At the risk of this seeming a fawning imitation of Glorious Editor, allow me to commence today’s exercise with some metrics. You know, like how he always starts with a point spread or something.
A little thing that will be known from now until Selection Sunday as 3Gs+Net. Referencing the three most respected hoops gurus, Ken Pomeroy, Bart Torkvik and Evan Miyakawa, plus the NCAA’s official rankings.
The Cardinals as of Thursday morning, January 30:
BT: 22.
KP: 25.
EM: 24.
NET: 25. Q1: 5-5, Q2: 3-0, Q3: 4-0, Q4: 4-0.
For comparison, if I counted correctly, there are 20 schools with winning Q1 records, and another dozen or so at .500 like U of L.
Translation: Were the bracket revealed today, U of L would be more than likely on the 5 or 6 line.
Yes, the ACC is down, way down this season. Louisville has not a lot ahead to add gloss to that resumé. Pitt. Stanford? Uh, that’s about it.
Here’s what’ll secure that spot: Just win, baybee. Starting with GT. And winning, as they have during this double digit W streak, by more than the metrics say they “should.”
Then come 7:00 pm on March 16, the Red&Black Nation be goin’ all Nicholas Brothers and Fred & Ginger. Jitterbuggin’.
* * * * *
I do not normally listen to Pat Kelsey’s post game pressers. Either with Bobby V, or with the assembled media.
I like to sit down and knock out my GameCap.
Without distraction. Not paying attention to any other game in a later window. Not listening to Derek Trucks (though more often than not I’ll take in a tune or two from TTB before hitting the sack.) Just me, my notes and numb fingers providing fodder for snark from the Commentariat.
But, flush with joy from another double digit Cardinal win, I watched the video of Pat Kelsey’s thoughts during my morning after caffeination.
What struck me most was PK’s obsessive attention to detail. Like this:
We prepared for their 1-3-1 the last couple of days, but I just didn’t feel going to bed last night that I liked our approach. The staff and I, we watched every possession of their 1-3-1 throughout the course of the season, I think they’ve played 89 possessions throughout the course of the year. We made some tweaks, and at the shootaround yesterday we kind of scrapped what we had done the last couple of days and went to a kind of new attack, and the guys, like they always do, picked it up and executed it really well.
He and his excellent staff, which he obviously relies upon a lot, watched Every Single Possession that Wake had employed a 1-3-1 all season. He knew their were 89 of them.
There’s a descriptor for that: Professionalism.
And this kind of preparation, which he addresses after giving a shout out to the entirety of his staff including first year SID Dana Brown and the student managers:
The scout team guys, like memorizing the sets of the other team, memorizing the baseline out of bounds alignments of the other team, and identifying when the other team lines up in that baseline out of bounds, what’s coming. And they are screaming it out to our players, that matters.
In my game story, I mentioned how Kelsey called a timeout immediately after the team gave up an offensive putback on a missed WF FT when up 70-46.
PK went double entendre, calling it a “Cardinal Sin.”
Finally this:
The last eight minutes it wasn’t that way, but it’s good that we have some teachable moments and some things we can clean up late in the game. I thought we generated some open shots. We couldn’t really get any to go down, and I felt like it kind of affected our defense a little bit, and that hasn’t been the case. It’s good that we have some things and I can have a little bit of an aggressive counseling session with them tomorrow.
PK mentioned how he couldn’t wait to watch the tape of the last eight minute letdown.
This guy . . .
* * * * *
I also listened to an interview with Evan Miyakawa talking about the Cardinals. Whom he projected at 43 before the season.
He mentioned how important it was that U of L overcame a bad night, and still beat Eastern Kentucky. Overcome adversity. A good thing. A huge thing.
One of his deep dive metrics is how much projected offense a team has lost because of injuries.
He advised that not only, due to their significant lost injury time, are the Cards atop the list, they are “comfortably” so. Meaning this gang has had to overcome more adversity because of nicks and bruises and worse than any other school in the land.
Pat Kelsey and what he has wrought. Oh, praise be.
Thank you Naismithius. And your wing man, the Spirit Force of Denny.
These are heady times.
But as University of Louisville Basketball Coach Pat Kelsey has harped on time and again, he, the team and Cardinal Nation need to stay focused on the task at hand.
Beat Georgia Tech.
— c d kaplan
CK very informative article. Yes we should be VERY proud of our basketball team & coaches. They seem to SMOOTH. Experience counts. Traore is going to be one heck of a player. Keep on the fantastic writing.
Very kind. Thanks.
You are the only guy covering our team whom I read without fail. You love it almost as much as I do.
Jimmie, Jimmy, Jim E, “almost as much as you do.” Really???? May be time for a Texas Chainsaw Loser Leaves Town Death Match. Methinks our passion is equal and abundant. But you know that. Go Cards.