LOUISVILLE VS #12 TENNESSEE GAME THREAD- NOON ACCN

[TheRealVille]

Tennessee just didn't give us an inch and the Cards had to take contested shots. Since we have no post game to mitigate this defense, we have to make 3's or we're not going to score.

Tennessee showed how to play defense against Louisville's offense, so adjustments have to be made. That's what makes a good coach or not so good a coach.

 

[AnotherCFD]

At least they played hard. Got to wonder how long that will last though if we can’t offense and defense better as the season goes on.

 

[Thecycle27]

One game but folks that was no better than last year. No clue on offense and defense. Does it mean anything long term nope….but that was pitiful. No sugar coating it.

 

[TheRealVille]

One game but folks that was no better than last year. No clue on offense and defense. Does it mean anything long term nope….but that was pitiful. No sugar coating it.

No, no, no, no! That was much better than last two seasons. They had a clue on both offense and defense but it didn't work. Tennessee made tough shots and played sticky defense. They are just a much better team.

Louisville has deficiencies on offense and it was exploited against a ranked team today. This loss was not pitiful. It's a learning experience.

 

[glassmanJ]

the positives, we assisted on almost 75% of made baskets and hit all our FT's. and going 16 for 60 from the field means they probably just played their worst game of the entire season. we had 12 steals, 4 blocks and 13 turnovers compared to their 20.

 

[UofLouisville]

the positives, we assisted on almost 75% of made baskets and hit all our FT's. and going 16 for 60 from the field means they probably just played their worst game of the entire season. we had 12 steals, 4 blocks and 13 turnovers compared to their 20.

After I read that I was reminded of the original bad news bears..."We did foul the ball 3 times and Tanner almost made it to first"

 

[Thecycle27]

No, no, no, no! That was much better than last two seasons. They had a clue on both offense and defense but it didn't work. Tennessee made tough shots and played sticky defense. They are just a much better team.

Louisville has deficiencies on offense and it was exploited against a ranked team today. This loss was not pitiful. It's a learning experience.

They lost by 22. This game was awful. Like I said it doesn’t necessarily mean anything long term, but UT had a bunch of transfers too. We will see but that wasn’t good on any level.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

That game was never in any doubt. And U of L has no business thinking it can consistently compete with Top 20 teams this year. Maybe in a year or two.

Fans wanna believe otherwise, but there are no shortcuts to success. Kelsey is the best coach that $2 million will probably buy. And I couldn't pick the guys on our team out of a police line-up. Those aren't the key elements of success...

 

[glassmanJ]

That game was never in any doubt. And U of L has no business thinking it can consistently compete with Top 20 teams this year. Maybe in a year or two.

Fans wanna believe otherwise, but there are no shortcuts to success. Kelsey is the best coach that $2 million will probably buy. And I couldn't pick the guys on our team out of a police line-up. Those aren't the key elements of success...

fyi, your boy pasta prematura went 17-14 his first year at providence, 14-14 his first year at uk, and 19-13 his first year at u of l. and his winning % before getting to a top 10 school was less than CPK's. so quit ya bitchin

 

[Thecycle27]

I am only reacting to this game. In this new world every team is in transition. To lose by 22 isn’t good, only time will tell if Kelsey can coach at this level.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

fyi, your boy pasta prematura went 17-14 his first year at providence, 14-14 his first year at uk, and 19-13 his first year at u of l. and his winning % before getting to a top 10 school was less than CPK's. so quit ya bitchin

I never said Kelsey was losing games consistently. A .500 record this year has been and continues to be my expectation. That's real world, not b!tching...

 

[achilles992000]

we play 5 top 25 teams in late November-early December.
Indiana, tbd Atlantis opponent, Duke, UK, and UNC.
we will be 0-5 against this group without interior points and rebounding.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

Hate on Payne all you want. A 22-point home loss against the #12 team in the country is not significant improvement from last year. Don’t believe me, check comparable scores against the best teams on last year’s schedule.

Dominating hapless teams gives you a false sense of accomplishment. And style points—shooting and missing a bunch of outside shots—isn’t progress either.

Paul Rogers said at the 5-minute mark in the first half that “Tennessee didn’t buy into the hype.” Nor should our own fans…

 

[TheRealVille]

They lost by 22. This game was awful. Like I said it doesn’t necessarily mean anything long term, but UT had a bunch of transfers too. We will see but that wasn’t good on any level.

So would you still feel this way had Louisville lost by 22 to Kansas, Uconn or Duke? Tennessee has transfers but they also had three starters back from an elite 8 team.

Today it was just Tennessee is much better than Louisville. Cards tried to run what has been working but most every shot was contested. Cards also played excellent defense, but Tennessee made tough shots, many as the clock was running out.

This team is a live or die by the 3 team, and there's only one pure shooter and that's Smith. Without a post presence, this is the offense we're going to see.

Even in defeat, that game today was a night and day difference from the past two seasons. I can't believe fans really expected top 12 wins this early in the process. Not every good team the Cards will face will play as good as Tennessee did today. They're better and they were motivated so we got their A game.

 

[TheRealVille]

Hate on Payne all you want. A 22-point home loss against the #12 team in the country is not significant improvement from last year. Don’t believe me, check comparable scores against the best teams on last year’s schedule.

Dominating hapless teams gives you a false sense of accomplishment. And style points—shooting and missing a bunch of outside shots—isn’t progress either.

Paul Rogers said at the 5-minute mark in the first half that “Tennessee didn’t buy into the hype.” Nor should our own fans…

You don't know what you're talking about zipp. There is definite significant improvement. Last year we would have lost by 35 and would have quit in the 1st half.

I don't get it. Tennessee is obviously the much better team. They have a top level coach, three starters from an elite 8 team, and a program that has averaged 25 wins the last several seasons.

We needed Tennessee to overlook us but instead they were pissed how they became the underdog, so they beat us handily. I still see the potential for Louisville to win 20 games, and this early humbling defeat I believe will affect this group in a positive way.

Unlike the last two seasons.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I can’t believe people actually thought we would win this game today. We have 15 new players going up against the team that won the SEC Conference last year. Our program was a dumpster fire for 2 years it is going to take a couple of years to rebuild it. I bet we win a lot more games this first year then what we did in the 2 years under KP.

 

[TheRealVille]

I can’t believe people actually thought we would win this game today. We have 15 new players going up against the team that won the SEC Conference last year. Our program was a dumpster fire for 2 years it is going to take a couple of years to rebuild it. I bet we win a lot more games this first year then what we did in the 2 years under KP.

Anselem-Ibe didn't even play and Rooths played only 4 minutes. This team doesn't even have a set rotation yet, but we're going to beat a team like Tennessee?

All week I was amused at some on this board predicting a win and collecting dollars from Sportsbooks.

What I know for sure so far is Smith is the best shooter and Pryor has the ultimate green light. Everything else is still to come, but I do like the effort and the attention to detail. We just got to give them some time before we call them an elite 8 team or a 20 game loser.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood_rivals307205]

We all knew it was a brutal schedule. We discussed it. This opponent was a big part of that analysis. Expectations should be in check.

 

[earsky]

Tennessee just didn't give us an inch and the Cards had to take contested shots. Since we have no post game to mitigate this defense, we have to make 3's or we're not going to score.

Tennessee showed how to play defense against Louisville's offense, so adjustments have to be made. That's what makes a good coach or not so good a coach.

I agree it was as difficult an assignment as they've seen and they struggled mightily. The guards on this team need to be able to control the tempo,have a feel for the flow of the game and adjust on the fly. Ultimately,it's on Coach to get them straightened out-great learning game for a team trying really hard not to let down a whole city.
I think they're better than today. Two early fouls on big man hurt us too. That freaking start could not have been worse.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

Actually most of the betting world thought this was a pick ‘em game. I guess the hype was national.

I’d also much rather lose by 22 than 35…

 

[UofLouisville]

Actually most of the betting world thought this was a pick ‘em game. I guess the hype was national.

I’d also much rather lose by 22 than 35…

I'm sure you'd rather they lose, period. Then maybe Jurich can be re-hired.

 

[UofLouisville]

All week I was amused at some on this board predicting a win and collecting dollars

Nice short sell on facts. I predicted that exact thing on media and the books predictions on that last hacks performance. +1,5 UL'S favor isn't what i was thinking would be predicted. Also not so glad you didn't want to think we couldn't win. Be a little more positive. Did you think we were going to lose by 20+? If the spread was +10 for tenn would you have thought different? And yes I predicted a win because I'm a Louisville fan. What would you expect.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

I'm sure you'd rather they lose, period. Then maybe Jurich can be re-hired.

The joke was directed at @TheRealVille

 

[Thecycle27]

So would you still feel this way had Louisville lost by 22 to Kansas, Uconn or Duke? Tennessee has transfers but they also had three starters back from an elite 8 team.

Today it was just Tennessee is much better than Louisville. Cards tried to run what has been working but most every shot was contested. Cards also played excellent defense, but Tennessee made tough shots, many as the clock was running out.

This team is a live or die by the 3 team, and there's only one pure shooter and that's Smith. Without a post presence, this is the offense we're going to see.

Even in defeat, that game today was a night and day difference from the past two seasons. I can't believe fans really expected top 12 wins this early in the process. Not every good team the Cards will face will play as good as Tennessee did today. They're better and they were motivated so we got their A game.

Yes, I would feel the same. Louisville got beat by 22 at home in a time where you can rebuild quickly. There is no sugar coating it. They spent a lot of money building this roster. It shouldn’t look like that period. Like I said it is one game.

I really don’t care what the head coach gets paid like Zipp. It is lazy to say fans shouldn’t have high expectations because they went cheap on a coach. The question is NIL. That can be a discussion. I have said it over and over you better have dudes or coaches have no shot. The only dudes I saw were on the other team. Louisville has lack dudes for 5 years. That is a fact.

I like Kelsey but if he keeps missing on dudes he will fail.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood_rivals307205]

Yes, I would feel the same. Louisville got beat by 22 at home in a time where you can rebuild quickly. There is no sugar coating it. They spent a lot of money building this roster. It shouldn’t look like that period. Like I said it is one game.

I really don’t care what the head coach gets paid like Zipp. It is lazy to say fans shouldn’t have high expectations because they went cheap on a coach. The question is NIL. That can be a discussion. I have said it over and over you better have dudes or coaches have no shot. The only dudes I saw were on the other team. Louisville has lack dudes for 5 years. That is a fact.

I like Kelsey but if he keeps missing on dudes he will fail.

Just curious, how do you know they spent a lot of $ on the roster? How many of the NIL contracts have you seen? Not sure how we can discuss NIL too extensively when we don't have the info on what UofL spent and/or the info on what other teams spent.

They tried on Osobor, Quantance, and Bello and apparently didn't have the $ to get them. I don't think those guys took less $ to go other places.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood_rivals307205]

I can’t believe people actually thought we would win this game today. We have 15 new players going up against the team that won the SEC Conference last year. Our program was a dumpster fire for 2 years it is going to take a couple of years to rebuild it. I bet we win a lot more games this first year then what we did in the 2 years under KP.

I think some of our fans were too optimistic yeah.

Since our program has been so bad over the years, I think some of our fans kind of went into this without realizing TN is a legit T10/20 program these days, and that was going to be a tough game. They returned the D POY at PG, they could be a F4 contender even, hard to say.

But I do think everyone that roots for the team was hoping to be competitive, and that's not what they got.

It's the reality check, I have no problem with optimistic fans around here, especially when you factor in the trolls that thrive on the program's struggles getting free reign to do their trolling.

The optimistic fans probably should re-consider after what they saw yesterday. Most of us were wait and see. I think everyone was aware of the lack of interior play, those that weren't should be now.

Fans hoping for style adjustment probably need to forget that. We aren't going to suddenly grow a post player or two. Now they can improve if they stick with it they all did just meet. But there are always going to be limitations given what they have.

 

[TheRealVille]

Nice short sell on facts. I predicted that exact thing on media and the books predictions on that last hacks performance. +1,5 UL'S favor isn't what i was thinking would be predicted. Also not so glad you didn't want to think we couldn't win. Be a little more positive. Did you think we were going to lose by 20+? If the spread was +10 for tenn would you have thought different? And yes I predicted a win because I'm a Louisville fan. What would you expect.

I thought there was a chance to win but at the same time, I knew it was a lot to ask from this team. The line moving to Louisville as a favorite really perplexed me and if I was some dude living in Illinois I would have bet on UT big time.

But I held hope that at least we would stay close, but we were just not ready for a top team playing at their best. Maybe later but not in game two. We needed UT to overlook Louisville and they clearly did not.

Coach Kelsey has to find a post game or we're going to have similar results against top teams. There has to be some form of scoring threat down low to get our perimeter players some space to do their thing.

It is a good thing that most looked at Louisville as a good team and not a laughing stock. I figured the line would be 6 or 7 points and if it would have been, I would have lost money.

It's a long season. We're learning as we go, fans and the team.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood_rivals307205]

There is no traditional post-game player on the roster, Kelsey can't invent it out of thin air.

They are going to need to figure out a way to improve defensively and it's unclear if they have the personnel to do that.

These are things you typically find out about a team after roughly 10 games but given the schedule our fans got to find out right away. Post play, or lack of it, was a concern going into it, as was rebounding. Now it's just confirmed.

 

[LouCards13]

Fans hoping for style adjustment probably need to forget that. We aren't going to suddenly grow a post player or two. Now they can improve if they stick with it they all did just meet. But there are always going to be limitations given what they have.

Hopefully they will make the adjustment to not Jack up a 3 every other shot. It drives me nuts when a player gets a layup or put back opportunity and they pass it back out for another 3.

 

[PushupMan]

Hate on Payne all you want. A 22-point home loss against the #12 team in the country is not significant improvement from last year. Don’t believe me, check comparable scores against the best teams on last year’s schedule.

Dominating hapless teams gives you a false sense of accomplishment. And style points—shooting and missing a bunch of outside shots—isn’t progress either.

Paul Rogers said at the 5-minute mark in the first half that “Tennessee didn’t buy into the hype.” Nor should our own fans…

Except that you won’t find any games (even exhibition games against D2 schools) during the Payne tenure where UofL won by 48.

Yes, Tennessee dominated us. The 22 point loss was still less than Payne’s 26 point loss to Arkansas, his 32 point loss to Texas A&M, and his 25 point loss to Maryland, all during his 9 game losing streak to start his first year.

 

[Thecycle27]

Just curious, how do you know they spent a lot of $ on the roster? How many of the NIL contracts have you seen? Not sure how we can discuss NIL too extensively when we don't have the info on what UofL spent and/or the info on what other teams spent.

They tried on Osobor, Quantance, and Bello and apparently didn't have the $ to get them. I don't think those guys took less $ to go other places.

I agree but not sure any of them really change the season. I am not a big guy on post play in this modern era of basketball. The college game is a guards game. Bottom line their guards-slash wings torched our guards and wings. With that said there aren’t many bigs that can legit shoot it, drive it, pass it and play down low. There are lot more big uglies that set screens and do the ugly work.

When you play 5 out offensively your bigs better force the traditional big to come out or your guards better be able to put the big on skates. Then your wings have to be able to slash and force rotations. Louisville did none of that. Again they had 2 -3legit perimeter defenders.

We will see.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood_rivals307205]

I agree but not sure any of them really change the season. I am not a big guy on post play in this modern era of basketball. The college game is a guards game. Bottom line their guards-slash wings torched our guards and wings. With that said there aren’t many bigs that can legit shoot it, drive it, pass it and play down low. There are lot more big uglies that set screens and do the ugly work.

When you play 5 out offensively your bigs better force the traditional big to come out or your guards better be able to put the big on skates. Then your wings have to be able to slash and force rotations. Louisville did none of that. Again they had 2 -3legit perimeter defenders.

We will see.

I'd say none of the higher end guys they went after that chose another would hurt the team.

Get Osobor or Bello and you're locking in 9+reb per, impacting a team weakness.

Ultimately they need more talent than just one. The limitations already look clear.

So with that, we'll at least get to find out if the new HC can coach a team up.

The ability to obtain the players required is a concern, no matter who you have coaching them. It's a new era and unfortunately for UofL we needed to be going into it in better shape than we were a few years ago.

 

[KozmasAgain]

As bad as our program has been the past few years I was expecting the rebuild to last at least 2 to 3 years.

 

[TheRealVille]

I agree but not sure any of them really change the season. I am not a big guy on post play in this modern era of basketball. The college game is a guards game. Bottom line their guards-slash wings torched our guards and wings. With that said there aren’t many bigs that can legit shoot it, drive it, pass it and play down low. There are lot more big uglies that set screens and do the ugly work.

When you play 5 out offensively your bigs better force the traditional big to come out or your guards better be able to put the big on skates. Then your wings have to be able to slash and force rotations. Louisville did none of that. Again they had 2 -3legit perimeter defenders.

We will see.

It is a guards game, but you need to have an inside threat so defenses can't cling to the perimeter players. Kind of like having a rushing threat in football when you're strength is throwing the ball.

Also, a big man down low helps with offensive rebounding and putbacks.

Scott is really the only option and he doesn't have a perimeter game, so if he keeps improving he may get us some baskets down low.

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

Just curious, how do you know they spent a lot of $ on the roster? How many of the NIL contracts have you seen? Not sure how we can discuss NIL too extensively when we don't have the info on what UofL spent and/or the info on what other teams spent.

They tried on Osobor, Quantance, and Bello and apparently didn't have the $ to get them. I don't think those guys took less $ to go other places.

I think U of L fans are getting fed a lotta garbage about our NIL money.

There are signs at the arena concessions asking you to donate your change to NIL, like the Salvation Army. And why would there be multimillions to pay athletes when we can’t balance a budget?

None of that makes any sense.

 

[PushupMan]

Hate on Payne all you want. A 22-point home loss against the #12 team in the country is not significant improvement from last year. Don’t believe me, check comparable scores against the best teams on last year’s schedule.

Dominating hapless teams gives you a false sense of accomplishment. And style points—shooting and missing a bunch of outside shots—isn’t progress either.

Paul Rogers said at the 5-minute mark in the first half that “Tennessee didn’t buy into the hype.” Nor should our own fans…

So when Kelsey posts a winning season this year, will you shut the hell up with this “not seeing significant improvement from Kenny Payne” bullsh!t? Or will you continue to gerrymander the data to fit your clowns narrative?

 

[the artist FKA zipp]

Oh, so Kelsey has to be as bad as Payne to make me right about him? LOL...

Payne is about as low a bar as anyone can come up with. You could probably win as many games coaching as he did. Hell no Payne is not a legit measuring stick.

Let the U of L basketball program start averaging crowds like Saturday's which was still five thousand below capacity. Let this program finally win one damn NCAA game again. And maybe start contributing financially to a bankrupt athletic department.

THEN I'll be acknowledging progress in men's basketball...

 

[PushupMan]

Oh, so Kelsey has to be as bad as Payne to make me right about him? LOL...

Payne is about as low a bar as anyone can come up with. You could probably win as many games coaching as he did. Hell no Payne is not a legit measuring stick.

Let the U of L basketball program start averaging crowds like Saturday's which was still five thousand below capacity. Let this program finally win one damn NCAA game again. And maybe start contributing financially to a bankrupt athletic department.

THEN I'll be acknowledging progress in men's basketball...

That’s reasonable, and I’ll be holding you to it.

As far as attendance goes, if we ever average more than 5K below capacity again in that arena, I will be surprised. Somebody would have to comp me a couple of tickets for a really big game in order to entice me to sit in those seats with the horrible sight lines.

 

[CoachJ1122]

A coach that used to be here said "don't talk about it-BE about it." I like that quote

I hope 10 days of practice between games leads to practices that are blood baths.

Yes, it was only 1 game, and the second game, but... we have several more against teams on that level, and we had some red flags

I hope in 10 days we soul search and figure some things out, decide to not get manhandled, like that again.

Not just beaten badly-manhandled

I still believe.

But we have done a lot of talking, myself included, about being on the road to being "back"

I 100% think PK was the positive shot in the arm the program needed.

An old football coach told me a long time ago "you can't have all milk drinkers--you need a couple of whiskey drinkers"

UT came in here and stole our lunch money

Who's going to do something about it?

 

[2330859]

Everyone who watched the game saw the following:

1. UT’s tight man-to-man defense denied our passing lanes, and pressured the ball to a level we had no expectation.
2. UT’s superior athleticism and strength dominated the rebounding, even when we had position.
3. We missed the 3 point opportunities, largely a result of UT defense taking away any open looks, and our own lack of patience to get an open look.

CPK needs to work tirelessly on our half court offense period ….. it must figure out a way to find separation when faced with tight man-to-man defenses, as we will see it every game until we demonstrate that we can beat it.

I like Kelsey, and I think these kids will listen to Kelsey. Can they overcome the disparity in strength and athleticism? I have no idea.