Smiths stop the bleeding: Louisville tops DePaul 76-59

Without leading scorer Kyle Kuric and in desperate need of a victory, Russ and Chris Smith stepped up the scoring. Russ Smith in particular filled out the stat line with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. It was an entertaining game, not the prettiest, but the Cards played up-tempo basketball and showed a fire that was missing in the debacle in Providence.

Gorgui Dieng also had a strong performance with 13-14-4. It wasn't a season-changer, after all it was just DePaul, but it was a sorely needed bit of good news.

Louisville will have an opportunity to take a bigger step back towards respectability when they hit the road for a 3:30 matchup at Marquette on Monday. Go Cards.

Rick Pitino feeling/dishing the heat

Well, the good news is our head coach still has plenty of fire in him. The bad news is he seems to be more than a few steps out of touch and has a grip on our situation about as firm as Mike Marra's knee ligaments. Rick Pitino went out of his way to conclude today's press conference with another misguided rant on the media, specifically attacking CL Brown's piece in the CJ that addressed Pitino's famously grueling practices and whether they hinder the team as well as help it.

We may not be playing good basketball at the moment, but we're sure as hell not boring! Here's a couple thoughts...

* He's clearly out of touch. Attacking a reporter universally admired for quality and fairness isn't exactly a shrewd decision that addresses the frustrations being felt by his fanbase. Do you think that there is even .0000002% of Cardinal fans out there saying, "You know what, Coach is right! Media bias!". It's not exactly the best time for Coach to re-assume his bully pulpit.

* Coach is still an intimidating figure even if he has become a parody of himself. I would have been crying had I been on the receiving end of that glare.

* I imagine Pitino's real anger is towards Denny Crum for making the comments to begin with, but even Rick still has enough self-awareness not to go down that path. But like I said below, I agree with Pitino in that regard. Denny Crum shouldn't be making those kind of comments.

* By starting the press conference by announcing that Kyle Kuric suffered an injury, of course, in practice, makes the decision to go on this rant today even more bizarre.

* Preston Knowles was complimenting Pitino! To read his full comments and take away anything else is the definition of taking a quote out of context.

* And finally, I do think Rick Pitino is right in that the Cards are just going through a ridiculous string of bad luck on the injury front. I also have no doubt that Pitino and the Cards go harder than most in practice. That's a good thing and shouldn't change.

Going hard in practice didn't tear Mike Marra's ACL on a fluke play. It's not the reason Jared Swopshire's groin refused to heal and I doubt it's the reason Kyle Kuric rolled his ankle this morning. There's nothing you can do but move forward and pray for kinder fortune from the basketball gods.

So Rick Pitino may be right in that regard; questioning his legendary preparation techniques, ones that have served him well at Louisville and elsewhere, maybe isn't the correct diagnosis from a basketball standpoint. But the rest of Rick Pitino's approach was wrong in just about every way possible.

Kuric OUT versus DePaul

Kyle Kuric suffered a high ankle sprain in practice and will be out against DePaul tomorrow, Coach Pitino announced today. He suffered the injury the first play of practice when he was being experimented with at the power forward position.

Cardinal round up

* Rick Pitino took to the radio last night, and the results were interesting to say the least. He was challenged by his first two callers and quickly got defensive, suggesting that the disgruntled fan asked "a dumb question". It was vintage Pitino; somewhat condescending in his explanations, putting things in perspective of his 35 years of coaching, and trying to project control of this situation. But overall he handled things about as well as you can. This isn't something you can talk your way out of. The atmosphere around the program won't improve until the Cards get back to their winning ways. Nothing said on a radio show can change that.

* Pitino said the new goal for this season is to win the 7 remaining home games and get two on the road to ensure tournament eligibility. My ears perked up because I remembered at Big East Media Day in New York, one of my two questions for Rick Pitino was if he planned on using any such gimmick like the 2 out of 3 in league play like last season. He adamantly said no, that no such gimmick was needed for this season because the talent and expectations were much higher. It's just a reminder of how far this season has gone off the rails.

* Denny Crum got in the action, suggesting that perhaps Pitino's practices are too draining for the team. I know Denny is in a precarious position because he hosts a radio show and of course is still very invested in Louisville basketball. And I'm as big a fan of Denny as anyone, but it's not his place to criticize Rick Pitino's practices. Crum has a special position in this community, and that position comes with responsibility. He needs to refrain from specific criticisms of Rick Pitino, especially since he admits he has no inside knowledge of the team or how its practice are run.

* Cardinal soccer had 4 players selected in the MLS draft, 3 in the first round. What Ken Lolla is building is truly special. Red scarf forever.

* Rick Pitino, when asked about playing Zach Price and Angel Nunez, said that neither are ready to contribute significantly. Wayne Blackshear will begin practice and is two-weeks away from returning if he loses 10 pounds.

* The smoke around the locker room fire continues to grow. Chris Smith has commented that some players are listening to outside influences like family instead of Coach Pitino. One would think he is most pointedly referring to Kevin Ware, whose father famously took to Facebook to comment about "Bench(ing) the bum ass Silva" (sic). It also makes me wonder if the locker room may be breaking down into factions; Kevin Ware and Chane Behanan were inseparable at the Kentucky Derby Classic last year. This is all highly speculative, but something is clearly wrong, and I hope this hasn't broken down into an age factions. It also reveals a negative side of having such quiet and soft-spoken players like Kuric and Smith as your team captains.

* The Cards recruiting class for next season is now ranked #25 in the nation by ESPN. It's the second year in a row that Louisville brought in a ranked class. Train rollin', etc. etc. Expect Strong to pull a few more rabbits out of his recruiting hat before signing day next month.

Matt Milton quick facts

* Was a Lane Kiffin recruit at UT, had considered transferring after he left for USC

* Was heavily recruited by Shawn Watson, UofL's (perhaps new?) offensive coordinator, when Watson was at Nebraska. A big reason for picking the Cards

* 6'5''

* Only caught one pass for 12 yards last season

* Played both QB and receiver in high school

* From Mascoutah, Ill. Wanted to go to a school closer to home due to an illness in his family

* Was suspended for the Vols final game against UK for an unspecified violation of team rules

* Was ranked #20 in the nation for wide receiver prospects in his class

* Will be eligible in 2013

Tony and Gene on Rick

Eric Crawford posted the transcript from a segment from Tony Kornheiser's radio show, where he and Gene Wojciechowski discuss Rick Pitino.

And I'm irritable today, so the discussion got me riled up. The whole thing is worth a read, but essentially Kornheiser remarks that watching Rick these days makes him sad, and Gene responds with extended thoughts on how UK is the epitome of basketball, that UofL ain't UK, and the step down in stature is apparently a cause of Pitino's sadness, or at least what makes him a sad figure now.

But all that is really just bullshit. It's a trap almost everyone falls into when discussing Rick Pitino. For whatever reason his career arc cannot be described without delving in Shakespearean melodrama. It's both unfair to Pitino and too fair to him all at the same time.

These hard times are even more irritating when one has to endure this narrative recycled over and over again about the The Great Rise and Fall of Rick Pitino the emperor. It's irritating because it plays right into the hands of our archrival; Wojchiechowski spent more time talking about the grandeur that is UK more than anything else. It's irritating for two, because it's insulting to the University of Louisville to hear it described it as a consolation prize when it could/should be regarded as one of the premier positions in America. And three, it really has nothing to do with the problems plaguing this team.

UofL's problems are tangible. Missed free throws. Team chemistry boiling over with acidity. Siva's jump shot. Lack of focus around the basket. Defense that cannot be played without fouling.

Certainly those are enough without having to invent more grandiose window-dressing.

Deliver us from Providence

In a weird way, last night felt historic. I couldn't turn away. It was like watching a star get devoured by a black hole or a helpless gazelle get tackled by a lion. For all the joy that sports can bring, last night brought the inverse. It was captivating in its brutality.

I'm not sure there's a good way to lose by 31 points, but if so, we didn't do that either. Samardo Samuels thinks this team's body language is bad. Derrick Caracter thinks they need to grow up. To say this team has chemistry issues is like saying Norman Bates had problems with his mom. These guys look like they downright hate each other. If you read on the CJ that after the game there was an altercation in the locker room that led to blows, would you even blink an eye? My suspicions are that Kevin Ware may be a source of a lot of this friction but that is an absolute guess.

What's also painfully aware is that Rick Pitino has run out of buttons to press. After the game, Pitino spoke in a calm and measured voice, but there was an ocean of shellshocked frustration welling below the surface. Last night the team gave up against Providence; perhaps it was them giving up on Rick Pitino and his system as well.

Louisville Last; 90-59

The Louisville Cardinals basketball program is in complete disarray. We just lost for the 4th time in 5 contests; and we're getting worse, less competitive, and more embarrassing with each game.

For the first time I can recall in the Pitino Era, this team played like it didn't care. We have some nice individual players, but as a team, they've given up. These Cards will be quite lucky to make the NCAA tournament this season. And once this season mercifully comes to an end, everything should be on the table. Rick Pitino cannot lead the Cards to another Final Four, let alone a Title.

That much is clear. It's clear.

This is one of the darkest times for Louisville basketball that I can recall. It was fitting that Providence honored Rick Pitino's 1987 team tonight. That was his beginning. This felt like his end.

I'm ashamed to be a fan of Cardinal basketball tonight.

16 down, 15 to go

Every Thursday night I join some college buddies of mine at a bar in St. Matthews for some beverages, good food and lively banter. When we’re not making fun of one another, we’re usually riffing on the state of the Cardinals, be it football or basketball. There’s even one UK fan that shows up and willingly puts up with us talking trash, because it’s all in good fun.

Lately, it seems a dark cloud has settled over out table near the projection screen. While still jovial and damn funny, seeds of pessimism have sprouted amongst our group. Since I was on my way back from The Belk Bowl (awesome trip, except for the whole losing thing), I missed the Georgetown game, but all reports seem to imply we should’ve won that game. The UK game, which I fully expected us to lose by 15, was much closer than expected, but outside of Russ Smith’s heroics, we looked flat and uninspired. St. John’s was a nice win, but it was expected to be a nice win (anyone find themselves humming Kanye’s “Heartless” when they mentioned Mo Harkless? No? Well, then, um, neither did I.) Saturday’s match-up with Notre Dame went to double OT, with the Irish netting their first road win of the season.

I mention all this because, if you take the 10,000-ft. view (or higher, depending on your corporation’s lingo) our season looks pretty good so far. We’re 13-3, with two losses coming against #2 Kentucky and #11 Georgetown. Our third loss was against a team that historically plays us very tough (seven of the last 11 meetings have gone into OT) and, while maybe not having their usual talent, still has a great coach in Mike Brey. The one freshman (Behanan) that’s been playing since the beginning of the season look as good as any of our other players, Ware is coming along nicely, and Blackshear will be back (hopefully) by the end of the month. A couple of my friends have taken this position, and I can understand why. All great teams have a moment when something clicks and everything seems to get rolling. We haven’t had that moment, but there are still plenty of games left.

The other side of the table is where I’m leaning: We’re 13-3 in spite of our lack of shooting, our lack of team cohesion, and our lack of free-throw making ability. The first half of our season hit its high point with that OT win over Vanderbilt, a team that was without their best player (a Festus miracle?) Our seniors appear to have regressed, our point guard is playing injured and is still expected to get to the hole, and our best player was not all that far away from transferring. The great non-conference schedule we were supposed to face hasn’t lived up to expectations (although Butler is looking decent as of late) and I see some rather brutal road trips in our future.

We have 15 games left this season. To borrow a page from Pitino’s playbook, let’s break them out into three-game series, and see if we can go 2-1 in each. That will give us a record of 23-8, which is a little worse than I expected considering the pre-season hype from Coach P, but respectable nonetheless.

At Providence, DePaul, at Marquette: L, W, L
At Pitt, Villanova, at Seton Hall: W, W, L
Rutgers, UConn, West Virginia: W, L, L
Syracuse, at DePaul, at Cincinnati: L, W, W
Pitt, South Florida, at Syracuse: W, W, L

That rather optimstic scenario puts us at 21-10, which will still get us at least a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament but doesn't bode well for our NCAA seeding. Im not jumping ship, but I am inflating the rafts, just in case.

#25

Cards check in at #25 in the very early preseason rankings for the 2012 season. Here's what ESPN had to say...

25. Louisville Cardinals: Coach Charlie Strong has done a nice job of rebuilding the Cardinals, guiding them to back-to-back bowl games and a share of a Big East title in 2011. Louisville finished 7-6 this past season, despite having one of the youngest teams in the country. The Cardinals started 12 freshmen or sophomores and 11 true freshmen started at least one game in 2011. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, tailback Dominique Brown and receiver DeVante Parker give the Cards a nice foundation on offense, and their defense should get better as a young secondary matures. Louisville's Big East schedule hasn't yet been released, but it will play nonconference games against Kentucky (home), FCS foe Missouri State (home), North Carolina (home) and Florida International (road) in 2012

Official game notes

From the Providence Friars. Lots of good nuggets buried in there about the team that bested Louisville last year in the Dunkin Donuts Center.

Dawson and Brown

Charlie Strong saved the weekend. The football Cards had one of the biggest recruiting days in program history when stud linebackers Keith Brown and Nick Dawson both chose Louisville after the US Army All American game.

This capped a week that also saw UofL land linebacker James Burgess Jr. out of Miami and a pair of Florida Gators transfers, Gerald Christian and Robert Clark. Whew. We're fishin' in a bigger pond now and the water feels wonderful. The articles fawning over what Strong is doing are rolling off the presses (here and here, Miami Hurricanes' sour grapes here).

Lordie, this is fun. The Charlie Strong Express has got us squarely back on the Collision Course.

My Alma Mater Day

(You know the routine by now. You can read previous challenge posts here here here and here)

It's always fun playing tourist in your own city. The competition organizers sent all the contestants back to their respective Big East schools for a home game, providing out-of-towners with car, a food stipend, and hotel accommodations. When asked if I still wanted the same despite the fact that I live here, it took me about a nanosecond to respond "Hell, yes!" Happy second honeymoon, darling.

So what could go wrong? A nice room at the Hyatt. Check. Reservations at Jeff Ruby's for a fancy post-game steak. Check. Stylish vehicle with a trunk-load full of goodies to hand out to fellow Cardinals. Check. Competent offensive basketball team to not ruin the whole shebang. Dammit!

These are the times that try fan’s souls. In a perverse way, it's an enjoyable part of being a fanatic; cannot know the sweet without the bitter sort of thing. Like everyone, I walked out of the Kayefseum in a daze. Here's my thoughts on a memorable weekend, even if for the wrong reasons...

* I agree with the original assessment of Mr. Black that the primary target for ire is, of course, our offense. Style matters; the Cardinals are traditionally a "pretty" basketball team. The fans swoon over a well-executed fast break or dialing in from behind the arc. Even when we're winning, ponderous displays of basketball are upsetting to the Cards fan's psyche. Ponderous displays while losing are downright traumatizing.

Taking 2 OT periods to cross the 60 point barrier is unacceptable. I honestly have no idea what we are trying to achieve when the Cards go into a halfcourt set. The only thing it seems to reliably produce is a wide open look from 3 for Chane Behanan; the problem is, he can't and shouldn't shoot them. So the defense resets and the Cards go one-on-one somewhere to get a shot off.

* There's no use sidestepping the issue. There's a lot of consternation towards Rick Pitino right now and Saturday's crowd was one of the surliest I can remember. Half of Rick's problem is that his default coping mechanism for these situations is to tell everyone that up is down and black is white. The offense isn't the problem, it's the defense when we can't score a lick or Russ Smith is playing poor basketball right now after he pours in 30 points. I know it is self-congratulatory, but I do think UofL fans are more basketball savvy than most. We don't like the team diagnosis to fly in the face of common sense and what we can see with our own eyes.

This is where Rick Pitino's ego becomes a problem. The malfunction doesn't appear to be with any particular player; it's with the system itself. That strikes pretty close to the vest of a college basketball coach, especially one as accomplished as Pitino. But the fact remains, his halfcourt offense is deeply flawed, and honestly, it's been this way for his entire tenure. I can distinctly remember a friend of mine commenting after one of his first games coaching UofL: Why does Ellis Myles always have the ball so damn far away from the basket?

The problems have been masked thus far with great scorers like Reece Gaines, Francisco Garcia, and Preston Knowles. Without a player like that nothing works. Everyone seems to see it except our head coach.

* On the bright side, having tons of free stuff to hand out is a blast. At first it’s a little weird if you don't have a booth set up or anything, people look at you as if you might be deranged. But once the ice is broken you become really, really popular. And Volvo gave away good stuff too, not just some flimsy keychain. I was handing out basketballs, tee-shirts, beer coozies; I've never felt so loved.

* But that was before the game. Like I said, the stands grew ornery as the afternoon gave way to evening. In my opinion, one of the most captivating scenes in sociology transpired in our section when a young man and his girlfriend refused to sit down when they were politely asked to do so. First there was a tete a tete between the young stander and the aggrieved old man; I didn't pay to stare at the back of your head! countered with I paid for my ticket same as you. If you don't like it, STAND! The aggrieved old man looked around for support among the fellow aisle mates and others got in on the act. The funniest part was during extended TV timeouts, the girlfriend of the young stander clearly wanted to sit down, but neither could lest they show weakness. So they stood there and stared stoically and stupidly forward. After the loss, the frustration boiled over and the two were at each other’s throats as I was walking out, craning my neck to see what would happen till the last moment. Fascinating drama.

* Rick Bozich, if you’re ever tempted to write about “easy Saturdays” in advance for the Cards, don’t. Thanks. In advance.

* Rakeem Buckles was awarded 6th Man of the Game honors, but I’m assuming he won by default. After Siva, Buckles play has to be the most concerning on this team. It’s tough to capture in words how out of step he is. His free throw shooting is bad, his three-point shot worse, and his moves around the basket are slow and telegraphed. The only thing I can compare it to is it’s like watching a big power hitter in baseball like Mo Vaughn or David Ortiz after they lose their eye and their bat speed and just flail awkwardly. I hope it’s just a symptom of his slow rehabilitation, but for now Buckles play has become symbolic of a rhythmless offense.

* I take losses about as hard as anyone, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the Cards keep me from a hunk of juicy cow. With gift cards in hand, Mrs. Red and I kept our 8:15 reservation at Jeff Ruby’s where we had a feast that would make Henry VIII blush. I ordered the New York Strip medium rare and it goes down at the top of Mr. Red’s little red book of red meat experiences. Jeff Ruby’s is awesome; it definitely wasn’t what I expected, which was a darkened and stuffy steakhouse. The place is colorful and lively, we got a booth right in front of the enormous saltwater aquarium with nurse sharks in it. It’s expensive as all hell, but if you ever get the opportunity you should definitely treat yourself.

* Russ giveth and Russ taketh away. It was a struggle all game for Smith, but like all reasonable folk have recognized, it should never have gotten to the point of Russ having to play savior each night.

* After Pitino, most of the grousing has been directed towards Peyton Siva. What can you say really? He’s not getting the job done on a number or different levels. Too many turnovers and Siva has been reduced to his one trick in the lane to draw contact and pray for a foul. Criticizing your own team and your own players, college kids that are trying their best to win, is always a tricky proposition. Rightfully so, it invokes a lot of passion and strong sentiments. So let me just say that I love Siva the person/teammate/ambassador for our program but I hate what he’s become as a point guard. I hope you can appreciate the distinction.

* The Hyatt is awesome, it’s the first time I’ve stayed there. In my opinion it’s the nicest of all the downtown old-school hotels. If you go, ask for Room 1109. It has a great view of downtown and the River that you can enjoy from your king size bed.

So my alma mater weekend trip to my own hometown did not go as expected. The season walks forward on the edge of a knife. Everyone I ran into downtown on Saturday was deeply invested; I had conversations with everyone from the hotel concierge to the busboy at Jeff Ruby’s and heard more than a few dollars worth of everyone's two cents. It's rough times for the Cardinals right now, but I keep reminding myself that even the negativity comes from a good place. It causes this much anxiety because Louisville basketball matters so much around here. I take solace in that.