Real good Louisville Write up

BigMike · 03-26-05, 04:31 PM

you'd be hard pressed to find a better team right now than louisville. I'm riding this cardinal wave as far as it will go. They are full of leadership and maturity and can play any type of basketball, slow it down half-court, run til your toungue drops. it doesn't matter, this team is basically built for a tournament like this, they can handle anything their opponent wants to do to them and so far, they have done it better than their opponent. Pitino on wvu - when the three point line came in, the 1-3-1 sort of disappeared in college basketball. But the way West Virginia plays it, they extended it so much that they guard the three point line much better than the flat 1-3-1 that you saw in the '60s, '70s, and '80s. But we haven't faced a 1-3-1 all year. We've played 36 games and we've not faced a 1-3-1. The good thing is we have practiced it throughout the year and this is the best 1-3-1 that you'll face. They are very good at that time they try to keep the ball on one side of the floor they try to stop it from going to the middle. We know this is a great basketball team. We know they play a unique defense. As you get ready for one game you haven't seen a certain defense but they also play man-to-man. They also play some two-three. The last time anyone tried to play a 1-3-1 zone defense against the University of Louisville, the Cardinals made a school-record 19 three-pointers in a 96-77 rout of South Florida on Feb. 1, 2002. And that was coach Rick Pitino's worst three-point shooting team at U of L. wvu will extend a bit further though and louisville shouldn't get that many three's off, but we'll see. With one day preparation, it is quite different. i like that from an under standpoint. louisville is fresh off a double digit ass whipping of the number 1 seed, i see another one here. west virginia has had a nice ride until now. The Cardinals figure to have a rebounding advantage. They've been beating opponents on the glass by an average of 8.3 in NCAA Tournament play. West Virginia has been outrebounded by 3.6 per game this season. that is one thing you can't afford to have happen, get out rebounded. if that holds serve, this could get ugly for west virginia and I think it will. Each team will use basically a seven-man rotation. The Cardinals may well look to extend their pressure defense and might play more man-to-man than in recent games because of an edge in quickness. It seems each member of this team has prospered through such adversity with each of their family's, even pitino losing his 2 brother in laws and his mother, and you may laugh, but this team is very spiritual and I just really think they are the true essence of team and will win by double digits today. Louisville is 7-1 all-time in regional finals. West Virginia faces some major challenges against a red-hot U of L team that has won 12 in a row and 21 of its last 22. All three of the Mountaineers' NCAA games have gone down to the wire. They edged 10th-seeded Creighton 63-61 on a breakaway dunk in the final seconds. They upset second-seeded Wake Forest 111-105 in double overtime. Then in the regional semifinal, they were clinging to a two-point lead going into the last 30 seconds and had to survive several Tech opportunities to tie the score or take the lead. louisville is head and shoulders above wvu's recent competition and I think they are on a mission, again i really see louisville continue playing at a very high level. the big issue in this game will be rebounding. As I said before, Louisville has outrebounded everyone so far and wvu gets outrebounded, it will be hard to win and stay close when you only get one chance at scoring most trips down the floor.
the Cards (32-4) also seem to be on a mission. Pitino mentioned the importance of having your best player at the top of his game in March, and Garcia has certainly answered that call, averaging nearly 24 points in the three tourney games. And Dean said the ankle injury he suffered late in the Washington game won't slow him down at all today.

Tommy · 03-26-05, 04:34 PM

BOL Big Mike :D Excellent write up!! I am going with you on this one, lets cash buddy!!!!!!

QuickNick · 03-26-05, 04:52 PM

Mike, BOL today, but, I have rode West Virginia all the way in the tournament and before the season started I called for West Virginia as 1 of my sleeper teams this year.

BigMike · 03-26-05, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuickNick

Mike, BOL today, but, I have road West Virginia all the way in the tournament and before the season started I called for West Virginia as 1 of my sleeper teams this year.

That's wonderful

xhide98 · 03-26-05, 06:24 PM

ive been riding them recently as well nick, and i'm happy with the results so far. I pledged to bet on them this game no matter what the spread - so far so good

03-26-05, 04:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
BigMike SCI Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 37	Real good Louisville Write up you'd be hard pressed to find a better team right now than louisville. I'm riding this cardinal wave as far as it will go. They are full of leadership and maturity and can play any type of basketball, slow it down half-court, run til your toungue drops. it doesn't matter, this team is basically built for a tournament like this, they can handle anything their opponent wants to do to them and so far, they have done it better than their opponent. Pitino on wvu - when the three point line came in, the 1-3-1 sort of disappeared in college basketball. But the way West Virginia plays it, they extended it so much that they guard the three point line much better than the flat 1-3-1 that you saw in the '60s, '70s, and '80s. But we haven't faced a 1-3-1 all year. We've played 36 games and we've not faced a 1-3-1. The good thing is we have practiced it throughout the year and this is the best 1-3-1 that you'll face. They are very good at that time they try to keep the ball on one side of the floor they try to stop it from going to the middle. We know this is a great basketball team. We know they play a unique defense. As you get ready for one game you haven't seen a certain defense but they also play man-to-man. They also play some two-three. The last time anyone tried to play a 1-3-1 zone defense against the University of Louisville, the Cardinals made a school-record 19 three-pointers in a 96-77 rout of South Florida on Feb. 1, 2002. And that was coach Rick Pitino's worst three-point shooting team at U of L. wvu will extend a bit further though and louisville shouldn't get that many three's off, but we'll see. With one day preparation, it is quite different. i like that from an under standpoint. louisville is fresh off a double digit ass whipping of the number 1 seed, i see another one here. west virginia has had a nice ride until now. The Cardinals figure to have a rebounding advantage. They've been beating opponents on the glass by an average of 8.3 in NCAA Tournament play. West Virginia has been outrebounded by 3.6 per game this season. that is one thing you can't afford to have happen, get out rebounded. if that holds serve, this could get ugly for west virginia and I think it will. Each team will use basically a seven-man rotation. The Cardinals may well look to extend their pressure defense and might play more man-to-man than in recent games because of an edge in quickness. It seems each member of this team has prospered through such adversity with each of their family's, even pitino losing his 2 brother in laws and his mother, and you may laugh, but this team is very spiritual and I just really think they are the true essence of team and will win by double digits today. Louisville is 7-1 all-time in regional finals. West Virginia faces some major challenges against a red-hot U of L team that has won 12 in a row and 21 of its last 22. All three of the Mountaineers' NCAA games have gone down to the wire. They edged 10th-seeded Creighton 63-61 on a breakaway dunk in the final seconds. They upset second-seeded Wake Forest 111-105 in double overtime. Then in the regional semifinal, they were clinging to a two-point lead going into the last 30 seconds and had to survive several Tech opportunities to tie the score or take the lead. louisville is head and shoulders above wvu's recent competition and I think they are on a mission, again i really see louisville continue playing at a very high level. the big issue in this game will be rebounding. As I said before, Louisville has outrebounded everyone so far and wvu gets outrebounded, it will be hard to win and stay close when you only get one chance at scoring most trips down the floor. the Cards (32-4) also seem to be on a mission. Pitino mentioned the importance of having your best player at the top of his game in March, and Garcia has certainly answered that call, averaging nearly 24 points in the three tourney games. And Dean said the ankle injury he suffered late in the Washington game won't slow him down at all today.
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03-26-05, 04:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tommy Now go get your shinebox Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sportscapper Island Posts: 15,068	BOL Big Mike :D Excellent write up!! I am going with you on this one, lets cash buddy!!!!!!
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03-26-05, 04:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
QuickNick SCI Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: New Orleans Posts: 9,637	Mike, BOL today, but, I have rode West Virginia all the way in the tournament and before the season started I called for West Virginia as 1 of my sleeper teams this year. __________________ Nick
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03-26-05, 06:24 PM	#5 (permalink)
xhide98 SCI Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 20	ive been riding them recently as well nick, and i'm happy with the results so far. I pledged to bet on them this game no matter what the spread - so far so good
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