BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: NOTRE DAME @ LOUISVILLE

February 28, 2008


This week's Thursday Night spotlight is a dandy as Notre Dame and Louisville battle it out for what could be a showdown for the conference title. The Irish finish up their schedule with DePaul, St. John's and South Florida after tonight, so this is obviously their biggest challenge in their last four games. Louisville will host Villanova on Sunday and travel to Georgetown to close out the conference regular season schedule.

Here are the local media previews and game stories on tonight's showdown:

Irish Battle Tested for Showdown (South Bend Tribune)
It's Time for Irish to Take Title Shot (Chicago Tribune)
Season Heading into Interesting (Journal Gazette)
Notre Dame Offense Will Test U of L (Courier-Journal)
UofL Bracing for Hot Shooting Notre Dame (Kentucky.com)
Cards to Try Bit of Everything Against Notre Dame (Courier-Journal)


An exciting match-up is set for Freedom Hall tonight and the two teams that seem to be playing the best basketball right now in the Big East go head to head when Louisville hosts Notre Dame.

Louisivlle has won nine of their last 10, losing only by two points at Connecticut in that stretch. The Cards have won with defense, they have won with offense, whatever is needed, they have responded with it. Senior David Padgett has overcome a series of injuries the last few years and has stepped up his game down the stretch providing leadership and production on a consistent basis. He scored 18 in the win over Georgetown, added 20 in a victory at DePaul and scored 21 on Sunday against Pittsburgh. Tonight, he will use his post moves and height to work against Luke Harangody of the Irish. Harangody will look to bull his way through Padgett and continue his assault on the Big East. Harangody has emerged as the favorite to win the Big East's Player of the Year award, but the way Louisville has taken off with a healthy Padgett, you could argue that Padgett might be the most valuable player to his team.

The Louisville defense will be challenged by the inside/out combination of Kyle McAlarney and Harangody. McAlarney is coming off a Notre Dame record nine three's against Syracuse on Sunday and will challenge and stretch the Cardinal defense. Rick Pitino has seen it all before and will try to come up with different wrinkles to contest McAlarney's shots and try not to allow him to get comfortable on the perimeter. Super-quick Tory Jackson will provide another challenge as his dribble penetration could provide kick-outs to an open McAlarney on the perimeter.

The Irish, winners of eight of nine, also have had their last loss handed to them at Connecticut. Notre Dame is not the deepest team in the league, normally playing seven or eight players with Luke Zeller and Jonathan Peoples getting spot minutes behind a top 6, that also includes consistent Rob Kurz and small forwards Ryan Ayers and Zach Hillesland. How the Irish handle the pressure defense from the Cards will decide this game.

Louisville will look to get their athletic forwards Earl Clark and Terrence Williams free against the ND defense. The Irish were destroyed on the boards against Syracuse on Sunday and the Cards have the size and depth on the front line to give them fits on the boards as well. Juan Palacios and Derrick Caracter could start for nearly every team in the Big East, so they have high-quality depth behind Padgett and Clark. Williams is the x-factor, he is capable of taking his game to another level, especially if his shot is falling. The UL guards have been getting more consistent in playing both sides of the ball in Pitino's preferred style, brining it all together for the Cardinals.

Louisville started the season as the preseason co-favorite with Georgetown and after suffering through the injury bug, it looks as though they have put the pieces together for a late season run. Notre Dame has faced a tough schedule and they just keep on winning, setting themselves up to be in position for the league title. It has been a great season that still has more success to come for the Irish.

Playign at home, I think Louisville controls this game. They are the 8-pt favorite and I think they jump on Notre Dame defensively and work the boards hard to get key second chance points when needed.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Louisville 77 Notre Dame 67

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: LOUISVILLE

February 25, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Rakeem Buckles, (2009) 6'8, 200 lb (F) from Miami (FL) Pace HS


Projected 2008-2009 Roster


Seniors: Andre McGee (PG), Terrence Williams (SF)
Juniors: Edgar Sosa (G), Jerry Smith (G), Derrick Caracter (BF), Earl Clark (G/F), Reginald Delk (G)
Sophomores: George Goode (F), Preston Knowles (G)
Freshmen: Melquan Bolding (G), Samardo Samuels (BF/C), Terrence Jennings (C), Kyle Kuric (G/F), Clarence Holloway (C), Jared Swopshire (SF)
2009 Commitment: Mike Marra (G), Rakeem Buckles (F)


Rick Pitino REALLY was not kidding when he said he was concentrating his recruiting efforts on the class of 2009, seemingly pulling out of the Tyreke Evans' sweepstakes. In the week since he made that proclamation, Louisville landed 6'5 junior Mike Marra and today comes More Good News for Louisville Hoops (Courier-Journal) as Rakeem Buckles verbally commits to the Cardinals.

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Rakeem Buckles is a wiry and raw forward prospect. At 6'8, he has explosive athletic ability that you see in an NBA small forward, however his game is still raw and transitioning from a skinny big man to the wing is a process that is just beginning. However, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino definitely believes it is a project worth undertaking as he aggressively courted the Miami Pace junior and landed an early verbal commitment from Buckles earlier today.

Buckles is averaging about 14 PPG and 8 rebounds a contest for Pace in his junior season and the potential to be a major impact player is certainly there, you just do not teach that kind of athletic ability in a 6'8 player. Local Miami and West Virginia were also closely monitoring his progress, but Louisville easily took the most attention in Buckles.

Buckles joins Mike Marra, a 6'5 native of Smithfield (RI), as coach Pitino's 2009 commitments. Marra is an athletic shooter for Northfield (Mass.) Mount Hermon School. According to his coach, John Carroll, Marra is averaging 28 points per game and has hit 55% from 3-pt range the last 11 games. Marra was also considering Providence, Massachusetts, Gonzaga, Wake Forest and Michigan, but after coach Rick Pitino came to watch him play this week, Marra decided to end the process early and commit to the Cards, who has been his leader for some time. Marra visited Louisville and Freedom Hall in December and they have been on his mind ever since.

NYC native Lamont 'MoMo' Jones, currently at American Christian school, committed to Louisville during his sophomore season at Rice (NYC) HS. However, Jones recently decided to re-open the process and is looking at schools such as Memphis (likely to land Tyreke Evans, his teammate at American Christian), Xavier, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Seton Hall, among others.

Another immediate target in the class of 2009 that Pitino and his staff will concentrate on is Seattle (WA) Franklin 5'11 point guard Peyton Siva. Siva recently took a trip to Louisville for their game with Georgetown and spoke very highly of the experience.


It certainly was a busy, busy time to follow Louisville recruiting during the class of 2008 where Rick Pitino sealed commitments from Martez Walker, Jeff Withey, Melquan Bolding, Samardo Samuels, Kyle Kuric, Terrence Jennings and Jared Swopshire. Walker and Withey subsequently de-committed and the status of Bolding's commitment is up in the air at this point. The main topic of discussion of Louisville recruiting the last several months has been their chase for Tyreke Evans. For much of the last few years, Louisville had been considered the leader for the American Christian star. However, although he has still not committed to a school, Rick Pitino has seemingly resigned himself to the fact that Evans is likely to commit to one of the other finalists (likely Memphis) and has moved in, in a hurry, towards the class of 2009.

Of course, with 15 players on paper for the 2008-2009 AND 2009-2010 seasons, the Louisville roster situation does have some sorting out to do. Whispers are that Clarence Holloway is unlikely to continue his basketball career due to health issues (and, it is unclear if he ever made it through the NCAA Clearinghouse, but it must have been settled if he is in school on scholarship), Mequan Bolding is not going to enroll and Derrick Caracter, among others, is likely to declare for the NBA Draft this spring. Stay tuned...things could change again soon...

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BIG EAST RECRUITING UPDATE: LOUISVILLE

February 21, 2008

VERBAL COMMITMENT ALERT: Mike Marra, (G) Northfield (Mass.) Mount Hermon School


Projected 2008-2009 Roster


Seniors: Andre McGee (PG), Terrence Williams (SF)
Juniors: Edgar Sosa (G), Jerry Smith (G), Derrick Caracter (BF), Earl Clark (G/F), Reginald Delk (G)
Sophomores: George Goode (F), Preston Knowles (G)
Freshmen: Melquan Bolding (G), Samardo Samuels (BF/C), Terrence Jennings (C), Kyle Kuric (G/F), Clarence Holloway (C), Jared Swopshire (SF)
2009 Commitment: Mike Marra (G)


With Rick Pitino moving his sights away from the 2008 class, Tyreke Evans included, to the class of 2009, it did not take the Louisville head coach long to score his first commitment from the 2009 class as Louisville Lands Sharpshooter (Louisville Courier-Journal) Mike Marra.


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Mike Marra, a 6'5 native of Smithfield (RI), is an athletic shooter for Northfield (Mass.) Mount Hermon School. According to his coach, John Carroll, Marra is averaging 28 points per game and has hit 55% from 3-pt range the last 11 games. Marra was also considering Providence, Massachusetts, Gonzaga, Wake Forest and Michigan, but after coach Rick Pitino came to watch him play this week, Marra decided to end the process early and commit to the Cards, who has been his leader for some time. Marra visited Louisville and Freedom Hall in December and they have been on his mind ever since.

Marra is the second player in the class of 2009 to commit for Louisville. NYC native Lamont 'MoMo' Jones, currently at American Christian school, committed during his sophomore season at Rice HS. However, Jones recently decided to re-open the process and is looking at schools such as Memphis (likely to land Tyreke Evans, his teammate at American Christian), Xavier, Pittsburgh, Florida State, among others.

The two immediate targets in the class of 2009 that Pitino and his staff will concentrate on are Seattle (WA) Franklin 5'11 point guard Peyton Siva and Miami (FL) Pace 6'8 forward Rakeem Buckles. Siva recently took a trip to Louisville for their game with Georgetown and spoke very highly of the experience.


It certainly was a busy, busy time to follow Louisville recruiting during the class of 2008 where Rick Pitino sealed commitments from Martez Walker, Jeff Withey, Melquan Bolding, Samardo Samuels, Kyle Kuric, Terrence Jennings and Jared Swopshire. Walker and Withey subsequently de-committed and the status of Bolding's commitment is up in the air at this point. The main topic of discussion of Louisville recruiting the last several months has been their chase for Tyreke Evans. For much of the last few years, Louisville had been considered the leader for the American Christian star. However, although he has still not committed to a school, Rick Pitino has seemingly resigned himself to the fact that Evans is likely to commit to one of the other finalists (likely Memphis).

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE @ DEPAUL

February 12, 2008


The Louisville Cardinals look to follow-up their stirring win in an electric atmosphere over Georgetown by earning a road win at DePaul this evening. The Blue Demons needed a big 2nd half rally on Saturday to defeat the lowly South Florida Bulls.

Here are the pregame stories and previews from local media outlets:

DePaul's Will Walker Coming into His Own (Chicago Tribune)
Pitino Says Cards Ae at Best So Far (Louisville Courier-Journal)
Walker's Stats Running Higher (Daily Herald)
Demons Seek Upset over Louisville (Sun-Times)

Another Conference-USA rivalry is renewed tonight in Chicago as DePaul hosts Louisville in a Big East conference match-up. The Blue Demons have a tough road ahead in the Big East schedule, so finding a way to come out with victories at home is very important. DePaul avoided disaster on Saturday, rallying from an 11-point halftime defecit to beat South Florida. Tonight they will hope to catch Louisville still on a high from their Primetime Saturday nigh win over Georgetown in 'White-out' conditions at Freedom Hall.

The Blue Demons have the athletic ability and size to match-up with Louisville, but they do not have the depth upfront, so they need to keep Mac Koshwal and Wesley Green on the floor as much as possible. They could go smaller and try to match-up Karron Clarke with forwards Earl Clark and Juan Palacios, but that will hurt them on the boards. Dar Tucker on the wing is a similar player to Terrence Williams but has the disadvantage in terms of experience. The guard situations are rather similar as well with each head coach trying to get his point guards to take on the prefered role. It looks like Edgar Sosa for Louisville and Cliff Clinkscales for DePaul are coming around more consistently.

Louisville is a 7.5-pt favorite, but be aware of a letdown tonight. Rick Pitino might be shuttling players in and out to find the combination that is ready to play tonight while DePaul will look to jump on the Cards early. If Louisville depends on the three-point shot, look for the Blue Demons to build an early lead...however, Louisville will right the ship and come from behind for the win.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Louisville 69 DePaul 63

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: GEORGETOWN @ LOUISVILLE

February 9, 2008



ESPN Primetime, live from Freedom Hall! It is going to be a full day of excitement and events for the Louisville fans as they prepare to welcome Georgetown Saturday night. This is the match-up of the Big East co-favorites from the preseason. Georgetown has lived up to their advanced billing, while Louisville has been a little slower in hitting their stride, but they have certainly showed signs of putting things together from time to time.

Georgetown has only lost one game in the Big East, at Pittsburgh, and sit at 9-1 with a six-game win streak. They have not always been impressive, but while every other team has been up and down and not immune to be blown out, the Hoyas remain in every game and doing enough to win them.

Georgetown is a team that shares the ball and runs effecient offensive sets. Roy Hibbert is their leader in the middle at 7'2. He might not look fancy on offense and often looks awkward, but he has learned to use every inch of his 7'2 frame to his advantage on both ends of the floor and is comfortable passing the ball on the perimeter to cutters. DaJuan Summers is still the player I am waiting on to take a giant leap forward in becoming one of the league's best, but the Georgetown system seems to allow everyone a fair share in the spoils.

This game features two excellent and deep frontcourts. Hibbert and Summers with Patrick Ewing Jr and Vernon Macklin off the bench face off against David Padgett and Earl Clark with Juan Palacious and Derrick Caracter off the bench for Louisville. If either unit can get an edge, it could tilt the game in favor of their team. With Padgett back in the line-up, Louisville is much more consistent and their offense flows better. They just need to stay away from falling in love with the perimeter shot.

Running the show for Louisville is Edgar Sosa. He needs to make sure the Cards get the ball inside, take his offense when it comes and manage the game. He is still learning the position of point guard for Rick Pitino and the learning curve has continued, but he is coming off his best performance of the season as the point guard in the win at Marquette. Jerry Smith is his backcourt mate and is one of the league's best three-point shooters. If Sosa concentrates on getting his teammates involved offensively in position to score, they will be tough to beat.

The Georgetown backcourt of Jesse Sapp and Jonathan Wallace is definitely under-appreciated by the masses, but they have both hit many BIG shots in BIG situations. They may not be the flashiest or the most exciting, but they are very effective. They understand where the Georgetown team excels and take their opportunities as they come to them.

At the wing, Louisville's best all-around player, Terrence Williams is matched up with promising Georgetown freshman Austin Freeman. Both players have good size and play an all-around game, but if Williams is hitting his shots, Louisville is VERY tough to beat. Freeman seems very close to completely busting out, he and Summers are a pair that could take Georgetown to another level down the stretch if they become more assertive.

Georgetown is definitely the most effective team in the Big East this season. Louisville is the team we are waiting to bust out. They have showed signs with big wins over Marquette and blowing out Rutgers like no other. However, they have had their shares of lapses too. Whenever your ready to jump on the Louisville to the Final Four bandwagon, they blow a tire. However, if Edgar Sosa relishes the role of playmaker, they could get this wagon moving quickly.

With a national audience and a jazzed Freedom Hall crowd, we look forward to seeing Louisville at their best and getting an impressive win over Georgetown.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Louisville 74 Georgetown 66

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: LOUISVILLE @ MARQUETTE

February 4, 2008


Conference positioning is at stake as Louisville and Marquette both look to break from the masses in the middle of the conference and solidify position for one of the four Big East Tournament byes. The Cardinals beat Marquette in Freedom Hall back in January, 71-51, and the Golden Eagles will look for revenge tonight.

Here are the local media previews on tonight's Big Monday match-up:

Cards on their Mark, Set to Go to Marquette (Louisville Courier-Journal)
MU Rivalry With Louisville Has Developed into a Classic (Journal-Sentinel)
Cards Start Big Week at Marquette (Kentucky.com)
cards Better Be Ready for Primetime (Courier-Journal)

It is a VERY big week for the Louisville Cardinals, beginning tonight as part of Big Monday on ESPN when they travel to meet Marquette and ending late Saturday night with a ESPN Primetime showdown with league-leading Georgetown. The Cards enter tonight's contest at 6-3 in the conference and the second half of their conference schedule is definitely among the toughest in the league.

Marquette played strong and came up with a conference road win, dispatching Cincinnati 75-60 on Saturday. Marquette has now won three in a row in the Big East and got the monkey off their back by winning a Big East game on the road. Like the Louisville schedule, things do not get any easier for Marquette as the Big East heads towards March.

In their prior meeting, Marquette put forth a dismal offensive display, shooting 30% overall from the field, which included an o-fer (0-12) from beyond the arc. The Cards also battered Marquette on the boards, outrebounding Tom Crean's squad 49-34. Terrence Williams (20 pts) and David Padgett (17 pts, 10 rebounds) led the way for the Cards. The Marquette offense was so bad they registered just two assists in the entire game against 13 turnovers, seven of which were committed by Jerel McNeal (16 pts).

Marquette is coming off what is likely their best performance of the season, a 75-60 win at Cincinnati. Ousmane Barro, who has largely been invisible this season, stepped up and scored a season-high 19 pts and added 10 rebounds as the Golden Eagles won the battle of the boards as well. Lazar Hayward also scored 19 in the win. Jerel McNeal scored 13 points, added 7 assists and did not commit a single turnover.

Marquette will need another strong effort from Barro against the big and deep Louisville frontcourt. The Cards have a senior duo of Padgett and Juan Palacios along with a sophomore pair of Derrick Caracter and Earl Clark to face Barro, Dwight Burke and the small forward pair of Lazar Hayward and Dan Fitzgerald that masquerade as power forwards in the Marquette attack. Their lack of size in many instances is covered up by their deep and talented group of guards led by McNeal, Dominic James and Wesley Mathews, who all have help from Maurice Acker and David Cubillan off the bench.

Louisville's backcourt is manned by Jerry Smith, a Wisconsin native who was Louisville's hero in last season's thrilling win in the Bradley Center, Edgar Sosa and Andre McGee. This group, along with super-athletic junior wing Terrence Williams demolished Rutgers, forcing them into 24 turnovers, 87-50 over the weekend as the Cards looked like a classic Rick Pitino club flying all over the court.

If Louisville is going to take their place as the challenger to Georgetown that everyone expected in the preseason, this is the week to do it. Marquette will definitely have something to say about that as the Golden Eagles were also expected to challenge. Marquette is a 3.5-pt favorite tonight on their home floor and the Bradley Center crowd should have Marquette amped. The energy buzz that the crowd should provide the home team should allow the defensive clamps to be put down on the perimeter, making it tough for Louisville to take advantage of their front court advantage. If Marquette can make just enough from the perimeter, they should fend off Louisville in a spirited match-up.

NBE Blogger's Prediction: Marquette 69 Louisville 66

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: RUTGERS @ LOUISVILLE

February 2, 2008


Rutgers and Louisville meet for the second time this season as the Cardinals came up with a win earlier this year at the RAC. On Saturday, the Scarlet Knights travel to Freedom Hall as the Cards try to rebound from last Monday's defeat at UConn on Big Monday.

Rutgers is coming off a draining overtime home loss to rival Seton Hall. RU rallied from a 12-pt halftime lead to force overtime, but the Pirates regrouped and outscored Rutgers 17-4 in the extra session.

It is time for Louisville to begin turning things on. They are as healthy as they are likely to get this year with seniors Juan Palacios and David Padgett playing upfront with sophomores Derrick Caracter and Earl Clark. The super-athletic Terrence Williams handles the wing position. Rick Pitino will start pointing this club towards 'March' mode and time to let them run. They still need to get their talented, but inconsistent, backcourt to utilize their talent in the frontcourt. They should not be hoisting up 20 three's in a first half like they did against Connecticut last week, even with the imposing presence of Hasheem Thabeet in the middle.

Rutgers doesn't quite have a Thabeet in the middle, but Hamady D'Diaye and JR Inman form an athletic and big duo with Byron Joynes in the frontcourt. However, that is all they have upfront, so I look for Rick Pitino to implore his troops to sttack the post.

Rutgers improvement of the last few weeks has been led by their freshman guard duo of Corey Chandler and Mike Coburn. Coburn scored 40 points combined in the wins over Pittsburgh and Villanova recently and Chandler looks to be getting over the foot injury that limited him as conference play began. Anthony Farmer and Jaron Griffin round out the regulars for RU, they are not deep, but their backcourt is solid.

Coming off the loss to UConn, I expect the Cards to go on a run of good basketball and that it will start on Saturday. They will still look for their share of three's, but the look inside will be made first and that will open up their game.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Louisville 78 Rutgers 65

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