Chris Mack and Louisville Headed to the Big Apple
The Louisville Cardinals will be headed to Brooklyn, NY to be one of four teams to play in the preseason NIT.
It was announced a few months back that Louisville would be apart of the annual NIT Season Tip Off in New York City. The other three teams include former Big East foe Marquette, along with Tennessee and Kansas. What we didn’t know is who Chris Mack and the Cardinals would be facing in their first match-up.
This week, in a release from the NIT, we learned that the Cards will be matched up with the Tennessee Volunteers, a team projected to be top five in the preseason polls. If they win, they will advance to play the winner of Kansas- Marquette.
Playing in an early season tournament could help a young Louisville team grow tremendously. They will undoubtedly have their work cut out for them, but its a good chance to go up against two extremely talented teams early in the season. If the Cards are able to get a win against any of these three squads, it will be a big boost to their tournament resume.
Coach Mack can take this Preseason NIT experience and build on it and get a gauge of where his young team is at early in the season. A team with five sophomores and four juniors will get thrown to the fire early, which could set the tone for the season. The confidence this unit would get from knocking of Tennessee and Kansas/Marquette would be huge heading into a schedule that features at least five-six projected top ten teams.
The Vols return nearly everyone from the 2018-19 roster including SEC Player of the Year, Grant Williams, who averaged 15.2 PPG and 6.0 RPG. The Volunteers shared a portion of the SEC regular season championship last season and were a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Breaking in a new coach and new system, Louisville will be tasked a with a tough battle in the Barclays Center. Louisville lost top two scorers in Ray Spalding and Deng Adel but there is still plenty of talent on the roster. Add Chris Mack’s coaching ability to the mix and there is a chance that Louisville can be just as good as Tennessee in 2018.
Even after losing Adel and Spalding, with all the new elements coming in those two can be replaced. Expect V.J. King, Malik Williams, and Jordan Nwora to make sizable jumps in their development as basketball players. This staff will fit their games better than the previous one.
It will be interesting to see how this time responds to the big time atmosphere with playing top teams that early. Who will step up and be the leader of this years squad? Who will want to the ball in their hands during clutch time? Maybe this tournament could give fans an idea of what to expect during conference play and beyond.
Next. Strength and Conditioning a Stark Contrast Under Chris Mack. dark
The Cards will face two of the three opponents in the NIT Season Tip Off along with home games against Kentucky and Michigan State, and travel to Seton Hall and Indiana. In addition, the ACC will still provide the stiffest conference slate in the country. A top-5 caliber schedule in Chris Mack’s first year will truly test their grit, but will ultimately shape the Cards into their best possible form come March.