Madness is no idle Matinee

By Randy Burns

Madness is no idle Matinee

By Randy Burns

Staff Intern

It’s common for college basketball teams to hold their first public practice of the season in front of thousands of raging, paint-covered, screaming fans. They usually begin this basketball ritual at the stroke of midnight, which signifies the day has finally come when players and coaches are allowed to practice as a team.

The University of Louisville basketball squad did hold a midnight practice on Friday, but it was not open to the public. Instead, the team held its first public practice on Saturday afternoon in the Kentucky Convention Center. Head coach Rick Pitino had made that point clear on the team’s media day two days prior to the event. Despite not having a “glitz and glamour” atmosphere, nearly 5,000 devoted Cardinal basketball fans still came out to support their team and sold out the facility.

There were some goals that Rick Pitino wanted to accomplish through this alteration of ‘Midnight Madness’ to ‘Matinee Madness’. “We have the practice downtown, and midnight downtown is not someplace where everyone in the state goes, including the young people. We thought this would be great for the downtown area. And most important, this way, we can have a legitimate practice.”

The long day of basketball began with the Tip-Off luncheon, where Pitino addressed fans and alumni. The coach was given a standing ovation as he made his way to the podium. Pitino noted that this year’s squad is a much better basketball team than last year, and also spoke well of his seniors. “The only thing our seniors can do is try to win. And with winning comes opportunity,” he said. “If you want to judge a team, judge our senior class.” One of the seniors he spoke highly of at the luncheon was 6′ 10″, 240-pound transfer center Marvin Stone. The coach says he likes Stone not only because he wants to help the team win, but because he has a great attitude as well. Stone won’t be able to play in the Cards’ first three or four games this season. He will, however, be ready to give the team an inside presence once final exam scores have been posted for this semester.

The pre-practice activities began on the basketball court immediately following the luncheon. The national champion Louisville cheerleaders put on an impressive and athletic display. “The First Annual Slammy Awards” followed it. A “Slammy Award,” much like an Academy Award or ESPY Award, was given to a member of the current basketball team depending on the category and nominees. Each category and list of nominees was presented to the crowd by local sports media figures such as Gary Gupton of WHAS-11 and Fred Cowgill of WLKY-32. One of the categories was “Best Performance in a Recurring Role,” which was won by senior guard Reece Gaines. The acceptance of each award was made by surprise guests such as former U of L basketball players Hajj Turner, James Brewer, and Pervis Ellison. In between the delivering of awards, players arriving in limousines, taxi cabs, and SUVs were shown on the giant projection screens hoisted above the basketball court.

The biggest comic relief of the afternoon came when a skit dubbed “The Pitinos” was shown to the fans. The skit itself involved an approach similar to the popular HBO series “The Sopranos,” only this time, coach Rick Pitino was holding a red baseball bat and giving orders to his team managers and assistant coaches at a basketball mob meeting. He calmly looked to his left and told his somewhat mobster-looking assistant to get to the coast of Florida to recruit any 6’6″ athlete with ball handling skills. Then Pitino dished out another order, looking to his right and telling someone else in his organization to make sure every player is in class and keeps their grade point average up to the correct standards.

After all of the comedy and remembrance of last year’s basketball team was put to rest, this year’s players and coaching staff were finally introduced for the eagerly awaiting fans. Pitino was hooked up to the mic and ready to coach, telling the 4,000- plus fans that “we are not going to hold anything back.” And with that, the team opened up the practice with full court passing and lay-up drills. Afterwards, the Cards moved onto specific drills, where they turned to face the basket and shot the ball near the foul line. The team was granted a short rest when Pitino addressed the crowd and discussed Marvin Stone’s excellent footwork for a big man. The entire team utilized their own footwork in the lane for the next drill and then went on to three-point shooting.

Every player started to sweat when they ran 2-on-1 and 2-on-2 fast break drills. The players interchanged at each end every time there was a score or a rebound, and then quickly moved the ball back up the floor. Coach Pitino emphasized this drill by having his players participate for minutes upon minutes. During the 2-on-1 fast break drill, Francisco Garcia electrified the crowd when he stole a pass in the backcourt and emphatically dunked the ball. The final fast break drill was the 4-on-4 type. In some cases, however, the defense abruptly fell back into position changing the fast break into a halfcourt offense. “Playing fast without turning the ball over is the key to these drills,” said Pitino. If at any time players looked lazy on the court, Pitino was not hesitant to have them line up on the baseline and run suicide sprints up and down the court before 18 seconds had expired.

Following those drills came the ever-famous red and white scrimmage. Although the game itself was only played for about 15 minutes, Marvin Stone showcased his inside moves while Reece Gaines slashed his way through the defense. Likewise, 6′ 7″ freshman forward Francisco Garcia showed off his passing skills for a big man. The most tiresome drill for the Cards came after the scrimmage, when players went one on one with each other at halfcourt. The simple rules to this drill were that if a player made his shot, he stayed on the floor. If he missed and didn’t get his own rebound, he had to get off the court for the next player. If a defender was scored on, he had to leave the court as well for a new defender. This was a great chance for fans to see what each individual player had talent-wise.

At one end was the fierce matchup between two mountains, also known as Mt. Dartez vs. Mt. Stone. Although junior college transfer Kendall Dartez gave up 15 pounds to senior transfer Marvin Stone, these two massive 6′ 10″ bodies banged down low in the paint, gritting their way to score a basket. At the other end was a battle between the speedsters, also known as the young speedster, freshman guard Taquan Dean vs. the old speedster, senior guard Reece Gaines. Dean was on a roll after scoring on five different defenders by shooting the jumper, taking the leaner in the paint, and breaking his man down off the dribble and laying it up. Unfortunately, the rookie was brought down to reality once #22 stepped on the court and physically defined the word “defense.” Gaines immediately stole the ball from Dean, slashed to the hole, and scored an easy bucket. Meanwhile, junior guard Alhaji Mohammed utilized his newly acquired 15 pounds of muscle by backing down his opponent in the paint, and scored several baskets by doing so. There weren’t any hard feelings between players after this drill. Everyone was simply learning from each other.

The practice concluded with a final drill that involved the entire team. There had to be a total of 44 lay-ups made in one minute or less by running the length of the floor. After a slow start, the Cards stopped and regrouped as the crowd’s roar became louder and louder, cheering the players to push any energy they had left into accomplishing the mark. With a final lay-up made at the buzzer, both ends tallied a total of 44. Pitino turned to the crowd and thanked them for coming out to watch the team practice. Both he and the players signed autographs before exiting the basketball floor. “They practiced very hard last night and only got about six hours of sleep,” said coach Pitino after Matinee Madness. “We’ve got a great attitude, and I think it’s very important that we set the tone in the first week.”

Throughout the practice, there were some good passes and some bad passes. There were some good shots and some bad shots. But the bottom line is that this basketball team in general is very athletic, conditioned, and hardworking. Despite some of the individual miscues of this practice, with three centers, six forwards, and seven guards, the Cards have talent and depth at every position, as well as three solid seniors to help pave that glorious road to the Final Four. Cardinal basketball fans should now be ready for what lies ahead and be poised to tell each opposing team “Welcome to the Ville.”