Madison Square Garden is nothing to get excited about, only the most hallowed basketball facility in college basketball. New York City the home of the sports media elite where a good performance is rewarded with unrivaled recognition.
Nothing to get excited about for Edgar Sosa. He knows the Garden like the back of his hand, having played there numerous times in his high school days. This was his seventh trip back with the University of Louisville basketball team. A few good memories, especially the three-game sweep of the Big East Tournament last season.
But that accomplishment must seem an aberration. Overall, Sosa has far more bad vibes than good ones about Madison Square Nightmare. His U of L teams have lost four other games there, and he has yet to play a good one. Though seven games, Sosa has managed only 35 points and made 13 assists while committing a ghastly 16 turnovers.
A chance to redeem himself. Nothing to get overly excited about. Only St. John’s attempting to break a five-game losing streak. No sweat. No intensity required. A cakewalk for sure.
*Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â *
Rick Pitino looking roused from his own nightmare, having indeed awakened to a bad dream, the New York Daily News with a “fabricated” story about an alleged flirtation with a dead end National Basketball Association job.
Fending off the national media while trying to keep his team focused on one of the worst teams in the Big East.
Good luck with that one.
Louisville-St. John’s Box Score
Last night Pitino said he is coaching until he is 65.
A wise person on this site said, ” the athletic talent is not there and Pitino knows it…” so maybe next year will look better. Sunday will be hard to watch. Hopefully, Sosa will step up and Jennings needs to play more. Right on Sosafan!
Does anyone else have the feeling of — is it deja vu — like the last three seasons of Cards’ football, the tailspin after the glorious Orange Bowl win? This tailspin now is making my stomach hurt and head ache. I’m not sure I even want to watch Sunday. Oh my.
My husband feels the same way about Pitino. He felt there was an effort of better coaching left to the last 10 minutes of the game which was far too late. The game looked so bad after that my husband looked at me and said, “let’s watch golf instead!” – yikes.
As much as I’ve had Sosa’s back this year, it is now time to prepare for the future. Last night sealed our fate to the NIT, so there is really no reason to not let the young guys play the majority of the minutes and gain valuable experience.
I think the much bigger problem that people need to be questioning is why haven’t these guys improved over their time here? Neither Sosa or Smith look much different than they did their freshman year. It’s time for Pitino to stop using the buddy system to fill out his staff and get some hungry guys who actually have some knowledge and passion for the game on the sidelines to get the most out of our players. Also, why do we pay Willard an ungodly amount of cash to look like he’s taking a nap on the sideline?
Finally, PLAY JENNINGS! I think everyone realizes that these stupid mind games Pitino loves to play do not work with him. Swop gets beat just as much on defense as he does, yet Pitino has some sick infatuation with him.
Sorry for the rant. I’m just tired of Pitino’s mind games and the media circus he loves to revel in.
The problem with coaching 18-22 year olds is that you can never anticipate their state of mind. As fans we can understand the importance of this particular and remaining games and Pitino can relay the message over and over. The players arrived in New York knowing it was an important game in an important venue but other factors probably told them otherwise. A 3/4 empty arena. No local buzz about the game. A heavy winter storm dominating the news. The players spent to much time in NY seeing and feeling indicators that the game was not really that big of a deal and it showed on the court. This is a mediocre team full of players with un-fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled potential. Outside of Samuels, there is no star or “it” factor with any player. The net result is what we have seen all year. After two years of high level success, a drop off was probably inevitable. UNC, UCONN, UCLA are all going through the same thing. The problem I see is that next year does not look a whole lot better.
And thus endeth the two day sweep by St. John’s basketball over the University of Louisville. Fortunately, I missed watching the first half of men’s action last night, listening instead to Paul Rogers’ bewildered call of the game on the radio. The bad news is that I saw the second half in its entirety.
So the Cards get an extended Big Apple vacation before going to Syracuse and facing the red hot Orangemen. I’ve got a feeling that as I write this early Friday morning, 13 individuals are running like there is no tomorrow is a gym somewhere in New York, New York.
No boxes of candy, romantic dinners or glossy Valentine’s Day cards for this bunch. Just a dull realization that our senior leadership is an oxymoron and that last night the Cards fell off the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Maybe we should have the guys wear misspelled “Louseyville” jerseys agaisnt Boeheim’s ballers.
Good article Charlie, and I loved the stats of Sosa where you went back 7 games.
But I have been saying since December, that we need to be sitting ALL the seniors, and going with Siva, Knowles, and Kuric, and give THEM the major minutes….
Let’s recap the play of our seniors last night @ MSG vs. St. John’s:
Total Points: 7
Total Minutes: 64
Shooting: 3-13 (23%)
3-PT Shooting: 0-4 (0%)
Foul Shooting: 1-4 (25%)
Turnovers: 7
Assists: 3
Please, This was the worst game yet. Sosa had no salsa and Pitino has fallen apart at the seams with a fabrication of a NBA job.
I find it really interesting this story surfaced right before the game in New York. Pitino is having his final years as a coach so tainted by his own actions and rumors.
It has really caught up with him. It was a painful game to watch.