Rolf’s Recapsulation: Cards Win 82-62

Miller | December 27, 2008 | 0 Comments

The Cardinals returned to the Hall of Freedom and looked like a team with a week to work some kinks out as they dispatched UAB 82-62. Led by T-Will’s 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists, the Cards steadily wore out the Blazers with constant pressure forcing them to turn the ball over six more times than their season average entering today’s contest. Slick Rick altered the lineup by starting Jerry Smith at point guard and PK-2 at the shooting guard position. Pitino also started true freshman Jared Swopshire in place of Earl Clark, but that decision was made mostly because of Earl not beating out Swop in practice this week. However, Earl played 26 minutes as opposed to Swop’s 14 minutes, but Swop produced 8 points and 4 rebounds while on the floor. Sam Sam, with his family in attendance, showed marked improvement in the paint as he effectively passed out of double teams for the most part of the game, many times his kick outs led to open threes. Sam Sam finished with a somewhat quiet 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Now, let’s take a look at the Good, the Bad, and the Beyond Bad:

The Good: Many positives came from this contest, but the one that stands out most to me is T-Will. These are the type of numbers he is capable of putting up every game: 21 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks. In almost every game he plays, he will be the best athlete on the floor and today was no exception. Free throw shooting was also a good sign as the Cards connected on 75% of their attempts from the charity stripe.

The Bad: The one negative from this game would probably be turnovers. The Cards turned the ball over 17 times today and many were unforced. While UAB does play a scrappy style, several times Louisville made careless passes which led to quick baskets for the Blazers. The Cards free throw shooting was solid, but UAB’s was downright atrocious. The Blazers finished at 3-11 from the line for an ugly 27%, I’m sure Coach Davis will be addressing that in practice this week.

The Beyond Bad aka the Ari Wolfe category: There wasn’t anything that stood out to qualify as Ari Wolfe bad, but the best candidate would be announcer Eric Collins’ hair. C’mon man, what are you thinking?