U of L CardFile: Duke

Basketball,

It was a Dickensian nightmare.

The best of times. The worst of times.

A Tale of Two Halves.

So, the answer to the question I’ve been asked over and over again for the last several weeks is . . .

. . . “No it is apparent we are not ready to beat Duke.”

 * * * * *

There was a play that underscored why long after Duke had taken over the game with a 9 zip run for a 56-53 lead.

Down 7 with hope fading, U of L put on a dang nice full court press. But Duke — better, quicker and truly astute — made a couple of passes and the truly gifted rookie Cameron Boozer laid in a bunny for a 75-66 advantage.

Jon Scheyer — a worthy and wise successor to the GOAT — made some learned adjustments at the half. Louisville was unable to do anything they’d gotten away with in the 1st.

The outcome — 84-73 — was inevitable and inexorable. Yes, redundant, but used  for emphasis.

After draining 10 of 21 triples in the opening stanza, the Cards were 2/17 in the 2d. Most of which after halftime were launched by guys that aren’t  U of L’s long range marksmen.

Credit the Blue Devil D.

Khani Rooths was +13 in the opening twenty in nine minutes of action, and put the clamps on the victors’ ace better than any other Cardinal. Then only played three minutes after the break.

I’ve got no explanation for that curiosity.

Though more PT for him would not have changed the outcome.

U of L never trailed in the 1st, led for 19:02.

Three early turnovers and some missed shots after intermission took the wind out of U of L’s sails. And energy out of the building.

 * * * * *

When Aly Khalifa banked in an early trey for a 12-9 advantage, it seemed an omen.

When he swished three more before the break, more so.

But no, Duke wasn’t going to let that happen again. Except for that meaningless triple at the end.

Among the other savvy changes after the break, Scheyer, realizing his PG could have his way off the bounce, let Caleb Foster loose. He was 7/8 in the second, all at the rim.

Yes, I’m talking way more about the Cardinals’ foe than usual. Duke is just better.

But, let me be clear. U of L didn’t play a really bad game. They were much more competitive than against Tennessee and Arkansas. They were simply thwarted, just not good enough.

 * * * * *

Of course, the FT disparity was a big difference.

D: 19/28. L: 9/12.

But Louisville was whistled for only three more fouls than the Blue Devils.

Yes, there were some questionable — arguably bad — calls. One on Rooths under the hoop in the first was egregious. Cameron Boozer scooted ten feet across the hardwood in the 2d, ball in hand, and no whistle for traveling.

Even though it was statistically the difference in the game, it wasn’t why U of L lost.

Or, so I’d offer.

It wasn’t fun to watch it play out.

Not easy to write about.

So it goes.

— c d kaplan

 

 

18 thoughts on “U of L CardFile: Duke”

  1. Embarrassing loss–again. PK refuses or does not know how to make adjustments. Maybe play zone defense to stop the dribble drives. Something!

  2. Guard penetration has killed the Cards the last two games- try something different- a ZONE- make them shoot from outside & stop guard penetration

  3. Highly flawed roster and offensive coaching. Gimmick ball. Remains to be seen if PK can get it done, but reportedly we had one of the top NIL packages in college basketball. If true, this is a complete fail. No other way to put it. Every top level team we play smashes us. The proof is in the pudding. I saw other vs Kansas. Remember, Seedy?

    2. As to the highly flawed roster – my biggest concern is that we are going to be guard heavy, shouldn’t we have guards that can play defense? We haven’t been able to stop penetration against any decent team we have played.

  4. Word of the night-ADJUSTMENT.
    Duke’s coaching staff thoroughly understands the concept in the hoops context. Card’s staff didn’t have a clue how to ADJUST to the Duke ADJUSTMENT. Tonight the “academic” school proved they could solve the the first half math problem better than the Cards could solve the second half math problem.
    And oh yes, Duke has and had better players!

  7. First of all – Duke has been a 2nd half blitz team all season long – We saw indisputable proof of that in the adjustments the calmly brilliant and astute coach Jon Scheyer and his staff made when arguably the Cards played one of their best halves oof the season –

    I totally agree with Scorpiocard – Doughboy & all of the other comments –

    Additionally I have to keep up my continuing disappointment with this whole NIL fiction Scorpio rightly brings up – I do single out McNotThreely who continues to clunk 3’s (1/4) and is such a poor defensive player and this PK philosophy of “ live by the 3- die by the 3” .

    I am beginning to think we look like an NIT team not an NIL team — as we stink on the road –

    Thoughts ?

    1. Back before the season, during the summer, there was all kinds of noise and innuendo about us having one of the largest basketball NIL war chests. I read more than one article with statements from recruiting insiders who named us among the schools flashing the most money to players. If this is true, that we were one of the top spenders and this is the product we got, it is very concerning.

      And is this the Bobby Petrino recruiting philosophy of over loading at one or two positions, like he did with QBs and WRs? Why do we have so many guards? Even with one down we still have more than we need. Heck, most of our bigs play like they are guards. Where’s the beef?

      1. Loves the feedback Scorpio 👍didn’t some of you guys complain about our coach & assistants never really having experience coaching big men – maybe that’s part of the answer ‼️

        I left Seedy a voicemail a bit ago in reply to his newest tome he sent out saying that I am happy he took a “morning after” pill but I stand by my concerns that until we can consistently show this team can win on the road on the ACC the jury is still out no matter what Pomeroy et al say ‼️No woiulda coulda shoulda about beating Stanford if Mikell had played /

        I just am not sure yet if we have the wherewithal to move forward as much as hoped – and using our early exuberant win against U.K. as an example of our doesn’t really look as good now as it did –

        GO CARDS ‼️

        1. You are welcome.

          Yes I did check and all of PK’s assistants were guards during their playing careers. What I did was speculate that could be a reason for the lack of focus on inside offensive play. It was an observation and question. Obviously we don’t know if that is the reason we have basically no low post game. I don’t really know what their experience is.

          I read somewhere that the uk win has dropped from Quad 1 to Quad 2.

  8. First of all – Duke has been a 2nd half blitz team all season long – We saw indisputable proof of that in the adjustments the calmly brilliant and astute coach Jon Scheyer and his staff made when arguably the Cards played one of their best halves oof the season –

    I totally agree with Scorpiocard – Doughboy & all of the other comments –

    Additionally I have to keep up my continuing disappointment with this whole NIL fiction Scorpio rightly brings up – I do single out McNotThreely who continues to clunk 3’s (1/4) and is such a poor defensive player and this PK philosophy of “ live by the 3- die by the 3” .

    I am beginning to think we look like an NIT team not an NIL team — as we stink on the road –

    Thoughts ?

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