Louisville Defeats #1 Pittsburgh 69-63; Rolf’s Recapsulation
Miller | Jan 17, 2009 | Comments 2
The Louisville Cardinals were tabbed by many as a legit Final Four squad and tonight, they showed why. The Cards displayed the total package as a team and as a result handed top ranked Pitt Panthers their first loss of the year. Straitpinkie favorite T-Will and birthday boy Earl Clark continued to show their immense skills as they led the Slick Ricks, and Edgar Sosa continued his progression in the victory. T-Will led the Cardinals with 20 points and 7 rebounds while Earl Clark added 16 points and 11 rebounds.
The Cards spotted Pitt an early thirteen point lead, but went on a 16-3 run to briefly take a three point lead. However, by the end of the first half, Pitt lead 32-30. At the half, the 1983 Louisville Cardinals Final Four squad, whom many believe to be the best team Denny Crum ever had, was honored. In the second half, the Panthers jumped out the gate and eventually took a ten point lead with less than ten minutes remaining.
However, the Slick Ricks responded and exploded with a 19-5 run to grab control of the contest for good. A key contributor in tonight’s game was Preston Knowles. Known primarily as a defensive specialist, PK-2 chipped in 10 points and 4 rebounds on top of his relentless defensive pressure. Samardo Samuels played a very tough, physical game and also had 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Louisville is now 13-3 and more importantly 4-0 to start Big East play, while the Panthers drop to 4-1 in conference. Louisville will next take the court Wednesday at Rutgers. We were all concerned about this squad early in the year after a few hiccups, but the last few weeks the Cardinals have reminded us all they are not going anywhere, except maybe Ford Field. Now, the Good, the Bad, and the Ari Wolfe:
The Good – Louisville’s press. The Cardinals switched press defenses brilliantly and forced Pitt into 20 turnovers for the game. Louisville’s defense in general was also fantastic as they constantly hounded the Panthers for forty minutes. However, my favorite part of this contest was the color commentary of Bill Raftery, a top five human in my book. Raftery gave us everything he had, from “a little kiss/smooch” to “Onions!” when Earl Clark hit a late jumper as the shot clock winded down. He even spent over five minutes talking about wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino. I love Bill Raftery.
The Bad – Look, they beat the top ranked team in the country, I’m not bringing anything negative up because quite frankly there was no glaring issue in this game that concerns you.
The Ari Wolfe – This one is easy, it’s clearly Jamie Dixon’s hair. The man has a very odd looking haircut, as well as having a girl’s first name. Dude, you’re a grown man and the coach of a legit top ten squad, get it together brother.
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Chiming in from Cebu, Philippines…..
I disagree about Sosa. He finished well in the last few minutes but I’d love to see the +/- for the entire time he was on the bench or in the game. My view was that he was on the bench for the majority of the runs.
yes, i agree with orlando. especially given the in game textie convo betwix Rolf and myself after one of Edgar’s forty seven “hey this is who i’m gonna pass it to, let me stare them down the entire way up the court then throw a pass with less steam on it than a newborn infant could muster so Sam Young can swipe it and throw down at the other end” turnovers. And Rolf’s reply that he is “a moran.”