THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE
- Strong finishes in each half give Cards 19 point win.
The game also featured a new Jeff Walz offensive strategy...3 on 5. With the Cards up 25-23, Walz called a 30 second time-out and replaced the five UofL players (Smith, Cortnee Walton, Asia Taylor, Tia Gibbs and Nita Slaughter) on the court with three (Megan Deines, Monny Niamke and Shoni). Sara Hammond and Emmonnie Henderson didn't respond quickly enough...the ball was inbounded and Monny drew a foul which allowed the Louisville front line to enter the game.
If anything, it gave the crowd and the media a chuckle and was an interesting beginning to a 17-3 half ending run...where Sara Hammond scored eight of the first ten points in the process...Louisville rolling to a comfortable, if not overly impressive and uneven 42-26 halftime lead.
It was...at least five quality minutes of first half hoops for the Cards, who could not seem to get any offensive production except from Sara inside, Shoni outside and Bria at the charity stripe. The Cards were 50% (15-30) from the floor and 81% (9-11) from the free throw line.The Cards would build on that end-of-first-half momentum and outscore UCF 13-6 in the first 5:32 of the final period to lead 55-32 after one of Shoni's five three pointers in the contest.
It looked like 'rout city' was on the horizon...but the Knights displayed a little chippiness of their own. UCF center Brittini Montgomery blocked a Tia Gibbs layup attempt with 12:31 left in the game and did a little "woofing" in Tia's face. The players were quickly separated and then both players were called for technicals...even though it appeared Gibbs did nothing except stand her ground.
UCF had trimmed the Cardinal advantage to 58-45 after a Zy Lewis layup with 10:12 remaining. The teams pretty much traded baskets (and misses) for the next eight minutes...UCF narrowing the margin to 11 when Montgomery hit a shot in the paint to make it 66-55 with 2:43 left. Sara and Shoni combined to get eight of the Cards final nine points of the game and the Cardinal defense limited UCF to a lone free throw to secure the victory.
Hats off to the two UCF players ( Lewis and Sara Djassi) who Walz told his team they needed to shut down. Diminutive and speedy Lewis had 14 points...mostly on wild drives to the basket for layups and Djassi blistered the Cardinal "D" for 28 points on 9-20 shooting.
Shoni's made five threes were the only successful long range attempts in the Cards 5-17 trifecta bombing. She hoisted 14 of them...Sara, Tia and Nita missed their only attempts. Sara was 9-13 from the floor and Bria a sparkling 6-6 from the line. Asia Taylor led the Cards with nine rebounds.
A 19 point win is good, right? I guess it depends on who is viewing it...
Although Walz seemed glad over the 17-3 run to end the first half...he's still seeking consistency from the all the players he has on the court at the same time. He admitted a performance like tonight by his charges would "get them killed" against a UConn or Notre Dame. He is also still looking for players to step up and assign responsibility and challenge other players who mess up on the court. The rather quick and somewhat terse post-game press conference indicates that Coach grimly realizes there is still much work to be done with this team. The playful demeanor of his Tuesday night radio show was replaced with a matter-of-fact critique of what the Cards aren't doing right.
Louisville heads to the Lone Star state next for a pair...facing (12-5) SMU in Dallas on Sunday and (4-12) Houston on Tuesday. In the link below, Coach Walz discusses the UCF game.
COACH WALZ DISCUSSES UCF GAME
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE FINAL WORD
YOU HAD TO ADMIRE THE GRIT AND DETERMINATION THAT UCF DISPLAYED WEDNESDAY NIGHT. UNTIL THE FINAL 3 MINUTES OR SO OF THE GAME...UCF REFUSED TO YIELD AND STAYED FAIRLY CLOSE.
DJASSI AND LEWIS ARE BALLERS. HINES IS A GODD REBOUNDING GUARD AND THEY HAVE THE USUAL ASSORTMENT OF THREE OR FOUR INTERIOR THUGS THAT TAKE UP SPACE AND PROVIDE VERY LITTLE ELSE.
UCF WASN'T GOING TO UPSET THE CARDS...THE SUPERIOR BALLPLAYING SKILLS OF SHONI, SARA, BRIA AND ASIA WEREN'T GOING TO LET THAT HAPPEN. THE SLOW START AND SECOND HALF STALL-OUT ARE ITEMS WALZ NEEDS TO ADDRESS, THOUGH AND FIND A CURE FOR. BESIDES UCONN...RUTGERS WILL ALSO CAPITALIZE AND USE IT AGAINST LOUISVILLE.
YES, JUDE SCHIMMEL WAS MISSED. 'CASH' MONNY TRIES TO FILL THE SPOT AND IS THE CARDS BEST LOCKDOWN DEFENDER BUT COULD USE A REFRESHER COURSE IN RECOGNIZING OPPONENTS' DEFENSIVE SETS AND A FEW HOURS PRACTICING FREE THROWS EACH DAY.
BOTTOM LINE? UOFL IS 17-1 NOW AND #5 IN THE NATION. THINGS COULD BE A WHOLE LOT WORSE IN CARDINALVILLE. SOMETIMES, YOU WIN UGLY. IT'S STILL A "W".
THE TOUGH CONTESTS ARE AHEAD. IF THE CARDS CAN TAKE OF BUSINESS IN TEXAS, A 'SO-SO' MEMPHIS TEAM WILL PROVIDE A NICE HOME TUNE-UP FOR A TRIP TO PISCATAWAY TO VISIT C-VIV AND THE SCARLET KNIGHTS AT THE END OF JANUARY.
ONE GAME AT A TIME. ONE WIN AT A TIME. IT ISN'T A BEAUTY CONTEST...IT'S TAKING CARE OF UNFINISHED BUSINESS....
paulie
...
..
.
Monnie Niamke is a demon on defense and made a couple nice entry passes to the post last night. But she needs to start looking for shots at the offensive end.
ReplyDeleteCoach was bemoaining her free throw shooting and sighted that as one of the reasons she wasn't getting a lot of playing time. I don't know how you can keep her out of the game when she plays the best defense of any of the other players. Djassi doesn't go off like she did if Monny had been on her more often. The rest of the team needs to learn to stop the ball and not allow so many wide open/uncontested drives down the lane. UConn is going to eat us alive if they don't.
DeleteThey are tough to watch right now. Coach is right, they take two steps forward and three steps back. I have faith that they will fix what is broken. Probably going to have some loses soon that could have been avoided. Might actually be good for them. No way they are playing like the Number 5 team in the country right now. Hoping for a turnaround on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to a great article on E. (Emmonnie)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theintelligencer.com/local_sports/article_78553524-7e66-11e3-b081-001a4bcf887a.html
I predict that in the near future she becomes a dominant force for Louisville.
Sandy W.
If one more hick writer refers to Louisville as "the RedBirds" I think they should be made to eat bird poop. We are the Cards, the Cardinals...UofL. We are not a major league baseball team, Illinois St., or a camp-ground in Southern Indiana.
DeleteThe prior comments are spot on so I won't put up what I was going to. I guess the good news is that we have time to fix our game before the tourney. After watching the skill, intensity and discipline in the UConn / Baylor game on Monday and then watching our team right now it almost seems like they're playing a different sport.
ReplyDeleteI thought Walz's presser comments were perfect. Could sense his frustration with the lack of team progress while still trying to stay positive about the record and good team chemistry.
We need to get Nita back into basketball shape. Jude needs to get back on the court and get reconditioned into basketball shape. It's becoming pretty clear that as much as we'd all like a different outcome Tia will continue to be a role player for the rest of her career.
Will be interesting to see if someone steps forward to become the leader that Walz said he was looking for.
After thinking about Walz's comments about looking for a true leader it occurs to me that Shoni is the obvious candidate. She did it during the NCAAs last year when the chips were down and given her participation on the winning national team last summer and her status as a four year starter for the Cards she needs to take on that leadership role.
ReplyDeleteIt's evident from Walz's comments that just leading the team in scoring and shots taken does not fully encompass that leadership role as he envisions it. It's pretty clear he's looking for a true team leader to take this club to the next level.
I see Shoni didn't make the 2014 Lieberman award watch list. It's a head scratcher to me how any WCBB selection committee could put together a list of the 29 best point guards in the country and not include Schimmel. Total BS.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.swishappeal.com/2014/1/15/5312244/nancy-lieberman-award-watch-list-2014-womens-basketball-point-guards
Maybe its' time for Shoni and the Cards to get a chip back on their shoulders and start cranking.
They probably have as classified as a "2" or shooting guard. Jude, Bria and Monny usually handle point guard duties for the Cards. Shoni has played the "1" in the past...but not so much this season.
DeletePaulie
Understand your point but I'm not buying it. Plenty of combo 1/2's in this group of 29. As you know with a team like UConn the 1/2 designation doesn't even work as they run an old school two guard front which clearly didn't stop Hartley from making the cut.
DeleteMake no mistake, it's a snub. As we all know, when the chips are down and we're under pressure the only Card that Walz wants bringing the ball up the floor is #23. We saw that in the tourney last year.
Hopefully Shoni and the club will use it as fuel going forward in an aggressive and positive way.
I think Sara makes a lot if sense if picking up a leadership role.
ReplyDeleteIf folks remember last year, the team had a lot of games where they were absent for chunk and time during a game. Not sure how Walz does it, but he seems to have his team peaking come March.
I agree, right now, we are not playing like the #5 team in the country. However, there is still time. All the faith in the workd in Walz and his staff, and the team has shown they know how to win when they have to ( tourney time). Go Cards!