Louisville Women’s Team Pointless
by Sonja Sykes
An excruciating two hours in Lexington.
We’re not talking about horrible point guard play for the University of Louisville women’s basketball team. For something to be horrible, it must exist. The Lady Cards have no healthy point guards on the roster.
Wanted: a healthy point guard that can dribble, break a press, find an open front line player and shoot.
I stop counting the double-teams and steals by the aggressive Kentucky trio in the backcourt. Gave up trying to track the errant passes, failure to get the ball in bounds to the same jersey and half hearted efforts to position, move or create.
Jeff Walz, you have a problem. If it wasn’t evident after the beat down last week in Knoxville, it’s now more obvious than a 1,100-foot billboard off the Watterson. All the fall guys in the conference the past few seasons, Syracuse, Providence. St. John’s, Seton Hall, they’re licking their chops.
Wanted: a healthy point guard that can dribble, break a press, find an open front line player and shoot. All applicants should apply at U of L. Experience preferred. Plenty of candidates on the squad but on-the-job training is progressing at a snail’s pace.
Give UK’s Matthew Mitchell credit for studying the past game tapes and realizing that he has guards with experience. Kudos on the substitution patterns and hustle against a less than subnormal Cardinal attempt to
get the ball over the time line. And, realize that although this UK team still hasn’t played anyone of consequence after 10 games, they play well together and achieve what Walz has been preaching all season:
Playing defense can create good things. Folding against one is deadly.
For Walz, a trip back to the locker room and practice courts to create an offense that doesn’t rely on a point guard. It won’t be easy. Louisville’s front line players are well capable of scoring. They can rebound and even play interior defense at times. Becky Burke can shoot but she’s not a point guard. But, it all starts with getting the ball to the playmakers. After this afternoon’s woeful display, that could be the toughest challenge.
About the Author: Sonja Sykes is an avid fan of University of Louisville athletics, especially the women's basketball team.
Kala Faulkner was a pretty savvy guard and she sits right behind the Louisville bench. If she hasn’t graduated, that would be my first option, get her out there on the court. After the Utah game, she said she would like to be playing again
Question: If Sonja taped the game before she went to Lexington, why did she bother going, knowing it would be a disaster? A glutton for punishment, maybe. Just kidding, Sonja. Time heals all wounds but it’s going to be an ordeal getting there.
Hope springs eternal, Zag. We made the trip up hoping for the best. Thinking maybe the Cards could overcome the challenge and play inspired ball. Taping the game with the wish it would be something I might enjoy watching in reply after we returned.
Those wishes didn’t happen. I’ll keep the tape. In a few years, several of these girls will be seniors and playing much better and it might be fun to look back at when they were learning.
As far as Kala goes, she is a loud and vibrant one at the home games…she sits down in front of us…but after two years out of the mix and coditioning…probably not the answer.
Coach Walz has a talented coaching staff and they’ll figure out something to put together to survive against what will most likely be every future opponents’ emphasis the rest of the season…trapping and pressing our young guard rotation.
You missed the point, Sonja. You said you had already taped the game before you went to Lexington. If that’s true, then you knew how the game turned out. So did you attend the game or not?
Could one of Pitino’s guys wear a wig?
Sorry about the confusion, Zag. Yes we were in historic memorial Coliseum for the contest Sunday. Preset the VCR player to come on at 12:58 p.m. Mercifully, it ended at 2:58 p.m. Still haven’t rewound the tape yet.
Memorial may serve the Lady Kats well, but it is not my favorite place to attend a basketball game. Women’s restroom lines ridiculous. Paul got charged two different prices for soft drinks…same 20 oz. bottle but evidently the prices must go up at halftime there…
We had chairback seats, luckily. Many Cardinal fans didn’t…stuck on the bleachers in the second level in the northwest corner.
And, where in the blue blazers were our cheerleaders, mascot and pep band? I know it’s the holiday season, classes are on break but you would think for a rivalry game that at least the Cardinal Bird would show up. I know, they wouldn’t have had much to cheer about…but it’s the principle of the thing…
From our vantage point up behind the Cardinal’s bench it was evident that Walz frustration with the guard play turned into a realization that his girls were simply outmatched and he didn’t blister into them too much during the second half. I still don’t understand benching Tise the final 20 minutes…but he must have had his reasons…
Yes, I was in the stands. There were plenty of times Sunday I wish I hadn’t been but we go, we support and we witness.
Um, what’s a “VCR”?
I won’t even go into the 8 track tapes I still have lurking somewhere in the basement. VCR stands for Very Cranky Recorder. Google it.
Wow, another loss of epic proportions. I have concluded that I must be a jinx for the women’s basketball team and will pledge not to watch them the rest of the year!
As Kragthorpe would have said:
“This one is on me. Don’t blame the players. Take it out on Joe.”
My guess is that it really was Kragthorpe’s fault.
Come on, you guys, let it go. Let him go, in peace. On to new and better and all that.