By Whitney Spencer
The selections are made and the Cardinals are in the dance. Although I’m quite sure we all knew this after the upset of Syracuse University on March 6, during the last game in Freedom Hall. As I sit and think about all the possible match-ups, I think back to the many NCAA performances I’ve witnessed from the Cards.
To this day, this team has every fan on an emotional roller coaster. After being stunned by the University of Cincinnati in the second round of the Big East Tournament this year, so many people were left wondering what happened. Pat Forde of ESPN pointed out that the University of Louisville’s second-round performance is exactly why they can’t be trusted. And he has a point.
The split personality of this team leaves fans and opposing teams alike scratching their heads, wondering just who shows from game to game. So as the Cards enter into another NCAA Tournament, I can’t help but replay the Jekyll and Hyde moments the Cards have had this season. I’m sure a fan favorite would be the rebound from a loss against St. John’s University to a win against the third-ranked Orange of Syracuse.
Even the more recent embarrassment against Marquette University, where the Cards never seemed to get in a rhythm, was followed by the game that will live in Cardinal basketball infamy, as the team once again took down Syracuse. This time the Orange were the No. 1 team in the country. Still leaves you wondering doesn’t it?
Usually I would single out one of two players who need to get their acts together. Over the past four years, senior guard Edgar Sosa seemed to top everyone’s list as the one who takes the blame. This season he has been joined atop that list by sophomore forward Samardo Samuels. But it seems that everyone has taken that route, blaming these two. So I am going to choose a different route.
I blame the majority, not the minority. Head coach Rick Pitino plays a rotation of nine players, give or take a freshman, who aren’t named Samuels or Sosa. It seems as if this entire rotation needs to step up. Consistency is what’s needed to make this team successful for the NCAA Tournament. Sosa will get his points, come rain or shine, because he’s a natural scorer – even when you and everyone else think he should be sharing. And Samuels, with the right amount of help, can do the same. So what about the rest of the team?
Please forgive me Kyle Kuric, as you are still one of my Freedom Hall heroes. But you and your other teammates must realize that teams will play Sosa and Samardo hard all night. Everyone else needs to go hard to the boards and look to create some offense.
This team has shown glimpses of greatness this season and has almost all the parts needed to make a good run in this year’s tournament. Where there didn’t seem to be a proven leader, Sosa has stunned us all by stepping up and showing that his final bow will be one that proves his growth. Though sometimes fragile, Samuels has been a force down low for a majority of the season, even when his teammates were no help.
It is time for this team to find its identity, before the start of the opening-round game. They are not searching for very much, just a bit of consistency and the constant desire to win. This team has been known to play to the level of its competition, which would explain losses to so many mediocre, or just flat-out bad, teams. It’s time for the Cards to play their game. Or they may just be the ending to someone else’s Cinderella story. Who knows? We will find out in this tale of two teams. But until then, let the madness begin.
Whitney is a junior communication major. E-mail her at
sports@louisvillecardinal.com
