Blackshear showed up on both ends of the floor which really is unusual as he is really good at losing his man defensively. Nice to see him have a big game. Free throws well.......about as bad as you can get. I know a couple big guys were banged up tonight so hopefully they get healthy soon.

 

They do defend and foul and I thought the referees called a very tight game (all the way around...not saying anything was one sided) which led to both teams shooting free throws which led to both teams missing a lot of free throws. :eek:

 

Honestly the gap between 1-4 and the rest of college basketball is as wide as it can get. And I am not even sure if Arizona and Wisconsin are not in the "rest of the country" group and not the elite. Might be looking at 1 and 2 then everybody else................

Yeah I forgot about Blackshear's game last night. I thought it was interesting that the commentators pointed out a comment Pitino said about Blackshear, saying he's the only one whose never gotten better. Sure looked better last night.

My thoughts:

 

The Egyptian kid was awful! Is this his 1st year playing bball?

 

Sloppy, sloppy game all around.

 

Ricky P. looks bad. Can someone give him a little blush or something; he is as pale as a ghost.

 

Go Cards!

Well the way I was looking at it the Egyptian kid is 4th on the depth chart at the "5" behind the two big men that got the quick fouls and one player who is hurt.

My thoughts:

 

The Egyptian kid was awful! Is this his 1st year playing bball?

 

Sloppy, sloppy game all around.

 

Ricky P. looks bad. Can someone give him a little blush or something; he is as pale as a ghost.

 

Go Cards!

 

As to Anas Mahmoud: no it's not his first but it's close. And he's a freshman. I thought he did really well. Nobody thought he would even play but with Mathiang nursing an ankle and in early foul trouble (as with Onawaku) and with the other freshman seven-footer hurt, there he was. I thought seven rebounds and two blocks was pretty good for a No. 4 center suddenly called in to play against a Top 25 opponent.

Or maybe it was past midnight on a Tuesday night...

 

I got home from the game and was dead to the world within 15 minutes. :lol2:

UofL was awful offensively in the second half. When Mahmoud's in the game, none of the players seem to trust him to do anything. It'll be critical to keep Onawaku and Mathiang out of foul trouble or Louisville's offense is apparently going to grind to a halt.

 

Something tells me Pitino and his assistants are going to spend a lot of time with these guys over the next few weeks on how to get into the middle of a zone; they looked absolutely befuddled by it in the final 20.

UofL was awful offensively in the second half. When Mahmoud's in the game, none of the players seem to trust him to do anything. It'll be critical to keep Onawaku and Mathiang out of foul trouble or Louisville's offense is apparently going to grind to a halt.

 

Something tells me Pitino and his assistants are going to spend a lot of time with these guys over the next few weeks on how to get into the middle of a zone; they looked absolutely befuddled by it in the final 20.

 

I noticed that too.

I noticed that too.

 

It might be that they just don't practice with him enough but it was unacceptable.

 

Every guard in America should know that finding a big man at the top of the lane is essential for breaking down the zone. Mahmoud knew it and he would stand there at the free throw line with his hands up waiting for the ball and Jones and Rozier would just stare at him then keep passing around the arc. It was infuriating.

UofL was awful offensively in the second half. When Mahmoud's in the game, none of the players seem to trust him to do anything. It'll be critical to keep Onawaku and Mathiang out of foul trouble or Louisville's offense is apparently going to grind to a halt.

 

Something tells me Pitino and his assistants are going to spend a lot of time with these guys over the next few weeks on how to get into the middle of a zone; they looked absolutely befuddled by it in the final 20.

Herral knew how. I don't know how many times I counted him standing in the lane last night 10 seconds at a time. Wouldn't give him the ball.

To me, Jones and Rozier need to improve playing off each other. Didn't think they looked too comfortable last night. Maybe the zone had something to do with it.

I think it's a good win for UL, simply because it's not against a cupcake. I doubt Ohio State deserved its high ranking, but they're a Top 25 team IMO.

 

Cards came out of the gate looking really good, thanks in large part to stifling defense & the play of Blackshear, who for the first time looked like the All-American he was coming out of high school.

 

Second half the Cards were really sluggish and settled for way too many jumpers against the zone. They worked the ball around the perimeter, but didn't consistently try to get it in the middle of the zone where they could do some damage.

 

I'm not sure if UL is a top 5 team yet, but they certainly are close. If Blackshear can become a somewhat reliable scorer, they'll be tough.

It was a good win and will look better early March when seeding gets looked at. Ohio St will win a lot of games this season. Louisville had trouble getting the ball down in the post. Blackshear had a great first half but disappeared again in the 2nd half. Had great court side seats last night, the place was jumping. If Jones and Rozier are not in the game at the same time cards really struggle with half court offense. December 27th really is starting to scare me. Darn it!!