat the host team Memphis and top seeded UC to make the AAC final.

Their backcourt is experienced, talented and one of the best in the country. They are lead by All-American candidate Shabazz Napier (18.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.3 apg), Ryan Boatright (12.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.5 apg) and Omar Calhoun (4.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.3 apg) all can pressure the ball, are competitive, play with confidence and have the ability to score. They are also getting quality minutes from DeAndre Daniels (12.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.4 apg), Niels Giffey (8.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.5 blkpg) and Lasan Kromah (7.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.4 blkpg).

Taken together, the Huskies’ big three of Napier, Boatright and DeAndre Daniels are shooting around 44 percent inside the arc and around 45 percent outside it this season. Napier is everything for this team. He leads the team in every offensive category, steals, and even rebounds. He averages 17.8 points a game, and he makes his team better. DaAndre Daniels and Ryan Boatright both average over 12 points per game.

The Huskies are also playing some pretty good defense this week holding Memphis to 26.4% from the field and holding UC to 43.9%. Daniels and Amida Brimah are both in the top five of the conference in blocked shots. They had 4 against the Tigers and 6 against the Bearcats. These guys make the Huskies a scary team down low.
The key for them in their last two wins is that they have played more like a team, and not relied on Napier as much as they had been. It has been more of a team effort.

The Cardinals will get the Huskies best effort tonight. You best believe that they wanted this rematch. Our Cards have had an easier road to the AAC title game, but there will be nothing easy about this game tonight. The Cards biggest strengths to this point has been their ability to score and stop their opponents from scoring. It will have to be par for the course tonight. They lead the conference in points per game at 81.8. Russ Smith is coming off his monster game last night and we have four players averaging double figures. I would think that the scoring tonight will have to be distributed and more balanced. I look for a surprise game from Wayne Blackshear and just maybe Terry Rozier. I think Chris Jones will also have a big outing in his curtain call in his hometown. Taking care of the ball tonight will also be crucial.

The defense will need to have another big night and force them to get the ball in the hands of their guys that don’t handle it well. UCONN is a very good offensive team and the Cards will need to repeat their shut down performance of the Huskies last weekend. The Cards got brutalized on the boards last night, and that can’t happen tonight. Montrezl Harrell is second in the conference in rebounds per game, but last night only had 5. He has to do better in this title game.

With all that said you can throw all logic, stats, and records out the window for this one. It’s the AAC title game. A lot of pride is on the line for these two very proud programs. Don’t think for one second that the guys leading these two teams Russ and Napier don’t want to go out on top. This should be a great game and a fun one to watch. I think our Cards win a close one down the stretch. Our defense will be too much and the Huskies will eventually buckle under the pressure. I’m looking forward to this game! Go Cards!

Houston Gets Russ Rolled

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Louisville will advance to their 4th consecutive conference final and will be looking to win their 3rd conference championship in a row after eliminating Houston 94-65 in the AAC semi-finals tonight. The Cards came into the AAC Tournament leading the nation in win margin. The last 2 games didn’t hurt that beating Rutgers by 61, and Houston by 29. They have outscored their last three opponents by 123 Pts, and have 19 wins by 20+ points this season. No other team has more than 14.

It was another great defensive effort tonight and it didn’t take long for the pressure to start to take its toll on the Cougars. The Cards forced them into 16 turnovers scoring 20+ points off of those and had 8 steals. But defense was only half the story tonight as a offensive performance for the ages took center stage. Luke Hancock: “You can’t describe Russ’ game. That’s Russdiculous…Being able to play with a guy like that makes my job easier, and everyone better.” It’s one of those type performances that you tell your grandkids about someday when talking about the guy that wore number 2. For only the 5th time in the history of the Louisville Basketball program 40 points were scored by one player in a game, that player Russ Smith. Just when you think you’ve seen it all with this kid he comes out and drops 42 points on 14 of 22 shooting. It’s The third highest single-game scoring mark in the 100-year history of Louisville basketball. With his amazing performance tonight he is now one of just 8 Louisville players to score over 1,800 points, and moves into 5th All-time in scoring with 1837 points total. With 7 games to go this season he just has me asking what’s next?

There are other guys who are quietly doing their part to make this Louisville team go. One of those guys is Stephan Van Treese who has 33 rebounds in his last three games. That includes three straight with at least 10. He has become a more confident guy and is playing like he expects to grab double digit boards.
Mango has really started to look the part as well and he was one of the best defenders on the floor tonight with his 3 blocked shots. He also grabbed 6 boards.
Chris Jones had 8 assist and 2 steals tonight to balance out the tremendous offensive effort from his backcourt partner.
Great teams have a lot of things that make them great and one of those things is players on a team knowing what role they play. Every guy on this Louisville team knows exactly what their role is.

Montrezl has been killing the rims in Memphis like he has been all season. The word Beast doesn’t do him justice sometimes. After tonight he now has 90 monster dunks and number 90 might have been his most impressive of the year.
http://youtu.be/F0c88lF2FSw

If I can be critical for just one second I am a bit concerned that the guys got out-rebounded 43-38 tonight. They were able to mask this tonight, but it is something that could haunt this team down the road. Ok enough of that!
Our Cards are headed to another conference title game something very familiar to this group. It should be another great night for the Cardinals. 7 more to go. Go Cards!

Russ Smith after his amazing 42 point night:

Chris Jones after game:

Terry Rozier after the game:

Wayne Blackshear after the game:

Luke Hancock after the game:

Cards Start Post Season With A Boom

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Welp that was exciting unless you were a Rutgers fan or the Rutgers AD who said after the 61 point beat down of his school: “After losing 92-31, we very clearly do not belong on a basketball court.” I don’t know about that but I do know that our Cards were on a mission today as they got their 3rd win of the season over the Scarlet knights. This was the last game between these teams as Louisville heads to the ACC and Rutgers the Big10. The series ends with Louisville having the 14-1 advantage. This was the most lopsided game between league opponents in Division I basketball this season, and Louisville is 1st team to win a conference tourney game by 60+ pts since 1993. Louisville has now won 10 straight postseason games, and 18 of its past 19.

Pitino begins his opening statement at the press conference: “I’m not really sure what to say. It went really well for us and not for them.” I’d say a lot of that had to do with the Cardinals suffocating defense. It is relentless..! They forced more turnovers (26) than allowed field goals (12) for 9th time this season and this is the 3rd-straight game forcing 20+ turnovers. They scored 44 points off of those turnovers and had 19 steals.

Luke, Montrezl, Russ, Chris and Terry all had double figure scoring with Jones leading the way with 18 points, 4-7 from the three. He is playing inspired basketball and playing to honor the passing of his brother a few weeks ago. Chris said in post game that he visited the grave today before the game.
Stephan Van Treese has been a beast on the boards with back-to-back double digit efforts. He had 13 rebounds vs UConn and had 10 today.

Not much else to say about this one folks. It was total domination from start to finish. Our Cardinals are playing great basketball and now there is only 8 games to go before they are National Champs again. First things first though and that’s to win this AAC title. Next game is against Houston tomorrow night at 7. Go Cards!

Chris Jones after the game:

Stephan Van Treese after the game:

Luke Hancock after the game:

Montrezl Harrell after the game:

Terry Rozier after the game:

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RUSSpect

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After years of being undervalued and underrated it seems as though this just might be Russ Smiths year to finally get the respect he deserves. With two Big East Titles, Two Final Fours and a National Title he is the most decorated senior in college basketball. Russ is playing some great basketball and has the Cards primed and ready for another run. When he decided to come back last year he wanted to improve on two aspects of his game his three point shooting and his assist per game totals. Last season his three point average was .328 and this season it’s .394. Last season his assist per game was 2.9 and this season it’s 4.8. Just like every other goal this kid has set for himself he has reached yet another.

Russ has become a more complete basketball player this year and has really grown into a true team player. These things haven’t gone unnoticed and that RUSSpect has started to roll in as NBCsports, BleacherReport, Sports Illustrated, TheSportingNews and The U.S. Basketball Writers Association have named Russ to their First Team All-American list. Glad to see him get the credit he so rightfully deserves.

USBWA NAMES 2013-14 ALL-AMERICANS
Guard Russ Smith, the District IV Player of the Year from defending national champion Louisville, is a 6-0 senior from Brooklyn, N.Y. He is the American Athletic Conference’s fourth-leading scorer (17.5), while ranking third in assists (4.8).

Sports Illustrated:
Russ Smith*, G, Louisville. Russdiculous has tamed his game this season. Although he’s still scoring at a prolific pace (17.5 points per game), he has also learned how to distribute the ball better, averaging 1.9 more assists per game as a senior than he did for Louisville’s national title team as a junior. The Cardinals’ postseason hopes will once again rest on his shoulders.

NBCSports:
Russ Smith, Louisville (17.5 ppg, 4.8 apg, 3.5 rpg, 2.0 spg, 39.4% 3PT) The key to Louisville’s season has been Smith’s ability to embrace being a point guard isn’t of simply being Russdiculous. It should tell you something that, on his Senior Night and just three days after exploding for 22 second half points and six threes in eight minutes in a come-from-behind win at SMU, Smith finished with 13 assists and just two shots from the floor.

BleacherReport:
Russ Smith didn’t exactly retire his Russdiculous persona, but he has become a much wiser version of himself in his senior season.
Take Saturday, for instance. Smith, the guy who has always loved to shoot, took only two shots and dished out 13 assists in a blowout win over Connecticut.
Smith has done whatever Rick Pitino has needed him to do this year. He’s averaging a career-best 4.8 assists and still leads the Cards in scoring at 17.5 points per game.
And if you’re not convinced yet that he’s not just a chucker without a conscience, look at his shooting percentages—39.4 percent from deep and 51.7 percent inside the arc. He’s evolved into a much headier, patient scorer than the old Russdiculous.

TheSportingNews:
Stats: 17.5 points, 4.8 assists, 39.4 percent 3-point shooting
From perhaps the humblest beginnings of any NCAA champion/first-team All-American, Smith developed into a player whose own nickname no longer fit. Russdiculous? That’s certainly unique, but Smith has advanced to the point where he now plays solid, winning basketball and rarely is guilty of the brain-freeze moments that led to coach Rick Pitino assigning that label. Smith returned to Louisville after the 2013 Cardinals won the national championship with an eye toward completing a spectacular college career and demonstrating he can function as an effective playmaker. The guy who once made silly decisions a regular routine passed for 13 assists in the final game against Connecticut and 16 times had five or more. He still could rip up the nets, as well, such as hitting 6-of-6 on 3-pointers against SMU and 10 total games of 20 or more points.
Coach Rick Pitino on Smith: “He’s made it a lot of fun for me. With Russ, he works hard. All I ask for is everybody works hard, plays for the right reasons. Everybody’s got their peculiarities you deal with. With Russ, you just have to give him more latitude at the offensive end.”

Montrezl Talks Russ Smith:

A ROMP, SOME POMP, AND A CHAMPIONSHIP

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There was some romp, some pomp and a championship today at the KFC Yum Center in front of 22,782 screaming Cardinal fans. It was one of the loudest crowds ever as the #11 ranked Cardinals beat the #19 ranked Huskies 81-48 on senior day. With the win the Cardinals won a share of the AAC regular season title with Cincinnati. The Cards have now won the last 13 out of 15 games and have put themselves in a position to possibly get a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in a couple of weeks. Depending of course on what they do in the AAC tournament. The Cardinals now lead the all-time series with UCONN 10 to 6. The Cardinals have beat the Huskies four straight and this will be the last time these teams play each other as AAC members.

The Cardinals looked great today and appear to be in post season form as the regular season has come to a end. These Cards look very much like the team that ended up in the Final Four last year in terms of defense, but this years team is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was a year ago on the offensive end of the floor. Four players ended the day in double figure scoring today and ten Cards total got into the scoring column. Today they finished 26 of 58 from the field for 44.8%, 10 of 22 from the 3 point line for 45.5% and 19 for 31 from the free-throw line. The Cards finish up the AAC regular season #1 in scoring offense averaging 79.7% points a game and #1 in scoring margin averaging +17.4 margin of victory per game. These guys have been a little better from the free-throw line in these last few games and finish the regular season #9 in the AAC averaging 75.3% per game. Free-throws become a very important part of the game in the post season and our guys still need some work in this aspect of their game.

Now how about that defense? UCONN is a very good team in terms of offense and taking care of the ball. Connecticut was 5-for-25 shooting in the first half, including 0-for-8 from 3-point range. The Huskies’ field goal percentage of 20 in the first half is a season-low for UConn in a first half this season. Today the Cards held the Huskies to 29.4% from the field and 13.6% from the 3 point line. They also forced them into 22 turnovers and had 12 steals. The Cards finish the regular season ranked #1 in the AAC in steals averaging 10.3 per game and #1 in turnover margin +5.67 per game. At the time I’m writing this article Kenpom has Louisville’s adj efficiency on defense at 90.7 and ranked #5 in the country. If you could have asked me before the season where I would want this team to be at the end of the regular season I couldn’t have scripted it any better than the Cardinals have. They had their struggles but these guys are now starting to function like a well oiled machine.

Montrezl Harrell was a beast again today with 20 points and 11 rebounds. I have said it many times in the last couple of weeks, but it bears repeating that this kid is the type of player that a team could ride all the way into the Final Four. They way he’s played in the last month he takes over the game and has been the most aggressive player on the court. He takes over games and if we hit a rough patch that could be huge down the stretch.

The four seniors all had very solid performances today in their final game at the a Yum Center. Russ made just one of two shots scoring 3 points, but topped his previous assist high with 13 today. How fitting was his final performance in the Yum Center; showing not only Louisville fans but the nation how he has evolved as a player.
Luke added 16 points and was 4 of 7 from the three-point line. If you watched the game closely today you saw a Luke Hancock that was being a leader on the court. Several times today he was yelling out direction and rallying his team-mates. This guys is an important part of a post season run and his game is in post season mode.
Tim added an early basket on feeds from Smith for his two points on the day. Coach Pitino talked about how the team doesn’t lose anything when he puts Tim in. He might just have some more Wichita magic in him this post season.
And the work horse Stephan Van Treese doing what he has his whole Louisville career sacrificing his body and hustling to grab 13 rebounds. He also had 6 points. With his production picking up at the 5 spot it makes this team even more complete.

Two other guys that had good games today and both also being a very positive sign for this Louisville team was Chris Jones with 10 points and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. And Wayne Blackshear with 11 points and 3-7 from the three point line.
Chris is playing with a heavy heart due to the passing of his brother last weekend. He is playing inspired basketball and that is the best kind to play.
Wayne still hasn’t really been the type of player that we expected this season, but he quietly had a decent game today and is another player I see really having a good post season.

It was a very emotionally charged day and I was really impressed with how our guys came out and responded to it. They never once seemed like they were playing tight and were in attack mode for the whole game. These guys have turned the page and are now playing on a different level. They will play their next game on Thursday at 3pm. They are the 2 seed in the AAC tournament and will play the winner of the USF vs Rutgers game. Really looking forward to the post season and ready to watch our Cards go on another remarkable run.

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Post Game Senior Day Celebration: Pitino and Players Thank Yum a Center Crowd:

Coach Pitino Senior Day Post Game:

Louisville Senior Day Ceremonies:

Montrezl Harrell Senior Day Post Game:

Russ Smith Senior Day Post Game:

Stephan VanTreese Senior Day Post Game:

Luke Hancock Senior Day Post Game:

Tim Henderson Senior Day Post Game:

Big Russ a Smith Talks after game:
http://youtu.be/gJPQrEpHPE

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The Beak Basketball Breakdown: The Huskies (Senior Day)

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Saturday is set up to be a very special day in the KFC Yum Center. Not only are we celebrating four of the winningest seniors in school history, but there is also a pretty good team in #19 UCONN coming to town. This will be another opportunity to get a great quality win before the selection and seeding process next weekend. Our Cardinals will also ultimately be playing for the AAC regular season crown. Louisville leads this series 9 to 6 and have won three in a row over the Huskies including a 76-64 victory in the last meeting back in January. UCONN (24-6, 12-5 AAC) comes into the game Saturday winning 7 of their last 8 including big wins over Memphis and Cincy. Louisville (25-5, 14-3 AAC) comes into the game on Saturday winning 8 of the last 9 including the biggest win of the season against SMU Wednesday night.

After a year of sitting out of post season play UCONN is one of the hungriest teams in college basketball right now looking forward to getting their chance at a March run. Coach Kevin Ollie did an excellent job keeping his team playing hard last year and this season has been no different. Their backcourt is experienced, talented and one of the best in the country. They are lead by All-American candidate Shabazz Napier (18.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.3 apg), Ryan Boatright (12.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.5 apg) and Omar Calhoun (4.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.3 apg) all can pressure the ball, are competitive, play with confidence and have the ability to score. They are also getting quality minutes from DeAndre Daniels (12.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.4 apg), Niels Giffey (8.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.5 blkpg) and Lasan Kromah (7.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.4 blkpg).

Taken together, the Huskies’ big three of Napier, Boatright and DeAndre Daniels are shooting around 44 percent inside the arc and around 45 percent outside it this season.
Napier is 2nd in The American in assists, is third in steals (1.9) and his 18.1 scoring average ranks 2nd in the league. UConn is among the national leaders in three-point field goal percentage (.451, 20th) and free throw percentage (.767, 7th). Connecticut is No. 23 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 29 in the ratings percentage index (RPI) through March 6th.

UCONN comes into Saturdays game averaging 73.5 points-per-game, while shooting 45% from the floor (2nd in AAC) and 39.4% from 3-point range (1st in the AAC). The Huskies are converting 76.7% of its attempts from the free-throw line (1st in the AAC). Defensively, UCONN is allowing 62.8 points-per-game (4th in the AAC) as the opposition is shooting 38.9% from the floor (2nd in the AAC). The Huskies are out-rebounding their opponents 1065-1046 with a rebounding margin of +0.6 averaging 35.5 boards-per-contest.

UCONN
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
73.5
100th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
35.5
141st
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
12.7
173rd
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.451
132nd
OVERALL

Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #26
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
– 92.8 ranks 11th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
– 109.2 ranks 92nd

It always a good thing when you can get a game like this to end a regular season. A quality opponent can get a team prepared for the tough weeks ahead as tournament play starts. This UCONN team is a very good opponent to close the season with and they do a lot of things well. They will challenge our Cardinals in every facet of the game on Saturday and we’ll see if the Cards can continue trending upward.

I would like to see Wayne Blackshear and Terry Rozier have solid games as they need a spark to get them going. We are gonna need one of these guys to step up in the next couple of weeks. This game will also be another good test for Mango and Van Treese to see if they can keep a steady production coming from that 5 spot. And Russ and Chris will be tested to the max defensively on Saturday. Not easy to stay in front of UCONN’s talented and very fast back-court. I do think our guys answer the call on Senior Day as they will be riding a wave of emotions from the festivities. I’m looking forward to being right in the middle of it all. Gonna be a great day! Go Cards!

A Cardinal’s Beak Good-Bye To Our Seniors

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We have reached the part of the college basketball season where teams are winding up the regular season and ramping up for the post season tournaments. Years of hard work hang in the balance as seniors across the country near the end of their college basketball careers, and programs all over the country are having their Senior Night/Day ceremonies. On Saturday the University of Louisville will honor four seniors Luke Hancock, Tim Henderson, Russ Smith, and Stephan Van Treese. On Saturday these guys will lace em up for the last time in that locker room, will come charging out of that tunnel to the alma mater for the last time, and will get the love and admiration from the Yum Center crowd for the last time.

On Saturday Cardinal fans will celebrate the contributions of our
Senior Class, recognizing the significant role these guys have played in this program, especially in the last two years where they have claimed two Big East Championships, two Final Fours and a National Title. This is the winningest Senior Class in the programs history. Ceremonies like on Saturday are part of the process that allows closure for the seniors and a passing of the torch to the underclassmen. But they really are bittersweet and I’m not looking forward to saying good-bye to this special group.

In successful programs like the University Louisville the tradition never graduates. This program is rich and vibrant because many groups of seniors have cared enough to give their very best. There are still many chapters that have yet to be written, but the 2014 basketball seniors have added to the outstanding tradition of the Cardinal program.

Stephan Van Treese says that the best advice he ever got as a player “hard work beats talent when talent isn’t working hard.” That quote pretty much epitomizes this young mans Louisville career. He was recruited to Louisville from Lawrence North high school along with another super star teammate and they both were supposed to be a part of a very special Louisville recruiting class in 2011. His fellow Lawrence North teammate decommitted, but Stephan decided to stick it out with Coach Pitino and stayed with the Cards. He had his struggles with some knee injuries and played in just three games during the 2011-12 seasons. He did not return to action for the remainder of the year. He battled back to be a work horse for his team. You aren’t going to be wowed by this young mans game but his 11.2 rebounds per 40 minutes average was second on the National Title team and he has 400 boards in his career. He’s averaging 5.1 rebounds this season. I really admire Stephan’s workman like attitude and his hustle will not be forgotten. Thanks for your physical sacrifice. You continue to lay your body on the line week in and week out, and you help set the tone on both ends of the floor.

Tim Henderson says the best advice he ever got as a player was that “hard work pays off.” Tim who has been described by coach Pitino as the best walk-on in college basketball just may be one of the hardest workers in college basketball. He is a local kid who walked on to the Cardinal program after his high school days at Louisville Christian Academy. Tim always stood out to me during the annual Red & White scrimmages where he would play so hard when he was on the floor. I once told my wife that if our son were old enough that I would point to Tim as an example of hard work on a basketball court. I wrote many times over the years that he would get his moment and sure enough after the injury to Kevin Ware he was bumped up in the rotation during the NCAA Tournament last year. In the Final Four game against Wichita State he hit two of the biggest shots in the history of the Louisville program and without Tim Henderson there would be no National Championship. Thank you Tim for your effort in the midst of little playing time. You are so unselfish and a total team player. You have stayed the course and inspired others.

Luke Hancock says the best advice he ever got as a player was “if he can do it, why can’t you?” My admiration for this guy is well documented through my scribbling on this website. Luke is a “can do it” kind of guy and through years of people telling him he wasn’t good enough and through years of adversity he made a name for himself in the college landscape. Last year we saw two amazing guys whose humility and decency defined their careers at Louisville in Siva and Dieng. Luke Hancock follows those guys in that aspect. It was awesome seeing Luke have his moment on the grand stage last year and going from a bench player to NCAA Final Fours Most Valuable Player will be a story that will be passed down through decades of Cardinal fans. Luke thank you for the love of your teammates. No one genuinely cares more about others than you and you’ve proven that on and off the court. In the face of high expectations and adversity, you have always put your teammates first and showed courageous leadership.

Russ Smith says the best advice that he ever got as a player was “to work harder every day.” Since making the decision to stay his freshman year nobody has worked harder than Russ to get where he is today. He went from not being on the radar as a high school recruit and playing sparingly as a freshman in college to being the face of the Cardinal basketball program. He is also one of the most popular athletes in college sports. In the world of instant gratification he gave up his chance to make a paycheck last year to come back and give us one more year of “Russdiculousness”. I don’t remember ever seeing a guy embrace the college life and the city of Louisville like he has. He is a Louisville Cardinal through and through. With two Big East titles, two Final Fours, and a National Title he is one of the most decorated seniors in college basketball. Russ still wants more and just in the last two weeks he’s had two heroic performances to add to his great legacy. Russ thanks for the courage and toughness of a young man twice your size. You have the heart of a lion. You have become one of the rocks of this team and have done it through nothing but hard work. Nobody better symbolizes the best of what this basketball program stands for than you.

Stephan, Tim, Luke and Russ we will honor you guys on Saturday in your final home game of your careers, but the program will continue to count on your leadership. Louisville First, Cardinal Forever. Finally, the game on Saturday will set the tone for an AAC and NCAA Tournament run. You need to prove to yourselves that you are ready physically, mentally, and emotionally to face the challenge of the weeks ahead. You are well prepared and have done the work, now it’s time to play! Go get that Championship. You guys are great!