One game at a time

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(David Watson is a special contributor to CARDINAL COUPLE. Here's his rant for today...)

One game at a time. Just like the old gospel spiritual.."One day at a time, Sweet Jesus." Just like the old TV sitcom "One Day At a Time" with Mackenzie Phillips, Bonnie Franklin and Valerie Bertinelli.

David secretly wanted
to be part of the cast
on "One Day at a Time."

Jeff Walz didn't envision it being this way. Not with the roster he had coming into the season. Patton didn't have such a strong force marching into Nazi Germany. Then things blew up. Tia Gibbs, the Walz- named "glue" of the team, became unglued at the shoulder. Monique Reid hobbled, broken, sore and finally on the shelf while the doctors fix her knee. Could she have just left the points per game and rebounds with someone? Charmaine Tay, vanishing like D.B. Cooper into the night - back to Jersey, off to Clemson and toting her unquestionable point guard skills and questionable academics.

Another year of "best expectations gone south". This team, in it's original state, had a shot at a BIG EAST top 3 or 4 finish. Now, they'll be lucky to finish in the top eight.

But, before you start storming the castle gates and calling for my head on a stick - stop, take a breath and review some of the rest of the schedule with me. Even if Coach Walz insists we can only take it one game at a time. Let's just cut class (maybe with Charmiane Tay) and prognosticate. He's too busy trying to figure out how to beat the Scarlet Knights to miss us, anyway.

Saturday @ Rutgers. Difficult but not impossible. No way that the Cards get this "W" with 1-9 shooting from Bria Smith and Becky Burke 1-9 from three point land. The Scarlet Knights aren't #8 in the nation just because everyone loves C.Vivian Stringer.

1/18/12 hosting Providence. Not a guaranteed "W". The Friars have Barnes, Wright and former Cardinal target Lauren Okafor. They beat DePaul.  True, they can't shoot or defend the three but they rebound well. Maybe Louisville ekes one out here, maybe not.

1/22/12 @ Georgetown. Can Louisville slow down the Sugar Rodgers express? She's the leading scorer and three point maker in the BIG EAST. She's also got some pretty good sidekicks in RubyLee Wright, Tia Magee and Adria Crawford. Cards will need a better effort than the one they produced against USF or St. John's.

1/28/12 hosting Villanova. A better Wildcat squad than last year. Laura Sweeney and Rachel Roberts can score with the best in the BIG EAST. They'll "three" you to death if you let them...they're second in the BIG EAST with 141 made in 16 games. Bombs away.

So, these next four are crucial before Louisville takes on the murderers' row of DePaul, West Virginia, and Connecticut in late January and early February. A 3-0 sweep against these three isn't likely. A 0-3 plummet is entirely possible.

So, if the Cards can go 3-1 against Rutgers, Providence, Georgetown and Villanova, I'll be happy. I see more like 2-2.

Let's do the math. 3-1 currently in the BIG EAST. I'm saying 3-4 in the next seven. 6-5 with five games left. Out of those - (Syracuse, at Pitt, Notre Dame, DePaul again, and at Seton Hall) let's optimistically say the team goes 3-2. A 9-7 record heading into BIG EAST Tournament play. If lucky.  

Yes, Virginia. This is one tough conference.

If anything, the Lady Cards have heart. Check out Paul's article on the diminutive Shelby Harper over at UofL Card game. http://www.uoflcardgame.com/  

Now, back to your regularly scheduled "one day at a time" programming. Someone hand me the remote. I want to see how many UofL men's team supporters are on the bridge ready to jump.
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(David Watson is responsible for the snow blanketing Louisville on Thursday afternoon and we'll expect more of his flurries down the road. Give him grief or agree with him in the comments section. HE thrives on it...)
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