Josh Heird . . .
You. Are. On. The. Clock.
President Kim Schatzel . . .
You. Are. On. The. Clock.
Mary Nixon . . .
You (and the rest of the Board of Trustees). Are. On. The. Clock.
There was no reason to bury the lede.
It’s time.
Speak.
* * * * *
There is a sort of symmetry for U of L, the ACC tourney being played in D.C. and all.
The last time the post season get together was there was 2016.
Mike Krzysewski’s team was there.
Jim Boehem’s team was there.
Roy Williams team was there.
Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals were not there thanks to a self imposed ban for one of those late RP era acts of turpitude. I can’t remember which one exactly, there were several. But anyone with more connected synapses than Bella Baxter understands those snafus were contributing factors to the sad state of U of L hoops.
This time around, Coach K is not there, Coach W is not there (except maybe in the stands in a baby blue sweater), Coach B is there but wearing a mic for TV offering laconic observations when Corey Alexander will allow it.
Of course, The Rick is off living a 9th life in the Big East.
And, the University of Louisville basketball team really wasn’t there either.
Though they feigned a presence for a bit.
* * * * *
The Cards shot 55% from the field.
They drained 56% of their triples.
They were a perfect 11/11 at the charity stripe.
And still succumbed to a now 18-14 pack of Wolves, 94-85.
The game, which U of L once led by a dozen (23-11), was knotted at 75 with four and a half to play.
After Kevin Keatts called a timeout, the Cards surrendered triples on consecutive State possessions.
Louisville misfired on its last four FG attempts, 7 of its last 8.
At one point during the early Cardinal glimmer, they had coughed up the rock just once to the eventual winner’s 5. The final turnover stat: L 16, NC State 9. The latter had a points off of margin of ten.
* * * * *
Skyy Clark’s team leading six giveaways was more than offset by his 36 points on glossy shooting (12/17, 7/9, 5/5).
With Louisville down only five with a couple minutes left, Clark never saw the ball again after passing it across the midcourt stripe.
This season is over.
Who’s got next?
— c d kaplan
To blame the past 2 years on Pitino is a joke….if that’s what you were insinuating…
Well to not say the past has gotten them here is incorrect.It has.
It has been 10 years since Louisville mens basketball mattered. With no stability at coaching, injuries, and losing players to the portal, and unable to get players that are blue chips to come to an essentially floundering organization it’s obvious the shine is gone.
Mr Payne said the truth when he got hired, and 3 to 4 years were his words. If he gets canned, once again we start from scratch. Wish the players well wherever they go. Kenny deserves better in my opinion. Kelvin Sampson got time and university behind him, and look what he’s done
Payne failed miserably from the beginning. No sense of urgency. No concept of the job. Poor teaching. Terrible PR—yes, it’s part of this job. BHH’s comments were very insightful. No way it takes 3-4 years in the transfer and NIL era to build even a respectable team. The man was not up to the job. Good bye and good luck.
Well written, Robert.