Louisville basketball drops its first ACC matchup against Miami. Reactions from the tough loss.
South Beach got the best of Louisville basketball on Saturday evening, as the Cards fell to the Miami Hurricanes 72-78. It was one night in Miami that Chris Mack and the Cards will only hope to forget.
In case you weren’t aware, Miami played without three starters and freshman Earl Timberlake against Louisville (could’ve been a great drinking game). You’d think Louisville would’ve been able to feast against a fairly inexperienced group (Miami played just 7 guys). But man, were we Wong.
Confidence can be a fickle thing and following a slow start offensively, Miami was able to take advantage of Louisville’s defense. Letting Miami jump out to as much as a 15-point lead, Louisville spent the rest of the evening playing behind the eight ball.
Speaking of confidence, there apparently wasn’t anyone who forced him to check his confidence at the door. It’s becoming a yearly tradition to allow an up-and-coming opposing player to go off for a career night and that’s exactly what happened. 6’2 sophomore guard, Isaiah Wong, was thrust into the lineup following an injury to Hurricanes star guard Chris Lykes, showing flashes of stardom along the way. That star flashed it’s brightest against Louisville, as the former four-star guard went off for a career-high 30 points on 12/20 shooting.
The game started much like it ended, Miami controlling the paint offensively. The Cards’ defensive ability to protect the paint was exposed, as Jim Larranaga did a great job designing a game plan to attack a weakness of Louisville basketball. 9 out of the first 13 baskets against Louisville came inside the paint, a trend that would continue all night.
Carlik “Mutherf*****r” Jones was in his bag for Louisville, scoring a season-high 25 points to lead the way. Despite that and an 18/11 double-double for JaeLyn Withers, it wasn’t enough to lead the comeback. Despite the loss being ugly (because you know, “Miami was without four starters and freshman Earl Timberlake”) Louisville sits pretty at 9-2 (4-1) but is staring down the barrel of a nasty back-to-back stretch.
Before moving on to FSU and Duke, let’s take a quick look at some big takeaways.
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Louisville loves a good comeback, but Hurricanes lead was too much to overcome
It feels like Louisville basketball has worked twice as hard than any other program for their 9 wins. That’s not true, obviously, but over the last few weeks playing from behind has become a trend. Miami’s lead was never as out of hand as Wisconsin’s was weeks ago. But still, the Hurricanes were the first team since the Badgers to hold a lead for more than half of the game against Louisville (34 minutes to be exact).
The lead honestly could’ve gotten much worse had it not been for Jones’ ability to match Wong bucket-for-bucket. Trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, the combination of bad defense & not hitting shots, proved costly.
But Louisville wasn’t going down without fighting tooth and nail.
Press defense will always have a place in Louisville basketball fan’s hearts. That’s what made the decision to pull out a late-game press by Chris Mack so damn exciting. Mack hates pressing, it’s pretty clear to see, but when you’re down by double-digits you do what you gotta do.
Louisville’s press was effective and it changed the dynamic of the second half, but still, it wasn’t enough. Wong’s ability to get into the paint and create space for himself, not only opened up scoring for him but also for others. Matt Cross was the primary beneficiary, going 4/6 from deep, including the dagger in the closing moments.
Presley Meyer wrote about Louisville’s ability to blow leads for the State of Louisville, a troubling trend. But even more troubling is the struggles this team has had out of the gate, especially protecting the paint. Wake Forest wasn’t at the level to keep Louisville basketball down and you wouldn’t have thought Miami would be either. Again, proven Wong. Miami was able to ride Louisville’s slow start to a big victory. That’s why getting Malik Williams back is still so important for the long-term.
Paging, David Johnson. Paging, David Johnson
Earlier in the week, I wrote about the stock of David Johnson trending upward for the 2021 NBA Draft. Ranked 12th by ESPN, 16th by The Athletic, and in the mid-’20s by countless other sites, it’s clear that Johnson is gaining steam as a potential NBA first-rounder. His performance against Miami certainly did little to help that cause.
Going up against a backcourt missing star Chris Lykes and the steady Kameron McGusty, Johnson played probably his worst game of the season. He played 34 minutes, scoring 5 points on 2/6 shooting, grabbing 5 rebounds, and dishing out 3 assists. Also turning the ball over 3 times. Johnson was out on the floor for 90% of the game, yet the score and feel of the game never showed it.
While his backcourt mate Jones was taking control of the game, Johnson always looked a stepped behind. You may be able to point to the awkward hit Johnson took in the first half under the basket where he got tied up with a fallen defender. You could also just chalk it up as a bad game. Either way, Louisville needed Johnson and never got his best.
What makes Louisville’s backcourt duo so dangerous is the fact that there are two great players. You expect nothing less than your best players to dominate, especially against short-handed teams like Miami. That not happening, clearly left Chris Mack frustrated post game.
“I thought our entire team was MIA. David got banged up in practice yesterday, but if he’s going to go he’s got to go.”
Johnson needs to rebound strong this week against Florida State and Duke, that’s clear. His health will also be something to watch.
Speaking of the NBA, JaeLyn Withers is the next Card to watch
Offensively against Miami, JaeLyn Withers at times looked like the best player on the floor. What we saw from the redshirt freshman in the second half was nothing short of spectacular, although it came in a loss.
Defensively, the night was pretty blah for Withers. But on the other side, just about every time he touched the bal he showed you something new.
Whether it was putting the ball on the floor and taking his man to the basket off the dribble. Throwing down nasty put-back dunks. Facing up against an opposing big, and knocking down a short to mid-range jumper. Or my personal favorite, a step-back baseline in the face of a defender, shades of Kevin Durant.
Seriously, Withers’ play was elite against Miami. Though it came in a loss, this was the second game this season where Withers looked like a future NBA player. At 6’9, 235-pounds, Withers is a four playing as an undersized five due to injury. Despite that, his play has stood out. He’s finished four games this season in double figures while notching double-doubles with rebounds on two different occasions.
His play in the second half with Miami threatening to pull away was veteran-like and showed me that he understands his role. It started with attacking the glass and cleaning up put-backs. Then ultimately turned to putting the ball in his hands to score.
Consistency has been the biggest issue for Withers this season and Chris Mack saw that early. As is common for young players, one night you get an elite performance and in the next, you get 2 and 4. Recording 16 & 11 against Virginia Tech and 18 & 11 against Miami in a thre-game stretch can be just the start of Withers showing his potential.
His combination of size, athleticism, and skill is going to be extremely attractive to the NBA and the more he shows out like this the more I expect to hear about the league being a part of his future.
Bad defense becoming a trend?
Chris Mack had a lot to be unahppy about, but his main focus was on defense.
From the tip-off, it was clear that Louisville’s defense wasn’t up to par. Within minutes they allowed Miami to do essentially what they did all night. That was driving to the basket unphased. Dominating the offensive glass. And knock down open shots from three.
Post-game, Mack said:
“We set the tone very poorly on the defensive end. And when you let a team get going in their gym and they have a lot of energy, it wasn’t able to be overcome. We were undisciplined on shot fakes and closeouts to drivers. We’d go for a shot fake and let them drive.”
It started with Isaiah Wong. His 30 points were all equally back-breaking. They came in a variety of ways, all of which exposed bad defense. He attacked downhill, getting to the bucket at ease. He’d then use that leverage to get space and hit knock down mid-range jumpers and deep three’s. That then opened up the ability to hit other teammates on the three-point line or as they attacked the basket. And if all of that failed, Wong and big man Nysier Brooks rebounded and either scored or went to the line. Together they grabbed 8 offensive rebounds and shot 9 free throws.
Louisville basketball could not keep Isaiah Wong in front of them, no matter what they did. They also couldn’t stop Brooks from looking like a man amongst boys. All of it played a major factor in the surprising loss.
Against Wake Forest and Miami, Louisville has allowed an average of 71.5 points per game. That’s nearly 10 more points per game than they allowed on the season entering the week. Against two teams that range from bad to average, that’s bad bad bad.
Chris Mack emphasizes defense and effort above all else. It genuinely seemed like this team was starting to get that. They are allowing guys like Isaiah Wong and Davien Williamson to show up and go off, without much push back. So what happens when they face the DJ Steward’s and Jeremy Roach’s of the world?
That’s what we’re about to find out this week.
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