Hell in the Hall – Louisville Sports Blog

In one week Louisville basketball –and the college basketball world–

were turned upside down

as the Cards surged to their first Big East Tournament title,

other the potential Big Dance  #1 seeds ditched before the semis of their tourneys,

and,  suddenly,  shockingly,  the University of Louisville –dissed and ignored just one week earlier by the national Talking Heads–

emerged not only with a #1 seed,

but as THE  # 1 seed overall in the Big Dance,

and as the #1 team in the ESPN Coaches poll,

and as #1 in the AP too…

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and as media darlings and as an almost pick for National Champion by new prez Obama

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and with T Will on his third Sports Illustrated cover in a row

and as one of their First Team All-Americans.

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And– all of this was totally unprecedented in the long and storied history of Card basketball.

All in one week.

It boggled the the mind of this 54 year old Card fan who thought he’d seen everything over his four decades of watching Louisville basketball.

The #1 question now in my mind:  Has it boggled the team’s — and TWill’s– minds,  too?

Will their  heads explode from this intense  adulation and  pressure?

It’s a fair question to ask of mature adults, much less of wide-eyed 18 and 19 year olds.

This team has not handled adulation well so far this year. They have failed twice.

They will get one more try.

Ranked # in the top 5 in most pre-season  polls, the Cards stumbled early with losses to WKU,  Minnesota, and UNLV.

Then, after losing at home to UNLV on Christmas Eve, the Cards turned their season around with their Golden January streak through Kentucky and several ranked teams, including the take down of  then #1 Pitt in the Hall.

As our ranking rose once again to pre-season heights,  our quality of play suffered again, starting in the the second half of the win over West Virginia, and continuing through losses to UConn and  a culminating in a  big-time 30 point ass-whooping at Notre Dame–which finally seemed to get our attention again.

Now… 10 straight wins later, we stand at the mountaintop again.   This time no one higher.

Two weeks,  six  games to go to our third National title.

Can we handle it this time?

What are the key problems that crop up again and again, and must find resolvement this time?

Maybe this equation will help:

Lots of  public adulation = big ego = lack of focus and intensity = non-productive ball movement and poor rebounding= loss.

“Coach told us when people go one on one, break off plays and settle for jump shots with 25 seconds left on the shot clock, we’re just a good to average team,” guard Edgar Sosa said.

“Coach has really emphasized passing,” said Will Scott, a reserve guard. “Our passing is what creates the better shots, which gets our percentage up where we need it.”

That and sweating the rebounds –particularly the O rebounds that keep the other team from firing into transition, and let’s us get our press on.

Rick Pitino is the master in the post season.  He has the highest winning % in the Big Dance of any active coach.  He also has taken all but one of his previous #1 seeded teams to the Final Four, winning it all  in 1996.

Over the last few years,  seeding by the Selection Committee has gotten more precise.  It is rare to NOT see the #1 seeds get to the Final Four.  Last year, all four #1 seeds got the the final weekend.

The Coaching talent is there for the Cards.  The Committee says the talent and potential is there.

Can we handle it this time?

I think we can.

For us, perhaps its third times the charm,

both in lessons learned and  national titles earned.

GO CARDS!

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Ck it out:

My fellow bloggers:  Mike at Card Chronicle http://www.cardchronicle.com/

Charlie at Card Game http://uoflcardgame.com/

And Prudat, Lindy and Ron at Card Empire http://cardinalempire.com/home/

The Cards have their Dancing shoes on…do you? http://www.wlky.com/video/18970352/index.html

Eric Crawford says the Cards not sweating the pressure: http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=139909890423&h=flVHK&u=d9fgI&ref=nf

Rick Bozich adds it up in an excellent article–and notes the “numbers” may not favor the Cards http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090320/COLUMNISTS01/903200442/1002/SPORTS

Wall Street Journal–WSJ has a man-crush on Preston Knowles–hey, don’t you?  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123696874244522043.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Heck, everyone has jumped on our bandwagon now–even T Mac:

Bloomberg.com– Michael Jordan made Will Scott cry… http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=afWDRjw6vtvo&refer=home

Denny and the original Doctors of Dunk see the same similarities I do between the D of the 80′s teams and this year’s team igniting the O: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29729863/

Yeah, we got the #1 seed overall, but we they “rewarded” us with what all are calling the toughest bracket: http://dimemag.com/2009/03/no-1-overall-louisville-got-screwed/

More history is made as Big East receives a historic three #1 seeds for the Dance: http://www.hoopwriters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65:big-east-reigns-supreme-louisville-pittsburgh-and-uconn-receive-no1-seeds&catid=5:news&Itemid=5

And, a pretty cool animation of our new basketball Catheral for the future:

http://www.fox41.com/Global/story.asp?S=10022527