Addressing where Louisville basketball is growing and where it can stand to improve after loss at Clemson.
An up and down season was expected for Louisville basketball. The Cardinals lost a ton of pieces, and Chris Mack’s squad is one of the youngest teams in the country.
However, the loss at Clemson on Wednesday was a bit different. Perhaps it was the rescheduled game, the 9 PM tip on a channel that 70 percent of fans can’t access, or the lethargic play. Whatever the case, the pulse of the fanbase is one that is a bit cranky and growing increasingly impatient.
With that in mind, here are a few delayed thoughts heading into a weekend off.
Louisville’s defense is improving
I think the first thing that I have loved about Louisville basketball of recent is that its defense is trending in the right direction.
The Cardinals have played 10 games since that kind of throw-out loss at Wisconsin. It feels like each game since then UofL does something a little bit better on the defensive end.
I know people are going to look at the scores and think otherwise. The Cardinals allowed 78 to Miami and Florida State. However, this is a situation where those small pieces are starting to come together and I feel that we will see it start to take fruition going forward.
The Clemson game is a perfect example. Yes, the Tigers are offensively challenged. However, Louisville took advantage of Clemson’s weaknesses while limiting its strengths. In the first five minutes, the Cards surrendered 9 points. They allowed 12 over the next 15. Star forward Aamir Simms scored 7 of Clemson’s first 11. He didn’t hit double figures until late in the second half.
Louisville basketball forces a terrible shooting Clemson team into 35 three-point attempts. Clemson attempted the same amount of two-point shots as Louisville made field goals. That was a result of the Cards forcing the Clemson offense, particularly Simms, to the perimeter.
This was also the result of a tactic Mack loves to implement. Louisville closes out hard on a team’s solid three-point shooters. On the other hand, the Cards force, or even bait, a lesser three-point shooter into taking a lot of semi-contested shots. Case in point, Duke’s DJ Steward and Jeremy Roach. The young backcourt duo got what many deemed “open looks” at the end of the contest in Louisville. That was by design. Of course, Louisville doesn’t want the opponent getting a second-change three-point shot off in rhythm down three on its final posession. That’s not ideal. However, if anyone was going to take the final shot, you bet your ass the Cards wanted it to be the guy who took it.
The Clemson game was no different. Simms began operating from the perimeter during the middle of the game. For an undersized Louisville frontcourt, that’s a huge win. The Cards allowed Al-Amir Dawes and Hunter Tyson to fire off 15 threes. Dawes and Tyson shoot 29 and 32 percent respectively on the season. If it weren’t for Dawes hitting an ill-times three towards the end of the game, I feel that this is a much bigger storyline.
The point is, Louisville’s defense is forcing opponents to operate the way the Cardinals want them to operate. That will pay dividends going forward.
Offensive rhythm is a major key
One thing that needs to improve for Louisville basketball going forward is its ability to find an offensive rhythm.
It doesn’t take an expert to see that the Louisville offense was a step off on Wednesday night, and this has been a common theme for Mack’s squad in its losses. Wisconsin is self-explanatory. The Miami game saw a completely lackluster and frustrated Louisville offense in the first half. Florida State stifled the offense long enough to take a big lead and then matched the Cardinals shot for shot when they settled in in the second half.
So, how does this change? Well, it’s not for a lack of trying on Mack’s part. There’s been a lot of chatter on the social media this season surrounding the Louisville play-calling being bland. On set pieces, I feel this could not be further from the truth. This team runs all of the staples of a traditional Chris Mack offense. There’s ball screens, pick-and-roll action, post down screens, baseline screen action, a variety of horn sets (as detailed during the Clemson broadcast). You can tell this is a well-coached team and the set pieces the Cards run were often well-executed at Clemson but then a point-blank shot was missed.
See the second tweet below for a perfect example of Louisville getting multiple open looks out of a horn set.
Okay, so Louisville is running good offensive plays most of the time, the team appears to have a grasp of the playbook and is giving good effort. So, why isn’t it working?
I think a big challenge going forward is the Cardinals getting into a rhythm. That, essentially, is the issue in my eyes. Players not named Johnson and Jones are not catching and shooting in rhythm. Part of that is inexperience. Part of it is the offense being second-nature for players like Dre Davis, Charles Minlend, JJ Traynor, Quinn Slazinski, and Josh Nickelberry.
What you saw on Wednesday was a lot of Louisville trying to force the issue. Bullying its way into the lane, head-faking, looking to drive and dish with no options, lacking confidence in when to take a shot. Those things will come with time. Against perhaps the best defense it will see all season, Louisville basketball had some serious flaws exposed.
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Louisville’s bigs need to be the aggressor
This is more of a nitpicky thing than a true concern. However, it feels like if Louisville wants to take another step forward without Malik Williams, it is a must. Louisville’s bigs- Withers and Traynor- have to become the aggressors on both ends of the floor.
We have seen Withers and Traynor’s skillsets improve as the season has progressed. What they have lacked though is a tenacity needed from championship-caliber teams. There have been flashes of Withers executing well on tough box-outs, throwing down ferocious dunks, and taking the ball aggressively to the hole. However, we’ve also seen a fair share of Withers being bullied in the post.
Traynor and Davis are certainly better suited as wings. Sam Williamson is definitely more a three than a four. The Cards are playing out of position. However, if Williams is not going to return to full strength in 2021, this is really all the Cards have. Louisville doesn’t have the talent and depth this year to get owned on the boards or allow teams to score using their bigs in iso sets repeatedly. Withers and Davis may have to be the solution down low for the rest of the season. That starts with being the aggressor.
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