Louisville UpDown

[SWC75]

The Upside

- I have something in common with Karrem Abdul-Jabbar: A-fib, arterial fibrillation. The cure for that is arterial ablation, (sort of a tune-up done via a catheter up an artery) and I had that today. It’s done as an outpatient but I just got home in time to watch the last 2 ½ minutes of this game. I was VERY glad I’d been ablated before watching those 2 ½ minutes.

- The individual numbers in this game were fabulous, (and they had to be). Chris Bell had his career game, to say the least. 30 points due an incredible 8 for 10 from three, and 6 rebounds, (although Red pulled him at one point when he let a ball we had last touched go out of bounds, per what I’m hearing on the radio). Was he mad that Benny was booted off the team? Was he excited about his increased role on the team? Did he finally realize who good a player he can be? Who knows?

- Maliq Brown was the most efficient play you’ve ever seen: 4 for 4 from the field, 3 for 4 from the line, 9 of our 22 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 6 blocks. What do we call that? A quintuple quintuple? OK, he did have 3 turnovers and 4 fouls. So nobody’s perfect.

- Our excellent backcourt duo, Judah Mintz and JJ Starling, scored 40 points with 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds. They were 10 for 14 inside the arc but only 2 for 11 from outside of it.

- Quadir Copeland had 11 points, 7 assists 3 steals and 2 rebounds and, I’m told, had a huge impact when he entered the game, as he usually does.

- We are 15-8 against the 4th toughest schedule in the country, (by winning percentage):
Strength of Schedule (SOS) - Men's College Basketball | WarrenNolan.com

15-8 (6-6) with 8+ to go…

LET’S GO ORANGE!


Net Points

This year I’m going to make things a bit easier on myself and just list the net points in each game after the Upside. Once a month I’ll do a deeper dive into the numbers rather than doing a “Net Points, etc.” post after every game. ‘Net’ points is the positives (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) minus the negatives, (missed field goals and free throws, turnovers and fouls committed).

Chris Bell game: 32NP in 33 minutes; season: 147NP in 557 minutes = 10.6NP/40m
Maliq Brown game: 28NP in 38 minutes; season: 323NP in 613 minutes = 21.1NP/40m
Judah Mintz game: 15NP in 30 minutes; season: 317NP in 756 minutes = 16.8NP/40m
Quadir Copeland game: 12NP in 30 minutes; season: 216NP in 498 minutes = 17.3NP/40m
JJ Starling game: 12NP in 40 minutes; season: 219NP in 794 minutes = 11.0NP/40m
Justin Taylor game: 1NP in 24 minutes; season: 129NP in 545 minutes = 9.5NP/40m
Peter Carey game: -2NP in 5 minutes; season: 0NP in 61 minutes = 0.0NP/40m


Did not play:
Kyle Cuffe game: 0NP in 0 minutes; season: 27NP in 231 minutes = 4.7NP/40m
Mounir Hima game: 0NP in 0 minutes; season: 9NP in 28 minutes = 12.9NP/40m

Hurt:
Chance Westry game: 0NP in 0 minutes; season: 0NP in 0 minutes = 0.0NP/40m

Out for the season:
Naheem McLeod game: 0NP in 0 minutes; season: 108NP in 202 minutes = 21.4NP/40m

Red Shirting:
William Patterson game: 0NP in 0 minutes; season: 0NP in 0 minutes = 0.0NP/40m

Thrown off team:
Benny Williams game: 0NP in 0 minutes; season: 99NP in 307 minutes = 12.9NP/40m


Brent Axe forgot to turn on the microphone:


Maybe he had his tonsils out this week?

The Downside

- Five guys carried the team: Maliq Brown, Chris Bell, Quadir Copeland, JJ Starling and Judah Mintz. Right now they are the team. They all performed exceptionally tonight but that’s the problem. This game was an exception for most of them. What if they don’t play like that?

- What if any of them got in foul trouble? TV Teddy and the boys called 33 fouls in a game where 116 shots were taken. Only 13 were called on us. Only Brown had more than 2, (he had four). Thank you Teddy!

- We beat a team with a 2-10 conference record by 2.

- We got out-rebounded 21-40 and still won. How often will that happen?

- Our last three opponents are shooting 100 for 168, (59.5%), 33 of 64 from the arc (51.6%). It doesn’t matter if you are in a man for min or zone if you aren’t playing any defense at all.

- We missed 11 more free throws. W haven’t hit 70% from the line since, ironically the North Carolina game, where we were 17/21(81%. Since then we are 103/159 (64.7%). That’s 56 misses in 7 games, 8 per game. Judah Mintz, who gets to the line far more than anyone else, I 35 for 57 (61%) in his last 5 games.

- Justin Taylor climbed back into his shell, playing 24 minutes an attempting one shot, (which he made) while grabbing one rebound and turning the ball over once. He ahd 2 points and asssits but committed 2 fouls.

 

[SWC75]

Brent tries it again:

 

[AlaskaSU]

How about a new net points category in honor of JB; Dead Men Playing?

 

[ar inj]

Ah yes, ablation inducing. Glad you are feeling better,

TV Teddy had a bad rap for a long time and I was in full agreement. A section mate made a comment before the game, but I have totally changed my view on TV Teddy. I now think he does a really good job and really works well with the players on all teams. Maybe it is just me but I seem to also recall the former SU coach saying he too appreciated Teddy.

 

[SoBristol]

Yes, those five had a good game-- if you only care about points scored. Someone (those same five) gave up a ton of points to a bad Louisville team.

And, still, it was exciting right to the end - so much better than losing by a ton.

 

[Newhouser]

Ah yes, ablation inducing. Glad you are feeling better,

TV Teddy had a bad rap for a long time and I was in full agreement. A section mate made a comment before the game, but I have totally changed my view on TV Teddy. I now think he does a really good job and really works well with the players on all teams. Maybe it is just me but I seem to also recall the former SU coach saying he too appreciated Teddy.

He is good. The criticism is similar to JB never playing outside of NY. Old and inaccurate.