By Charlie Leffler
When the Louisville Cardinals lost the Oregon Ducks in late November, head coach Rick Pitino said that it was due to the selfishness of his players. When it came to playing as a team the Cards did just the opposite. The team finished with a total of 10-assists.
Since that time, it appears that the Cards have come to realize just how effective they can be when refuse to think of themselves but instead think of their teammates first.
A sure sign that the message had gotten through could be seen in the two games that the Cardinals played this weekend in the Jim Thorpe Classic. Louisville dished out a total of 34-assists, including 21 in their 84-69 victory over Murray State in the championship game on Saturday night.
“I thought our guys did a great job, even when we missed, of taking good shots, making good passes, and I’m very, very proud of that and you don’t see that kind of effort every day,” said Pitino.
The unselfishness is even showing up in the players’ attitudes off of the court. With the suspension of staring point guard Carlos Hurt, Pitino was left with a decision as to which he was start in his place. He was left with a choice between two walk-ons to fill the position. While sophomore Bryant Northern has seen significant minutes this season he had yet to start. But when the walk-on was given the opportunity he did what was best for the team.
“I told Bryant I’ll start you tonight, but I’d rather not bring Junior (Alhaji Mohammed) off the bench,” said Pitino. “I’d rather bring you in because I know what you can do. I said, do you want to start. It’s yours. And he said ‘No, you start Junior.’ That’s the type of philosophy that these guys are building among each other and that’s great to see.”
While Junior only scored four points he led the team with poise during his 22 minutes of play, dishing out four assists with only two turnovers. “I felt real comfortable,” said Muhammed, “my teammates boosted me up and told me to stay calm, have fun, go out and play hard and let the game come to you.”
“Man, I think he really proved something tonight,” Luke Whitehead of Muhammed. “He proved that he can come in a run the show. He’s been doing that in practice and tonight was his chance to prove that, and that’s what he did.”
Yet, the hard work and efforts on the floor have not been unexpected by Pitino. “You put on a Louisville uniform, you’re supposed to play hard.”
Junior off-guard Reece Gaines feels that last year’s losing record taught the team a valuable lesson. “I think about last year and how that hurt my gut, just losing all those games last year,” said Gaines. “And it’s not about points, it’s not about anything, I just want to win.”
“We know when we step on the floor we know our first goal is to give it all we’ve got,” said Gaines.
Even though the season has barely begun, Pitino is proud of how this group of players are learning to think as a team, play as a team, and put for a team effort. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a first year team work as hard as this,” said Pitino. “It’s easy to say, ‘yeah well his teams work hard.’ It’s not easy to say, that’s extraordinary what these players are doing. The way they’re diving, the way they’re hustling, running the floor. That’s not easy. I’ve played this game. I couldn’t do it.”
