Here’s how Coach Chris Mack generally assessed the Cardinals performance in last night’s 8 point W over Vermont: “I thought our team, for the first 32 minutes, played as well as we have all year against a really good team.”

That is understatement. Which is what good coaches do with teams still under development.

Truth is, for the first 32 minutes — 32:45 to be exact — the Cards were vastly better than in their first two tilts against significantly lesser foes than the Catamounts.

They moved the ball more crisply on offense. As often as not making the extra pass to a guy most open. They were aggressive to the hoop, even the usually hesitant VJ King more than he has shown so far this campaign.

The Cardinals were shooting it really well. At that juncture, over 60% in the 2d. They finished at 57% for the half, 53% for the game. They continued to drain their FTs at a 70+% rate.

Most important, they’d turned the ball over only FOUR times. Tell me the last time a U of L team had been that steady?

Then matters got tweedly. Continue reading Louisville CardFile: Vermont →

Before we get to a discussion of the Cards improved performance in a 50 point rout of #343 Southern, I feel compelled to comment on the three fellows who turned this into the most boring couple of hours — or me anyway — since I attempted to watch on Netflix the new Orson Welles release, “The Other Side of the Wind.”

It is the zebras to whom I refer. A.J. Desai. Tony Chiazza. Jeffrey Anderson.

As they blew whistle after whistle after whistle after whistle, throwing in a replay review now and again and again to ensure there was no flow to the game, I wondered if they hadn’t been watching “Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs” before the game.

“Just whistle while you work/ And cheerfully together we can tidy up the place.”

I mean, come on, guys. 65 fouls. A third of them on the offensive end. (Which, in context, was arguably a blessing. Otherwise, we’re talking 80-90 FTs, instead of a mere 64.) I know, the opener against Nicholls State was bad, but this seemed even more laborious.

Fortunately, this is so far U of L’s best performing gang at the charity stripe in years. The Cardinals were 31/39 against the Jags, which is but a smidge under 80%.

Those three Least Valuable Players in the stripped shirts turned the game into a wearisome slog. Shame on ’em.

(For contrast, take the threesome who worked the harum scarum up and down back and forth frolic that was Georgetown’s entertaining 88-80 W at Illinois. Pat Driscoll, Paul Szelc and John Gaffney were judicious with their foul calls, never impeding the play unnecessarily. What a pleasure that was to watch after the Cards took care of their biz.)

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Let’s hear it for the Cardinals’ Animal Ball mentality. Continue reading Louisville CardFile: Southern →

It ranks among the holiest of the Holy Days.

Easter. Christmas. So sacred that there was a humbler time when commercial establishments actually closed so the faithful could focus on their faith.

Yom Kippur. A day of fasting from sundown to sundown. A day to atone for a year’s worth of  transgressions.

Ramadan. Trips to Mecca for the most ardent of the acolytes.

Festivus. Pole dancing as religious sacrament.

For the followers who call themselves Hoopaholics, there is an even more consecrated day of the year.

Opening tip of the season. For Louisville Cardinal fans, it is the opportunity to savor their favorites against an outside opponent in the Yum!, the World’s Most Incredible Ab Fab Arena, that also is the only venue in town larger than SE Christian.  Continue reading U of L CardFile: Bellarmine →