Pete Cautilli – The Cardinal Connect
If you missed Monday’s edition of Inside The Press Box, here is the podcast. Click here to listen from your mobile device.
On today’s show we recapped the Louisville regular season and the story book ending on Senior Day as the Cards crushed UConn. We also talked about their best possible seed and the AAC tournament draw. Don’t forget to tune-in weekdays from 5-6 on 1450 The Sports Buzz.
Photo: Pete Cautilli – The Cardinal Connect
Cardinal Connect photographer Pete Cautilli was on hand Saturday afternoon as Louisville crushed Connecticut on Senior Day.
Pete got some great shots of the action as Russ Smith, Luke Hancock, Stephan Van Treese and Tim Henderson played their last game at the KFC Yum! Center.
Make sure you check out Pete’s personal photography website PeteCautilli.Zenfolio.com.
Louisville vs. UConn Senior Day, a set on Flickr.
Pete Cautilli – The Cardinal Connect
It was a story book ending for the four Louisville Cardinals who played their final game at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday afternoon. Louisville took an early lead and never really looked back, cruising to a 81-48 blowout win over Connecticut.
With the win, Louisville shares the American Athletic Conference regular season title with Cincinnati. Both teams finished with 13-3 league records. Following the win, there was a coin flip to decide who gets the top seed in next week’s conference tournament. Cincinnati won the toss and has been awarded the No. 1 seed.
“Louisville took advantage of everything we did,” UConn head coach Kevin Ollie said following the game.
“We weren’t ready to play. Louisville took advantage of everything. Coach Pitino coached a hell of a team and those players played. They played like champions and we didn’t”
In his final game as a Cardinal, Russ Smith had an unusual stat line. Smith finished with just three points and only attempted two field goals. He finished with a career high 13 assists, which is just two shy of the school record. Smith’s unselfish play led to plenty of scoring opportunities for his teammates.
Luke Hancock had a slow start to the game and was in foul trouble early on, but he caught fire in the second half, connecting on 4-of-7 from behind the three point line. Hancock finished with 16 points.
In 24 minutes of action, Stephan Van Treese had arguably his best performance of the season. SVT finished with just six points, but had 13 rebounds and was very active in the paint. If he plays like that from here on out, Louisville will be a much more dangerous team in March. The Cards haven’t been getting much from the center position all season. Here’s to hoping Van Treese can build off of his big performance.
Montrezl Harrell isn’t a senior, but today may have been the last time we’ll see him in the KFC Yum! Center. Harrell picked up right where he left off against SMU. Dunking on opponents and owning the backboard. Harrell finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Louisville will open post-season play on Thursday at 3 PM in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Tournament. They’ll play the winner of Rutgers and South Florida.
Photo: Associated Press – John Rhodes
If you missed Thursday’s edition of Inside The Press Box, here is the podcast. Click here to listen from your mobile device. On today’s show we recapped Louisville’s big road win at SMU and Russ Smith’s heroic second half performance. We were also joined by Greg Brohm in the second segment. Tune-in on Friday from 5:00 – 5:30 as we preview Senior Day.
Photo: Jim Cowsert – USA Today Sports
For the first time this season, Rick Pitino and the Cards were able to hold on to a second half lead and close the game with a victory. Although they pulled out the win against Cincinnati, keep in mind, they let a nine point lead slip and gave up the lead with under 20 seconds left.
In regards to finishing a game, I don’t think you’ll find a better one on the resume that tonight’s 84-71 win on the road at SMU. To say Louisville bounced back from a poor start to the game would be an understatement.
Turnovers and missed layups had Louisville fans extremely frustrated at the beginning of the game. Fortunately, once they were able to settle down and get some stops defensively, Louisville turned a 26-12 deficit into a two point half team lead.
SMU started the second half with a 5-0 run, before Chris Jones single handedly gave the Cards the lead once again. Jones made some mistakes early on with bad shots and poor decisions, but following the first few minutes he played very well. Jones finished with 21-points, connecting 4-of-7 three point attempts. He also collected six steals.
Once Louisville got a slight lead in the second half and SMU starting point guard Nic Moore picked up his fourth foul, Russ Smith simply took over. Russ attempted six three pointers in the second half made all of them. He made three in a span of 72 seconds. Russ later had three pointers on consecutive possessions with defenders in his face.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that was the best single performance in a half since Kyle Kuric against Syracuse in the final game against Freedom Hall.
In regards to national respect, I’m not sure how much credit Louisville will get for the win, but regardless, I think we learned a lot about this team tonight. Although most won’t see a win at SMU as a statement, a win on the road against a top 20 team certainly can’t hurt.
The Cards will close the 2013-14 regular season on Saturday when they host Connecticut for Senior Day.
If you missed Wednesday’s edition of Inside The Press Box, here is the podcast. Click here to listen from your mobile device.
On today’s show we spent the majority of the hour discussing Louisville’s tough test on the road against SMU. This will be a great late season test for Cards. Don’t forget to tune-in on Thursday from 5-6 on 1450 The Sports Buzz, as we’ll hopefully recap a nice road win.
If you missed Tuesday’s edition of Inside The Press Box, here is the podcast. Click here to listen from your mobile device.
On Tuesday’s show we discussed Louisville’s Vegas odds in the big dance and Rick Pitino’s surprisingly nice comments about Kentucky’s John Calipari. Tune-in on Wednesday from 5-6 on 1450 The Sports Buzz for the Louisville vs. SMU pregame show.
Pete Cautilli – The Cardinal Connect
I’ll be the first to admit that when Chane Behanan was dismissed from the Louisville basketball program at the beginning of the calendar year, my outlook for the 2013-14 season changed.
It’s not that one player makes that big of a difference and to be honest, Behanan wasn’t playing as well as he had in years past. With that said, Louisville’s already thin and undersized front court got even smaller.
The team had already been struggling on the backboard and wasn’t producing many points from the front line. At the time, the loss of Behanan appeared to be one of the worst things that could have happened to the team.
Two months later, Chane Behanan’s dismissal doesn’t seem like such a huge blow. Thanks to Montrezl Harrell, Louisville’s thin and undersized front court isn’t noticed quite as much anymore. Sure, the Cards are still getting out-rebounded in the majority of their games, but Montrezl Harrell’s offensive impact and shot blocking ability has made it much less of a factor.
Harrell had lofty expectations heading into his sophomore campaign. After an impressive stint with the United States U19 National Team and a solid showing at the Adidas Nations event over the summer, Harrell was a projected lottery pick by most.
In each and every game this season we’ve seen something from Montrezl Harrell that shows why he’s so highly coveted by NBA Draft experts. Guys like Harrell with that type of length, athleticism and motor isn’t something that comes along very often.
To start the season, he wasn’t playing poorly by any means; however Harrell appeared to be very raw. He had the athletic ability and size to play with anyone, but it was obvious that his offensive game in the post and his defensive IQ needed to improve. In a matter of four months, Harrell has polished his game and it’s been a key factor in Louisville’s 13-3 conference record.
The fact that Harrell has become an effective offensive weapon for the Cards has been a game changer. Russ Smith isn’t the only guy you can depend on for a bucket when you desperately need it. Unfortunately, Harrell’s teammates stopped looking his way in the second half against Memphis.
Let’s hope that was a mistake that this team will learn from. Harrell still isn’t a player that you can throw the ball inside to each and every possession, but he’s become too effective around the basket to not be an integral part of the offense.
This is still Russ Smith’s team and he’s the most important player for the Cards, but at this point, Montrezl Harrell is a close second.
Andy Lyons – Getty Images
If you missed Monday’s edition of Inside The Press Box, here is the podcast. Click here to listen from your mobile device.
On Monday’s show we recapped Louisville’s loss to Memphis and discussed the concerns in this team’s inability to close games. Callers shared their thoughts on the game and their concerns on this team going forward. Tune-in weekdays from 5-6 on 1450 The Sports Buzz.
Rivals.com
Rick Pitino’s 2014 recruiting class got even bigger on Monday evening. Anas Osama Mahmoud, a 7-foot-2 center from Egypt verbally committed to the Louisville.
Mahmoud’s guardian confirmed the news shortly after 5 PM on Monday. Jody Demling of CardinalAuthority.com was the first to report the story.
The three star prospect has been on Louisville’s radar for the past few months, but wasn’t considered to be a Louisville lean in recent weeks. Mahmoud took an official visit to Louisville in October and visited the Yum! Center unofficially in January when the Cards hosted Memphis.
Mahmoud also had scholarship offers from Minnesota, Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Arizona State, N.C. State and Central Florida. He took official visits Minnesota and Georgia Tech in mid-February, but apparently he thought Louisville was the place for him.
Mahmoud is originally from Egypt, but attends West Oaks Academy in Orlando, FL.
Rick Pitino now has two seven footers in the 2014 class. 7-foot-2 Norway native Matz Stockman verbally committed to and signed his letter of intent with Louisville in November. This is the first time in program history that multiple seven foot prospects in the same recruiting class have signed with the Cards.
Rick Pitino now has six commitments total in the 2014 class. Mahmoud is expected to sign his letter of intent this week, which will make his commitment official.
The Cardinal Connect
