Be Quick But Don’t Hurry

Oh, the jokes we could make if the Louisville game was in Madison Square Garden. Or in Carnesecca. Noises when 15 seconds goes off the shot clock. Men and women with blonde wigs and/ or derby hats. Off color comments about Preston Knowles’ offseason. Calling Kyle Kuric “homecoming king“. Boxscores with the names of guys who didn’t make it into Louisville, Roburt Sallie and Justin Coleman…

This Louisville team simply asks to be heckled.

Alas, this game has the Red Storm playing at Louisville’s new KFC Yum! Center, the tastiest place in hoops. Their new “NBA style” arena is big and notable, a gorgeous jewel for the program, and its fans. And the team this year is pretty good too. Instead of falling off with the losses of Edgar Sosa and Samardo Samuels, the Cardinals have developed a fast-paced style that owes more to Pitino’s early pressing past with schools like Providence, before he had scads of talent at his disposal.

They are dangerous, having knocked off Butler and UNLV. They’re only ranked at 19, and part of that may be that they have 3 losses, and the best Big East team they’ve beaten is Marquette… and that required an incredible late-game comeback. Can St. John’s slow the quick-triggered Cardinals in Louisville? As John Wooden often advised “be quick, but don’t hurry”; you can be sure that the Johnnies will hear that in the pregame.

[gigpress_related_shows]

Louisville (14-3, 3-1)

The Marquette game contained the best and worst of Louisville. Sometimes, they look like six or seven defenders on the court. Sometimes, every one of their players looks deadly, even the walk-on Elisha Justice. They have spurtability. And sometimes, they look like a haphazard team of turnover-prone athletes in search of basketball IQ.

The team is guided by point guard Peyton Siva, who is an excellent assist man, a sometimes-reluctant shooter (he’ll make the harder pass rather than shoot) and frequent visitor to the free throw line. His outside shot is a work in progress.  Siva is not actually backed up by anyone in the standard sense; a collection of guards and wings rack up time and will handle the ball when the sophomore rests.

Preston Knowles is by far the teams’ most dangerous player. Knowles can and will pull up to shoot from everywhere. It’s a great skill, but sometimes it leads him astray. He’s a decent passer, solid ballhandler, excellent steal man, and snags rebounds. Both he and Siva will commit a theft or two.

Alongside those two will be Kyle Kuric, the tall deep shooter with deadly range; Chris Smith, the Manhattan College transfer with deep range and slashing ability; and Elisha Justice, the walk on with grit and occasional deep shooting ability. Queens guard Russ Smith has seen a few minutes, usually in blowouts. Guard Mike Marra from Rhode Island is out with an injury.

Up front, the Cardinals have an injured Rakeem Buckles, who was good in the post for them. But out of that injury, Pitino found a rotation of freshman Gorgui Dieng and Stephan Van Treese. They’re an interesting pair; neither was expected to contribute big minutes this year. Both have been able to pick their spots, snag some rebounds, and make efficient plays in the paint. Both have a little athleticism to defend with, to boot.

Those two are backed by Terrence Jennings, who might be emerging in the last game or two as a solid post rebounder, and George Goode, another deep-bencher who has turned out to be quite a contributor with his bulk and a decent mid-range jump shot.

Keys to the Game

Our Chaos, Not Their Chaos. The Cardinals want to hurry opponents into their kind of crazy game. Even if they don’t force turnovers, they can make a team take early, quick shots, get out of their rhythm, and play an up and down game when they don’t want to go up and down. St. John’s has to play their game if they want to score – run when it works, don’t get caught in bad positions.

Protect Your Balls. The Cardinals also want your possessions. They want to harass opponents into traps at halfcourt and get easy buckets going the other way. Obviously, turnovers = bad.

Get Into the Teeth of Their Defense. St. John’s will find it hard to run the game at their pace; but the Cardinals perimeter defense is good, as well. St. John’s needs to get into their controlled halfcourt game and work the ball into the paint, grinding for a shot in the paint or a foul drawn.

Pick Up Their Shooters! I repeat: Preston Knowles will shoot from anywhere, at anytime. Kyle Kuric and scorch the nets as well. Look for them in transition. And know who their creators are; Knowles and Siva will draw defenders in, probe the defense off of a screen, and find an open player for a jumper. Of note: when the Cardinals aren’t hitting shots, they can’t set up the press effectively.

Don’t Let Them Pound the Glass. The Cardinals’ bigs try to get offensive boards with some regularity. They are bigger and quick; St. John’s has to box out well and get those defensive rebounds.

Prediction: Too much for the Johnnies, 75-65 Louisville.