Checking back in on the nonconference foes

If you recall way back in November the strength of schedule through the first 7 games of the season was of paramount importance for some, still undefined reason.

The Cards win over Butler to kick off the season quickly lost its luster as the national runner's up stumbled out of the gate. And Louisville ran UNLV out of the Top 25 after falling in the Kayefseum.

Since teams across the country are polishing their resumes, it's worth revisiting the successes and failures of those early foes. Butler, while no mid-major darling this year, has been steadily climbing the rankings after a slow start and is currently being placed in the "last four in" group for at-large bids. They currently have an RPI of 44 and are trending upwards. UNLV, also, has had a strong season and sits with an RPI of 28, is trending upwards, and is projected as an 8 seed in the tournament.

Even Drexel, lowly Drexel, that caused the Cardinals so much grief, has a solid RPI of 71.

The Cards worst loss, from a personal and statistical perspective, remains the Providence Friars with an RPI of 131.

Big East's Cards-Huskies highlights

Happened to discover that the Big East home page pulls together extensive highlights of conference games when available. Not flashy, not a music video, but all the top plays. Check out Louisville-UConn highlights here.

Seems like highlights of every game are there, actually. If you'd like to revisit, archived highlights from earlier in the year include Louisville-Marquette and the first Louisville-UConn game.

CJ video: Cards over Huskies

Pitino postgame: "This one, defensively, was a gem""

On TJ and Gorgui's playing time -- "To tell you the truth, I wasn't playing -- and TJ's been playing terrific basketball, but it wasn't because he was in foul trouble. I was going with Gorgui because he was playing the best. He was rebounding, he was active. I think in the first half, the reason we had the lead was because he was offensive rebounding, and kept giving us second looks."

On halftime adjustments -- "We were late on getting out to the three point shooter... I told them just relax, we'll be fine. It's a Big East game, it's a long game."

On Louisville's matchup zone -- "It's team. It's team-play. We play it like a man... a traditional matchup zone plays below the top of the key. We get after the baskeball pretty hard. It takes a lot of switching, it takes a lot of paying attention to the basketball. And the guys were great at it tonight."

On Preston Knowles' phantom technical -- "He was doing something with the band. If we had lost the game, he would have been in the band." (cue laughter)

Also, you sure can tell Steve Masiello is being mentioned for head coaching vacancies. Pitino's crediting Masiello every other breath.

Cards lay the groundwork for Friday night party, beat UConn 71-58

Peyton Siva again willed this team to victory against UConn.

35 minutes logged, most on the team. 15 points, 4 assists, and 6 steals. That last stat says it all on how we beat a higher-ranked UConn team for the second time this season, despite errant passing, goal-tending, and yet another "are you freaking kidding me?" phantom technical. U of L managed only 8 turnovers, while UConn turned it over 16 times. UConn had 5 steals for the game. Louisville had 12, and Siva led the way with six -- the way I remember it, every one of those steals led to some version of Siva's now patented open-court 360 slam. The defense, overall, was incredible, maybe our best performance of the year. And oh yeah -- Siva owned Kemba Walker. Again.

Mr. Red was close, though, on his call for player of the game. Gorgui Monster was terrific down the stretch and recorded a double-double overall -- 13 points and 12 rebounds. (Might have been a triple double if goal-tends counted positively to your stats).

Stats here.

Other players had their moments. Kuric hit two critical threes to kill a UConn run early in the second half. Buckles had me up in arms about his "rust" early on (Mr. Red ordered me to lighten up... that's saying something) but finished with 9 points and 3 rebounds -- all offensive boards. And it shouldn't be forgotten that TJ played well early before foul trouble took him out for most of the game. Protecting that early lead was imperative to hanging on for this crucial victory, and TJ was a big part of that. SVT, Chris Smith, Preston Knowles, whose shot was off but who seemed to realize it and made several critical plays down the stretch... many stepped up.

But for this one, Red and I have already agreed: the most sensational aspect of tonight's game were the fans in the stands. That isn't meant to be some feel-good gesture to the masses. On TV, you all sounded incredible, damn near frightening. Ranting, raving lunatics you were. The chanting, the yelling, the screaming, the taunting, the berating, the cheering, it all combined to create the most intimidating home court advantage in college basketball. You were so good, you had Jim Calhoun making funny faces with his hands behind his ears, accusing the referees of playing to your emotions. Well done, you sons of Scotland. I guess that's why they don't usually allow 22,000 Louisvillians to watch college basketball past 9 p.m. on a Friday night: it's just not fair.

As I type, those 22 thou fanatics are flocking into the streets of downtown Louisville to celebrate yet another impressive victory by the most beloved Cards squad in -- cue Pitino understatement -- the history of college basketball and the United States and Mankind. the Cards are 20-7 overall, 9-5 in the conference, trying to position themselves for a Big East first-round bye and high tournament seed. That's something worth celebrating indeed.

Party on Cards fans. Go Cards.

Old man pontificating on your TV tonight

Turn down the hip-hop and hide the Werther's Originals because everyone's favorite decorum-cop-for-everyone-but-himself is coming to the Kayefseum.

Bob Knight will be taking the mic tonight for Cards v. UConn. I don't expect a warm reception for Mr. Knight this evening, but he really did bring it on himself. A "idiotic" comment can be forgiven, but the way he and Digger Phelps kept bringing it up throughout the second-half as having a negative hangover on Kuric's performance was truly absurd...

Sypher sentenced to 87 months

I must say, while you won't see me shedding any tears, over seven-years seems like a lot for a nonviolent crime and a defendant with no prior criminal history. But you reap what you sow, and for a woman who spent so much of her adult life twisting and leveraging male suitors, the fact that she will be serving her time in an all-female environment is perhaps the cruelest penalty of all.

Calhoun's Greatest Hits

theHoff and I have a regular theme that we return to when we're out shooting the shit, we each have a hypothetical list, ongoing, of people in sports, entertainment, media, history etc., that we'd most like to grab a beer with. It's not a scientific thing, there's no criterion, it's just based off a gut feeling of someone's perceived coolness, interesting stories, or general down-to-earthness that would make that person a seamless fit when you and your jackass friends are out buying pitchers.

Actually, stay tuned for posts on the very subject next week, as the theHoff and I have been busy finally putting amorphous thoughts down into ranked form. And after that, there'll no doubt be a follow-up post on the personages that we'd least like to be forced to sit down and drink with for an evening. If you want an early peek at Mr. Red's least list, look no further...

Red Hot Player Alert: Jamal Coombs-McDaniel

Ten days ago most UConn fans would have considered the once-highly-touted forward Jamal Coombs-McDaniel to be a bust, a long-shot to finish his career a Huskie. The National Prep Player of the year out of high school struggled his freshman year, and as a sophomore had averaged only 4.5 points a game. Coombs-McDaniel was always at odds with his head coach, and once posted some controversial comments on his Facebook page that questioned whether he made the right decision by going to UConn (who wouldn't enjoy playing for a gregarious fellow like Jim Calhoun?).

All those problems suddenly seem like a long time ago, as run JMCD has busted out in his last two outings against Providence and Georgetown scoring 48 points--25 and 23 respectively.

It'll be a tough task for Rick Pitino and company to scout a talented but overlooked player with a hot hand with only a 48-hour turnaround. Coombs-McDaniel is playing with a lot of confidence. After the Georgetown game he said...

I knew I was capable of it. But for it to actually happen, I am just looking forward to next game.

The Cards better be looking forward to him too.

Whadaya know, another big one for the Cards

To save ink we should really just default to every game is a "big one" from here on out, and send a special announcement if a rare "who gives a shit" game comes around.

But nevertheless, there'll be quite a bit on the line for both teams tonight when the Cards host the Huskies for part deux of this year's rivalry. A loss would spin Louisville off its pace of winning 2 out of every 3 Big East games, the goal Rick Pitino set for the team, for the first time this season. A win, on the other hand, would be the Cards 7th over an RPI Top 50 team, and a season sweep of the Huskies would be the crown jewel of our tournament resume (barring an upset of Pitt on February 27).

And reports of the Huskies demise may have been a bit premature, they surged to knock off Georgetown earlier in the week, and Kemba Walker has emerged from his mini-slump to show that he's not ready to hand over the Player of the Year award to the Jimmer just yet.

If the Cards win tonight, they'll have to do so in a different way; Calhoun is likely to Nancy Kerrigan Siva's knee before allowing him to slash to the basket like last game if that's what it takes. I hope Siva is ready to play hero in a different way tonight, by setting up his teammates and facilitating inside-out basketball.

I expect this game to be more of a traditional UConn scrum that will be won in the paint and on the boards. TJ had 16 and 10 in the first game, and the return of Gorgui, who didn't play in the last match-up, gives the Cards a weapon to frustrate Kemba Walker in the lane.

Louisville doesn't need to outscore UConn in the paint, per se, but I think they need to try to get the ball inside on every possession, if only to prevent the Huskies from pressing out on the perimeter. Inside-out basketball could spring Kuric and Chris Smith for big games.

Cardinal Laws prediction: UofL 66, UConn 61. Player of the game: Gorgui Monster.  

Easy, Johnnie Boy

Notable fat-ass John Calipari has been going a little too rogue on mic recently. After UK's latest scrape with 13-12 Mississippi State, Cal took what most perceived as a swipe at Coach Pitino, saying...

I'm not the kind of coach like some that says, 'we don't have any good players so look how good i coached'.

No, Johnnie Cakes, since you coach what most believe to be 3 future NBA players, I guess you wouldn't say that. And since you've led such team to a 6-5 conference record, I suppose you wouldn't be hyping your coaching prowess either.  But since you seem to be following Coach Rick Pitino's press conferences so closely, maybe you could refer me to the time he said "we don't have any good players". The notion that the Cardinals are having success this season without a future lottery pick is a fact, noticed by all, not an opinion.

Taking backhanded swipes towards a rival while trying to maintain distance is faux-baddassery, nothing new for Cal, but in a presser today he took his delusions to new lows, pumping up the SEC and taking more slights towards the Big East...

I'm telling you, there are six teams that are going to be in the NCAA Tournament. And you know what? I'll put what happens in the NCAA Tournament with our league against just about anybody else. Now some of these guys, because of the media hype, might get nine teams in, but the reality of it is that this is a strong league, and every game is a war. (Hat tip: Cardchron)

Which coach is supposed to be in the others head, again? Perhaps Cal may want to stop taking shots at the Big East, since his only quality wins are over Notre Dame and Louisville.

And six SEC teams in the tournament? Really? The bloated King of the Commonwealth grows a little larger, a little more out of touch.

WHAS report on David Stern ignoring Louisville...

...but J. the Bruce says it's still gonna happen. And David Stern's "sorry" for neglecting to include us... Louisville's name just keeps slipping Stern's mind. Which would also explain why the NBA won't confirm that it's "interested" in an NBA franchise in Louisville.

Uh huh.

As I've said before, I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea. But I think a) Freedom Hall is a non-starter, and b) what J. the Bruce keeps telling us never seems to mesh with what we're hearing from the NBA.

WHAS also had a good article on it here.

Thanks to anonymous for the tip.

J. the Bruce

News coverage about J. Bruce Miller's visit to New York last week, serves as a useful follow-up to our discussion yesterday about bringing the NBA to Louisville. Mr. Red has of course already noted that the meeting wasn't enough to convince David Stern to list Louisville as one of the prime candidates for an NBA franchise a few days later.

Goodbye, Uncle Leo

Actor Len Lesser, best-known for playing Uncle Leo on "Seinfeld", passed away yesterday at the age of 88. Lesser was one of the terrific character actors that played the bit parts on the show that added another dimension, elevating it from "extremely funny" to "all-time great".

Uncle Leo, always one for manners, chided Jerry every time he passed without saying hi. My favorite blip of Uncle Leo was in the episode when Jerry snitched on him for shoplifting at a bookstore hoping to scare him straight, but inadvertently led to his arrest...

Uncle Leo: Jerry! You ratted me out!
Jerry: Hello?
Uncle Leo: (nodding solemnly) Hello.

Rest in peace, Mr. Lesser, you gave me a lot of laughs.

Completely switching tone and tenor back to Louisville basketball, I thought Rick Bozich hit on a salient point in his column on the Cinci loss; has the blueprint on beating Louisville been discovered and announced?

Of their seven losses, the two games when the Cards looked most out of sync were against UK and Cincinnati. Like UK, Mick Cronin used an oversized 6'6'' guard against Peyton Siva that frustrated him out of his game. Cincinnati pressed out on the perimeter, taking away the 3 point shot, which got Louisville out of rhythm despite a solid offensive showing from Terrence Jennings in the paint.

Watching the game last night, it was startling to see how many of UofL's possessions began closer to midcourt than the 3-point line. Siva inexplicably keeps picking up his dribble way out in no-man's land, forcing Preston Knowles to race out to help him, and the entire offense is thrown out of whack.

It falls on Siva to stop this and to adjust his game if this is indeed the blueprint that teams are going to throw at us. I can absolutely see how being guarded by a long, rangy defender will negate Siva's scoring, but there's no reason why it should keep him from running the offense correctly. He's the quickest person on the court at all times, and the Cards clearly cannot afford to start so many possessions at the midcourt line.

But when we're bad we're horrid, Cards fall to Bearcats 63-54

The game seemed doomed from tipoff. The Cards saw their first few shots rim out, played soft defense, and dug a deficit that they never could erase.

It's a tough loss to swallow because Louisville, a team heralded for its hustle, lost because they couldn't match the Bearcats' desire. Cinci was the more active team, playing-in-your-face defense, and slashing to the basket on offense. And I'm not ready to give the team a pass simply because "Cinci needed the win more", that they were playing for their tournament lives. The reason I'm not ready to give them a pass is because the Cards knew that was the case going in! The Cards knew what they were going to face, yet they looked surprised in the first five minutes going up against a team with tournament-intensity.

And Pitino did his team no favors to shake them from their stupor, not calling a single timeout in the first half when his team sorely needed an attitude-awakening. In the future, I really hope Pitino stops doing these "we need to win 2 out of every 3 games" gimmicks, I'm sure it's not the cause of the Cards' complacency last night, but it doesn't help either. How 'bout we just do our best to win every game, how about that?

Ugghh. There were plenty of other frustrations to go around. Not only is Mike Marra not a sharpshooter, but he's by far our worst three-point shooter. Last night he missed two wide-open treys that could have cut the lead to two in the crucial moments. In 16 minutes of play, Marra had 2 points, 2 turnovers, and a rebound. Now that Buckles is back, there's really no reason for Marra to play that many minutes. It's also frustrating to listen to the announcers, who clearly didn't do enough homework to realize Marra's about 25% from behind the arc, still getting excited like he's an automatic specialist when he puts the ball up.

The announcers were annoying in other ways too. My favorite was when one was carping over what he felt was a non-call after Cinci guard Cashmere Wright may have been fouled on a drive, saying something like: "I hate when a player is going at it this hard and the ref misses the call, it's one of my pet peeves." Really? Bad calls are one of your pet peeves? What are your others, bed bugs? Nazi sympathizers?

Then he immediately contradicted himself 15 seconds later, when Cinci hit a 3 sprung by an illegal screen he yelled excitedly: "Cincinnati got away with one there! The gods are smiling on Mick Cronin's team tonight!"

So either he has no idea what a pet-peeve is, or he's a hypocrite. Take your pick.

Disappointments abounded. Siva got thoroughly outplayed from a point-guard leadership standpoint, Buckles only logged one board and looks lost in space, no pun intended, like when he gets the ball without someone to body up.

Some fans will be tempted to toss this one aside as an aberration, but if it were my team I'd have the game playing on a loop on the walls during practices. They shouldn't forget this loss.

If this is how they play against teams with tournament-intensity, they better step up their mental-game, because very soon they'll be going up against it every night.

I don't want to make too much out of the loss, but it was disappointing to see a team that has a city in love with them because of their heart, fall to an opponent that wanted it more.

Pitino postgame after Louisville falls 63-54 to Cincy

Yancy Boy

If you watched the UK-Mississippi State game last night, you probably got a kick out of watching Renardo Sidney, the Bulldogs 300 pounder, who's talent is matched only by his laziness on the court. He makes Derrick Character look like Steve Wojciechowski by comparison.

Eric Crawford sent out this tweet during the game which summed it up nicely...

Sidney flat doesn't seem to care. I'm almost impressed at how much he doesn't care.

It was pretty high comedy watching the big boy huff and puff up and down the court at half speed. So, congrats to Renardo Sidney and coach Rick Stansbury for becoming one of the most compelling teams in college basketball for all the wrong reasons.

But Sidney isn't the only big fat disappointment in college basketball. In fact, the Cards face one tonight in Cincinnati's beefy forward Yancy Gates.

Gates is the Bearcats best rebounder and second on the team in scoring, but has played his way out of the starting lineup due largely to his poor attitude. He was suspended two-weeks ago after an altercation with an assistant coach during practice; he's since been reinstated, but clearly all is still not well. After sitting most of the last game against St. John's, Gates sulked on the bench, prompting coach Mick Cronin after the game to say this...

To be a part of our team, that includes when you’re not in the game...that you’re cheering for your teammates.

There's a lot of dysfunction in Cincinnati right now, and Louisville can take advantage if they come out sharp and give the Bearcats no reason to hope.

Cards v. Hoosiers will have to wait for a few seasons

Earlier in the year, Rick Pitino took some flak from some agenda-driven individuals when he said the Cards would wait a few years for the Hoosiers to get their house in order before renewing an annual rivalry.

The agenda-driven individuals accusing Rick of hubris, surprise surprise, were largely Cats fans. Those whose hatred of Rick Pitino knows no bounds and is pathological despite the facts that Pitino gave them some of their most exciting basketball of the last two decades, has not once spoken an ill-word towards his former team, and (from all accounts) returned to the lion's den to deliver one of the most heartfelt eulogies to legendary UK fixture Bill Keightley.

Tom Crean admitted today that it's the Hoosiers that are foot-dragging the jump-start on a UofL-IU matchup because their hands are full with a tight-nonconference schedule and the regular Big 10 grind.

It's just another reminder that the reasons for UK vitriol towards Rick Pitino remain as hollow as their proposed love for Terrence Jones.

NBA in Louisville, deafening silence

David Stern went on a podcast with NBA-guru Bill Simmons yesterday, and at the 20-minute mark the conversation turned to cities that could be viable locales for a franchise.

Stern mentioned several--Anaheim, Las Vegas, Tampa, Pittsburgh, even Vancouver--but never mentioned Louisville, Kentucky. I don't want to read too much into it, but I do think it's symbolic of the "NBA to Louisville" phenomenon, that it largely seems forced and doesn't have much grassroots momentum behind it.

I've heard the arguments on both sides, from the shrewd (Charlie Springer refuting the idea that having an NBA team "puts cities on the map", citing negative examples like Memphis) to the asisnine (Matt Jones supporting the concept because Rick Pitino is against it).

To me, when broken down to the lowest common denominator, the answer is simple: not nearly enough people want an NBA franchise here.

Supporters of the idea will bring up a compelling "if you build it, they will come" argument, that Louisvillians are plagued by small and too often provincial thinking. I'm aware, and largely sypathetic to that, but "thinking big" for the sake of thinking big doesn't make a winning argument.

If someone can show me polling data that shows a strong current of support for an NBA franchise, then perhaps I'll change my opinion. Till then, I'm with David Stern, I just don't see it.

Our beloved Cardinals: V-day post-wrap

Rick Pitino's Saturday postgame comments, essentially about how much he loves his current team (awww...), seem to be kindling all sorts of passions this Valentine's Day.

Eric Crawford considers if this team, which Pitino called "most beloved" and "the fans' favorite," really lives up to the memory of the 04-05 final four team, which I guess is the "jilted lover" in this scenario.

Speaking of jilted lovers, KSR plays the obsessive ex-girlfriend role to a tee after Pitino neglected to include his 1992 Kentucky squad as one of the teams that "most played for the name on the front of the jersey." Picking apart and twisting the words of your former flame to cast the attention back on you fifteen years after parting ways? Awkward!

Mid-range missiles

The 3-pointer has been the biggest weapon in the Pitino arsenal since his arrival at UofL, that's no secret. But perhaps that's also why, when I watch a game, I just nod and give a solitary fist pump when the Cards swish another trey and save my biggest exclamations for when a player steps up and knocks down a 15-footer.

We become a different offensive animal when all of our points don't come from beyond the arc or at the rim.

On Saturday, it was King Kyle that stepped up his mid-range game, displaying to all that he's not just a Brian Kiser-specialist, but a force that can change the opposition's defensive scouting report against Louisville from "streaky" to "what-the-hell-are-we-supposed-to-do?" if he can exploit it effectively.

And it's not just Kuric. If Siva, our diminutive leader, he who too-often gets denied in the paint, can master the mid-range, then watch out. George Goode's shot was off against Syracuse, but I still believe his jumper can be an unforeseen factor that can win games in March. Gorgui (I miss Gorgui) can also knock it down, as can TJ under the right circumstances.

I'm not saying chuck the gameplan. Bombing threes and getting the ball to TJ to slam it home has served us well this year.

But our opponents know this too. Teams that live by the 3 will undoubtedly face the day in March when they don't fall. And the generic defensive game-plan against the Cards leaves a lot of space in the 8-15-17 foot range.

Adding that layer to the offense could spell the difference between a Sweet 16 appearance and a be-proud-of-what-we-accomplished season and the greater glories that lie beyond.

Knowles' shot at the end of the half

Pitt on a pedestal; a look at the remaining Big East race

Pitt all but wrapped up the Big East regular season last night, grinding past Villanova in a hard-fought but ugly contest to take a commanding 1.5 game lead over Notre Dame and 3 games over the rest of the pack with 6 games remaining. Barring a startling collapse, Jamie Dixon's club will seize its spoils and roll into March with a #1 seed.

While dreams of a return to Big East championship glory will have to wait for another season, the good news is that both teams looked emminently beatable last night. The Panthers still have to travel to the Kayefseum on February 27th, and the Cards will have a prime opportunity to improve their own seeding.

After Pitt, it's a logjam of quality teams jockeying for second, though Notre Dame has the lead. Here's a look at the remaining schedules of the Big East big dogs...

Pitt - (South Florida, @ St. John's, West Virginia, @ Louisville, @ South Florida, Villanova)

Notre Dame - (@ West Virginia, @ Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova, @ UConn)

Villanova - (@ Seton Hall, @ DePaul, Syracuse, St. John's, @ Notre Dame, @ Pitt)

Georgetown - (Marquette, @ UConn, @ South Florida, Cinci, Syracuse, @ Cinci)

UConn - (Providence, Georgetown, @ Louisville, Marquette, @ Cinci, @ West Virginia, Notre Dame)

Louisville - (@ Cinci, UConn, @ Rutgers, Pitt, Providence, @ West Virginia)

So, as you can see, it's still a mess. But a couple things do jump out, let's analyze in a confusing fashion using quotes from "The Departed"!

Costigan: Families are either rising or falling in America.
Queenan: Who said that?
Costigan: Hawthorne.
Dignam: Pffft. What, you don't know any Shakespeare?

-For Syracuse and UConn, two of the falling families in the Big East. Both overachieved early and are clearly running on fumes at this point. Dangerous still, but I don't expect either to accomplish much in March. On the flip side, I like St. John's and Rutgers as our "rising families". They'll be tough outs in Madison Square Garden, and both will be very good next season.

Costello: Who let this IRA motherfucker in my bar?

-For Notre Dame, who has crashed into the Big East race, and if you look above at their remaining schedule, will be difficult to knock from the #2 spot.

Costello: The only one that can do what I do is me. Lots of people had to die to be me. You wanna be me?
Costigan: I could probably be you, yeah. Yeah, I know that much. But I don't wanna be you, Frank. I don't wanna be you.
Costello: Heavy lies the crown sorta thing?

-For Pitt versus the rest of the Big East. The Panthers were the only team up to the task this season to separate themselves as an elite team. And they haven't done it by being flashy, but through sheer physicality and mental toughness. An interesting sidebar during the Pitt-Nova game last night was that Jamie Dixon has never produced a first-round NBA draft pick while coaching Pitt. His success there is simply incredible.

Costigan: Hey, you fellas come from Providence?
Gangster: It isn't any of your business where we come from, now is it?
Costigan: What, you guys delivering fuckin' cannolis or somthin'?

-For Providence, the proverbial turd in the punchbowl for the remainder of the Big East season. Most all the top teams play them again, and which ever one falters against them will fall off the pace quickly. Please gods, not the Cards again.

Queenan: Congratulations on passing the Detectives' Exam and welcome to the Special Investigations Unit.
Dignam: Whoop de fuckin' do.

-For the Louisville Cardinals, who risk becoming a little too pleased with their surprising successes this season and cannot afford to rest on laurels. I still don't think the Cards get the respect around the league that they deserve and this is no time to get complacent.

Sullivan: Just fucking kill me. Just fucking kill me.
Costigan: I am killing you.

-For UConn. When you hear Jim Calhoun start complaining about the Big East cannabalizing itself after a loss, you know it's time to stick a fork in him. Calhoun's hung around too long.

Queenan: You're a hard worker. You rise fast.
Dignam: Like a 12-year old's dick.

-For St. John's, who plodded early in the season but has suddenly sprung up to become a formidable opponent down the stretch.

Ellerby: Our target: microprocessors. Yes, those. I don't know what they are, you don't know what they are, who gives a fuck?

-For the dribble-drive motion offense. It relates to UK, not the Cards, but I just wanted to use the quote.

Costello: Do you know John Lennon?
Costigan: Yeah, sure, he was the president before Lincoln.
Costello: Lennon said, "I'm an artist. You give me a fucking tuber, I'll get you something out of it."

-For Rick Pitino, the Big East Coach of the Year. For the first time in a few seasons he genuinely looks like he's having fun coaching, I half expected him to start a "Quack quack quack!" chant during the last press conference.

The reason for his giddyness? I think it's because it's finally about coaching again. Hurricane Sypher is now completely in the rear-view mirror. If it's mentioned at all in articles about him or UofL, it's usually just as a sidenote to provide context. You're finally starting to read articles about his legendary coaching prowess again; about how he "owns" Jim Boeheim, or how he's a master that gets the utmost out of his roster. These articles must be quite a salve for his bruised but substantial ego.

I'm happy for him and proud that the Cards stuck by him.

"Louisville Vice"... yikes

If they really wanted to bring back the 80s to the degree that they're trying for in the video, maybe they should have, I don't know... interviewed some of the fans who actually lived through the 80s?

Man, those throwback jerseys do look good though.