Revised 12/08 @ 10:55 am.

Deep in the heart of Louisiana zydeco country, there’s a place called Cafe des Amis. it’s in Breaux Bridge, which is just a few Michael Doucet et Beausoleil-inspired two-step pas des deuxs down the I-10 from Lafayette.

They love their Fais Do Do so much in cajun country, they even party down at that joint on Saturday mornings. True. Starting at, like, 8:30. In the a.m..

The Ragin’ Cajuns brought more than a little of that spirit with them yesterday to the Yum!, where fans who braved the cold and icy streets were treated to the offensingest game, well, ever. At least at the yummy yum Yum!.

The Cards hit triple digits on a Montrezl dunk with 7:38 left on the clock. But the B-ball party started a lot earlier.

The Rick called a timeout with the score knotted at 32 with 7:32 left in the opening stanza. U of L had lead by 11 just moments before. Not sure exactly what advice he gave the Cards, but it sure coulda been, “Allons dansez.” Which, if my Cajun French is even close to correct, means “Let’s all dance.”

So, after the media timeout, which came just a few ticks of the clock later, here’s what the Cards did, possession by possession. A Terry Rozier threeball. A Chris Jones drive and layup. A Mango drive and layup. A Silent L slam.

Of course, the visitors, who know a thing or two about tit for tat, were also scoring. The teams remained knotted at 41. Neither team, you might have observed, was doing much guarding.

After the stoppage, Rozier hit a driving deuce. Then Wayne Blackshear hit two FTs. Chris Jones drove it in for another layin. When CJ hit a FT on the following possession, and another deuce on the next, Louisville had scored nine consecutive times it had the ball.

More important, the Cards, no longer dancing cheek to cheek with the visitors, led 50-41.

After one trip down the court without scoring — “Shame, shame, shame on you, if you can’t dance too”¹ — the Cards tallied their next five possessions, the last two of the first half and first three of the second.

At which juncture, Louisiana Lafayette was behind 47-60, and decided to stop playing defense altogether.

Which is as good a time as any to celebrate with a musical interlude.

* * * * *

 I would argue that Louisville did do the tighten up on D in the second half.

Before the break, the visitors, relatively unimpeded, went 19/31 from the field, including 7/10 from long range. Lordy, the Cards hit over 60% themselves. There were only 25 rebounds total before intermission, so many attempts were finding net.

But, in the second half, the Cajuns were not ragin’.

They were only 7/31 from the field, 2/16 from beyond the arc. While U of L hit over 50% of its shots.

It is from such disparity of numbers that 113-74 victories evolve.

* * * * *

Louisville was 33/40 at the charity line. Very nice.

The Cardinals had 9 steals, 8 blocked shots and only committed 8 turnovers. Very nice.

Six Cardinals were in double figures — Blackshear, Smith, Harrell, Jones, Hancock and Rozier.

I’ll take note, as I usually do, of Wayne Blackshear’s game, which even The Rick admitted was his best as a Cardinal. 15 points, 5 boards, 4 steals in 20 minutes of action.

And, special mention goes to my favorite new Cardinal, Terry Rozier. 11 points on 5/6 shooting. 4 rebounds. And 6 assists, which was four more than any other Cardinal.

* * * * *

For the second game in a row, Kevin Ware was an afterthought.

Yesterday he saw but a wafer thin minute of action. Literally. One minute.

His stat line was zeros across.

So, it’s surely time to ask. Has his physical recovery been slowed? Is he in the doghouse? If so, why?

Further research, which, were I more of a journalist and less of an opionist, I would have discovered before my original post, indicates that, indeed, Ware has done something to piss off The Rick.

I’m tellin’ ya, kids, it’s always a soap opera in CardinalLand.

— Seedy K