Statement win by the Cards. Western is the best team that Louisville has played this season and Chris Mack’s team came in and took care of business. Not only did they win, they smacked down the Tops.
Chris Mack absolutely coached circles around Rick Stansbury. Their gameplan was clear: don’t let Charles Bassey get comfortably. Bassey is one of the best big men in the country and had 13 points and 16 boards tonight against constant double and triple teams. That’s exactly what Mack wanted, though. Louisville had all of their bigs lean on Bassey and frustrated him by sending extra defenders on the touch. He got frustrated and refused to go into the paint for long stretches.
David Johnson was excellent tonight. That’s the type of performance that shows why he’s a first round talent. The difference between him being good and great is doing what he did tonight: hit the outside shot. The spacing is fantastic when you have multiple guys hitting three-pointers. DJ had two, Carlik three, Dre two, JJ one. Louisville is a different team when they hit from the outside. The three ball and guard play will carry this team during a season where they’re shorthanded.
Early on, I thought WKU was going to dominate the boards, but Louisville bought in to attack the glass the last 30 minutes of the game and ended up winning that battle, 33 to 30.
What about Dre Davis? Before this season started and before the flurry of preseason injuries, he was an afterthought by some people around the program. They didn’t think he’d have a huge role. Now he’s looking like Dwayne Sutton 2.0. He’s been a huge bright spot early and has made the most of his opportunity.
This team can be really good at getting opponents out of their comfort zone. They speed up the game and times and slow it down at others. It’s hard to get in a rhythm if you’re the other team. They’re scrappy and have active hands, making it tough to run a fluid offense inside the three point line.
Chris Mack absolutely coached circles around Rick Stansbury. Their gameplan was clear: don’t let Charles Bassey get comfortably. Bassey is one of the best big men in the country and had 13 points and 16 boards tonight against constant double and triple teams. That’s exactly what Mack wanted, though. Louisville had all of their bigs lean on Bassey and frustrated him by sending extra defenders on the touch. He got frustrated and refused to go into the paint for long stretches.
David Johnson was excellent tonight. That’s the type of performance that shows why he’s a first round talent. The difference between him being good and great is doing what he did tonight: hit the outside shot. The spacing is fantastic when you have multiple guys hitting three-pointers. DJ had two, Carlik three, Dre two, JJ one. Louisville is a different team when they hit from the outside. The three ball and guard play will carry this team during a season where they’re shorthanded.
Early on, I thought WKU was going to dominate the boards, but Louisville bought in to attack the glass the last 30 minutes of the game and ended up winning that battle, 33 to 30.
What about Dre Davis? Before this season started and before the flurry of preseason injuries, he was an afterthought by some people around the program. They didn’t think he’d have a huge role. Now he’s looking like Dwayne Sutton 2.0. He’s been a huge bright spot early and has made the most of his opportunity.
This team can be really good at getting opponents out of their comfort zone. They speed up the game and times and slow it down at others. It’s hard to get in a rhythm if you’re the other team. They’re scrappy and have active hands, making it tough to run a fluid offense inside the three point line.
