All Entries Tagged With: "University of Louisville"

Francisco Garcia Returns To Kings’ Starting Lineup

Francisco Garcia finally returned to the starting lineup for the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday after missing six weeks due to a calf injury. It was a long time for Coach Reggie Theus who has seen his team lacking energy and passing up shots at crucial points.

As the Sacramento Bee reported, it was going to be difficult to tell who would be happier, the former University of Louisville star or the former UofL assistant:

“His competitiveness is something we need desperately,” said Theus, whose team has lost seven of its last eight games. “It’s his attitude. He’s one of the leaders on this team, a verbal, emotional leader.

“He wants the ball down the stretch. He’s a guy who stretches the defense. Last year, he was one of the best on-ball defenders we had.”

Garcia didn’t disappoint, accumulating 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and zero turnovers in 31 minutes during a 99-95 loss to Utah. As he rounds back into shape, watch for continued improvement.

The Kings currently have a 5-15 won-lost record and are in fifth place in the Pacific Division of the NBA’s Western Conference.

Rutgers Wants Fans To Believe Louisville A Threat

The regular season of college football should be over by now for the University of Louisville but this challenging season is being extended with what almost amounts to an after-thought against Rutgers on Thursday. Or as some fans might view it, still another dagger into a corpse of a season.

One good thing about the late date of the game is that U of L gets a few more practice sessions – not as many as bowl-bound teams will, but every practice counts for a program in the process of reestablishing its competitive self.

Not much news coming from the Schnellenberger Football Complex in recent days, not even the predictable “sending the seniors out of a winning note,” probably because that’s what was said prior to the West Virginia debacle.

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Rutgers is doing its part to enhance the image of Louisville football, conjuring up images of a powerful foe coming to town. Senior defensive end Jamaal Westerman appears to have convinced himself that the Cards are a viable threat:

“You think about it a little bit, but the biggest thing is this is a one-game season for us and that’s what’s been working for Rutgers and for us this year. So we’re really trying to focus on this as one individual game and not really think past it or what came before it.”

Louisville (5-6, 1-5) comes into Piscataway riding a four-game losing streak and needing a victory to become bowl eligible.

“If you look past Louisville, they will beat you,” Westerman said. “They will come in here and they will beat you.”

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The best advice for Westerman and his Rugers’ teammates would be to remember how much better the Scarlet Knights have played than Louisville this season. You’ve watched the Cards on TV, reviewed the game films, read the scouting reports, seen the extensive injury list. Your biggest concern is where and when you will next play in a post-season bowl. If ever there was a game in which you could afford to be overconfident, this is that game.

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.

At A Kroger Near You

A lifesize version of Angel McCoughtry is now on display at Kroger stores throughout the metropolitan area. The University of Louisville All-American already owns the all-time records in both scoring and rebounding for the Lady Cards.

Football Pokes And Ponderings

We’ll get around to basketball, and what may be a milestone season. It’s not that time quite yet. Too much unfinished business with University of Louisville football.

– Where is Trent Guy these days, the most potent offensive threat behind Victor Anderson? Apparently he cracked a rib during the Pittsburgh loss. But that information has been buried beneath the discussion over the coaching situation.

– Why was Matt Simms or any other backup not given any snaps while Hunter Cantwell was struggling with his accuracy during the West Virginia game? Watching Cantwell keep being sent back into the game in the fourth quarter was agonizing, knowing nothing productive was going to occur. But still there was Matt Simms clapping, jumping up and down on the sideline, wanting something to happen.

See Sonja’s report on
Lady Cards’ win over Xavier

– Much has been made of Tom Jurich’s comments about fans during the hubbub over the coaching issue. Tom may be a genius but he is lacking in some basic public relations skills. While teams are winning, the Vice President of Athletics can say just about anything he wants and get away with it. But when the losses are piling up, it’s a different story. Yeah, there are more than a few dense ones in the fan base. But you don’t call them out and expect them to admit it. Nor do you risk offending more responsible fans who may think you’re including them with the bad apples.

– The first sign that a fan may be missing a few marbles is when he or she fails to recognize all that Tom Jurich has made possible at the University of Louisville over the past decade. But when a fan suggests that Jurich leave because of the football situation, that should mark the end of the conversation. Not about to start listing all of the achievements UofL has made with Jurich at the helm, far too many of them. Jurich is the person U of L needs to dig its way back out of the football crater.

– When huge segments of a fan base don’t show up because things are not going well or because it’s cold, raining or a game is played on a week night, the fan base has not quite arrived. Tom Jurich is the best chance of making that possible at the University of Louisville.