PRESEASON THOUGHTS: ‘I didn’t think we’d win’: What does that say?

Last week, the University of Louisville men’s basketball team came from behind to put away the Tigers of Georgetown College, in their first exhibition game of the season. The final score, 80-68, does not even begin to paint a picture of the game that the Cardinals played in Freedom Hall that night. Fans and media alike have been pleasantly surprised to see the production of the team, after losing three key players. Two of those were taken in the lottery of this past summer’s NBA draft. Without the automatic scoring of Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, and the shut-down defense of last year, the Cards looked extremely vulnerable.
There are several questions that come to mind after watching the Cardinals first exhibition game. Will Samardo Samuels be Plan A, Plan B and the bail-out plan for the Cardinals this season? In the first half against the Tigers, the Cards looked one-dimensional. Every play seemed to end with a feed to Samuels down low. Samuels is going to be a big factor in U of L’s overall success this season. But Louisville doesn’t have a chance in an already improved Big East if they are going to be one-dimensional.
Next, one must wonder where the leadership will come from on the court. Last season, Williams was a leader, not only with his words, but with his actions as well. This year’s squad doesn’t have one proven leader. Senior co-captains Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith have both battled their share of issues. Will either of these two players be able to lead this team to victory? When the Cards need a momentum-changing basket, or a pivotal stop during a game, will either of these two players be the ones to do so?
What impact will the freshmen have this season? A good amount of playing time will go to players with little playing experience, like sophomore Kyle Kuric and senior Reggie Delk. This year’s freshmen class was expected to help out, by being ready to produce on the floor. So far, only point guard Peyton Siva looks to be ready to have an effect for the Cards. Rick Pitino, U of L men’s head coach, said that the lack of confidence and experience leaves freshmen forward Stephan Van Treese and guard Mike Marra “like deer in headlights.”
Pitino himself said that he didn’t believe his team would win. Head coaches are supposed to have an unspoken confidence that, in every game that their team plays, they can and will win. Pitino didn’t have that. He admitted that, in years past, he knew his teams were ready to open. But this year was different. With such a young squad, Pitino has admitted to having to move extremely slowly. Last year, when they would have had eight offensive sets ready, they only have two this year. Maybe with time this team will develop, and fans won’t have to sit through another lackluster season, as they have with our football team. Or maybe we’ll drop some of the early season games, and leave fans wondering. When even the head coach has question marks about the abilities of his team, how should the fans feel? What does that say?

1 comments

Conner

Tue Nov 3 2009 10:08

It says that he's being open and honest about how he feels about the players. It says that he doesn't want to blow smoke up our a$$es and make us think that we're going to have as good of a team as last year. He's preparing us for the inevitable: that they ARE going to lose some games, and probably lose them early in the season. But how is that any different from every UofL team of the past half decade? They always start slow, lose to a team or two noone thinks they should lose to, and then develop into a cohesive, dangerous team through the rest of the season. Hopefully our captains will step up to the challenge of being the leaders of the team on and off the court, and the freshmen will develop into the talented players they can be, and we'll have a good season, even if we don't win the Big East Championship, or get far in the big dance.

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