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Three areas Chris Mack will improve Louisville basketball right away

By Presley Meyer

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 17: Darius Perry #2 of the Louisville Cardinals knocks the ball away from KJ Robinson #5 of the Omaha Mavericks in the first half of a game at KFC YUM! Center on November 17, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville won 87-78. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 17: Darius Perry #2 of the Louisville Cardinals knocks the ball away from KJ Robinson #5 of the Omaha Mavericks in the first half of a game at KFC YUM! Center on November 17, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville won 87-78. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Under Chris Mack, Louisville basketball will look much different. We take a look at the areas that Mack will likely improve right away.

Louisville basketball is going to look much different under first year head coach Chris Mack than in the 18 years prior under Rick Pitino and David Padgett.

Outwardly, things have already taken an obvious turn. With the help of new strength and conditioning coach Andy Kettler, the Cards are clearly bigger and stronger than under the previous regime.

But what will the Cards look like when they hit the court for the first time?

If history is any indicator, Louisville will bring a completely different brand of play to the table.

Rebounding

One of Rick Pitino’s bugaboos at Louisville was his team’s inability to rebound the ball. It was a constant complaint from the fans.

The fact of the matter was that Pitino’s teams were often out of position to rebound because of his complicated match-up zones on defense, and propensity to take a lot of outside shots leading to easy rebounds for opponents on offense.

Chris Mack’s system, on the other hand, is predicated on rebounding the ball. Even though he loves to play “small ball” starting 4 out, 1 in most of the time, his teams still are among the national leaders in rebounds.

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Last year, Mack’s Xavier team finished 12th in the nation with a +7.1 rebounding margin. Yet, Mack’s squad only had two players who were true forwards. Four out of their top six rebounders started at the guard position, and nobody on the team averaged more than 5.5 rebounds per game. Mack’s teams rely on a total team rebounding effort, and that can be maximized by the length and the size of this Louisville team.

For comparison’s sake, last year’s Louisville team with a 7’1″ center, and 6’11” forward with more length coming off the bench ranked 215th in the country in rebounding margin at -.4 per game.

Mack will be able to take the talent that Louisville has and maximize it to work in his system.

Toughness

This goes hand-in-hand with rebounding. At his introductory press conference back in March of this year, Chris Mack talked about his style of play and what his Louisville teams will look like moving forward. He said,

"“I want our team and our players to be tough, together, and unbreakable.”"

If there is one thing that Mack’s teams have developed a reputation for, it is their aggressive mentality and ability to make more 50-50 plays go their way. It didn’t need reinforcing, but Mack continued to hammer home that his players and his teams will be both physically and mentally tough. What exactly does that look like?

"“We’re going to play a lot differently. I want our guys to be tough and physical. We aim to get our guys stronger. We want to play a fast, aggressive, attacking style.”"

It’s been said before, but bares repeating- players like Dwayne Sutton and Darius Perry stand to benefit the most from the Chris Mack system. Guys that have that natural instinct to fly towards loose balls, create havoc, and make plays don’t necessarily show up paper but win you games.

Players like transfer Steve Enoch, and graduate transfers Christen Cunningham and Akoy Agau could be players that come in and help set the tone for what this season is going to look like.

Mack’s confidence and swagger is permeating throughout this team. If he can get players to buy in to the team mentality and toughness it takes to win in his system, the Cards could be dangerous right out the gate.

Offensive Fire Power

Maybe the most noticeable change under Mack will be the attention being turned towards the offense.

There is a saying in football that you can’t defend a perfect pass.

That would be the best way to describe Mack’s approach to the game. This Louisville team will certainly have a defensive identity, but it would be shocking if they didn’t show tremendous improvement on offense.

Pitino would spend the majority of his time and energy meticulously perfecting his defense, and if he had time, his teams would run some pretty bland offensive sets.

Mack, however, loves the idea of offensive creativity. You will see Mack’s abilities at work when he uses his unique schemes to create match up nightmares for the opposition.

Over his last 5 seasons at Xavier, Mack’s teams averaged 84, 74, 81, 73, and 72 points per game. Those aren’t gaudy statistics by any means, but keep in mind that Mack didn’t have four and five star players at his disposal either.

With the capabilities that Mack has as a coach coupled with the talent that Louisville has at it’s disposal and will continue to draw, it is not hard to envision the Cards averaging 75-80 points per contest in 2018-19.

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This season will look a lot different, but it will still likely be a product on the floor that most Cards fans will be proud of.

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