Louisville Women's basketball...Cards hop over Jackrabbits 83-30 -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

JAZMINE JONES GETS CAREER HIGH 15 IN WIN OVER SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 83-30.

This was no tortoise vs. hare race in the KFC YUM! Center Wednesday night when Louisville women's basketball faced the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Maybe more like a souped up 1971 Dodge Challenger screaming past a 1972 Ford Pinto. Louisville used a very fast start off the blocks and a 21-5 second quarter to effectively put away the visitors and sped to a 53-point win in front of 7408 fans. 

Jazmine Jones had a career-high 15 points for the Cards...12 of them in the first half...as the freshman from Tallahassee, FL. went 6-8 from the floor in 14 minutes of play. It was pretty much share the wealth when it came to playing time...all 14 that could go for UofL did...and all seeing at least five minutes (Dunham) but no more than 25 (Durr)

Beside Jones, Sydney Zambrotta...or "Z" as Sean Moth fondly refers to her...scored 10 for Louisville...going 2 for 4 from trifecta land and Myisha Hines-Allen...or MHA as we like to call her finished with 10 as well. 12 Cards scored and Louisville shot a wicked 50.7% from the floor (35-69).

It was strictly no contest for the majority of this one and Louisville's finest defensive effort of the season helped bring that about. They forced 30 turnovers and held S.D.S.U. to 19.6% shooting. In all fairness, the Jackrabbits leading scorer Macy Miller did sit this one out with knee trouble, and without her the visitors went 2-22 from the three point line and gave up 15 steals.

The Cards wasted no time in starting the party...ripping out to a 11-0 lead in the first 4:39 of the game. Four different Cards scored in the speedy start.  A bit of a lull ensued...the Jackrabbits responding with a 7-0 run..but two J.J. jumpers stretched the Cardinal lead to 15-9 and Ciera Johnson's two free throws sealed a 17-9 first ten minutes for the home squad. 


J.J. continued the fireworks in the second stanza...scoring eight points in a 10-5 Ville run that set the board at 31-14 with 3:31 left until halftime. The Cards proceeded to score the final eight points of the half and a set play for Kylee Shook resulted in a long three with five seconds remaining until intermission . 

It was 38-14 after twenty and it really didn't seem that close. 

A Durr three started the third frame festivities and Louisville got a 30-point edge on another Shook three to make it 48-18 with 6:20 to play. The Cards would push that to 61-25 by the time the third period ended. 


Walz began to distribute the playing time to those who haven't received a lot of it in the fourth session and Sam Fuehring and Sydney Zambrotta stayed on the floor the entire period. Fuehring tallied four points and grabbed two boards in her time...it was Zambrotta's 10 that led Louisville's reserves to a 22-5 edge in the fourth and the final margin of 83-50. The Cards win! The Cards win! 


HOW DID FRED DO? 

Free Throws --  The Cards got good performances from C.J. (4 for 4) and J.J. (3 for 4) and ended up sinking eight of their 12 attempts. This equals 66.7 % and although it is short of the mandated 70% we like to see...and since the starters only attempted three in the game...we'll offer a lower case "f" here. It is the gift-giving season, you know. 

Rebounding --  Louisville got another outstanding performance from Walton with nine but no other Card had more than five. That's understandable...given the playing time for the players...they did out-rebound the "wrasically wrabbits" by one so the lower case "r" seems appropriate here.

Effort/Execution -- Everyone that played seemed to be working their tails off and shooting over 50%, claiming a 42-14 edge in the paint and scoring 38 points off the 30 turnovers was a sign the cards were clicking. We'll go out on a Christmas branch here and assign a capital "E" for this category. Deck the halls! 

Defense -- The Cards best defensive effort of the year. No hesitation in rolling out a capital "D" for this item. 

FINAL FRED COUNT:  f-r-E-D 



WHAT WE LIKED

-- We got a basketball Jones, we got a basketball Jones...and we like it! You can see the confidence and knowledge growing each time Jazmine Jones takes the court and it's a very fun thing to watch. She's been first off the bench for the Cards the last several games and the spark that she provides and excitement she creates in the seats is...well...very electric. You might say...she's "all that Jazz." That wide smile tells us she loves the game and puts in the work to excel at it. The smiles her teammates get when they watch her or talk about her is an indication that we're not the only ones enjoying this J.J.'s version of "Good times!" 


-- Finishing strong. A dominant final half (45-16) and final quarter (22-5) is what we like to watch and the Cards shot 77% in the last ten. Granted, it was a well-defeated South Dakota squad by then and we don't see Walz ending close games with Syd, Jessica, Bionca, Sam and Brianna on the court...but to see a lead continue to grow at the end and not shrink or disappear creates a happy ending for all (except the visiting team). Outscoring WKU 24-9 to end that game was impressive but this one tonight was a 40 minute culmination which is better...in my humble opinion.  

-- Defense, defense! It was tenacious, ever-present and the Jackrabbits may still be wondering just what hit them. I call it the best defensive performance of the year. If you can come up with a better one, I'm willing to listen. 


THINGS TO WORK ON

-- Celebration levels. I hope the squad can fully appreciate and enjoy just what they accomplished Wednesday night. It was a true marvel to behold and there's no harm in doing a little woofing about winning one bigger, much bigger then most thought they might. 

-- The weather. Man, it's cold in Louisville, KY! Where did those 80 degree days go? 16 degrees with the wind chill and 1 above by early morning. Eeewwwww! 


SO...

An excellent way to end a very tough five game stretch. It was the kind of blow-out Louisville needed after close games against Maryland, Kentucky and WKU. I hope it is an accurate look and view on how the Cards will continue to play defense and team basketball. It would be a wonderful thing to witness if this effort continued against Charleston, Evansville and at Vanderbilt.  

9-2 is about where I thought the Cards might be at this stage of the season and wouldn't it be great to have Syracuse come in here and have to face a 12-2 Cardinal squad? 

Louisville is showing that they have an even ten or so that can start or come in and positively affect the action. That's important to have when you go into conference play and beyond. If they can stay at that level of accomplished student-athletes, they'll be a tough "out" for anyone. 


LOOK WHO'S TALKING

Your post game interviews... 

CORTNEE WALTON AND JAZMINE JONES

JEFF WALZ



😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞😞



HERE WE GO AGAIN...

Wake Forest guy had a big mouth, has to share secrets and Louisville Football gets all the pounding and rage tossed at them. Nobody cares about Wake Forest football, granted, but this is not the felony...it is receiving stolen property...which is bad enough. 

The right thing would have been to disclose the leak. It was not until after the school released the leak and it was not handled properly on Louisville's part. 

We reach a pinnacle with the Lamar Jackson success story and then get pulled back down off the mountain by this? 

Sad. Ugly. Disgusting. C'mon, man. Especially now that main-stream media has jumped on this like a bulldog with a new ham-bone. 

Joe Walsh -- Here We Go


paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball...#8 Cards face Jackrabbits tonite at KFC YUM -- Wednesday CARDINAL COUPLE

LOUISVILLE WBB GOES RABBIT-HUNTING 

The University of Louisville women's basketball squad faces their second opponent in an eight-day stretch and final contest of the killer five-game sequence by facing another probable NCAA Tournament team in South Dakota State tonight in the KFC YUM! Center at 7 p.m. 

South Dakota State enters the Bucket to face the Cards with an identical 8-2 record as Louisville. They recently dropped out of both the major polls but are ranked #1 in COLLEGE INSIDERS MID-MAJOR poll. The Jackrabbits did suffer a knee injury to their leading scorer Macy Miller (14.9 ppg) against Green Bay on Dec. 9th...and she is not listed as one of the probable starters...but they do bring in a squad that does have three guards (Madison Guebert 13.7, Ellie Thompson 11.0 and Kerri Young 10.2) in double figures. 

As the name implies, the Jackrabbits like to get out and run on offense. They've outscored their opponents 70.5 to 57.5 so far this year and did defeat George Washington 60-55 in their last outing. S.D. State also owns wins over Iowa and Creighton this season. Their losses have come to #13 Oklahoma and Green Bay.

Guebert looks to be their major threat from the deep...she averages 48% (32-67) from three-point range. 6'2" senior center Clarissa Ober leads the school from Brookings, SD in rebounds with 8.1 a game. Despite the smallish size of their roster, the Jackrabbits do out-rebound their opponents by almost three grabs per game. 

Louisville will look to continue the hot hand of Myisha Hines-Allen against the Jackrabbits. The Montclair, NJ junior went for 26 against Kentucky and added 16 vs. WKU. She is shooting 59% (20-34) in the last two games. The Cards will also look to leading scorer Asia Durr (18.2) who is second in the nation with 39 three-pointers and Mariya Moore (11.8). Senior guard Briahanna Jackson and Moore have 13 assists over the last two contests (Jackson 26 over the last three games) and Cortnee Walton had 18 rebounds in the games against the Toppers and Cats.

This is the first match-up ever between the two schools. Louisville needs to avoid the slow starts that have made the last two games come-from-behind efforts to get the wins and the Cards are seeking consistency for 40 minutes. 

We'd like to see a stretch of Sydney Zambrotta zoning in from three-point range if it works out...as well as the overall razzle-dazzle and sparkle of Jazmine Jones. Missing from playing time recently has been Sam Fuehring and could the entire squad will get some court time in what we hope will be a blow-out. 

Be careful what you wish for, right? 


How deep Walz goes into the bench is anyone's guess...he bases a lot of that on how practice has gone for the week. Regardless if he plays five or fifteen, though...it should be a fun time down by the river tonight. If you can't make the trek...ACC Network Extra will have the feed and Cards Radio 790 the audio. 


paulie
xxxxx

Robins Rockin' As Mercer County Girls Basketball Rolls Along -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

2018 LOUISVILLE WBB VERBAL AVERAGING 22.6 PPG EARLY FOR MERCER COUNTY. 

( Some of the information and some of the photos for the article are courtesy of Jeremy Schneider of the Advocate Messenger - Danville, KY. Nice work, Jeremy! ) 

Mercer County girls head basketball coach Chris Souder knows he's got a top-five powerhouse down in Harrodsburg, KY with his 2016-17 squad. As impressive as that is...he's thinking that there might be a lot more ahead. 

"We're nowhere near where we need to be and could be. We will get better and that's scary. The sky's the limit, but it's going to get pretty tough"  Souder commented after his squads' 90-54 win over Danville Monday night. 

For Danville, it may have felt like the sky was falling...Souder's Titans jumped out to a 26-12 first period lead and advanced that to 45-25 at the halftime break. 

Helping lead the charge was 5'9" junior guard Seygan Robins...who poured in three trifectas and 13 of her 26 points in the opening stanza. Robins and her Titans have had three contests in the young season. After a 76-65 close loss vs. D-1 laden Hamilton Heights (TN) Christian Academy, the Titans have won their next two...downing Mason County 78-51 in addition to Danville. 

Just how tough and talented is Hamilton Heights? Four of their 2017 players have already committed to D-I programs -- (Nickeil Alexander-Walker to Virginia Tech, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Kentucky, Amber Hunt to Alabama St. and Therren Shelton-Szmidt to Middle Tennessee.) A fifth star, junior Elizabeth Balogun, is on the list of many of the top DI programs...including Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana.  

Robins is averaging 22.6 ppg so far this season and is a key component in Mercer's stifling defense...that can go from zone to man and not lose anything. She's also one of the main bombardiers from the stratosphere on a squad that also includes twins Faith and Lexy Lake (committed to Southeast Missouri) and 6'1" forward Emmy Souder...who is Coach Souder's niece...as is Robins. 

Keeping it in the family has worked over the last couple of seasons for "Uncle Chris" and Robins started catching schools' eyes and attention as a seventh-grader. Her choice came down to either Louisville or Kentucky and she was clear on why she chose the Cardinals: 

"It was definitely a combination of things. I've always really loved the coaching staff at Louisville and it's a wonderful family environment that just made me feel at home. The players are really comforting and inviting." 

How much was she influenced (or influence) friend and Kentucky Premier teammate and 2017 UofL commit Lindsey Duvall from Bullitt East we'll probably never know...but Coach Souder and Bullitt East skipper Chris Stallings have been friends for years and promote a family atmosphere in their programs. Both schools have that small-town feel and atmosphere...Bullitt East about 15 miles out of Louisville and Mercer County about an hour's drive away from the KFC YUM! Center. Duvall changed her commitment to Louisville over Kentucky in late July...about two weeks after Robins said "yes" to the Cards. 

Jeff Walz has had a pattern of having a local or state-area player or two on his roster since he arrived at Louisville. Candyce Bingham, Monique Reid, Tia Gibbs, Nita Slaughter, Sara Hammond, Shelby Harper and now Jessica Laemmle are names near and dear to Cardinal women's basketball fans. Duvall and Robins will keep that tradition alive and you can expect that they'll also bring a large contingent of fans up US 127 or US 150 to the KFC YUM! Center to watch their hometown heroes. 

It's been mentioned to us here in the past that UK and Matthew Mitchell do a better job of recruiting the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A scan of this year's UK roster includes six players from Kentucky, so that may bear out as accurate. How many final fours (or even Sweet Sixteens?) has Mitchell been to, though? And part of that Kentucky immigration occurred because of the clearance sale, all-items-must-go Mitchell move over the summer. 

Home-grown isn't always best, although we do believe here at Cardinal Couple that Duvall and Robins are "cream of the crop" and will make several Final Four excursions in their time at Louisville. 

Guards with motors that run all day at high speed. It's a Walz trademark. Witness Briahanna Jackson and Asia Durr on the current team. Plus Jazmine Jones, Taylor Johnson, Jessica Laemmle and Sydney Zambrotta. Duvall and Robins are from that same sorority. We can't put either in our "Attack Yorkie" classification...since they are both over 5'6"...but they easily qualify for the "Six or less and creating a mess sparkplugs". 

Mercer County entertains 46th. District foe East Jessamine tonight at 6 p.m. It's a pretty easy drive from Louisville if you want to catch the game. 

paulie
xxxxx

Louisville Women's Basketball -- Frenzied finish foils Toppers in 68-61 Cards win -- MONDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

HINES-ALLEN, DURR AND ZAMBROTTA LEAD LOUISVILLE OVER WKU.

Louisville women's basketball went on a 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter... regaining the lead over Western Kentucky and pulled away at the end to defeat the Bowling Green school 68-61 in front of 9861 fans at the KFC YUM! Center Sunday afternoon. 

Leading the charge was junior forward Myisha-Hines Allen...who had six of her 16 points in the four minute stretch that saw Louisville erase an eight-point deficit after three periods and go ahead 55-54 with 6:10 left in the contest. Two Asia Durr threes sandwiched a Mariya Moore layup to give UofL some breathing room at 63-59 with 3:33 left in the contest. After a Walton jumper set the score at 65-51, the Cards introduced the latest Walzian Theorum to the crowd in the final 13 seconds. 

1 for 2, followed by 2 for 2 is better than 2 for 2. Briahanna Jackson sank a free throw to give the Cards a 66-61 lead. She missed the second attempt but Hines-Allen was there to corral the rebound and got fouled by WKU's Kendall Noble. Hines-Allen sank her two free throws to set the final score. If Jackson hadn't missed hers, Hines-Allen wouldn't have had the chance to complete the theory's presumption. If B.J. had made both, it would have been 67-61 and Western would have needed two three-pointers or three-point plays in 13 second to tie the game. 

The 23-9 fourth quarter for Louisville was unlike most of the game. Louisville looked sloppy and unfocused the the first quarter, trailing 10-6 until a couple of freshmen in Kylee Shook and Sydney Zambrotta came in and  got the crowd and the team fired up. Shook's jumper drew the Cards to within two. Zambrotta's two threes in the final 1:42 of play cut the Topper's lead to 16-14.

Why Zambrotta so early? Coach Walz mentioned that she had a great week of practice and that he had told her she would get a chance to show if she could continue that with some early playing time. The North Babylon, NY sharp-shooter responded with three more trifectas in the second period...making up half the Cards first half scoring offense...but WKU turned Ivy Brown loose on the Cards and her nine points led the visitors to a 38-32 halftime lead. 

Louisville was 8-9 from three point range after 20 minutes. Normally, you'd think that would be associated with a 14-20 point lead...but the Cards were not getting the job defensively and already had 10 turnovers in the books. 

Whatever Walz said at halftime worked for a few minutes. Cortnee Walton started the second half on a 4-0 run and UofL finished their 10-0 start-of-the-half run with a Hines-Allen jumper to give the home squad a 42-38 advantage halfway through the third. The Toppers refused to yield, however and responded with a 14-2 to finish the quarter...a space of time where Topper sophomore Jaycee Coe did her Sydney Zambrotta imitation and sank three three-point bombs during a stretch where the Cards went 1 for 6 and committed five turnovers. It was 52-44 WKU after 30 minutes and Cardinal fans were feeling slightly nervous in the KFC YUM! Center about Louisville's less-than-Heisman-Award winning-performance. 

Credit the Cards for buckling down and playing solid defense in the final ten minutes...holding WKU to 4 for 14 (28.6%) shooting in the period. And capitalizing on those misses with a 14-4 rebounding edge...Hines-Allen controlling seven of them. Credit Asia Durr for ice-water in her veins and nailing two big threes when Louisville absolutely needed them. 

On an afternoon where cloudy skies and rain threatened, Louisville broke through with a little sunshine late in the afternoon and the ACC Player of the Year turned in a finishing performance that showed why she got the award last season. 


HOW DID FRED DO? 

Legendary Louisville sportscaster and my
buddy Fred Cowgill. 

-- Free Throws -- Another "El Stinko" performance at the charity stripe for Louisville. 4-9 is very *meh* and maybe we should change the "F" in the "Fred" sequence to something else...like fouls or field goals...because we don't give an "f" for 44.4% shooting from the stripe. No letter, the mailman ain't here.

-- Rebounding --  Louisville did out-grab the smaller foe by 16 which is an encouraging stat. The starting Louisville front line (Hines-Allen, Moore and Walton) had 28 of the 41, which we like to see and...besides Ivy Brown...who had nine for WKU and had to missed 13 minutes because of a smash to the face and jersey-change...Louisville did a good enough job keeping the foe off the boards and controlling them (especially in the final stanza) to give the capital "R" out

-- Effort/Execution -- Quite honestly...and except for the five-star performance of Zambrotta in the the first half, we thought the Cards looked as flat as a three-day-old-opened soda for most of the first 30 minutes. Still, the Cards rose to the occasion when it mattered and for that, we'll give out a small "e" 

-- Defense -- Once again, there were stretches when the Cards played "efense" (No "D") but effectively shut down the foe in crunch time. Maybe the tired legs caught up with WKU in the final ten...we'll still offer a small "d" here 

THE FRED TOTAL:  -_R-e-d


WHAT WE LIKED

Wham, bam, thank ya Zam! -- Sydney Zambrotta's first half performance was incredible, to say the least. Coach Walz mentioned after the Kentucky win that he was still looking for a third three point-scorer. 

Mr. Walz...may I introduce you to Ms. Zambrotta? 

Get outta the way for MHA -- Myisha took over the fourth stanza, with a lot of help from Asia. 3 for 3 shooting, two free throws and seven rebounds say "YES!" to us and if you need a definition of the term "refuse to lose" look no further than the Montclair, NJ junior. 

Sealing the deal -- Winning the fourth quarter has been a bit of a tricky procedure for Louisville women's basketball this season but the Cards dominated in the final ten minutes yesterday. If it is "all about the heart", the Cards showed that theirs was beating pretty strongly at the end of Sunday's game. 

THINGS TO WORK ON

Consistency -- We don't like beating this horse as much as we have been lately, but this was two separate games yesterday. 30 minutes of playing below the level of their competition and 10 minutes of looking like a top-10 team. 19 turnovers are a few too many against Western.

Defense -- We'll plead for about the same thing here. A constant effort. Yes, WKU knew what Louisville was going to try to stop them with, thanks to Michelle Clark-Heard's long association with the program and very few expected Coe's barrage in the third...but you have to recognize the shooters on the court and WKU was getting a lot of easy looks in the paint early on. 


SO...

Always good to see my "lil sis" 

In the final analysis, it was a win over a squad that we most certainly feel with be a part of March Madness. Adding Kyvin Goodin-Rogers is only going to help WKU and "The Browns" and Noble make WKU a very formidable foe. Louisville saved the day with their fourth-quarter blitz and it's two very good games in a row for Hines-Allen. The effort by UofL yesterday would not gather wins over most of the ACC, though, and that is a bit distressing. 

Chalk it up as a "W" and Louisville is 8-2 now. A tip of the cap to the starters for finishing strong and to Syd for creating some memorable moments. Louisville narrowly avoided a train wreck Sunday, though, and that should be something for them to keep in mind when they face a very talented  (8-2) South Dakota State squad Wednesday that is looking for a signature win. 


SIDE BARS

Coach may be air surfing here...we're just not sure...

One of my favorite refs in Dennis DeMayo had the call in the game yesterday, which tickled me..since I thought he was going to retire after last year. Nice to see him out there. I did hold up a cookie for him to see at the end of halftime, like I do with most of the refs...and offered it to him. His response was classic..."I'd rather have a beer." Keep calling them like you see them, "Dub D". I was pretty much ready for one starting the second half myself. 

Also in attendance was another great guy in Paul Sanderford. I got to chat with the long-time coach and color commentator legend in the Media Room before the contest and he's still as fun, gracious and entertaining as he's always been. 

A great story about a new and "wordy" play-by-play guy he once worked with. Paul couldn't get a word in edgewise in the first half of a game, so when they went to commercial break, he informed the gabby guy...

"i'm going to go take a pee, get a coke a hot dog and enjoy the rest of this one...because it's obvious you don't need me." (Guess who got all the time he wanted in the second half and rest of the season?) 

CLASSIC Paul...keeping it real. Keep 'em coming, Coach! 

CONVERSATIONS

Post game was pretty much The Paulie Show again...especially with the players and Walz. Coach Walz did explain his latest two theorum to me and there were no quacking ducks in the background. 

I probably didn't do as good of a job with the players as I SHOULD HAVE...that's on me...but I was in there pitching with no one in the bullpen to back me up and runners in scoring position. Nice practice for the comedy routine Coach and I are taking to the road after the season ends. 


Your post-game links: 

LINK: MYISHA HINES-ALLEN AND SYDNEY ZAMBROTTA DISCUSS THE WIN OVER WKU

LINK: JEFF WALZ POSTGAME REMARKS


LINK: POST GAME MICHELLE CLARK HEARD


paulie
xxxxx

Sunday Cardinal Couple - Worldwide Roundup

It has been a few weeks since I've written an article here at Cardinal Couple.  Life gets in the way sometimes, you know.  Thanks to Paulie for affording me the ability to step away for a bit to put a little more attention on some other events in my life (generally positive, no need to worry for me, just busy).  It's also been great to hear the great writing voice of Case and just get to enjoy that.

So, returning, I have several topics to cover today.

Heisman Hero

Unsurprisingly, Lamar Jackson won the Heisman Trophy last night.  The most prestigious award in college football.  This, of course, is the first Heiman winner at UofL, and he also has the distinction of being the youngest player to have been awarded the trophy.

Good news for Cards fan is that he still has at least one more year with us as he doesn't become NFL draft eligible until after next year's season.  He has also hinted at wanting to stay for both of his remaining years of eligibility.  I won't be holding my breath for that, but wouldn't it be exciting to see a senior year Lamar Jackson at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium?

If you'd like to be among the first to see Jackson and the Heisman Trophy...well, I have no inside information on this...but I would wager that attending today's Women's Basketball Game would be a wise plan.  Also, maybe you might want to stay in your seats at halftime, if I had to make a guess.

Women's Basketball vs WKU

WBB SALUTES LAMAR WITH "THE POSE".

Speaking of Women's Basketball, the team will be looking for another "Oh, buddy!" moment against those ballers down I-65 south of here -
WKU, after losing the game to them at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green last year.  OK, there's not quite the same level of angst and pressure in this matchup as there was against UK, but it still stings to lose to an in-state team like that.

Michelle Clark-Heard will always have a threatening team.  They are 5-3 on the year, with loses to George Washington, UT Arlington, and DePaul.  A lose to Doug Bruno's DePaul team is never one to hang your head over.  The only win of any real consequence is over IU, so at this point it's a bit difficult to judge the quality of this team without having watched them play (which I have not had the opportunity to do so, yet).

The game starts at 2pm at the KFC Yum! Center and will be streamed on The ACC Network Extra if you can't make it to the arena. You can always catch the great call of Nick Curran and A.J. on Cards Radio 790 as well. 

Volleyball Final Four is Set

I wouldn't normally talk about volleyball much after UofL has been eliminated, but I did want to take a moment to bring attention to the continuing success of the Nebraska squad.  Of course, their assistant coach Dani Busboom Kelly, will be coming to Louisville to take over as the skipper of our squad after her duties at Nebraska are completed.

Top seed Nebraska won easily over Washington to punch their ticket to the Volleyball Final Four (technically the name Final Four is specific to NCAA basketball, but no one has come up with a clever name like that for volleyball.  Soccer has "The College Cup", baseball and softball have "The College World Series" and "The Women's College World Series" respectively, Ice Hockey even has "The Frozen Four", which I think is particularly clever.  Suggestions for volleyball are welcome.).  They will face 4-seed Texas on Thursday in Columbus OH after Texas swept the Cinderella team of the tournament, Creighton, without a great deal of difficulty.  The other side of the bracket features 2-seed Minnesota, who swept 10-seed UCLA, and the only upset of the quarter-finals, 6-seed Stanford, who eked out a barnburner of a win over 3-seed Wisconsin in 5 sets to advance.  The Championship match will be Saturday at 9pm.


Hello, Radio! 

Another episode of THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO SHOW aired yesterday and Paulie, Case
and Worldwide discussed Lamar, WBB, MBB, and gift cards. It's always an adventure at Crescent Hill Radio and yesterday was no exception...with technical glitches and us not realizing we were actually on the air until we noticed the frantic motioning of our studio engineer.

The rebroadcast is available at the WCHQ website....It didn't get lost and the gremlins or Lamar Jackson didn't steal it or receive it in a ceremony.

LINK: CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO 12-10-16


JMcA

Finals Week Blues -- SATURDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Slow Scheduling

Now that I am a graduate student taking only online classes, the phrase "Finals Week" does not immediately induce the gray hair producing stress that it used to. I still have my work to do, but thousands of other students have spent every waking moment since Wednesday preparing for finals in classes they may have struggled in or may have never even attended. To all of those that are still struggling, I wish you good luck. To those finished for the semester, I say enjoy your break. And for you lucky dogs that are graduating in December, I say enjoy it; the real world isn't quite as fun as you might have been led to believe.

The reason I bring up finals is because there is always a lull in scheduling during this time. Student-athletes are just that, students, and they have to take finals just like everyone else. The men's basketball team played Wednesday against Southern Illinois, plays today against Texas Southern, and then doesn't play again until next Saturday against Eastern Kentucky. For those that didn't notice, we are in the midst of the "directional schools" segment of the schedule. The women's team, likewise, hasn't played since the Kentucky game on Sunday and won't play until tomorrow against WKU before their schedule ramps back up with games on Wednesday and Friday. The only scheduled items on the all sports calendar this week have been the Short Course World Championships for swimming and the indoor track Hoosier Invitational yesterday.

Kelsi Worrell has been busy in Windsor, Canada at the swimming tournament. Tuesday she was part of a winning American squad that took gold in the women's 400 free relay. Wednesday she set an American record of 2:02.89 in the 200 fly on her way to a silver medal. She then helped set another record as she was part of a gold medal winning 4x50 women's medley team that set a new world record. Continuing her relay success, Worrell capped off her tournament with a gold in the 4x50 mixed medley. It is great to see Kelsi continuing to have success, and I imagine we might see her again at the next summer games.

The weight

Two Cardinals saw success in Bloomington yesterday at the Hoosier Invitational. In her first throw of the season, senior Dolly Nyemah placed second in the weight throw with a distance of 19.68m. I don't have any idea what the weight throw is, but I guarantee you that I can't throw the weight nearly 65 feet. A familiar name is next on the list, as Emmonnie Henderson placed first in the women's shot put at the meet while setting a school record of 17.17m. Like most other students, the track and field athletes will be heading home for winter break, but head coach Dale Cowper says, "We look forward to getting things going again when the students return for spring semester classes."

Hardware Inbound?

Louisville's football season did not end quite the way we all wanted. It still isn't over, but I'm quite sure we'd all prefer that we wouldn't have to be split screening the bowl game and the men's basketball game against IU. However, there is still one major piece of hardware at play. I'm not talking about the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl trophy, whatever that may be. I'm talking about the Heisman Trophy. We've been talking about Lamar Jackson's chances all season, to the point where Las Vegas sportsbooks closed the betting lines on the Heisman Race because it was considered a foregone conclusion. Lamar Jackson was 1/30 or 1/50 at the time, depending on who you believe. Since the end of the season, I have heard reports of some books reopening their lines, but Lamar Jackson is still the heavy favorite, with Deshaun Watson coming second at 14/1. 

As Paulie mentioned yesterday, Deshaun Watson took home the Davey O'Brien, which is not particularly surprising. I really don't know who votes for these things, but I expected he would win it, even though he wasn't even the best quarterback in his conference. I say that because Lamar Jackson was voted as the ACC Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, All-ACC First Team QB, and Pro Football Focus All-ACC First Team QB. So, I'm sorry, Deshaun, but what was it that Jeff Walz said about participation trophies?

Lamar has already claimed the Maxwell and the Walter Camp Awards. Of the 28 players who have previously won both of those awards in the same season, 22 have gone on to win the Heisman. This seems like a concerning percentage, but keep in mind that Lamar Jackson also did what only two Heisman winners have ever done with 30 passing TDs and 20 rushing TDs, and both of them needed their bowl games to do it. Only Jordan Lynch has ever achieved the passing/rushing yardage splits that Lamar has, and he played for Northern Illinois. If Lamar Jackson doesn't win the Heisman Trophy tonight, I think it will be the biggest robbery in sports award history.

Dial it in

Tune into this week's Cardinal Couple Radio Hour at 11AM on 100.9 WCHQ. You can also stream it online or from the app, and if you miss it live, you'll be able to listen to the rebroadcast sometime tomorrow after it has been posted. Today you should be able to hear me talk about pretty much the exact same things you just read, but you'll be able to hear the words in my voice instead of the one in your head!

Until next time, Go Cards

-CH-

PS: #L1C4Lit

Speaking of....Lamar collects a few more -- FRIDAY CARDINALCOUPLE

TRYING TO FIND STATS SAGA

I woke up this morning with a brilliant idea. That doesn't happen very often for me, so I was fairly excited -- or, at least as excited as I can get at 6:30 a.m. Why not do an article on how Louisville WBB's trio for 2017 are doing so far this season at their respective high schools? I should have thought about climbing Mt. Everest in a speedo, back-pack and flip-flops. It probably would have been easier...i'd probably ditch that climbing idea in the first 30 seconds. I stayed on this pursuit for two hours. A waste of time.

The three young women I speak of are Lindsey Duvall, from Bullitt East, Dana Evans, out of West Side (Gary), IN and Loretta Kakala, who plays for Manteca, CA. I figured our readers would like to know more about them. So would I. 

After about an hour of Internet research, I realized this task would not be easy...so I started sending texts and e-mails to people I thought might know. As of 9:30 a.m., I hadn't gotten any replies. I'm holding out hope I eventually might...so check back throughout the day and I'll update as information comes in. 

Here's what I have...so far. 

Duvall has played in four games this season. Her Chargers are 2-2. They have wins over Presentation (Louisville) and Southwestern (Somerset, KY). Close losses to Louisville Male and Louisville Butler. Lindsey had 27 points against Butler, including five threes, in a game that Bullitt East led early in but eventually lost 84-72. The Chargers are undertaking a brutal schedule in the early going and they travel to Henderson County tonight for a game. If you're a Cardinal fan in the area, you might want to go see her play. 


Evans and her West Side squad are 7-1 on the season. She had 33 points against powerhouse Chicago Marshall last out. They threw a box and chaser against her the entire game and she still lit up the scoreboard for that many. She's also excited about coming to Louisville. She's on the 2017 Naismith Trophy Girls High School Player of the Year watch list...along with Kakala. 

More on Evans, courtesy of James and Dana, too: 

-- Averaging 36.9 ppg in eight games
-- 7.9 rebounds
-- 4.9 steals
-- 6.3 assists
-- 48% shooting (104/215)
-- 32% from three (15/47)
-- 73% free throws (70/96) 

Sounds pretty prolific, right? 



Kakala. Her team is 1-2. And that's about all I know. They like her in California. 

If you can help out on any or all of these three, shoot me an e-mail at cardinalcouple@twc.com or leave a comment.

Thank you. 

Now, back to climbing Mt. Everest...



😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁



LAMAR ADDS A COUPLE MORE TO THE STASH

Lamar in-flight to New York

You may have heard already, but ESPN dished out a bunch of college football awards last night. Louisville QB Lamar Jackson (and his Mom) were present in Atlanta to witness the event and Lamar did well, being awarded the Maxwell Award...for college football's player of the year...the Walter Camp Player of the Year award and making the All-American team as quarterback.

Deshawn Watson, who will probably finish second in the voting for the Heisman Saturday night, won the Davey O'Brien award for best quarterback in the nation. The Clemson senior is good, no doubt, but one has to wonder if the voters already figured Lamar was going to win the Camp and Maxwell awards and felt they had to put a little "something, something" on Watson's plate. 

We'll see. I expect our columnist Case Hoskins will go into more of this in Saturday's article.We'll discuss it also on the Saturday radio show THE CARDINAL COUPLE RADIO HOUR...which airs on...wait for it....Saturday at 11 a.m. on WCHQ 100.9 FM and on-line at crescenthillradio.com

Download the WCHQ app. It's easy to do. 

Also, an apology for not having a link for last week's rebroadcast. It just vanished into thin air, we suppose...we never got an explanation about what happened to it. It may be in my back-pack for the Everest trip. Maybe Lamar Jackson collected it? Where's Alfred Hitchcock when you need him? 

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊


A-TAYY is OK

Thanks to reader and former columnist Sandy W. for sending this link about former Cardinal great and current Austrialian hoops star Asia Taylor. She's a favorite, you know, here at Cardinal Couple! 

Seems A-Tayy was sidelined by a concussion. It may be the only thing that can stop her over in the Land Down Under...

LINK: Asia Taylor returns for Sydney Flames

Paulie
xxxxx

To Stay or Not To stay? Is that the question? -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

SHOULD THE KFC YUM! CENTER CONTINUE TO BE BASKETBALL, VOLLEYBALL HOME? 

Nestled down between 2nd and 3rd street, on the banks of the mighty Ohio River is a glistening, sparkling facility that is home to the University of Louisville's men's and women's basketball teams, the Uofl Volleyball team and a myriad of other events...ranging from concerts to circuses. It is known as the KFC YUM! Center and since 2010 the facility has hosted millions of people to watch acts ranging from The Eagles musical act to the Tennessee-Martin women's basketball Skyhawks. There have been Lions, and Tigers and Bears (oh, my!) and dignitaries ranging from Cheryl Cooper to Alice Cooper. 

Is it time to go? 

According to Louisville athletics director Tom Jurich...it just may be. According to a poll in Biz Journals...46% of the respondants said "You've got to be kidding me. 32% say "Yes. It's Time to go and 22% answer "No. The Cards should stay." 

Jurich, you see, says the Cards no longer feel welcome at the downtown arena. Says he's not happy with the recent push by some city and state officials to alter the terms of the lease with Louisville to send more funds toward the facilities debt. Jurich didn't want to go downtown to begin with...he wanted to build a facility on the site where the Ralston-Purina silos used to stand on the bend of I-65 at Crittenden Drive. He says this could still be accomplished...which would, in effect, pull the major occupant out of downtown and on University-owned property. 

Don't worry...Tom doesn't have the moving vans backed up to the loading locks down on River Road just yet...but he's getting increasingly annoyed with some city officials shooting from the hip and blaming UofL for the financial problems related to the arena. 

Jurich was a team player about this in the beginning. He went along with the downtown arena concept and eventual construction...even though he pushed for an on-campus facility. Jurich has always done quite well with the on-campus concepts...witness beautiful Lynn Stadium on Floyd Street, home of the soccer teams. A badly needed rebuild of Ulmer Stadium for softball and the magnificent Jim Patterson Stadium for baseball. The addition to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. That's just a few of the improvements he's been behind since he arrived on campus in 1997. 

Tom and I are the same age. I have him by a couple of months. He never saw the sleepy, little campus I attended back in the mid-seventies. Crawford Gym, Parkway Field and not much more except a few intramural fields and a bowling alley near the viaduct. He did come in at a time when the Cards were undergoing a few crises situations, though. Louisville was building Papa John's and had a 1-10 football coach. Good bye, Ron....hello John L. He brought softball to the campus. Started building facilities that would attract better athletes (and coaches). When basketball needed a young, dynamic leader...he arranged for Denny Crum to retire on his terms and brought in Rick Pitino. Jurich hired Pearsall, Young, Ferguson-Dayes, Lolla, McDonnell, Walz and Sowry. That's a pretty good list of successful people. 

The guy rolls "sevens". He draws aces from the deck. He's the best thing to hit UofL Athletics since Pervis Ellison, Milt Wagner and Herb Crook showed up to play a little basketball. 

If this is "saber-rattling" and an attempt to bring to light how the University feels about being bullied by some elected officials....that rattle has been heard. How long would the KFC YUM! Center be able to keep their doors open if UofL built their own multi-million dollar facility on campus and left? And, how agreeable would University officials be about sinking that sum of money into a place that would be used roughly 60 times a year but keeping ALL the profits and coffers? 

It just might be the coiled rattle of a diamondback ready to strike...

The KFC YUM! Center needs the University of Louisville much more than the other way around. The businesses and restaurants in the downtown area need UofL in that building. Do you really think an NBA franchise is going to throw their hands up in the air and say...

"Oh, yes..Louisville. We love the idea of coming in there and playing in the YUM! How much money you got? Oh, you're having financing issues? 72% of your population is opposed to an NBA franchise? " (Click of phone.) 

Trust in Tom. If this is a bluff...it's one that makes sense and should be listened to by Mayor Fischer and Governor Bevin. You don't change that rules and the stakes of a poker game just because you're the dealer and you're losing. You don't run the "money" off just because you're worried about future debt. 

I'd love to see an on-campus site. So would the businesses, hotels and restaurants in the campus/Churchill Downs area. I know crime is pretty much everywhere these days but there have been times after covering events at the KFC YUM! Center where I haven't felt so safe and secure walking back to my vehicle long after the crowds have gone. To a vacant parking lot. No police to be found. Friends have been held up. Robberies have been attempted. 


So be very careful...ye Gods of the Arena commission. Watch your step political hacks trying to make a name for yourself. You might want to listen to the man picking up the check.

He just might decide to start dining somewhere else.

A lease has been neogtiated. No swooping in six years later and saying that it needs to be re-neogitated. Especially with your prime tenant. That tenant doesn't need you. 

Trust in Tom. Stand with Tom. Stand your ground, Cards. 


😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢


RIP GREG

News that musician/vocalist Greg Lake has passed away. RIP Greg. I've been a long-time fan yours...in Emerson, Lake and Palmer music and even earlier when you sang with King Crimson. 

You also did one of my favorite Christmas songs.

LINK: Father Christmas -- Greg Lake

Go easy, bro.


Paulie
xxxxx

Louisville women's basketball -- So, How Does The ACC look so far? -- Wednesday Cardinal Couple

SOME EXPECTED RESULTS AND SOME SURPRISES IN ACC WBB SO FAR

Although we haven't seen any head-to-head ACC games yet...the ACC seems to be having a great pre-conference season for the most part. Through Monday, the ACC WBB teams were a combined 104-24 overall. In the recent ACC vs.Big 10 match-up, played last Weds. and Thursday...the ACC won the 14 game match-up 9-5. 

Three teams in the ACC are still undefeated. Notre Dame, Clemson and Virginia Tech are all 8-0. Only Boston College (2-6) is under .500. In national rankings, the AP Poll has seven ACC schools listed...#2 Notre Dame #7 FSU #8 Louisville #14 Miami #20 Syracuse #21 Duke and #25 Virginia Tech. The USA Today poll differs only slightly...Notre Dame is #1 there...Miami #13 Syracuse #19 and Virginia Tech not ranked. 

Notre Dame has been seriously tested just once...in a 71-67 win at home over Green Bay...but will host 1/2 Connecticut in Purcell Pavilion tonight. Clemson hasn't seen any real top-flight competition yet...but did win the San Juan Shootout. They'll get Oregon Monday and South Carolina next Thursday. Virginia Tech is a major surprise...with wins over Georgetown, UCF, Tennessee and Nebraska. 

Do I think Clemson and Virginia Tech will be powerhouses this year in conference play. No. Do I think Notre Dame will? Yes, I do. 

A group is massed with just one loss. Duke, FSU, Miami, Georgia Tech and UNC. Coach JoAnne P McCauley's Blue Devils took down South Carolina...and that is impressive. Florida State lost to Connecticut by just two and has wins over Michigan, Minnesota and Gonzaga. Miami lost their opener to UK, but has set aside Charlotte, St. John, Texas Tech and Ohio State. Georgia Tech was thumped pretty well by Michigan but came out on top against Georgia, Dayton and Missouri. UNC was demolished by South Florida but did get by Wisconsin and Minnesota. They also had trouble...but beat Elon by only five. That raises a eyebrow.

Duke, FSU and Miami are to be feared. I'm not so sure about UNC yet...I need to see them against some good teams and Georgia Tech will eventually settle in the middle of conference standings by this time in mid-January. 

We've discussed the Cards plenty here at the site. They'll fare well in conference play. I do expect a lot of close game, though...and any of the schools I've mentioned above are perfectly capable of adding a third loss to the Cards record. 

Also with two losses are Pitt, NC State, Virginia and Wake Forest. NC State is a good team with a win over Indiana. Losses to Kansas State and LSU show me that they're not ready for prime time yet, though. Pitt, Wake and Virginia will settle into the lower regions of the conference in time. 

Syracuse with three losses can't be ignored. A wealth of talent returns for Coach Q...Losing to Ohio State is understandable. The shellacking at the hands of DePaul a bit surprising...as is the loss to Drexel. Q will get them back together, though. 

And then, there is Boston College. A lot of work to be done there. 

TEN TO WATCH

Here's ten players that are lighting in up so far that don't play for the Cards...

Lindsay Allen -- Notre Dame
Brianna Turner -- Notre Dame
Jackie Young -- Notre Dame
Alexis Peterson -- Syracuse
Rebecca Greenwell -- Duke
Lexie Brown -- Duke
Leticia Romero -- Florida State
Shakayla Thomas -- Florida State
Paris Kea -- North Carolina
Stephanie Watts -- North Carolina

So, with seven teams in the top 25 and a 80% win average so far in the 2016-17 season, the ACC has shown, once again, that it is the toughest conference in Division I women's college basketball. Conference play is less than a month away and the Cards begin with two tough tests when they host Syracuse and visit Duke. There is, of course, plenty of basketball to be played before the ACC tips off. The Cards have five games before they face Syracuse on Thursday, Dec 29th. Four at home...and an easy-to-travel-to road game against Vanderbilt. 

Who will surprise? Who will rise to the top and who will prove to be just a flash in the pan? 

It's all ahead. The ACC is a road full of challenges and obstacles. Who has the vehicle to safely navigate the trip ahead and reach the finish line first? 

paulie
xxxxx