By Gavin Lapaille
The University of Louisville men’s basketball team hoped to improve on last year’s NIT run and also bolster their record. Big East coaches took notice. They picked the Cards to finish sixth in the Big East, even with their 11th place conference finish last season.
However, things have gotten off to a rocky start for the Cards. Heading into Big East conference play, just two of their ten wins were against opponents in major conferences along with four of their losses. The inability to close out games has been a recurring problem all season as the team seems to lack a leader to bring them out of long bad stretches or to hit a big shot when needed the most.
Perhaps one of the season’s biggest disappointments came in the annual rivalry game with Kentucky. This year’s game lacked the energy of past games as neither team was ranked and both were trying to avoid their fourth loss of the season. Despite junior David Padgett’s 16 points and 10 rebounds, the Cardinals fell 60-49, losing their third game in three years against the Cats. Louisville led for much of the first half and was down just 49-45 with 3:59 left to play, but were unable to get the victory.
Louisville has also fallen to Dayton, Arizona and Massachusetts. In all of these games, the Cards had opportunities to seize control and pull off victories, but lost late in the game. So far, Louisville’s only significant win has come at home against Miami.
Big East play did not start out any better for the Cards. In their first conference game, No. 17 Notre Dame defeated U of L 78-62. The loss continued the road woes for the Cards as they fell to 0-3 in games away from Freedom Hall this season and are just 1-8 in Big East road games since joining the conference last year.
Injuries and suspensions have also weighed down the team this season. Senior Brandon Jenkins broke his leg in the preseason, and although he has not missed any games, he still does not appear to be full strength. Sophomore Andre McGee has missed 10 games due to a knee injury, and he has now strained quadraceps tendon in his right leg and will be benched for up to two weeks. According to head coach Rick Pitino, Padgett will not be at full strength all season due to his ongoing knee problems. Junior Juan Palacios, who has been playing with a hand injury, suffered another setback against Northeastern when he injured his neck. Since then it has progressively gotten worse, which could leave his availability in doubt for the next several games.
Freshman forward Derrick Caracter was suspended the first three games of the season due to a recruiting violation. In the following six games he was plagued by fouls and it was soon after that Caracter was suspended for the Dec. 20 game against Savannah State for a unspecified violation of team rules. Just a couple of days later, Caracter was sent home for the holidays so he could discover how to become what Coach Pitino called a “Louisville man” both on and off the court. Caracter has since rejoined the team.
Poor shooting has also been a problem for the Cards, with the team shooting just 43 percent from the field, including a lowly 34 percent from three-point range.
This season hasn’t been dismal for the Cards, however. Several freshmen have made an impact. Guards Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith are two of team’s top scorers, while forward Earl Clark and even Caracter have given the Cardinal faithful enough to be optimistic about. Sophomore Terrance Williams has been brilliant at times, leading the team in points, rebounds and assists, while Padgett and Palacios have been steady in the middle all season. If the team is able to get healthy and avoid any major distractions, an NCAA tournament bid is not out of the question.
