I am going to hit some quick bullet points of things from yesterday's game. I wanted to let the emotions settle down before really diving into what happened yesterday...
Here goes:
- Fresh Kimble and Darius Perry handled Ashton Hagans really well. Kimble and Perry combined for 7 assists and 0 turnovers. That is excellent against one of the best defenders in the country. From the floor, Kimble was 5-of-9 and Perry was 2-of-4. Louisville can win with that guard play. That may explain why we didn't see much of David Johnson.
- Jordan Nwora has a decision to make. Bottom line. Does he want to change moving forward or is he going to continue to play hero ball and put himself before the team? Louisville proved yesterday they can play at a high level without its best player. That can be spun as a positive. Using the +/- stat, Louisville was -18 when Nwora was on the floor - the worst of anybody on the team. Another aspect of the game - Nwora couldn't score on Quickley. Quickley is listed at 6-foot-3 - Nwora should have been able to post him up.
- Can any of the 6 freshmen contribute? Yesterday, Louisville was +12 when Samuell Williamson was on the floor. The next closest players were Darius Perry and Steven Enoch at +1. Louisville needs to figure out Williamson's role sooner rather than later.
- I didn't really understand why Mack went with Malik Williams over Steven Enoch for large portions of overtime. Williams gave up a couple of key baskets to Richards, and Enoch was owning the paint. I thought that Williams would eventually start over Enoch, but that is not even close to being the case. I have to wonder if the injury to Williams has slowed his development.
- Dwayne Sutton was phenomenal. Hard to ask for more from a Louisville kid in the rivalry game. Calipari singled him out in his press conference to acknowledge his performance. Sutton played the most minutes on the team with 43.
- The story of why Louisville lost in addition to free throws: not being able to get a stop after taking the lead. According to Chris Hatfield, Louisville had 6 possessions to extend the lead. On one of those possessions, Nwora, an 80% free throw shooter went 0-2 from the line.
- Kentucky just has Louisville's number. There were 4 or 5 times during the game that I thought Louisville was going to pull away, and as this rivalry has gone, Louisville didn't pull away. The game was so predictable. Kentucky shot well, Louisville missed shots they usually make, equaling a Kentucky win.
- This was the year to beat Kentucky - no other way around it. But, sign me up for next year's starting lineup:
Darius Perry
David Johnson
Samuell Williamson
Jay Scrubb
Malik Williams
Here goes:
- Fresh Kimble and Darius Perry handled Ashton Hagans really well. Kimble and Perry combined for 7 assists and 0 turnovers. That is excellent against one of the best defenders in the country. From the floor, Kimble was 5-of-9 and Perry was 2-of-4. Louisville can win with that guard play. That may explain why we didn't see much of David Johnson.
- Jordan Nwora has a decision to make. Bottom line. Does he want to change moving forward or is he going to continue to play hero ball and put himself before the team? Louisville proved yesterday they can play at a high level without its best player. That can be spun as a positive. Using the +/- stat, Louisville was -18 when Nwora was on the floor - the worst of anybody on the team. Another aspect of the game - Nwora couldn't score on Quickley. Quickley is listed at 6-foot-3 - Nwora should have been able to post him up.
- Can any of the 6 freshmen contribute? Yesterday, Louisville was +12 when Samuell Williamson was on the floor. The next closest players were Darius Perry and Steven Enoch at +1. Louisville needs to figure out Williamson's role sooner rather than later.
- I didn't really understand why Mack went with Malik Williams over Steven Enoch for large portions of overtime. Williams gave up a couple of key baskets to Richards, and Enoch was owning the paint. I thought that Williams would eventually start over Enoch, but that is not even close to being the case. I have to wonder if the injury to Williams has slowed his development.
- Dwayne Sutton was phenomenal. Hard to ask for more from a Louisville kid in the rivalry game. Calipari singled him out in his press conference to acknowledge his performance. Sutton played the most minutes on the team with 43.
- The story of why Louisville lost in addition to free throws: not being able to get a stop after taking the lead. According to Chris Hatfield, Louisville had 6 possessions to extend the lead. On one of those possessions, Nwora, an 80% free throw shooter went 0-2 from the line.
- Kentucky just has Louisville's number. There were 4 or 5 times during the game that I thought Louisville was going to pull away, and as this rivalry has gone, Louisville didn't pull away. The game was so predictable. Kentucky shot well, Louisville missed shots they usually make, equaling a Kentucky win.
- This was the year to beat Kentucky - no other way around it. But, sign me up for next year's starting lineup:
Darius Perry
David Johnson
Samuell Williamson
Jay Scrubb
Malik Williams
