2007-2008 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 2) LOUISVILLE

November 3, 2007


LOUISVILLE ESSENTIALS:

Official Website of Louisville Basketball

2007-2008 Official Louisville Roster & Bios

Meet Coach Rick Pitino

Freedom Hall and the practice home of Cardinal basketball, the Yum! Center

2007-2008 Louisville Basketball Schedule


OVERVIEW:

Rick Pitino is entering his 8th season as head coach of the Louisville Cardinal program. Pitino's up-tempo style, pressure defense, strong work ethic and family atmosphere quickly returned the Cardinals to national prominence. The Cardinals visit to the 2005 Final Four was Louisville’s first trip in 19 years. It was also the third school that Pitino led to the NCAA Championships Final Four.

With a strong close to the 2006-2007 season, expectations of another run to the Final Four have been placed on the Louisville club this season. Coach Pitino continues to be one of the best recruiters in the game and has a team high on experience and potential in place to make this a season to remember for Cardinal fans.

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A 2006 inductee to the New York City Hall of Fame, Pitino has embraced the storied tradition of Louisville Basketball and made a commitment to producing a vibrant program that could challenge for a national title this year.
Pitino is no stranger to the Big East and it’s programs. He served two seasons as an assistant at Syracuse under Jim Boeheim from 1976-78. He was head coach at Providence College for two seasons (1985-87), producing a 42-23 record there. He guided the Friars to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1986 and a trip to the NCAA Final Four in 1987, winning the regional championship in Freedom Hall.
Pitino has coached at the highest levels of the college game and has also been in the NBA, serving as an assistant under Hubie Brown with the Knicks and after his stint at Providence, he was head coach of the Knicks. After a successful run at Kentucky, coach Pitino returned to the NBA and had a 3 ½ year stint as president and head coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics. However, Pitino realized that his coaching methods and philosophy fit much better in the college game. On March 21, 2001, just over 2 months after resigning from the Celtics, Rick Pitino was named as head coach of the Louisville program, replacing legend Denny Crum. A move that has worked out very well and with the Cardinal’s move to the Big East, the Louisville athletic program has never been in better shape!




THE 2006-2007 SEASON:

Coming off a struggling 2005-2006 season, Louisville looked to rebound under Rick Pitino. The early portion of the season, which included losses to Dayton (in Cincinnati), home against Massachusetts in the Billy Minardi Classic, a 49-point effort in a home loss to Kentucky and a 16-pt loss in their Big East opener at Notre Dame, did not give the Louisville faithful much optimism for a successful return to the NCAA Tournament. The natives were definitely getting restless and coach Pitino was coming under some fire for an under-achieving recruiting class and a revolving door in the program that saw several recruits never make it to campus and others leave quickly.

After a mid-January loss to Marquette, Louisville found themselves at 12-6 overall and 2-2 in the Big East. To date, their signature win might have been against a mediocre Providence club. With the difficult portion of their schedule ahead, things changed quickly for the Cardinals.

The Cards rebounded to win 10 of their last 12 Big East conference games, including their last six to earn the 2nd seed in the Big East Tournament. With their strong freshman class of Edgar Sosa, Jerry Smith, Derrick Caracter and Earl Clark learning the ropes of the college game, and even more importantly, learning what Rick Pitino expected of them on and off the court, the Cards began to fly. Sophomore Terrence Williams also began to play within himself more consistently and the oft-injured David Padgett got stronger and worked himself into better shape as the season went on.

In the post-season, Louisville suffered tough losses in the Big East Tournament to Pittsburgh and in the NCAA Tournament’s 2nd round to Texas A&M. The A&M game had the rest of the nation take notice of Edgar Sosa who was sensational, scoring 31 points. However, Derrick Caracter showed why he was inconsistent, fouling out in just 7 minutes, but scored 8 pts in that limited time.

A record of 12-4 in the conference and 24-10 overall was a solid season for the Cardinals. With only senior Brandon Jenkins (5.2 PPG) moving on from their rotation, Louisville is expected to build upon that season in 2007-2008.





THE BACKCOURT:

Louisville’s backcourt is definitely a case of quality, but might be a little thin on quantity heading into the season. Sophomores Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith return and junior Andre McGee looks to rebound from injuries to take a more prominent role in the rotation. That trip should receive the large majority of minutes at the guard positions.

Sosa is a fiery and emotional lead guard who is still trying to find that balance between scorer and distributor. Coach Pitino wants to see more defense and less emotion out of his general, but as far as guards go in the Big East, Sosa’s talent ranks up there with any of them. He can score in a variety of ways and he has the typical NYC toughness that most guards develop playing against some of the best talent available while developing. His weaknesses are mostly items that can be cured by maturity, so look for a more consistent sophomore season.

Smith was a pleasant surprise last year, hitting 48% of his three-point attempts on the season. We knew he could play, but the shooting touch from the arc was a pleasant surprise and fit in perfectly with the Louisville style of play. Smith is a powerful guard that should develop quickly into one of the better all-around guards in the conference. McGee struggled with injuries in his sophomore year and was unable to get his legs under him all season. Shooting a dismal 23% from the floor, McGee has worked very hard this season on his shooting and getting in better physical condition. He will be a very vital cog in the rotation this year with the graduation of Brandon Jenkins.

Rounding out the guard position is non-scholarship shooting guard Will Scott, freshman Preston Knowles and walk-ons Stuart Miller and Lee Steidan. Scott transferred to Louisville from Cornell and walked-on the basketball team. He is an excellent shooter from the arc and has a high-level of basketball intelligence. Rick Pitino is not afraid to throw Scott into any game. Knowles has surprised the staff early on this season and is further along than anticipated. If injuries continue to hamper the Cards, Knowles could be pressed into duty.


THE FRONTCOURT:

One can make the argument that the Louisville front line is one the THE best in college basketball this season. The first member of the group is d-everything forward Terrence Williams. T-Will as he is known led Louisville last season in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals and was second in blocks. He has had a tremendous summer and a quick start in the exhibition games this week. He has always been a phenomenal athlete and his basketball IQ and skill-level has improved impressively since the middle of last season. Rick Pitino finds Williams so important to his team that he might use him as a power forward if they need to go to a smaller line-up. Williams may even find some time at shooting guard when the Cards go to a bigger line-up. The one thing that is certain, Williams will be in the line-up!

The rest of the frontcourt picture is a little muddled, but that is mostly because of the tremendous talent available to coach Pitino. Senior David Padgett is FINALLY healthy and is also having a strong preseason. Padgett is a hybrid big man, not to strongest player in the post, but he has a variety of skills and an offense can almost be run through him because of his excellent post-passing skills. Padgett is an opportunistic rebounder and shot-blocker that produces by being in the right place at the right time. I’d like to see him finish inside more consistently against stronger players, but if there is one player that many people are overlooking in the conference this season, I think it might be Padgett.

Padgett might not have to put up big numbers or play more than 25 minutes, because the sophomore duo of Derrick Caracter and Earl Clark have as much potential for greatness as anyone in the Big East. The character story is very familiar and Pitino is still onhim about keeping the weight down. Caracter learned some hard lessons last season and only appeared in eight Big East games. The Louisville record in those eight games? 6-2. He played in each of their six wins to close out the Big East schedule, averaging 13.2 ppg and 5.2 rebounds in just 17.8 minutes a game. The average of 13 points per game would have led Louisville on the season, and he did that in less than 18 minutes a game. If Caracter can cut down his fouling by improving his defense, he could be a major difference maker this year.

Fellow New Jersey native Earl Clark is a versatile 6’9 forward that NBA scouts are drooling over because of his versatile game. Clark got off to a slow start last year, but once he settled into the rotation he began to flash the potential that had made him a coveted recruit. He averaged 8.1 points and 5.2 rebounds over the last 16 games with 17 pts and 9 rebounds in the Big East Tournament win against West Virginia.

Rounding out the frontcourt is Terrence Farley, a 6’10 senior who is an athletic shot blocker. Many teams in the conference could use Farley in a much more prominent role, but he will get very limited time, but play an important role behind Padgett and Caracter, for the Cards. Even with all that talent, we have not even mentioned senior Juan Palacios. Another player cursed with injuries, Palacios has shown flashes of brilliance at times in his career but has been unable to sustain those moments for ling stretches. Now, his senior year is on hold as he recovers from a preseason knee injury that could keep him out for an extended period of time. A pair of freshmen added for depth are also questionable this season and beyond. 6’8 forward George Goode, at last report, is still awaiting NCAA Clearance on his eligibility and 7’0 center Clarence Holloway, who also has NCAA Clearinghouse issues that needed to be addressed, is out for the season due to surgery to correct a heart defect.

2007-2008 PREDICTION:

With all the talent and potential of this club it is VERY hard not to make them the preseason #1 team. The feeling with this team is they are going to be very good throughout the season, but they might be even better come February and March. I see them sorting through some things early on and might drop a game or two they should not as coach Pitino works through the rotation and tries to keep players sharp and on their toes. There is a lot of talent to play and a lot of combinations to try out from time to time. Injuries also seem to pop up more with this team than anyone else in the league and a wary eye will be cast towards players like Padgett, Sosa, McGee and Caracter, along with Palacios, to see if they can play through an entire season. Do not expect coach Pitino to risk the postseason chances on someone’s health in the regular season, therefore, like I felt with Georgetown last season, they are right there with the league favorite, but they could have the potential to be the best team in the end.

BIG EAST PREDICTION: 14-4