All Entries Tagged With: "Rick Pitino"
The Missing-David Padgett Syndrome
A new attitude has to be permeating University of Louisville basketball practice sessions, now that the worship and adulation has been replaced by realism and disappointment. If the UofL basketball team were the stock market, a depression would have been declared.
The first clues that all was not well should have been picked up when Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa were not introduced as the starting guards. Smith apparently focused on something other than weight and basketball during the summer. Sosa had that familiar look of frustration and an inability to manage a dribble drive.
Based on Sunday’s performance, this team closely resembles last season’s team before David Padgett returned to the lineup. Samardo Samuels is playing, to be sure, but at least one opposing coach has figured out how to stop Padgett’s replacement. Other coaches will be applying the same measures to stop Samuels.
Padgett bequeathed his ability to manage the floor and find open shooters to Terrence Williams but T-will apparently left it on the bus.
Excluding Samuels with 36 minutes in the game, the other additions to the active roster accumulated only 11 minutes of playing time — Reginald Delk had five, Terrence Jennings had three, Jarod Swopshire had two, and George Goode had one.
Coach Rick Pitino’s apology is accepted. This team has to be reshaped and reinvented. The tools are available but he’s got a lot of work to do. David Padgett is not walking through that door.
Casual Trip To Nashville, Cards Bow 68-54
That should get somebody’s attention.
A mere formality this trip to Nashville to play Western Kentucky. Handling the Hilltoppers not much to get worked up about on a wet and lazy Sunday afternoon. No reason to be too concerned as the Cards miss their first eight field goal attempts. It’s only Western Kentucky.
With the quote of the South Alabama coach about “may be looking at the next national champions” ringing in their ears all week long, the Cards were looking down the road but they were looking way past WKU.
Always a danger with young players is looking back at what has been accomplished in the past, combining it with lofty expectations, and expecting to win by simply going through the motions. Conveniently forgetting what it took to get to the Elite Eight last season, all the work it took to get there.
Complacency was reflected in the court demeanor of the players — the lack of emotion, the missing sense of urgency, the look-at-me-I’m-too-cool-to-get-excited feel about playing Western Kentucky attitudes were dominant until the final two minutes when the misplaced arrogance was finally replaced by desperation.
All the inflated confidence about depth, how really deep this team is, was exposed as a myth for the time being. Six of the players being counted on this season have three or less college games behind them. Remains to be seen whether any of them are ready for the big time, based on today’s result.
Unfortunate that it takes a loss to get the attention of not only the newcomers but the veterans as well. Rick Pitino will undoubtedly have their undivided attention this week.
Rick Pitino Lands Quite A Nucleus
Quite a haul, this latest University of Louisville basketball recruiting class, with muscle, speed and shooting ability to spare, giving Rick Pitino the nucleus he needs to nurture a contender for Big East and national honors. The descriptions provided by ESPN Insider will have basketball fanatics salivating:
Michael Marra, 6-5 guard, Northfield, Mass.
“Marra is an excellent catch and shoot player, and excels at coming off screens, and knocking in trifectas. He has a quick release, and very deep range. However, in watching him perform at the 17-Under Super Showcase in Orlando, Fla., in late July, Marra struggled to make his shots when pressured by defenders. He appeared to lack lateral quickness. He has been working to improve in this area, which would certainly enhance his playing opportunities at Louisville. This deficiency causes him problems defensively against quicker, more athletic wing guards.”
Rakeem Buckles, 6-8 power forward, Miami
“Buckles plays more like a small forward than a power forward. He scores in transition by sprinting the floor and beating the defense to the rim. He has good not great bounce but what makes him a high major player is his ability to make plays of the dribble. Buckles can get his own shot at will. He has all the dribble moves in his package. Buckles will show the crossover both ways, spin along and between the legs where he does a great job of raising up the defender before he explodes by him to the rim or into a pull up jumper in the lane.”
Peyton Siva, 5 -11, guard, Seattle
“Siva is a true point guard that has excellent speed and quickness with the ball. He pushes the ball in transition on the pass or dribble and his athletic ability makes him a threat to go coast to coast and finish with a dunk. Siva does a great job of running the offense and directing teammates. He is an excellent ball handler that weaves and slashes through the defense with inside out and crossover dribble moves in order to get into the lane for a drop off pass or kick out for an open shot … Siva is a rock solid floor leader.”
Stephan Van Treese, 6-9 center, Indianapolis
“Van Treese will provide Louisville (verbal) with a physical inside presence that has the strength and muscle to compete on the interior in the rough and rugged Big East. To compliment his body and strength, Van Treese has very good athleticism, which should help him immensely in Pitino’s up-tempo system. Van Treese runs the floor very well and should clean up by scoring points in transition, started by his defensive rebounding ability. Van Treese also has relatively quick leaping ability which makes him a very effective offensive rebounder.”
Tar Heels All Day Long
Much at stake Card fans.
Saturday will be a long day whether Louisville wins, splits or loses two games against North Carolina. Carolina fans have all but marked both games down in the win columns. Can’t blame them because the University of Louisville has had to make up ground in recent years, getting the men’s and women’s teams competitive.
The challenges are immense but Tom Jurich hires people like Rick Pitino and Jeff Walz because they relish such opportunities. Take on the best, means more, even more satisfying, if you beat them in front of their fans.
Men must defeat the nation’s No. 1 team, a team with a 32-2 record to make the Final Four. A real shot at a third national championship beckons for the first time in two decades. The surprising trip in 2005 was a major achievement, but nobody gave U of L any chance.
However, the Cards are a serious contender this time around; they’re close, they can almost taste it.
Got to get past North Carolina first.
Women must get past a No. 3-ranked team with a 30-2 record to make the Elite Eight. Would be the first time ever to get that far. This is all new to them. Perennial powers UConn and Rutgers can attest to their toughness, however.
It would be too easy to say they’re a year away. That would be a mistake, next year is a mirage, not yet real. The next level is staring the women in the face.
Got to get past North Carolina.
Bobby Knight Just Fades Away
Apparently Bobby Knight was just tired, couldn’t stand to coach another game at Texas Tech. Just a couple of months after signing a three-year contract extension. No angry outbursts, no getting in trouble for pushing or shoving someone. Not even a departing speech, at least not publicly. He just quit.
Few coaches have ignited the level of controversy that Knight gener
ated while compiling a record 902 victories over 40 seasons. The pity is that he will be remembered as much his tirades as he was for his coaching abilities.
Those who respect Bobby Knight point to his teams’ exceptionally high graduation rates, his flawless record of NCAA compliance, three NCAA basketball championships, and an Olympic gold medal. Then there are the instances where he performed genuine acts of kindness or was extremely generous to fans of his basketball team.
Fellow coaches Denny Crum, Rick Pitino and Joe Hall have alluded to Bobby Knight’s upstanding character. Rick Barnes of the University of Texas even counted him among the great teachers. “He has affected countless numbers of people with his teachings and ideas, people he could never realize that he has touched,” said Barnes. “And that will continue in time as we pass down those teachings to future generations.”
One has to assume that Barnes was referring to basketball teachings. He fell far short in other areas of life. If you are a fellow coach, a basketball player or a fan of Indiana basketball, Bobby Knight is a great guy, a tower of strength, a beacon of humanity. Good thing he was winning all those games, huh?
Knight also set a horrible example of how not to treat people. He apparently believed his won-lost record entitled him to humiliate and belittle basketball referees, conference officials, members of the media, his own players at times. His abilities and decisions were beyond reproach, not to be questioned.
If you tuned in Texas Tech basketball, you didn’t do it to see a great master at work. A Bobby Knight outburst might occur at any second and you didn’t want to miss it. X’s and O’s will only take you so far. His public temperament betrayed him, stripping away any chance for Knight to be remembered as a good teacher or great coach for many.
