CARDS AND CAVS FACE (AGAIN) TODAY IN CHARLOTTESVILLE
Most expected the Cards to be in the thick of the conference battle at this point of the season. Not nearly as many thought ol' Wahoo would be in the top tier. The preseason predictions placed Virginia at sixth in the Blue Ribbon Panel and fifth in the coaches considerations.
(I'd like to get on that Blue Ribbon Panel. It's usually $1.99 for 24 oz. of it at most grocery stores. Oops, wrong Blue Ribbon...)
Virginia has gotten to the top the same way the men's team on the Cavalier campus has...with tough, shut-down defense. Through games of 1/26/18, they were fifth in the ACC in scoring defense (59 points a game), fourth in Field Goal Pct. defense (.367) and fourth in 3-Point FG Pct. Defense (.301).
Their wins in conference have been against Pitt, Syracuse, NC State, Clemson, Boston College, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Georgia Tech. Louisville has faced but one of these ACC schools so far...getting a win in Atlanta against the Ramblin Wreck. Virginia's lone conference loss came at the hands of Duke...in Durham. Louisville starts a killer stretch for Boyle and her Cavs. They go to Florida State after hosting Louisville, and then to Blacksburg for a rematch with the Hokies. Notre Dame and Miami visit John Paul Jones Arena in a couple of weeks before they come to Louisville on Feb. 22nd for a rematch.
Overall, there are some questionable losses that lace the Wahoos schedule. We do understand the falls to Mississippi State and Georgia early on...but losing at Dayton and at home to Duquesne raises an eyebrow. At 15-7 so far this year, UV also lost on the road at Rutgers and when playing host to Maryland.
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(Hey, that music doesn't sound half bad...) Who can forget this classic from House of Pain?
JUMP AROUND
The Cavs come into the game off a 62-56 win at Georgia Tech on Sunday. They had an impressive 13 blocked shots in the game and shot 51% in the McCamish Pavillion. We could see seniors Aliyah Huland-El and Lauren Moses reach the 1000 point-club in the contest...Aliyah needs eight points and Lauren 21.
Also impressive for the Wahoos is sophomore shot-blocker Felicia Aiyeotan. The 6'9" center (no, not a misprint, she's 6'9"...) had five blocks against GT and could give Sam Fuehring and Myisha Hines-Allen more than they want inside on defense.
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It's the ACC and anything can happen. Hopefully, the Cards will revenge the loss Wednesday night by the men's squad to Virginia 74-64.
Louisville will rely on their powerful 1-2 punch of Hines-Allen and Durr again in Virginia...plus the talents of Jones, Carter, Fuehring (who leads the ACC in Field Goal Pct with .717) and a strong bench. It looks to be the Cards would best be served by doing what they normally do to win...out-running the opponent and putting up points. Consider that Virginia averages around 65 points per game and the Cards have a +22 scoring margin over opponents on the season. They holding opponents to 57 points a game.
The key is, the Cards can hit an opponent from multiple directions and from multiple players. If Durr is off, Hines-Allen and Jones pick up the slack. Myisha had what some consider to have a less-than -average outing in the Cards last game but Durr and Jones were "on". If it turns into a track meet, Louisville is undefeated in those. A knock-down, slug-fest? The Cards have lost just one of those.
Let 'em play, stripes. It's why were there, you know. Not to watch you.
paulie
xxxxx
We were at the UVA game last year. Official attendance was 2490 and they were loud...much louder then the 3000+ at Duke a few days earlier. JPJ arena is a nice venue.
ReplyDeletePaulie, I'm going to disagree with you somewhat on the officiating issue. Most of the "objectionable" whistles this season seem to result from two types of infractions that typically occur 20-30 feet from the hoop - hand checking and moving/illegal screens. I have no problem with the increased number of fouls resulting from hand checking. If average-to-poor defenders are allowed to put their hands on the dribbler or cutter it negates the advantage that a really good defender (such as Dana Evans) brings to the table. The best way to keep an active player like Durr from cutting and coming off screens is to put a hand on her. On the other hand, I've seen lots of what I perceive as bad calls on screens. Cards have been the victims of those calls several times recently.
Good points. What gets me are the 56 fouls called (not necessarily committed) at Miami and the officiating job in the game against Wake Forest. How often have you heard Walz apologize to a visiting coach about the level of officiating?
DeleteThere comes a point in time where whistles disrupt the flow of the game and pace and tempo. Fans, for the most part, want to be entertained at a game and when the refs take the contest over...that's not entertainment to me.
An old parody of a basketball game:
"She drives to the basket...wait, we have a whistle. She's going to the line. Darn, missed it! There's a fight for the rebound and...hold it...someone has been called for over the back. So, we march to the other end of the court for free throws. Hey! She hit the first one! AND THE SECOND ONE! So, we'll throw it in and she caught it but...dad gummit...we have a whistle and we'll go to the other end of the court for a slap on the hand. Let's see how she does this time (this free throw attempt is brought to you by Big Box Store...for every free throw the Saints make, they'll donate $1 to Children Without Foreheads...and it's up and good. Wait, we've got a whistle...they're headed to the monitor to see if the time is right on the shot clock. speaking of shots and clocks, it's happy hour from 2-5 Monday through Friday at Ye Old Brew and Grub Tavern. OK, they're back from the monitor and they're taking a second off the shot clock. Are you losing time and productivity? Call Mick the HAndyman for those nagging, menial chores. The first free throw is good! She toes the line again and fires. Bounces off but we have a whistle and someone stepped in the lane before the shot so we'll do it again. Speaking of doing it again, Dave's Tire and Auto Repair is having their buy 14, get 3 free sale on spark plugs. We're 30 seconds into the first quarter of this one...
Paulie
A picture of #4 wow she was a warrior,virginia 6-9 center Sam & Myisha can attack her for the elbow pull her away from the basket.
ReplyDeleteMLW
Just shoot over the top of her. IF she comes out to defend, toss it inside. She reminds me of that 6'8" girl Michigan State had a few years ago who was tall but that was about all. Indiana just went inside time after time and she fouled the shooter. I think she lasted maybe five minutes before she was on the bench. You beat tall with quickness and shooting over the top of it.
DeleteAllyssa Dehann, you're referring to perhaps?
Deletehttp://www.msuspartans.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/allyssa_dehaan_267954.html
Yeah. That is her.
DeleteActually she is fourth all time in Spartan scoring and rebounding. Alyssa DeHaan was 6'9" and married a guy 6'7" a couple of years ago. I got to see her play in the 2010 NCAA Tournament at Freedom Hall in a loss against Kentucky. She was having back issues and got school by 6'1" Victoria Dunlap in second round action. It was obvious she was in pain and only played about half the game.
DeleteAnd, she was a pretty girl, as well.
Paulie.
Question: Is CJW ready to go tonight.
ReplyDeleteMLW
MLW. He was on Howie Lindsey's show this morning. Sounded a little rough but he's in Charlottesville and ready to rock.
DeletePaulie
Sounds good thanks Paulie.
DeleteGo Cards
MLW
Interesting you put a pic of Moore in the article?
ReplyDeleteWell, she did have 23 points in 39 minutes in one of the games (the overtime one) against VA last year. Although she is gone, she did put up three years of stats as a Cardinal so it's not like we can deny her existence.
DeletePaulie
Moore was the Bomb Diggity.
ReplyDeleteStill SMH ,much love For MM.
And she could have been enjoying her senior year with the rest of cards but we all make choices in life. Good luck to our Lady Cards tonight!
ReplyDeleteGo Cards beat the Virginia Cavalier
ReplyDeleteI have a question: i’m assuming there was a time that the women’s sports teams were referred to as the “lady” Cards, but they’re not currently. For those that continue to refer to them as such, why?
ReplyDeleteThere was a time. We've had some pretty interesting discussions about that here and on our radio show. We are solidly aligned here at Cardinal Couple with the discontinuing of the moniker "Lady" in front of any of the women's sports programs here at Louisville or anywhere.
DeleteI would argue that it's a sexist perception on their part to think that it somehow devalues the athletes They're putting their own interpretation on that. It has a value that I don't think you would find at any other program.
Women should be treated equally. It all comes down to respect.
There are still schools who do use "lady" in front of the teams nicknames. Western Kentucky is one, with the Lady Toppers. Austin Peay recent did away with the Lady Govs nickname and are now just the Govs. (Short for Governors).
It's also mostly a "southern" thing...this habit of sticking Lady in front of a team. Tradition has been offered as a reason...Tennessee stil refers to the "Lady Vols" when talking about Pat Summit's teams.
Tradition needs to change.
Paulie
Thanks for that breakdown Paulie and I totally agree. I get that it’s his genteel way to refer to women’s sports teams, but I think it places a qualifier on these athletic teams that in this day and age no longer needs to be there.
DeleteWith you 100% on that.
DeletePaulie