This season start has been a forgettable one.
Instead of Santa Claus going “Straight to the Ghetto” as James Brown asked him to do in his 1968 holiday classic of the same name, Louisville Basketball coach Kenny Payne probably would like him to stop by the Derby City and interject some fundamentally sound play and some energy into his 0-8 Cards. According to statician extraordinaire Kelly Dickey (@RealCardGame) this current version of the Louisville Cardinals continues to make unprecedented history, and not in a good way. With this recent defeat, Louisville has lost five straight games by at least 15 points for the first time in program history. I don’t need to bore you with more stats about this team setting new lows, but if you want to see them Mr. Dickey’s twitter page keeps them coming weekly..
New verse same as the first.Live ball turnovers, miscommunication on defense, late close outs, bad rotations, bad angles for post entry passes, dribbling too much. Same old song. I’m paraphrasing here but Coach Payne is still looking for his team to play with a focus and desperation that he has yet to see. He said in his press conference that he would take the blame for it. He said they aren’t getting it and took all of it on his shoulders and said that it was his fault. At the slightest hint of adversity he says his team splinters and that’s a problem for him. He remains confident that he along with this staff can get it turned around. This fan base however may not be willing to give him standard time to get this going in the opposite direction. How the Cards finish this year and address needs in the portal, and spring signing period will be crucial to his long term chances to survive here. The early signing period has changed the game, and the 23 class was pretty much set when he got to Louisville. He was also asked about not getting some extra help in the portal. For whatever reasons the kids Louisville was targeting chose not to come to Louisville. That sucks because they are having successful seasons where they are.
Coach Payne ended his presser talking about the health of Denny Crum and what he means to him, and he said he and Milt Wagner told Coach Crum that they loved him and that Coach Crum responded with “I love you guys too.” Coach Crum is Louisville Basketball and I think EVERY Louisville fan can agree that we we should keep him Lifted in Prayer.
The Cards travel to Tallahassee, to take on the 1-9 Seminoles of Florida State who are having a subpar season of their own.
by Jovan Bell
