A Tale of Two Teams
I think we got a little bit of both.
Certainly the Cards started out dominating this game, both through smothering defense and through Syracuse not being able to hit the broadside of a barn to start the game. The Cards lead this one 37-8 with less than three minutes left in the 2nd quarter. That's when the other Syracuse team showed up, going on a 12-2 run to close out the half. The 'Cuse continued to narrow the lead in the 3rd quarter, narrowing the margin to 11 in the waning seconds of the 3rd. UofL dug deep and stopped the 'Cuse's progression, and stretched the lead back to as much as 23 in the final quarter. The Cards take this one by a score of 71-53.
Let's do a quick FRED analysis:
Free Throws - That's going to be a big "NOPE." 59% from the charity stripe doesn't make the grade.Rebounding - I'm going to award a lower-case "r". The Cards won the overall rebounding battle 48-37, but allowing 18 Syracuse offensive boards (compared to UofL's 14) allows for too many extra possessions.
Easy shots - 34-18 for points in the paint, and my perception was that lay-ups were only missed with close guarding or fouls. That's good for an "E".
This leads more directly to offensive production, as seen by UofL winning the fast-break point battle 10-2.
In the final analysis, this is a good win over an occasionally "pretty dern" good team and continues Louisville's redemption train schedule.
The redemption train rolls on this Thursday night at 7 p.m. back at home against a...let's say "struggling"...Clemson team. The Tigers come into the KFC Yum! Center 'unfeated' (that is the opposite of undefeated, right?) in ACC play at 0-6 and 4-15 overall. This should be a fun romp, and maybe we can finally get an "Everybody Scores" game...I always like to see those.--
JMcA
I think we need to consider that the Syracuse team looked great on defense, contesting shots, contesting passes and their traps were very effective. Considers the fact that Mariya Moore committed 10 turnovers and that is diagnostic.
ReplyDelete28 Cardinal turnovers is nothing to boast about, for sure...but Syracuse had no answer for Hines-Allen inside. It was when the Cards got away from that and got "three-happy" during a couple of stretches that the 'Cuse made a little noise. I'll post "Q" post game comments in a few here in the comments section. He goes into great deal about not being a victim. It's dramatic, repetitive and...actually, rather comical.
DeletePaulie
And now...the "no victim" scenario as seen by "Q". Pay particular attention around the 1:20 and 3:10 marks...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgln-93VRZE
DeleteI wouldn't want to be at Syracuse's practice today.
DeleteHillsman was downright scary when he got into that whole no victim rant. It's probably a good thing he isn't a homicide detective.
DeleteI was disappointed that the "Q" show wasn't as demonstrative on the sidelines as in past years. Maybe that goes with getting your a$$ handed to you to start a game. Anyone know what he did to draw the technical?
Blue Lou
If anyone would have told me that we'd beat Syracuse in spite of almost 30 turnovers I would have said they were crazy.l It's great to get another conference road win in spite of ourselves. We'd better learn how to break a press or we've got trouble ahead.
ReplyDeleteHines-Allen is becoming a force of nature as is Durr. Makes me wonder when Walz is going to drop Durr into the starting line up. Very impressive.
I agree Burn. I was worried about this one and Louisville does need to get better against a press. I don't see Walz starting Durr just yet, though. Why mess with what has got you to a 12 game win streak? Durr is going to get her 25 minutes a game but she needs to get a little better on foul management.
DeleteWe did have about 40 people watching in a local establishment down here and only three were Syracuse snowbirds. Good time.
-- The Real Joe Hill --
Durr did manage to foul out didn't she. She's gonna be a great one. Impressive how she hit her threes in that little high school gym vs NC State and also hit them in that huge Syracuse field house. In fact she was our only three point shooter that really pulled that off.
DeleteNice time of year to be in FL. We spent a couple years in Clearwater and loved it. Didn't know there were so many ULWBB fans down there.
I've only been to a couple of their get-togethers, but the Southwest Florida UofL fan club is one of the biggest, if not the biggest in the nation. They've had as many as 250 attend game watch parties down in Naples. Paulie probably knows a few of them, it was formed by Al Parrish, down winters down there.
Delete-- The Real Joe Hill --
As you and Howie mentioned on his show today, what a shame that a good basketball program like Syracuse can't even average 700 a game for women's basketball. Being an old guy, I remember when Syracuse played in the Manley Fieldhouse on campus, which held close to 10,000 for basketball.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should look at returning to that facility. It's got to be a big financial loss to play games where less that 600 show up for a top 25 opponent. Q and Cuse deserve better out of the Syracuse fans, students and community.
One fan's suggestion on how to improve Syracuse WBB attendance
Delete1. Bring in girls' junior high and high school basketball teams for weekend home games.
How about selling discounted tickets to school districts and set up a busing agreement to get them to games? There are a lot of girls playing in Central New York and watching players like Brianna Butler, Brittney Sykes, Briana Day and Isabella Slim gives them players to look up to, just like I looked up to Roosevelt Bouie and Louis Orr when I was in junior high.
2. Partner with senior residence organizations, churches and other community groups to invite them to games. If memory serves, I think UConn did this back in the '90s to drum up support for their women's programs.
3. Have a "corporate sponsor night" for home games during the week. When I worked at Carrier, they did this and we had a raffle at work for seats in the Carrier luxury box. Why not do the same with other companies?
4. More radio and television spots to invite the public to games.
5. Encourage more local media interviews with Coach Hillsman and the players.
6. Promote the players. Talk about Butler's ability to hit the 3 from anywhere on the court, chat up that Day is a "double-double shot blocking machine," and brag about Sykes' leaping ability (she used to jump center at 5-9 to start games before her knee injury).
Interesting ideas for sure.
Paulie
Were you Marketing for Carrier Paulie? Sounds like it to me! Good ideas all of them. You have to like that the Syracuse players said the right things after the game but boy did they struggle on offense. They understood the importance of the game but if you can't shoot what do you do? Shooting is so important in the woman's game. That's why Notre Dame will be favored when they visit. They aren't as good as last year IMO but they are better shooters than last year's squad. If you can shoot you put so much pressure on the other team to keep up.
DeleteManley may not have the media updates needed for a college program. Just a guess.
DeleteThe six ideas were actually from a long-time Syracuse WBB fan. It's a shame for them, and a impressive notch for Bellarmine University that they actually have a higher home game attendance average than the Orange.
DeleteI plan on catching a Bellarmine game this season...may have to go in under disguise, but Chancellor Dugan is getting it done there as the head coach.
Paulie
I'm a transplanted Syracuse grad now here in Louisville (thanks G.E.) and can tell you that women's sports as a whole don't mean much of anything in the area of New York that surrounds Syracuse. Glad to be settled and raising my two daughters in an area that appreciates, promotes and supports girls and women's sports like Louisville does.
ReplyDeleteKotch
Thanks for reading and commenting, Kotch! We are truly fortunate to have an athletic director in Tom Jurich that has built Louisville's women's sports programs to the success they now have and a strong high school athletic emphasis on girls sports. Become a frequent visitor!
DeletePaulie
That's cool. Good luck with the Fam!
DeleteI think that one of the reasons that Louisville supports women's basketball is that we appreciate good basketball in general and Walz type basketball in particular. The women's game is purer, more dedicated to the basics and less "get out of my way and I'll take it to the hole" mindset. I enjoy women's basketball much more than the men's game. Don't get me wrong, though, I support the men, too.
DeleteI don't watch men's college ball. I like the determination and competitiveness the woman play with. It trumps individual stats when it comes to winning. Good coaching is a huge difference maker in the woman's game too.
ReplyDeleteIf you caught Walz radio show tonight did you notice a shocking comment about Mariya? Walz said no team has overplayed her right side yet until last night. Think about that. That's a basic fundamental strategy every team should have been using since Mariya started playing junior high ball. I noticed that in her high school highlights on you tube. Every coach should be fired for not forcing her to her left. I totally got used to seeing no one overplaying her and forgot about it. Walz should not have advertised that. I think Mariya has had a very nice year so far and shown really nice growth in her game. So I certainly don't want to be picking on her. She is just right side dominant and actually shows strides of working on going to her left.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if any coach is not on drugs they will be pressing the heck out of us as much as possible until we show we can handle it maturely.
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