Louisville basketball misses opportunities against Virginia; Finds itself squarely on the bubble heading into ACC Tournament.
Louisville basketball lost. Let’s talk about it.
First, here’s some stats. Feast your eyes.
An opposing star went off in two consecutive games
First thing is first. Virginia’s Sam Hauser is one of the better players in the conference. He knew that Duke’s Matthew Hurt went off on the Cards last game. And in Louisville’s previous match-up with the Blue Devils. Isaiah Wong punished the Cards in a match-up earlier in the season.
There is opportunity for guys to take advantage of Louisville’s lack of size, experience, and depth. With a conference championship on the line, Hauser took what was his on Saturday.
24 points on 9-14 shooting, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks in only 30 minutes is efficient basketball. Hauser’s play started the ball rolling for the Cavs and ultimately was the reason Virginia got out to a lead and never surrendered it.
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Missed opportunities without opposing team’s best players
This is what will haunt Louisville basketball if it somehow misses the NCAA Tournament.
Louisville reeled off an 11-0 run in the middle of the second half that put the Cards within four. Jae’Lyn Withers went to the line with a chance to cut the lead to two.
On top of that Hauser was in foul trouble. Tony Bennett pulled Hauser, Jay Huff, and Kihei Clark with 9:39 left. Virginia’s lineup consisted of literally it’s five “worst” rotation players.
Yet, instead of Louisville taking advantage, the Cardinals lost the game over the next 6 minutes. The Wahoos went on an 8-2 run leading into the under four timeout. Bennett insterted Clark. Then Huff. Then Hauser.
Game over.
Fire Dan Dakich into the sun
The fact that this human garbage disposal is still calling games for the four letter network is unreal.
Thankfully, I was viewing this game in-person and only had to deal with TV Teddy and Bennett’s golf pants.
Still, I don’t feel bad for calling for the removal of a man who is known for flat-out making up lies, being sexist, misogynistic, and just a general waste of human space. If you had to listen to him, I am sorry. You deserve better. We all do.
Louisville basketball stars shrunk when it was most important
Carlik Jones’ chances of winning the ACC Player of the Year just went out the window.
It’s honestly one of the more heartbreaking takeaways from this game, but Jones couldn’t make it happen when it mattered the most.
Look, going into the game, I would have told you Louisville needs to live by the Carlik and die by the Carlik. He is probably the program’s best transfer ever. He is certainly the best graduate transfer in UofL basketball history.
However, when the Cards needed Jones to step up, he forced things on offense, got blown by multiple times on defense late in the game, and was just not himself at all. I get it; Virginia will do that to you. The Cavs specialize in taking opposing players out of their games. However, I felt Jones had what it took to overcome that. 2-15 from the floor, 0 rebounds, 6 points, and 6 assists. That is hands down the worst game of the season from Louisville’s leader when they were in desperate need of a victory.
David Johnson was not much better, and also seemed to shrink when the pressure was on. Johnson finished 6-17 with 14 points. He grabbed 2 rebounds and had one assist. That’s not going to get it done.
Virginia only forced Louisville into three turnovers. The rebounding margin was slim. The Cards chipped into UVA’s lead over and over throughout the game.
All of those great things happened, but an 8-for-32 (25%) performance from the field, with only 7 assists and 2 rebounds from Louisville’s star players is what cost the Cards the game.
Clock management and sense of urgency were lacking once again
If there is one thing that I am most frustrated over, it is this.
Louisville basketball could lose 10 games in a row. As long as the team gave 100 percent effort and played with a sense of urgency, I would be okay with it. I would care. I would be mad. But no fan should fault good energy, effort, and situational awareness down the stretch.
In my opinion, we saw none of that in the final segment of this game. Louisville gave the same effort down eight points with 3 minutes left as they did down 40 at North Carolina.
I’ll get into the depth and fatigue issues momentarily. However, I am displeased with the way the waning minutes of this game went. Not because of the results. Not because of missed shots or missed opportunities on the glass. None of that.
When you are losing a game, you play to the whistle regardless of the score. When Louisville was down 9 with 3:00 left, down 9 with under 2:30 left, down 11 with under 2:00 remaining, and down 10 on its final three posessions, the Cards played like a team that knew it would lose.
In my eyes, Louisville conceded defeat. They didn’t pressure off misses, jogged the ball up the floor, and allowed Virginia’s defense to get set. Virginia bench players were diving headfirst out of bounds like they were the team down by double digits. That is unacceptable. That is embarrassing.
Lose. That’s whatever. There will be other games and there will be other seasons. But, please, please, play with consistent energy and effort for a full forty minutes. Louisville basketball has to get to where it can do that before we can talk about winning any big games going forward.
Depth and fatigue played a factor for Louisville basketball
Carlik Jones played 40 minutes. David Johnson played 40 minutes. Samuell Williamson played 38 minutes. Louisville went 7 deep, and that seventh player- JJ Traynor- played four minutes.
It’s understandable that without Malik Williams, the rotation tightens up. However, there was no Charles Minlend tonight. No Gabe Wiznitzer.
Sure, UofL wants to play its two best players as much as possible, but it is killing the Cards to not have anyone come in and give them a break.
Look at Virginia. The Wahoos only go eight deep, but the minute distribution is completely different. Their best players played 32, 30, and 26 minutes. That is a major, major difference. Depth is a bit overrated as you enter the postseason, but not all 7 man rotations are created equal.
Cards face must-win in ACC Tournament and it won’t be easy
Things are changing on an hourly basis, but as of right now, Louisville is likely to play Duke in its first ACC Tournament game on Wednesday.
Forget the “it’s tough to beat a team three times in a row” talk. It’s just tough to beat Duke in general. Much tougher than any team Louisville would have faced in if it had beaten UVA and gotten a double-bye and the three seed.
Best case scenario right now is that Louisville wins on Wednesday and then has to play Florida State or Virginia on Thursday. Gross.
