5 Critiques of Athlon Sports’ season preview for the Louisville Basketball team
By Derek Snyder
Louisville’s Back-Court, Part Two:
Here is what Athlon Sports had to say about Louisville’s upcoming season:
"“As much as Pitino likes Adel, many believe Mitchell will develop into the Cardinals’ signature player. He’s a muscular high-flier who plays in the old Doctors of Dunk style. Defenders will continue to give Mitchell open perimeter shots until he can improve his 25.0 percent 3-point stroke. King, a McDonald’s All-American, is Louisville’s most acclaimed recruit since Chane Behanan and Wayne Blackshear. He’s a mature swingman who figures to earn an opportunity at off guard as well as small forward. Hicks is the X-factor. After leading Penn in scoring as a sophomore and junior, he did not play for the Quakers last season following the departure of coach Jerome Allen. Hicks is the latest graduate transfer to play for Pitino, who had success with both Damion Lee and Trey Lewis last season.”"
It will be interesting to see how much Mitchell has improved as a shooter this season. There are clearly zero questions about his athleticism or ability to play, but he wasn’t able to consistency shoot the basketball last season. While he may be the most-talented Cardinal, we still may not see the full picture until next season.
Hicks and King are going to be the wild-cards for the Cardinals this season. No one really knows what their contributions will look like, but Pitino and his staff. If they can come in and be factors, then Louisville will hang around the top ten all season long.