Louisville Updown

[SWC75]

The Upside

- That’s what 19 point leads are for.

- I was proud of Justin Taylor. He had to play for 40 minutes due to Quadir Copeland’s foul trouble and he hustled the whole time, scoring 11 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, getting 2 steals, a block and 2 assists. But the big thing is that after missing his first four free throws, none of which looked alike, (his muscle memory seems to have been erased), he willed in three free throws in a row to take us from 78-74 to 81-74 with 31 seconds left and basically clinched this game.

- And this game gave us our first 20 win regular season in ten years and allowed us to keep dreaming of the NCAA tournament. It was our 4th straight win and fourth straight game where we scored 80 or more points.

- But the best player on the court was Chris Bell, who is pecking away at the last of the eggshell that’s surrounded him since he came here. He’s become almost automatic from the field and the line and scored a game high 23 points, making 14 of 18 field goals and free throws. But he also had 7 rebounds, (we lost the boards by only 3 and had one more turnovers, which was close enough in possessions to win a game where out-shot the opposition 58% to 44%) and 3 huge blocks.

- Maliq Brown had one of his best games. He only scored 10 points but also had 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Even that understates it because the ball went through his hands on most of our successful plays.

- Judah Mintz was typically aggressive and got 21 points and 5 assists to go with 3 rebounds and 2 steals. But he never seemed to be forcing things or trying to win the game all by himself.

20-10 (11-8) with 1+ 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 are the positives (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) minus the negatives, (missed field goals and free throws, turnovers and fouls committed).

Chris Bell game: 27NP in 40 minutes; season: 244NP in 789 minutes = 12.4NP/40m
Maliq Brown game: 19NP in 40 minutes; season: 442NP in 867 minutes = 20.4NP/40m
Judah Mintz game: 15NP in 37 minutes; season: 430NP in 1,011 minutes = 17.0NP/40m
Justin Taylor game: 9NP in 40 minutes; season: 167NP in 702 minutes = 9.5NP/40m
JJ Starling game: 1NP in 29 minutes; season: 294NP in 1,040 minutes = 11.3NP/40m
Quadir Copeland game: 1NP in 11 minutes; season: 277NP in 656 minutes = 16.9NP/40m
Kyle Cuffe game: 0NP in 3 minutes; season: 37NP in 284 minutes = 5.4NP/40m

Did not play:
Peter Carey game: 0NP in 0 minutes; season: -2NP in 70 minutes = -1.1NP/40m
Mounir Hima game: 0NP in 0 minutes season: 7NP in 45 minutes = 6.2NP/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

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


Brent Axe:



The Downside

- Our first half results in our four game winning streak: 55-40, 49-29, 45-27, 39-28. That’s +64, an average halftime lead of 16 points. Our second half results: 32-43, 39-56, 39-44, 43-48. That’s - 38, an average deficit of 9.5 points. I think you want to be a “second half team” to have a good post season run. That’s not us right now.

- We were 25 for 39 from the line, (62.5%). 30 for 39, (76.9%) would have made this a comfortable victory.

- Quadir Copeland is a spectacular player. He had a spectacular dunk where his sneaker came off and a sweet turn-around scoop shot. He also committed 5 fouls in 11 minutes. That’s pretty spectacular, too. We need all our guys to stay on the floor to have a chance to beat good teams.

- Our starting backcourt had too many turnovers: 9 between them.

- This effort would not beat Clemson or anyone we’ll face in the ACC tournament. It probably wouldn’t beat anybody in the NCAA tournament, either, but that won’t matter if we can’t get there.

 

[bballbeadle]

Wise words, Steve. Wise.

 

[newmexicuse]

Nice post, but you missed a big downside stat - only two O boards.

 

[721Comstock]

Nice post, but you missed a big downside stat - only two O boards.

Hard to get O boards when you’re shooting nearly 60%.

Can’t really have both.

 

[SWC75]

Nice post, but you missed a big downside stat - only two O boards.

And Judah's stupid 'T'.

 

[MikeSU02]

The Upside

- That’s what 19 point leads are for.

- I was proud of Justin Taylor. He had to play for 40 minutes due to Quadir Copeland’s foul trouble and he hustled the whole time, scoring 11 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, getting 2 steals, a block and 2 assists. But the big thing is that after missing his first four free throws, none of which looked alike, (his muscle memory seems to have been erased), he willed in three free throws in a row to take us from 78-74 to 81-74 with 31 seconds left and basically clinched this game.

- And this game gave us our first 20 win regular season in ten years and allowed us to keep dreaming of the NCAA tournament. It was our 4th straight win and fourth straight game where we scored 80 or more points.

- But the best player on the court was Chris Bell, who is pecking away at the last of the eggshell that’s surrounded him since he came here. He’s become almost automatic from the field and the line and scored a game high 23 points, making 14 of 18 field goals and free throws. But he also had 7 rebounds, (we lost the boards by only 3 and had one more turnovers, which was close enough in possessions to win a game where out-shot the opposition 58% to 44%) and 3 huge blocks.

- Maliq Brown had one of his best games. He only scored 10 points but also had 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Even that understates it because the ball went through his hands on most of our successful plays.

- Judah Mintz was typically aggressive and got 21 points and 5 assists to go with 3 rebounds and 2 steals. But he never seemed to be forcing things or trying to win the game all by himself.

20-10 (11-8) with 1+ 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 are the positives (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) minus the negatives, (missed field goals and free throws, turnovers and fouls committed).

Chris Bell game: 27NP in 40 minutes; season: 244NP in 789 minutes = 12.4NP/40m
Maliq Brown game: 19NP in 40 minutes; season: 442NP in 867 minutes = 20.4NP/40m
Judah Mintz game: 15NP in 37 minutes; season: 430NP in 1,011 minutes = 17.0NP/40m
Justin Taylor game: 9NP in 40 minutes; season: 167NP in 702 minutes = 9.5NP/40m
JJ Starling game: 1NP in 29 minutes; season: 294NP in 1,040 minutes = 11.3NP/40m
Quadir Copeland game: 1NP in 11 minutes; season: 277NP in 656 minutes = 16.9NP/40m
Kyle Cuffe game: 0NP in 3 minutes; season: 37NP in 284 minutes = 5.4NP/40m

Did not play:
Peter Carey game: 0NP in 0 minutes; season: -2NP in 70 minutes = -1.1NP/40m
Mounir Hima game: 0NP in 0 minutes season: 7NP in 45 minutes = 6.2NP/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

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


Brent Axe:



The Downside

- Our first half results in our four game winning streak: 55-40, 49-29, 45-27, 39-28. That’s +64, an average halftime lead of 16 points. Our second half results: 32-43, 39-56, 39-44, 43-48. That’s - 38, an average deficit of 9.5 points. I think you want to be a “second half team” to have a good post season run. That’s not us right now.

- We were 25 for 39 from the line, (62.5%). 30 for 39, (76.9%) would have made this a comfortable victory.

- Quadir Copeland is a spectacular player. He had a spectacular dunk where his sneaker came off and a sweet turn-around scoop shot. He also committed 5 fouls in 11 minutes. That’s pretty spectacular, too. We need all our guys to stay on the floor to have a chance to beat good teams.

- Our starting backcourt had too many turnovers: 9 between them.

- This effort would not beat Clemson or anyone we’ll face in the ACC tournament. It probably wouldn’t beat anybody in the NCAA tournament, either, but that won’t matter if we can’t get there.

Red and JT reinventing him as a cutter and finisher at the rim is really something.

If the kid didn’t have to be a starter, I honestly think he would do even better against second units doing the same thing.

Happy for him.

 

[Madbiker]

Gritty performance by Taylor. Good for him. But why oh why does the ball end up in the hands of our worst free throw shooter multiple times in late game situation where you know the opponent is going to foul. Have to get the ball into your best free throw guys.

 

[Red Holzman]

Another big upside regarding Maliq-
He's been staying out of foul trouble -only 2 PF last night.
Been discussion of his "playing soft", but I'll take that vs Maliq on the bench and a likely loss resulting.

 

[SouthernCuse]

Red and JT reinventing him as a cutter and finisher at the rim is really something.

If the kid didn’t have to be a starter, I honestly think he would do even better against second units doing the same thing.

Happy for him.

Since JT is often one of the 5 and only 5 men on the court, I think this is a bigger than advertised piece of the improved offensive production.

When JT was 3 point shooter, who would not shoot, or shot poorly, the opponent could slide off him easier. All he had to do was run under the basket and make a couple of those and the opponent says "Damn, now we have to guard him!"

Goes from 4 on 5 to 5 on 5, big difference.

 

[SWC75]

Gritty performance by Taylor. Good for him. But why oh why does the ball end up in the hands of our worst free throw shooter multiple times in late game situation where you know the opponent is going to foul. Have to get the ball into your best free throw guys.

That's why he's the inbounds guy. But the opposition is cutting off the guys he gets it to from passing to anyone but him.