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Here We Go Again
By Charlie Springer
Just wondering as the University of Louisville basketball team prepares to begin Big East Conference play against South Florida:
– Whether the players will take South Florida seriously, respecting the perennial conference doormat, giving it their best effort. The Bulls came close to upsetting a good Syracuse team over the weekend.
– How much a letdown the Cards will have have after defeating their arch rival Kentucky on Sunday. The level of intensity they displayed should be standard operating procedure.
– How the players’ psyche will be affected the flight incident on the first leg of the trip to Tampa. Standing around airports is a drag, and can sometimes take a little time from which to recover.
– How Earl Clark will play after one of his more embarrassing performances ever in the game again Kentucky. Pass, shoot, don’t dribble. Not a ball handler, never a guard.
– Whether Edgar Sosa’s transformation is permanent. One has to believe it is. The alternative is not good.
– How long it will take Samardo Samuels to return to early season form.
The Cards need to get off to a good start in the Big East for a change, and the mind games have to become a thing of the past.
Finding A Leader: Louisville 77, Ole Miss 68
A former coach turned broadcaster, whose TV career didn’t last long, once said when you get a team down you have to step on their collective throat and crush the life out of them. That’s what the University of Louisville basketball team didn’t do when it had Mississippi gasping for breath in the first half.
The lack of a killer instinct reared itself again, threatening to turn what should have been an easy win into another loss which would have further embarrassed the Big East against a mediocre SEC team.
The reason it didn’t happen was Earl Clark, and some timely three-point baskets from Edgar Sosa and Terrence Williams.
Fans saw what the pro scouts have been anticipating but had never actually seen – Clark assuming control of a game for almost 10 minutes in the first half, making moves he had never shown, hitting shots he had been missing, rebounding, blocking. He what? 25 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks.
He showed why he changed his mind about going to the NBA last summer, wanting to return to Louisville and his teammates. He’s taking the college game more seriously this time around, becoming more of a force than a role player, putting the load on his shoulders if that what it takes to win.
A new outlook, a whole new weapon for the Cards, against Mississippi anyway. Clark just may have assumed the leadership role vacated by David Padgett. Now that he has shown he can do it, it will be expected of him. And he should want it, badly.
* * *
Samardo Samuels looked like a freshman for a second time this season, struggling mightily for anything he could get around the basket. Had it too easy in those early games against the no-name teams. Puts all the things the coaches have been preaching to him in perspective. Keep your eyes on the basket, go strong to the goal. Finish.
Angel McCoughtry: Pre-Season All American
“I’m humbled by this honor. It was a dream of mine to bring national recognition to Louisville women’s basketball.” she commented yesterday. Note the wording of the statement. Not about her, not about the pride of the recognition, but about Louisville women’s basketball.
Fool’s Gold vs. Setback U: Take Your Pick
By Steve Springer
“Biggest win of the Kragthorpe era,” “The ship has been righted,” “Congrats Coach K and the Cards,” and so forth. These were some of the proclamations after a win over South Florida. The next game’s results are greeted by “Coach K must go,” and “What will you do to show your disgust at the Cincinnati game?”
The roller coaster ride that is Steve Kragthorpe Cardinal football flew off the tracks again Saturday. The Syracuse loss was obviously the worse loss since, well, the other Syracuse loss. Gulp. I never would have dreamed of typing “the other Syracuse loss.” Sorry. Seriously, though, this had to be the biggest disappointment since the loss to UConn. The other UConn loss, you know. I didn’t think that the season opening loss to Kentucky could be topped. You guessed it, the other UK loss.
Sorry to sound somewhat confusing, but these “other” losses are really starting to pile up and become overwhelming. Kragthorpe’s Cardinals are now a Cooperesque 0-6 against the Orange, Huskies, and Wildcats. I’ll admit it. I had naively started to believe after the upset of the Bulls a couple of weeks ago.
Now I realize that I have the same feeling in my gut that I did as a child on summer vacation. My parents took me out west for our annual family vacation in which we headed out west to Yellowstone and stopped in one of those tourist trap old-timey western towns with faux saloons and general stores. We shopped at one of the local flavor cowboy stores and in one of the bins at eye level with my small eyes, I reached in and pulled out a handful of golden nuggets.
I just knew that I was the family savior and had just found the secret stash to make our family richer than our wildest dreams. My excitement was tempered when I learned the meaning of the words “iron pyrite.” The man behind the counter might have been named Greg Robinson. He exposed my treasure for what it was, just as he exposed our newfound Cardinal booty for what it was.
Same old fundamental mistakes. Same old overly abundant penalty yardage. Same old defensive lapses. Same old come-from-behind to catch the rear-end-of-college-football. These losses have stolen any hope that UofL Football has any hope of ever returning to even, (another gulp) mediocrity.
Athletic Director Tom Jurich is The Man. Some fans also believe he is the man that is going to let this coach run this huge revenue sport out of The Ville back to Cooperville or beyond. Unacceptable losses are setbacks to a school that rose from the shadows of a minor league baseball stadium to having its toothed beak in the nest of big time college football elite status. They affect success, which affects fan support, which affects attendance, which affects stadium expansion credibility, which affects recruiting, which affects lack of success and any potential for future success.
Setback U, Fool’s Gold. Whatever you wanna call it, the boosters, the fans, the players, the potential future players want to be able to call it their football team, not a time-killer until basketball season.
Big Detour For The Tise
Much of the fun of attending University of Louisville women’s basketball games the last two seasons has been watching Chauntise Wright have her way in the middle. With her 6-foot-3 wide body, she is an intimidating force for opposing centers, doing the pushing instead of the relenting, a force with which to be reckoned Unfortunately for Tise and her many fans, Chauntise went down hard Friday, suffering a season-ending torn ligament, a major blow in the gut to the Lady Cards.
By Sonja Sykes
Things that stand out about Chauntise “Tise” Wright: Off the court are her big smile and playful nature. On the court she is calm and businesslike, a warrior dominating the paint on both ends of the court. Tise will need all of those qualities the next few months as she goes through surgery and rehabilitation … not only to keep mind and demeanor in tact, but for the sake of her teammates who begin the season without her in six days.
For Tise, it’s just one more delay in her journey at the University of Louisville and hopefully not her final destination. Tom Collen recruited the Forestville, Maryland high schooler to Louisville with hopes of turning her into the type of dominating center that top teams in women’s college basketball usually have on their rosters. Collen already had a pretty decent pivot player already in Jazz Covington but he envisioned a future battleship in the middle.
The first season was delayed, Tise becoming eligible only after the fall semester. There were things for her to work on — a tuneup, if you will, before she got on the road. Weight to be lost, conditioning to work on, defensive skills to be improved. There were the shining moments, 23 points and 9 rebounds in one game, but she couldn’t keep pace in games against powerhouse schools.
Tise she continued to work on her game along with Angel McCoughtry, another Maryland freshman, seemingly too skinny to have much of an impact. Angel and Tise began together, and they would be counted on as the journey continued.
