The Cards lost last night in OT, 94-102.
The disheartening news — other than that cstv.com totally dropped the ball, and nobody outside the arena could watch the game — is that U of L had a sizable lead in the fourth quarter, and frittered it away.
The good news — other than the Cardinals rebounding from the night before’s debacle with pride and resilience — is that the L had as much to do with Caribbean jerk home cooking as it did with what was actually happening on the court.
Though, again, that cry of foul comes from intuition, reading the stat sheet, and a sense of the scene from listening to The Rick on the radiocast.
Four Cardinals fouled out. Mangok Mathiang, Anas Mahmoud, Ray Spalding and Donovan Mitchell were all whistled for the limit, none getting more than eighteen minutes of action. Trey Lewis was charged with four infractions.
Louisville was 16/23 at the line. That’s 70% shooting.
But Puerto Rico was 32/42 at line. Thus making nine more FTs than U of L attempted. The foul disparity was similarly imbalanced. The Cards were charged with 34, the home team with 18.
But, bottom line, despite the improvement and smiles for its effort, Louisville lost.
The effort though should put smiles on the faces of Cardinal fans. Remember, it’s only August.
Jaylen Johnson stood up, making 7/8 FTs late to keep the Cards in the game.
Ray Spalding was a stalwart at the defensive end, during his stint before fouling out. His +11 +/- was best on the team.1
Damion Lee was 11/18 from the field for 29.
Quentin Snider played error-less ball and it sounded like he was in the middle of a number of key plays down the stretch. Including two at the end of regulation that got the Cards to OT.
It sounded as if, yet again, Matz Stockman did little. I, for one, am getting a little tired of hearing, “Nice move by Stockman. Oh, but he missed the shot. Someday, he’s going to finish those.”2
Listening to Pitino’s comments during the second stanza was illuminating. If only we could have watched what he was describing in observant Hall of Fame coaching detail. Which brings me to . . .
* * * * *
. . . the ongoing ineptitude of cstv.com, the company contracted to stream the games online for Cardinal fans.
Last night, they weren’t able to generate a signal from the arena.
Added to the previous woes, which I detailed in my blogs about the first two nights of play, it was the last straw for me. And at least one other inveterate Cardinal fan with whom I chatted during the game.
I called cstv.com, and asked for a refund of my money. Which, to their credit, was granted easily and without objection. The number is 1-800-781-9444, should you be so inclined. Click #2 for Billing.
One more reminder, the Terms of Agreement, for those who signed up to watch the games, state the subscription automatically renews each month. To cancel, and avoid ongoing charges, one must go to “My Account” and cancel.
— Seedy K
SeedyK, your ire for the Puerto Rico telecasts seems misplaced. The U of L Athletic Department is not cheap, but it does seem to be run by moneygrubbers. Why not work out a deal with our highly competent, local channel?, even pay WHAS or whoever to carry the games. For god’s sake. To continually nickel and dime Cardinal fans at every turn (and with third-rate video coverage, in this case) is irritating as hell. Seems to me this was an opportunity to show Cards fans a little love this summer.
BlindLuck, as a loyal reader — Thank you for that — you are aware that, despite my allegiance to U of L, I have had no qualms about calling out the Athletic Department. Especially for its moneygrubbing ways, you mentioned. That said, I’m not sure it is the culprit here. cstv.com is part of the CBS family, I believe, and has been, I am led to believe, a reliable source of online streaming of college sports. I have to believe U of L thought this to be a reliable method of streaming the games. I daresay it wouldn’t be a moneymaker for anyone. I know a lot of tried and true, long time Cardinal fans, who simply aren’t obsessed enough to sit at their computers on six August nights to watch these exhibition games. Even at ten bucks for the package. The process has been frustrating and, as you say, irritating. To say the least.
……….it is August……
where do I find out about the competition for the starting QB job or for a spot on the OL?
Basketball can wait and I can’t believe anybody with any sense would waste their time and money to watch this off season, poorly officiated debauchery of basketball. Let’s just hope the boys get home without running into the Sharks or the Jets while in PR and make it back in one piece…….
Yo, JGJ, you the dude with the “source.” What’s the story on the OL and QB?