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TheRealVille said:

Well, she's here to play basketball and Coach Walz is depending on her when he puts her in. I know she's trying but she looks like she's unsure of herself.

Are the two other freshmen "bigs" redshirting?

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One RS’d last year and she is more of a project and ultimately may be more use to the team in practice. Hardy is FR. I am not sure if she is RSing or not. She has some serious hops - better than any player 6’1” or greater on our roster. I think with the Aussie, I agree, she looks unsure of herself at times. She suffers from what all of our bigs do - weak hands. I think she just needs time to grow into the game. Elif, to me, is much better this year than last. She still has her moment and still needs to get stronger. But, she is more confident on the court and makes some pretty good moves. We don’t have any leapers; which equates to a lack of athleticism in the front court. Jazmine exhibited the type of athleticism we are missing. She wasn’t huge but she could jump and she made an impact because of that alone.

2330859 said:

In one stretch, the ladies went 7 minutes without scoring, and that occurred here at home. The good news however, there were periods where our Cards kept Syracuse from scoring at the same time ….. this team can use its athleticism to execute some pretty good defense at times. I went back thinking I would see some horrible shooting percentage, but at 44%, that is not horrible. We out-rebounded the Cuse, and that was the difference.

Unrelated, Oklahoma’s Payton Velhurst scored 38 points; sorry but that sort of explosive offensive addition back at UL would make this team a huge ACC threat.

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Definitely were hot and cold in that game last night. First 5 minutes they scored 17 points. Next 10 minutes they had just 6. Then over the next 2 minutes they scored 10, and finished out the first half (3 minutes) without a point.

For the first 11 minutes of the second half, they exploded for 32 points, then went the next 6 minutes in the fourth quarter with no points. Then in the final 1:50 the Cards scored 7 points on 5 made free throws and a Cochran layup.

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Pretty simple to me, really. Latest bracketology, which is based purely on metrics without any bias (or at least as little bias as is humanly possible), has us as an 8 seed. That’s a ranking of anywhere from 29 to 32. Sounds like the AP poll having us at 30 has it about right.

After 12-52 the last two years, with more than half of those 52 not even being competitive, the name “Louisville” doesn’t give ANY poll voters a reason to rank us highly based on reputation. Call that bias if you want. We’ve got to earn all of that back, one game at a time.

The exciting news for all of us is that we’re on a 7 game winning streak currently, so we’re very much trending in the right direction, and we should begin to be ranked very soon, as long as we keep winning.

nccardfan said:

Hell, you just provided reasons why voters shouldn't rank us higher. We had Pryor when we beat IU and West Virginia and almost beat Oklahoma. He's not coming back this year so how do you convince someone that you are actually better without him? By the way, I don't believe its true, I am only left wondering how good this team could really be but I'm not going to piss and moan about it. Just going to sit back and enjoy what we have!

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Because we have improved and won despite the injuries. You just don't seem to grasp the point. Each week the voters SHOULD vote for the teams for what they' have accomplished up to that week.

It's not about convincing we're better without the injuries, it's we're still good enough to win despite them and that deserves a ranking. That's it. The weekly rankings are like grades. How can you deny the Cards deserve a higher grade when they have won 7 consecutive games against the better teams in the conference?

It's common sense.

That is the current process and some are already there like Bilas and Packer, but for the most part, most pundits are just not convinced or they're reluctant to admit Louisville basketball is back.

Now I believe the current bias is due to the scandals, but UofL has always had its detractors with the pundits. The last season before covid shut down the season, Louisville reached #1 in the polls.

It was just the 2nd time in poll history that Louisville reached the top spot during the regular season. Despite all the wins, the final 4's, the three titles, and with two Hall of Fame coaches, voters were reluctant to vote the Cards #1.

Now I'm sure there's those who will give reasoning for this and I do remember when it was discussed more by Cards fans who believed there was a bias. Some even didn't mind because they liked being overlooked. Made the winning better.

For me however it was BS as programs like Memphis and Cincinnati both have been ranked #1 several times, and then there were the many times Louisville was under seeded in the big dance. I recall fans complaining about Louisville's seed in 2005 and 2014 especially.

I suppose these memories are why the current disregard bugs me so. I've been following Louisville sports for several decades now and I do realize many younger fans don't share my pessimism on this regard. So yes, keep winning and force the voters hand.

It's a Louisville basketball tradition after all.

I think the women just did the same thing last night against Syracuse, securing the 2nd spot in the ACC. Have faith in CJW! Go Cards!

TheRealVille said:

Has Gonzaga lost two of its best players and gotten better?

Once again it shouldn't make any difference where teams were perceived in the pre-season when voting for the top 25 in mid January. If you were a voter for the AP, would you have Louisville in the top 25 today?

That's it. It's that simple. These excuses given for not voting for Louisville despite the Cards accomplishments are lame. In the coaches poll, the Cards got 3 votes.

That is bias, plain and simple.

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Hell, you just provided reasons why voters shouldn't rank us higher. We had Pryor when we beat IU and West Virginia and almost beat Oklahoma. He's not coming back this year so how do you convince someone that you are actually better without him? By the way, I don't believe its true, I am only left wondering how good this team could really be but I'm not going to piss and moan about it. Just going to sit back and enjoy what we have!

TheRealVille said:

That is bias, plain and simple.

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Then so be it. We dug the hole. We've created the bias. We'll claw our way out one win at a time, change the perception of the program with the coaching hire and with the young men representing the Program and University.

We,meaning the Program.

Pervis_Griffith said:

If money ever truly became important --- which many believe is true today --- bet against Arkansas at your own risk.

Luckily for us, it takes a helluva lot more than money to be successful.

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Like any business if money isn’t spent wisely, your misevaluate talent and management sucks it won’t be successful. The reverse is true as well.

Take the Oakland A’s Moneyball. They did more with less. However eventually the entire league started using their model. The Red Sox took it to another level.

Let’s stick with Arkansas. Football they clearly aren’t pumping huge dollars into football. They are letting Pittman hang around. If they were really serious he would have been fired. Basketball, a billionaire buys a coach\friend. The game evolved the coach he bought hasn’t. His offense is archaic. The way he handles his rosters is weird and ineffective.

The SEC is struggling in football because they are seeing too much churn in their rosters. Bech left UGA let that sink in. No way that happens 3 years ago. The exact opposite happened in basketball. Their roster churn isn’t that bad and they can easily replace what they lost.

Money and leadership matter, they both have to be there to be successful. You can’t only moneyball or out spend people to win championships. Zipp is right money matters but you don’t have to over pay to find a great leaders or players. You just have enough money to obtain or retain your best talent.

In one stretch, the ladies went 7 minutes without scoring, and that occurred here at home. The good news however, there were periods where our Cards kept Syracuse from scoring at the same time ….. this team can use its athleticism to execute some pretty good defense at times. I went back thinking I would see some horrible shooting percentage, but at 44%, that is not horrible. We out-rebounded the Cuse, and that was the difference.

Unrelated, Oklahoma’s Payton Velhurst scored 38 points; sorry but that sort of explosive offensive addition back at UL would make this team a huge ACC threat.

It just means more!

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Let’s sweep the Cavaliers! After excorcizing the demons of Clemson and UK in football, let’s turn the page on the Virginia rivalry and get that monkey off our backs, too!

The $EC was a bit down this year, but they have been spectacular up until this year. Overrated? Perhaps. Alabama’s brilliance under Satan (oops, Saban) covered up some weakest bits of the league in the public consciousness. There was no real dominant team this year, just several very good ones.

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