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Cards Most Profitable Team in NCAA Tournament
By: Miller | March 16th, 2010 | Category: Cards - Cats
CNBC.com has a very interesting piece about the NCAA Tournament from a financial standpoint. Within this article, Darren Rovell breaks down the most profitable teams in the Big Dance and as it turns out, Louisville is ranked no. 1. And it isn’t close either.
The Cards, an Adidas school, reported a $16, 869, 659 profit in 2010. Ohio State, a Nike school, ranks second with a $11, 417, 941 profit. Kentucky, also a Nike school, comes in 10th with a reported $6, 157, 308 profit.
Rovell also looks at some financial figures from other areas, such as cost of a thirty second ad during the tournament ($100,000), amount John Wall will make if he’s the first pick in the 2010 NBA Draft ($5,114,280), and the amount Adidas pays Kansas to be it’s apparel provider ($26,670,000,).
It’s a pretty interesting read and I recommend taking a look, here’s the link.
BREAKING DOWN THE BRACKETS FINANCIALLY
Slick Rick, Montgomery Talk Louisville vs. Cal
By: Miller | March 15th, 2010 | Category: CardsAfter learning they would be facing each other in the first round, the Slickster and California head coach Mike Montgomery held press conferences to talk about their Friday match-up. The Courier-Journal provided video from the Slickster’s presser, and audio from Montgomery’s.
There is nothing really newsworthy because both coaches are just starting to put together their game-plans, but the one piece of news involved the injured Jerry Smith. Jerry injured his thumb in the home finale against Syracuse and was unable to play in the loss to the ‘Nati, but it appears he will see at least some action on Friday.
The Pinkie Previews: W4 Alabama (17-14, 6-10) vs. E1 Kentucky (29-2, 14-2)
By: Miller | March 11th, 2010 | Category: CatsWhat does Kentucky have to play for in the SEC tournament, not much. They have the No. 1 seed pretty much locked up. So now they try to win their first SEC Tournament Championship since what seems like forever. An accomplishment that would be welcomed with open arms, but the real goal is to win six strait in March. Yes, I spelled strait like the website. If you don’t like it, get over it and go to KentuckySportsRadio.com, where they don’t even do previews of their opponents. I’m in Florida, I can’t believe I’m even doing this right now.
Alabama is a team that scores much better in transition than the do in the half-court. When forced into a half-court game or an offensive set the Crimson Tide struggle to get shots off. Despite these half-court struggles expect Anthony Grant to go against the grain a bit and attempt to slow the game down against the Wildcats. The Elephants of Alabama just do not have the depth or the guard play to run up and down the court with the ‘Cats.
Alabama has hung close with pretty much everyone this year, they just haven’t found a way to close out close games. In their upset win over South Carolina in the first round of the SEC tournament they beat the Gamecocks and won their third strait game in SEC play for the first time all season.
JaMychal Green has been solid underneath all year long, but they have yet to find someone to take pressure off of him from the perimeter. Mikhail Torrence is their best outside shooter and leading scorer, but when the game is on the line the Tide have been unable to find someone to knock down the big shot. A lot of this can be immediately credited to their inability to manufacture points out of their half-court sets.
Alabama is usually in games late because of their defense. On the season they are holding opponents to just 42-percent from the field. They have also been effective at guarding the perimeter, allowing just 32-percent from deep. In a three game stretch that included wins over LSU and Mississippi State, the Tide allowed just six three-pointers combined. Then in their next game, Auburn shot just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc. In conference play opponents are only shooting 25-percent from three range.
Their struggles have come in the rebounding and scoring department. They have been outrebounded by opponents this season but their big problem has been closing out possessions. Too many times they allow opponents second and even third chance opportunities by not bringing down defensive boards. In their 66-65 home loss to Florida halfway through the season, the Gators outrebounded them 35-24 and scored 21 second-chance points to Alabama’s six.
Their inability to pull down boards does not bode well for them against a Kentucky that possesses one of the most talented and deepest frontlines in the country.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Crimson Tide offense revolves around the play of 6′9″ sophomore, JyMychal Green. Green, who is second on the team in scoring with 14.3 points-per-game, is a big post guy who has the ability to score in a multitude of ways. Whether he is facing the basket or has his back turned, he will find ways to score and often demands double teams. He has scored in double figures in all but four games this season and is shooting 50-percent from the floor.
He is also an effective rebounder and shot blocker, averaging a team-leading 7.0 and 1.7 effectively.
Because of their struggles in half-court, the Crimson Tide often rely on shots from the perimeter despite their streaky shooting. Torrance, a 6′5″ senior guard, is their most consistent threat. He leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points and has knocked down 38 threes on the season, while shooting 36-percent. He has scored in double figures in all but three games this season, including their loss at Kentucky. He is also an effective distributor of the basketball, leading the team in assists with 5.3.
Freshman forward Tony Mitchell and junior guard Senario Hillman will also provide scoring for the Tide. Mitchell is averaging 9.2 points on the season but has really come on as of late. Hillman, who averages 8.0 points-per-game, has finished in double figures in five of their last seven games.
Charvez Davis and Anthony Brock are the three-point specialists for Alabama, both knocking down more than 39 shots from deep this seaosn.
Alabama is one of the few teams in the SEC that has the talent necessary underneath to potentially challenge Kentucky. Green and Justin Knox, a 6′9″ 240-pound forward, are physical enough to potentially get the Wildcat bigs into foul trouble and cause problems. They ahave the size necessary to frustrate DeMarcus Cousins and get into his head.
Despite their size underneath, I still don’t think the Crimson Tide can score consistently enough to hang with the Wildcats.
Kentucky 80, Alabama 69
New Bracketology Released
By: Miller | March 8th, 2010 | Category: Cards - Cats
Joe Lunardi has released his newest Bracketology and as expected, the Cards are solidly in the field as an 8 seed and the Cats still holding strong at a 1 seed. Lunardi has Louisville playing in the West region, playing the 9th seeded Northern Iowa Panthers. If the Cards were to win, they would most likely face the top seeded Duke Blue Devils (please, please, give me this draw)
The Cats are still slated to be tops in the East region and barring the biggest upset in sports history, face the winner of Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. The obvious storyline there would be the potential match-up of Travis Ford against his Alma mater, which I’m sure he’s stoked about.
The four number 1 seeds are Syracuse, Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke. In reality, the first three should be locks on the top line. With the Dukies dismantling of the incredibly awful North Carolina Tar Heels, they would seem to have the best shot at securing the fourth top seed.
By the way, UNC is coming off a National Title, has seven McDonald’s All-Americans, and they are 16-15, including 5-11 in the mediocre ACC. Roy Williams is getting off very light in terms of media coverage/criticism, but I guess you get the benefit of the doubt if you have the rings.
Lunardi: Louisville is a “lock”
By: Miller | March 7th, 2010 | Category: Cards
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi announced on their College Gamenight show the Cards are now a lock for the NCAA Tournament. After the thrilling win over #1 Syracuse, the Cards can now focus on the Big East tournament without worrying about their NCAA status. Lunardi currently has the Cards as an 8 seed, with the potential to be a 7 seed by the time Monday’s Bracketology is released. We will obviously provide that update when it’s available.
Sophomore Kuric Sensational on Senior Day; Cards Down #1 Syracuse 78-68
By: Miller | March 6th, 2010 | Category: Cards
Recap
On a day with so many storylines, the last thing 20,000 Louisville fans expected was to see a quiet sophomore from Evansville, Indiana to steal the show, but that’s just what Kyle Kuric did. Rick Pitino has tried, sometimes pleaded, to get Kuric to come out of his shell and become more aggressive offensively. In the final Louisville game at Freedom Hall, Kuric firmly launched himself into Louisville basketball lore.
With his 22 points, including 4-6 from the three-point line and three dunks, Kuric propelled the Cards to a win over #1 Syracuse in as emotionally charged environment in all of college basketball. Oh, and it was also Senior Day and Louisville needed a win to essentially lock themselves into the NCAA Tournament.
The Cards were down 35-30 at halftime and their chances did not look great as Jerry Smith injured his thumb, thus leaving him unavailable for the second half. With thirteen minutes to play, the Cards took the lead at 43-42 and would not relenquish it.
Senior Edgar Sosa played a solid final home game with 9 points and 10 assists. Jerry Smith was on his way towards a great game before his injury, but finished with 8 points and 4 rebounds. Reginald Delk added 5 points and unfortunately, fourth senior Chris Brickley did not enter the game.
Samardo Samuels failed to score in the first half, but tallied 12 points and 9 rebounds. Jared Swopshire had a very good game with 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Courier-Journal
My Take
This was the loudest I have ever heard Freedom Hall. When Kyle Kuric threw down the alley-oop from Edgar Sosa, the Hall was literally shaking. Today was more than a game, it was an event.
I walked into Freedom Hall about forty minutes prior to tip-off and it was already about 85-90% full. Less than five minutes later, pretty much every seat was filled. On the big screens, they were showing highlights from the 1980 and 1986 NCAA Title games which no doubt got the crowd excited.
Twenty minutes before tip, the Senior Day festivities began. Regardless of how successful a class is, Senior Day is always special. Edgar Sosa, Jerry Smith, Reginald Delk, and Chris Brickley have sacrificed a lot for the Louisville program and for them to be rewarded with a win in the final home game at Freedom Hall was great to see.
For me, the highlight of the day was seeing two of my favorite players to ever play at Louisville return to Freedom Hall: DeJuan Shontez Wheat and “Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison. During the second television timeout, Wheat was introduced to the crowd to a roaring response and Pervis was honored along with the 1986 National Championship squad.
I have so many thoughts about the game, but I don’t want to spend all night writing, so I’ll just do some quick hits:
-Slick Rick’s red jacket was great, if for no other reason than it was a nice homage to Denny Crum
-It was truly a shame for Jerry Smith to get injured, he was on his way towards a huge game. Hopefully, he can come back because he deserves to end his UofL career on the court and not on the bench.
-I was hoping Milt Wagner could make it, but his commitments as an assistant at UTEP prohibited him from attending
-Darrell Griffith was dressed in a spectacular red and black ensemble, which prompted Denny Crum to remark, “I wish I could afford to dress like Griff”
-Extremely classy gesture by Slick Rick after the game. He had Denny Crum say the final good-bye to Freedom Hall because, as Rick said, Denny was the one who built Freedom Hall into the place it became.
-Rushing the court after the game was extremely close to small-time. Ultimately, I give them a pass because it was the final game at Freedom Hall, but still very close. We’re Louisville, not Virginia Tech or Oklahoma State, we don’t rush the court.
Courier-Journal
Big Picture
It will be awfully tough for Louisville to not make the NCAA Tournament now. They reached 20 wins, including 11 in the Big East, and have two wins over the the top ranked team in the country. Keep in mind, Joe Lunardi still had Louisville in the Tournament after their loss to Marquette, so I’m quite certain their win today would put the Cards into “lock” status.
The Cards also have the 6th seed in the Big East Tournament. They will play on Wednesday evening and face the winner of Cincinnati vs Rutgers. We’ll have more on that this week, but until then, a truly great day in Louisville history as the Cards leave Freedom Hall the right way, with a win.
Great Freedom Hall Moments: Cards Comeback Against Dirty Vols
By: Miller | March 5th, 2010 | Category: CardsWe conclude our look at some of the great moments for Cardinal basketball at Freedom Hall with one of the most incredible comebacks in Louisville basketball history and the first glimpse of the “Pitino Magic” for Cardinal fans.
In his first season as Louisville coach, Rick Pitino had the Cards at 7-1, but they had really not beaten anyone half-decent. Buzz Peterson’s Tennessee Vols came into town, led by Ron Slay and Vincent Yarbrough, and it looked as if they would hand the Cards their second defeat of the season.
With 31.7 seconds left to play, Tennessee’s Thaydeus Holden sank two free throws to give the Vols a 70-64 lead. The Cards had the ball and needed to put a run together, quickly.
A Pinkie Reader Remembers Freedom Hall
By: Miller | March 4th, 2010 | Category: Cards
This was sent to us from loyal Pinkie reader Andrew J. Willett. Andrew is a big Louisville fan and wrote to us with his thoughts and memories of Freedom Hall. We appreciate Andrew writing to us and he’s got a couple StraitPinkie.com koozies headed his way.
Goodbye to the Hall
I have not been looking forward to this day, just not ready to say peace to Freedom Hall. It has been a landmark in my life for 20 years now. I started going to Louisville games when I was 6, and my passion would only grow through the years. It’s tough to come up with my fondest memory because I have so many.
To me, Freedom Hall, will always be home to one of the best coaches of all time, my man Denny Crum. I was there when Coach Crum won #500 and #600, and those two experiences will always stand out. My top three favorite games attended at the Hall would be last season when Louisville beat #1 Pittsburgh, Denny Crum’s final regular season game, and Louisville beating UCLA in 1997.
I know they named the All-time Freedom Hall team at the last home game, but I would like to name my own All-Freedom Hall Team. The only stipulation is that to be included on the roster you must have played from 1990-now. My apologies to all players before that time period, but I just never saw them play at Freedom Hall.
G: Dejuan Wheat, Marques Maybin, Reece Gaines, Taquan Dean, Labradford Smith
F: Terrence Williams, Dwayne Morton, Francisco Garcia
PF: Samaki Walker, Pervis Ellison
C: Felton Spencer, Clifford Rozier
Head Coach: Denny Crum
Water boy: Rick Pitino
P.A. announcer: John Tong, not John Ramsey’s idiot brother who impersonated him at a game earlier this season
Unfortunately, I will not be in attendance for the final game against Syracuse, which upsets me. The last home game I attended was the double overtime win over Notre Dame, so at least my last game was a good one. If I would have known then that this would be my last time at the Hall, I would have cherished the game more. All things considered, I’m just glad my first and last game at Freedom Hall was a victory. Hopefully, the Cards leave the Hall on a winning note. Go Cards!
Great Freedom Hall Moments: Earl Clark Dunks on Luke Harangody
By: Miller | March 4th, 2010 | Category: CardsThe University of Louisville has seen more than it’s fair share of spectacular dunks, but in 2009, Earl Clark produced one of the most talked about dunks in school history. As a player who some regarded as being soft, Clark shocked many with this power slam right in the face of Notre Dame star Luke Harangody.
Great Freedom Hall Moments: Sosa Drains a Bomb to Down UK
By: Miller | March 3rd, 2010 | Category: CardsAs we continue our look at some of the great moments for Louisville basketball at Freedom Hall, we go all the way back to 2009. The Cards were ranked third in the country to start the year, but scuffled out of the gate for an 8-3 start as their in-state rival Kentucky Wildcats were coming to town.
Led by the legendary Billy Gillispie, the Wildcats were 11-3 and had two legit stars in Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson. A Kentucky win would have surely driven the Louisville fan base into complete disarray. The game went back and forth and with 23 seconds left, the Cards had the ball and a chance to win.
