Tag Archives: Bellarmine Knights

U of L CardFile: Bellarmine

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So, what is there to be learned about the Louisville Cardinals from this one, an easy 100-68 victory over perhaps the least good team of the Scotty Davenport regime at Bellarmine? Minus one of their best players at that.

U of L was also short-handed.

Before tip, it was announced that Koron Johnson was not going to play because of a shoulder injury. He, of course, Louisville’s PG#2. Which role was filled by Terrence Edwards Jr.

And that Kader Traore is going to be out for awhile with a broken arm.

So, that’s never good any time, especially three games into the season for a still coalescing contingent. Especially for a team that plays fast paced and needs lots of interchangeable parts to maintain the zest.

Any other negatives, before I move on to a number of heartening developments? Continue reading U of L CardFile: Bellarmine →

CardFile: Bellarmine

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There was an inevitability to this.

Your scribe has told the story, yet does so again in part. For it informs Bellarmine’s first ever W over Louisville.

After this opener was announced, he saw Scotty Davenport last summer on his jog near the Reservoir off Frankfort Avenue. Out the window, he yelled in jest to his old pal, “You need to get U of L to play you all in Freedom Hall.”

Davenport’s demeanor turned on a bitcoin from Hail Fellow Well Met to Apoplectic.

“It’ll never happen . . . ever . . . they’re only playing us because of the volleyball deal . . . ”

Even though, like Louisville, his Knights are undergoing a rebuild, Scotty smelled blood in the water.

Davenport knew his chance to vent those frustrations was last night. He had his team ready.

Bellarmine 67, Louisville 66.

 * * * * *

The issue that will likely plague U of L all season was apparent last night. Continue reading CardFile: Bellarmine →

Hump Day Hum: Inner City Blues, The Letter +

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So, I ran into Scotty Davenport the other day by the Water Company Reservoir, where he was taking a break from his jog.

When he noticed it was me who stopped and rolled down the car window, he smiled and waved.

Because it’s what I do, I shouted, “You need to get the Cardinals to come play you at Freedom Hall!”

Have you ever seen how Davenport reacts on the sideline when he doesn’t like a call, how his demeanor changes, how he goes after the ref, and doesn’t give up? Well, that’s what happened when he heard what I said.

His animus wasn’t directed my way, but in the direction of U of L.”

“Never gonna happen. Never.

“It’s just that volleyball . . .

“Who do Louisville fans hate the most?”

Before I could answer, he did so himself.

“Kentucky. Well, Louisville’s the same person.” Continue reading Hump Day Hum: Inner City Blues, The Letter + →

Throwdown Thursday: Cats Roll, Knights Stymied & Mo’

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b-ballOther than his remarkable way with words, I don’t know much about T.S. Eliot.

Except this. He wasn’t a college basketball fan.

Contrary to his famous poesy, March, not April, is the cruelest month.

As the commercial goes, “everybody knows that.”

But, did you know . . .

. . . as with Murray State, whose chances for the Dance were thwarted by a late, late long ball, and whose advancement in the NIT was dispatched by a midcourt miracle, Bellarmine’s season was abruptly terminated last night in the DII national semis by a treybomb with the clock winding down?

Damn it.

In a scintillating basketball game, which met my expectations that it would be the most intriguing and exciting of the evening, top-ranked, top-seeded Florida Southern 79, Bellarmine 76. Continue reading Throwdown Thursday: Cats Roll, Knights Stymied & Mo’ →

Knights Slay Dragons: Bellarmine Rolls into National Semis

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BellarmineOh mercy, she was a headline writers dream, wasn’t she?

Bellarmine Knights 92, Minnesota State-Moorhead Dragons 75.

Knights. Dragons. The former winning readily easily over the latter. Slaying them, if you will. And I do.

You get it?

Of course you do.

If only it was so easy all the time.

* * * * *

What wasn’t quite so easy was watching the game.

While tonight’s Division II national semi-finals in Evansville will be televised on CBS Sports Network (TWC HD, Channel 968), last night’s viewing required a computer.

And, as if we need yet another thing the NCAA does to complain about, we got one. Whereas watching a streaming game on ESPN is in HD, and one can go full screen without losing much fidelity, that wasn’t the case with yesterday’s Div II quarter-finals, airing at ncaa.com.

The little bitty picture was fine. But, when expanded to full screen, fidelity faltered, extreme pixelation ensued, and I couldn’t hit the Esc key fast enough. My septuagenarian eyes faltered as the game progressed.

Which plaint is proffered for the less than fully astute analysis to follow. Continue reading Knights Slay Dragons: Bellarmine Rolls into National Semis →

Knight Time is Right Time: Bellarmine Rolls into Elite 8

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BellarmineIt is a marvel this Madness known as March.

Games given. Tilts taken.

Foes unfamiliar, meeting by chance, reconnoitering to find passage through unknown territory. Rivals familiar, like cousins wary of each other at Thanksgiving dinner, probing for a previously undiscovered flaw to be exploited.

With Bellarmine vs. Indianapolis, pride, revenge and a trip to the Elite 8 on the line, it is most assuredly the latter.

Before the Regional Final Tuesday night, the schools had battled thrice already since the turn of the calendar, with BU holding a 2-1 advantage. The Knights and Greyhounds met four times in ’14. BU 2, UI 2, with the Hoosiers eliminating the Knights from last season’s Dance. And three encounters, the season prior. BU 2, UI 1.

Tuesday’s affair, the eleventh encounter in 26 months, was appropriately cranked to Spinal Tappian 11. To coin a phrase, familiarity breeds contempt.

The schools have the same colors, for heaven’s sake. Continue reading Knight Time is Right Time: Bellarmine Rolls into Elite 8 →

Knight Time: Bellarmine Rolls In NCAA Opener

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BellarmineIt’s not like the gym hasn’t showcased some serious basketball through the decades.

Knights Hall, I’m talking about.

Back in the day, when you thought of a team in t-shirts, a real tradition not some apparel company insistence, Evansville’s Aces were the deal. The perennial power, featuring future Hall of Famer Jerry Sloan, plowed through Norris Place on the way to a national crown.

When the traditional all-black schools still played in relative anonymity and were enshrouded with mythos, Norfolk State took the KH hardwood with future NBA champion Bobby Dandridge at a forward spot. Clarence “Big House” Gaines’ South Carolina State squad came ballin’. It featured He Who Is The Pearl, Hall of Famer Earl Monroe.

So this hallowed Hall, where you can park for free within yards of the door, still buy popcorn from an honest to Betsy student working her way through school, see a game completed in less than two hours, and where the seat furthest from the jump circle is a better view than your Lazy Boy, is the most hallowed hoops venue in town with the lights still on.

And is the perfect home to the Bellarmine Knights, who — I’ve said it before and now repeat — play as immaculate a game of offensive basketball as one can see these days. In any division of the sport. Continue reading Knight Time: Bellarmine Rolls In NCAA Opener →

Louisvllle Card File: Bellarmine (Includes Analysis of Upcoming Season) + Bonus Music Video

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joaniecardNow that U of L has whooped up on Scotty Davenport’s solid but eminently DII Bellarmine Knights, it’s time to assess the possibilities and probabilities for the ’14-’15 edition of the University of Louisville hoop squad. (With a contemplation of the Knights also down below.)

At this juncture, as it comes before each season begins, it is always important that I remember one important thing.

Do not misunderestimate Rick Pitino.

It took U of L’s second Hall of Fame coach in a row awhile to get his mojo woikin’ here, but things started falling in place, when he tweaked his recruiting focus, and moved beyond some personal situations.

TWill was a plane crash waiting to happen. But his presence begat Peyton Siva. The loss of big recruiting target Fab Melo begat a consolation prize named Gorgui Dieng. Luke Hancock with his steely resolve transferred in.

Along with the evolution of Pitino’s mo’ betta take on the current college game came the success of recent seasons. That elusive third national crown. Another out of the blue Final Four in ugly orange unis. Etc, etc.

Which I mention because the success quotient for this season’s squad is far from a given. Continue reading Louisvllle Card File: Bellarmine (Includes Analysis of Upcoming Season) + Bonus Music Video →