Hell in the Hall – Louisville Sports Blog

The season is far from over.  But with a second Big East home loss so early in in the season–this time to  a middling Irish team– the hard reality of the current situation is becoming  clear.  And not just to winning opposing coaches.

I’ll share my thoughts soon on the current situation –and what possibly can be done to right the ship to salvage the hoped for  big year that’s turning small quickly.

For now…check out photos of the game by HITH photog Matt Wickham:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kylures/sets/72157628770004657/detail/

(By HITH correspondent Afootdr during his visit to NY)   It has been since my childhood days that I have been to the Madison Square Garden.  So when the opportunity to catch the Cards at MSG during a recently planned trip to NYC came about, my son and I jumped at the chance.     As we were standing outside the Garden before the game, our excitement grew.  We were pumped.  This was only heightened by seeing an enthusiastic woman make her way up the steps.  This was of course Russ Smith’s grandmother, Celestine.

We were sitting 7 rows back at half court, seats we only dream of at the Yum Center.  The arena was less than half full. The Cards looked menacing in their away black uniforms.   St. John’s starts 4 freshmen, no match for the likes of Kuric, Siva, Dieng or the Dynamic Smith Duo.

So Louisville again starts slow with St. John’s connecting of 2 early 3 point baskets.  But quickly the Cards turn up the defense and hold the Red Storm to but a light rain.  The Storm shoots 14% for the 1^st half as the Cards race to a 29 – 18 pt lead at half.    The cards hit a blistering 53% from the field including 62% from 3 pt land for the second half and bury the Red Storm 73-58.

Kyle Kuric had a good offensive performance but lacked on the boards and assists.  Peyton Siva was hampered by foul trouble, playing only 18 minutes and looking out of sorts while in there.  Gorgui Dieng just missed another double/double and showed why he is a defensive threat with 7 blocks.  Kevin Ware played a lot of minutes dishing out 4 assists but looking awkward on the 4 TO’s. Chris Smith looked good and Jared Swopshire had his best game on the boards with 9.

But the catalyst was Russ Smith coming off the bench to score 17 pts, 7 assists in 23 minutes in front of his hometown crowd and of course one proud grandmother !

Is Russ in Siva’s head?

Ever since Pey-Pey went out with a sprained ankle, and Russ emerged from his shadow, Siva has had maybe one good outing –and several truly bad ones, including the last two.

In fact, as Russ has come on even stronger in the last few games , Peyton has regressed just as fast, back to falling down on his drives, fouling out, TO’s–geez, you name it.

Is it a nagging injury? Severe ankle strains CAN linger. Four games back, I asked Pitino in the post game presser whether Siva’s ankle was still hurting and causing issues. Coach said no, it was just lack of conditioning due to missing practice time due to the injury. The next day, Siva tells Rick Bozich that his ankle was still sore…

I personally don’t think it’s his ankle or lack of conditioning at this point. I think Russ is in Siva’s head.

At the Card Chronicle, Carolina Cardinal made this point in one of the threads: ” Remember that last year they tried to make Russ the back up point guard, Siva’s understudy so to speak. And now he is the leading scorer and getting tons of rebounds and steals. Continuing the theatre reference, imagine how a leading man might feel if his understudy suddenly was the headliner…. One more thing, a few games ago, in a post game presser, Siva said that “Russ Smith was saving us……” . I thought it odd that he would use Russ’ first and last name. Teammates are generally much closer than that and far less formal. Struck me as an odd way to put it. Again, could be nothing but just struck me funny.”

ItsAllintheCARDS chimed in with this cogent thought: ” Also you gotta go back and look at every magazine article for preseason CBB. We had the high preranking and guess who’s picture was almost always sitting next to our name? ‘Siva’ He def might have put to much pressure on himself going into this year because every analyst said he was our only player in the top 100.”

So…is Russ in Pey-Pey’s head? It’s a question I plan to put to both Coach and Siva separately the next time I get a press pass (maybe this Sat *fingers crossed*)

After the emotional turmoil in my season after that Card-megedon week of losses, I am beginning to think more clearly with Card history as my guidebook.

We just took two “Denny Crum” losses.

As anyone familiar with our history knows, Denny used to schedule difficult games early in the season, and we always took our lumps. He did it to toughen the team, humble them so their minds would be more open to the need for improvement, and because our Conference schedules back then were not like the Big East gauntlet we have faced since 2005. That is why Denny’s teams seldom generated 12-0 starts, like a few of Pitino’s teams have done.

Obviously, Denny’s strategy worked. The fans accepted this logic– in large part because of Denny’s sheer brilliance in March. (He took us to a Final Four his FIRST year here, and to other ones every 2.5 years on the average through 1986. )

So…what am I saying here about this year’s team? Here’s my take thru less emotional lenses: 1) We have beaten some pretty decent teams this year during the streak. Ohio U. , Long Beach St. , and Vandy were no slouches. That alone showed some talent and grit–to keep the winning streak alive. Particularly in light of the injuries; 2) We finally played two top-notch, ranked teams. We lost but we had a chance to win in both games, and certainly were not blown out. Again– a show of more talent and grit even in the losses.; 3) Now that we have taken our lumps, I guarantee the team’s minds are more open to needing to improve. Maybe even Chane’s mind and mouth will be tempered. We have been measured against some of the best, and come up lacking–but only at this moment. I believe that same talent and grit we have shown throughout will now serve us well in striving to improve for the future.It least it SHOULD.

We are in my mind a top 10-15 ranked team… with upside…. as Siva, Buckles, Van Treese, and Blackshear all get healthier, and as we now doubly focus on the areas we now clearly know need improvement.

We lost both those games because of two things that have plagued us since the beginning of this season: Lack of rebounding and scoring droughts. Again, these can be improved as injuries hopefully minimize, and as full practices can become the norm.

We may never be a great rebounding team and possibly not even a great scoring team. But…if we can minimize those weaknesses, and build on our strengths we can be a legit top 5-10 ranked team. And if we can get to that point, believe me, anything can happen come NCAA tourney time. Remember history again: the 1980 squad was not favored to win the title even with Darrell, and certainly the 1986 team was a surprise winner.

We are not far away from putting us in a strong position to be a legit contender. And that’s about all you can ever ask for, come time for the Dance…