I don't know what the offense needs to change to stop passing the ball to Chane Behanan behind the arc, but it needs to do whatever that is. Chane is an effective "slasher", as far as post players go, but the offense would be a different animal if he were getting the ball in the 10-foot range of space instead of the 20-foot range. I think he and Gorgui could be such an effective tandem in the post. But it takes two to tandem. And in my opinion, any possession that sees Behanan pump fake behind the arc is a wasted one.
For this team, Gorgui should be option 1 and 1a each offensive set. And Chane needs to be down there to rebound and tip in misses.
2) Stoke the Strokers
So the ball should go through the post, but the Louisville Cardinals under Pitino always need to pull the trigger from 3. This isn't a team full of sharpshooters, but the problem is exacerbated by the wrong players taking too many of them. Sorry Chane, see point above. You too, Siva (feel free to pull up in the lane before you draw contact, but you punish yourself too severely by continuing to launch 3s).
So for the record that list is Kyle Kuric, Chris Smith, Russ Smith and Angel Nunez. Everyone else should face suicides in practice for taking them. And on the flip side, the four mentioned above should face suicides in practice for not taking them. Kyle, if you're open from here on out, you shoot. No exceptions.
3) Zoned OUT
For a team that Rick Pitino stubbornly insists spend 85% of practice time on defense, we've become one-dimensional and ineffective. The vaunted matchup-zone has entered the Twilight Zone (eh? ehh?). The Cards are doing nothing on the defensive end that seems to be befuddling the better offenses we face. If the opposing team scores on consecutive possessions, go man-to-man. You have to zig when you're expected to zag, and for all the precious practice time this team has spent on defense, I still believe we're a better and more disciplined defensive team than what we've shown the last three weeks.
4) Home court advantage
I'm deadly serious about this. Rick Pitino talked about the importance of the fans staying positive and supportive of this team earlier in the week. But I fear the negativity has snowballed to such an extent that the environment in the Kayefseum could turn toxic. I was there for the Notre Damn double OT loss and there were boos after the buzzer and the team walked off the court. There were bad calls rampant in that contest, so it's possible they were directed towards the refs. I sincerely hope so.
Like I've been saying for the last few days, I don't think any Cardinal should be judging another for how he or she is reacting right now. Peruse these pages and you'll see that Black, CliffySmalls, and myself all vacillate between positive and negative to some degree. It's the right of any fan and changes, indeed, need to be made.
But for the 40 minutes between the buzzer, I hope that every Cardinal present at a game takes the responsibility seriously. If you've been there during a huge run you know how the building reverberates with noise and energy, how the team feeds off it, and how it can put just a split-second of doubt in the opponent's head that leads to a big play.
We're all in this together. If the Cards are going to right this ship, the legions of fans need to do their part.
5) Kevin Ware
To be fair to Peyton Siva, it's not that Kevin Ware has outplayed him. And to be fair to Ware, it's not as if he's had the opportunity to. But it's insanity to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. It's time to shorten Siva's leash and take him out of the game if/when he can't take better care of the basketball. Hell, he takes himself out of most games by fouling.
Ware has the size and athleticism to do things for this team that Siva can't. Whether by splitting reps at point, or by being the first one off the bench to play the 2 or 3 spot, Ware needs more minutes. The team has to be shaken up, and Ware is one of the few (somewhat healthy) pieces left the Cards can use to do so.
6) Free throws!!!!!!!
There's only one player on the team, Chane Behanan, that you could just write off as a bad free throw shooter. And even Chane has shown an ability to knock them down when the chips are down. The difference from a wipe your brow, whew that was a close one and a deflating defeat is narrow, and so often this season it has been the free throw margin.
We have a center with a remarkably fine stroke, a forward (Swop) too, and a bevy of guards that have no excuse. It's more mental than physical. Rick Pitino needs to emphasize it more (like Mr. Black said, after the Marquette loss was the first time I can recall him mentioning FTs).
This team is not good enough to sacrifice the easy points at the line. The season hinges on it.
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