By Derek DeBurger
Non-conference plays roll on as the Chattanooga Mocs chug on up to face Louisville on Friday.
The Mocs are another team that, at least historically, gets steamrolled by the Cards in early November as they look to work on weaknesses before competitive play begins.
This is not one of those years.
While Chattanooga did finish an embarrassing 178 in last season’s NET rankings, that’s still 61 spots better than Louisville’s previous opponents (239), and 136 spots better than Louisville finished (314). The Cards can’t overlook any opponents, especially if they plan on sticking with the run-and-gun strategy that got them past UMBC by only one point.
For a team to simply try to outscore every team they face, and not put too much emphasis on defense, the offense has to be incredibly good and efficient. Louisville, unfortunately, is not that.
While the Offense has been the bright spot of the team—if there is any—since the calendar year 2023, they are too turnover-prone without having any consistently effective plays to run. There is also still a lack of pure scorers or facilitators on this team, even with the major talent upgrade.
The run-and-gun strategy only works well if you don’t run into a team that plays sound defense; that’s a proverbial buzzsaw to slice through the “gun” pointed at the other team.
Chattanooga doesn’t have an incredible defense, but they at least try to stay in front of their competition. UMBC was the perfect first matchup for Louisville; they too try to run the same fast-paced offense and ignore defense. The difference between UMBC and the Cards is the massive talent gap. That same talent gap will exist against Chattanooga, but the Cards will have to keep a good grip on the ball and try to remain disciplined on defense to come away with a win.
Chattanooga had an impressive 89-44 win in their first game against Covenant College, but the numbers paint an interesting picture. The Mocs shot an outstanding 54.2% from the field, but a pretty pedestrian 28.6% from three. Between center Dennis Evans and forward Emanual Okorafor the Cards have a very threatening presence inside the paint. Senior JJ Traynor also can provide some shot-blocking ability from outside the paint with his extreme length.
If the Cards can try their best to stay in front of their man on defense and trust the help behind them they should have an easy time getting the victory. If the Cards don’t stay disciplined on defense, don’t make adjustments throughout the game, and can’t hold onto the ball they could be in for a long night.
