First play of practice, a warmup drill.

Even the seemingly invincible Kyle Kuric is not immune to the injury plague affecting the University of Louisville basketball team.

Kuric has had more than his share of knocks during games this season, causing U of L fans to hold their collective breath on numerous occasions. But he has always bounced right back into action, postponing the inevitable.

The law of averages finally caught up with the 6-foot-4 senior forward on Thursday. He will miss the DePaul game, status is day-to-day.

“Without him, we don’t have many substitutes so we’re going to have to play smart,” said Rick Pitino.

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Pitino took advantage of an opportunity at his Friday press conference to respond to charges that he may be overworking his players and suggestions that he should lighten up.

Among the people making them was Denny Crum, former U of L coach.

Without mentioning anyone by name, Pitino said that because of all the injuries this year’s team hasn’t been able to pratice hard much of the time. “When people make these statements, it not only hurts the image of recruiting. We don’t go any harder than Marquette, we don’t go any harder than Villanova, we don’t work any harder than anybody else.”

Apparently even former coaches, who have been subjected to mass fan attacks themselves, can’t resist getting in on the act. Something about talk shows.

*    *    *

Wayne Blackshear is back at practice, and Pitino has never considered redshirting him. “It’s possible to redshirt him, but I don’t know what that would do for our team.” Pitino obviously wants everything he can get from Blackshear, even though it could take a while for him to get accustomed to the college game.

A major plus if he’s there by tournament time. The NBA draft comes shortly thereafter.

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The observer always shudders when there is a “team meeting,” as there was this week. Chris Smith, co-captain, said the team met without the coaches “and pretty much resolved the problem.”

“The problem was the lack of confidence in each other and having each other’s back. When you know somebody doesn’t have your back, you’re not going to bat for them. We had a great practice yesterday, everybody gelled together and we’re back on track now.”

That was quick, Let’s hope there’s no need for any more team meetings. More than one is too many.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

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