Louisville basketball’s fall from grace and what I’d like to see change under Mike Pegues

As the final prayer was heaved in the 2013 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship game, the buzzer in the Georgia Dome sounded, fireworks sent Louisville coach Rick Pitino into a duck-and-cover mode in the handshake line, while red and white confetti began raining from the ceiling. Louisville basketball players- and the tens of thousands of their fans in attendance- hugged and celebrated. Many Louisville fans near me exchanged tearful pleasantries as an army of yellow-clad Michigan fans somberly exited through the blizzard of shredded paper.

Back in Louisville, Kentucky, thousands of students and fans poured out onto West Cardinal Boulevard, celebrating and shouting into the night sky. School was canceled the next day. Cars were overturned and on fire. The city was a party all the way into the Kentucky Derby Festival.

Regardless of age or background, most Louisville basketball fans had waited a long time for the Cardinals’ third national title in 2013. Those who were around from the beginning of the Denny Crum era will openly acknowledge the frustration of a 27-year wait.

That moment, for me, was the peak of my Louisville basketball fandom. From cracking open old media guides and studying former players to attending games at an early age, I was born into the fanhood. Many Cards fans can relate to the importance and sentiment behind Louisville basketball’s success. From the culture and tradition of the city of Louisville to the proud tradition of the university, these were the moments we dreamt of.

2013 brought a Sugar Bowl, a College World Series appearance, a women’s basketball national title appearance, and so much more outside of the basketball title.

A fall from grace

But while other programs have seen higher heights since then, Louisville men’s basketball really has not been the same since lifting that trophy and, subsequently, raising the 2013 banner.

The fall from grace for the basketball program began with one scandal. Then another. A Hall of Fame coach’s firing. Then the athletic director just hours later. A re-structured board. A slew of interims- From coaches all the way up to the president’s office.

Off the court, things have been more challenging than anyone could have dreamt of on that Monday night nearly 9 years ago. It’s been disheartening, and as a group of fans that proudly associate with the Louisville name and brand, it has been downright humiliating.

On the court, things have not been much better. The hiring of head coach Chris Mack brought promise and certainly, some great regular season moments as the culture of the program began to shift.

But, then came COVID-19. Then came social justice movements and civil unrest. There were pauses, cancellations, scheduling mishaps, and overall frustrations. Then the overhaul. The extortion of Mack by former assistant Dino Gaudio. The fix, and the subsequent suspension. More interim coaching. More concerns on and off the floor.

Finally, we are left where we stand now. Louisville basketball is without a head coach once again. The university is without a president and athletic director.

“Unprecedented times” was a phrase used a lot in 2020 and 2021. For Louisville basketball, however, none of the last five years have been… well, precedented.

A five-game losing streak is Louisville’s worst since the final season of the Denny Crum era. Losing 8 out of 9 has been frustrating and a bit difficult to watch. I may never see that again from this program in my lifetime.

Louisville’s leading scorer, leading rebounder, and three-time team captain is suspended indefinitely. Intuition says there’s a high probability we don’t see Malik Williams in a Louisville uniform again.

The product on the floor is sad. And, frankly, it is not up to the Bellarmine standard, let alone the Louisville basketball standard.

As a fan but also someone who wants to cover the program from a logical perspective, I try to be slow to react and intentional with my words. I want to use rationale when I try to articulate how the average fan feels and what our expectations should be going forward.

Maintaining perspective under Mike Pegues

But, I’ll be frank: It’s been difficult. At some point, the pathos begins to override the logos. The feelings of frustration and apathy begin to set in.

As a fairly normal person with a day job, traveling for work, and going through normal everyday people shit, sitting behind this laptop and throwing some words together has never been an issue. After games, it’s a release. Many times it’s an expression of self and a way to connect; A way to distract my mind from the silliness that is life.

That has not been the case this season. Across the board in football and basketball, there have been more losses than wins. More questions than answers. More stress and consternation than fun and optimism.

I get that every season brings challenges. Every program has slumps. I never expect Louisville to be the exception. What I do expect, however, is to be able to find silver linings. I expect to be able to look at the Louisville basketball program and be proud of what I see- regardless of record. And I expect to be able to think that if things aren’t going well now, there are reasons for hope and optimism in the future.

When Mack took the podium at his introductory press conference four years ago, he said that “the darkest storms elicit the brightest lightning bolts”. Instead of being the bolt of energy that the program needed, he left his team high and dry, a mere shell of his driven, motivating personality that garnered immediate respect. What was a groundswell of positive energy at the end of a storm became the second wave of lightning storms, equally as shocking as the first.

So, where do we go from here? That is a more than reasonable question being asked by Cards fans. Understandably, we’d rather look to the future coaching and AD hires than have to sit through another 30-point blowout to an average team.

The reality, however, is that Louisville basketball still has at least eight games left on the schedule. And if this program is going to put any sort of viable product on the floor in 2022-23, this team is going to at least need to have a pulse as it finishes up this season.

Looking ahead, here are a few things I’d like to see from a fan’s perspective as we close out this final quarter.

Address the future; Give younger players more minutes

First and foremost, I think any fan should want the younger players to gain more experience.

If Mack was still guiding this team and hoping to keep his job, this would unquestionably be the strategy moving forward.

If you aren’t winning games with your more experienced players running the show, let the guys who are likely to be getting clock in the future start to find their footing a bit more.

The two names atop the list of players that it feels imperative to keep are the JUCO guys. El Ellis and Sydney Curry have been the two most consistently promising forces on this team over the last month.

Louisville’s backcourt has been splitting minutes pretty equally this season. However, there is a guarantee that Noah Locke, Jarrod West, and Mason Faulkner are gone at the season’s end. If those three players are not providing as many productive minutes as Ellis, I am unsure why this is even a topic of conversation.

Since Mack’s departure, Ellis has averaged 17.6 points and 1.8 assists. Additionally, his biggest games of the season have come against Michigan State, NC State, Pitt, Florida State, North Carolina, and Duke. Ellis is proving that he is a gamer. It’s time for the staff to stop limiting his minutes so severely.

Outside of Ellis, Curry feels like a player that the fanbase and city want to rally around. Since becoming a full-time starter, Curry has averaged 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds. He has been Louisville’s most consistent (and, really, only) low post presence over the last month.

Looking ahead, Louisville basketball would be well-served to keep Dre Davis around as well as an emerging Jae’Lyn Withers along with freshmen Roosevelt Wheeler and Mike James.

This core six of players, save the injured James, should ultimately be getting the lion’s share of playing time. These are players that have shown consistent attitude and effort and who would be the most ideal players to build your program around going forward.

Allow the team to loosen up, finally play more exciting style

Louisville basketball fans have been through enough in recent years. The least that could be asked of this team is to kind of give them some slack and free reign to play within their own games.

When Mack hired offensive guru Ross McMains in the offseason, the expectation was that this team could turn a shaky product from the previous season into an innovative juggernaut.

Not only did Louisville not do that in 2021-22, but the offense has also just been downright ugly and uncreative for the majority of the season.

There have been flashes of average offensive play, but even those moments have been too few and far between.

If there is one thing I think fans want to see is simply a step in the right direction stylistically.

Each player has his own strengths. How can those be utilized? How can Louisville create more post-up and midrange opportunities for Davis and Samuell Williamson? How can Louisville get the ball in Ellis’ hands going downhill? Where can the Cards create shots in rhythm for Locke and Matt Cross?

Finally, I think fans would love to see Louisville basketball do away with things that aren’t working. Why, for example, does UofL continue to hedge on ball screens when it often leads to wide-open shots for the opponents? Why are the Cards switching on screens and constantly creating mismatches with their small guards against opposing bigs? And why is there not a consistent effort to get into halfcourt sets at the beginning of each half?

There is still a ton of room for progression as Louisville basketball finishes out the final quarter of the season.

If the Cards are going to return to prominence in the near future, it starts with baby steps as we cross the finish line in 2022.