Louisville basketball: Cards show real potential in first scrimmage

Louisville basketball’s stars rose to the occasion during their Red-White scrimmage on Sunday.

Louisville basketball played their first organized public scrimmage on Sunday in front of an anticipatory KFC Yum! Center crowd. With the bright lights on, Louisville’s captains along with their budding star, Jordan Nwora, opened a lot of eyes.

This game had an awesome feel to it, as far as meaningless scrimmages go. The arena had an atmosphere that was similar to that of a normal game. Once fans had finally filed to their seats, the attendance was likely in the area of 8-10,000. Even though it was a ticketed event, Cards fans showed up and showed out.

As far as the game itself, there were quite a few players who showed a lot of promise. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a chance to see much of the walk-on players as the game was shortened with a 10 minute running clock in the second half. But, regardless, this game gave us a good indication of who would start and see serious minutes for the 2018-19 Louisville squad.

Stand-out players

The most notable players in this game were probably the guys anyone around the program would have expected to stand out. Jordan Nwora and VJ King played alongside each other for the White Team, and accounted for 37 of the team’s 51 points.

King led all scorers with 19 points and recorded five rebounds. He started off the game slow, but you could see him gaining confidence as he got into the flow of the game. He finished an extremely efficient 7-of-11, and 3-4 from downtown. It was comforting seeing King display a full repertoire, driving to the basket with authority, shooting threes in rhythm, and making some tough, contested mid-range shots.

Nwora is an absolute star for this team. He finished the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and honestly could have scored more if he chose to do so. He was confident with the ball in his hands, pushed the ball up the floor with ease, and displayed the best range on the team. Last season, Nwora was able to ball fake and then knock down a jumper, but it is clear that he added a few more moves to his arsenal in the off season. He was able to shrug off defenders in a variety of ways, and sink shots even when he wasn’t completely set.

The most impressive thing about Nwora was his effort on defense. He is far from perfect on the defensive end, but he made hustle play after hustle play- including a vicious block on a tomahawk dunk attempt from Darius Perry. Nwora was there to grab seemingly every errant shot, and would subsequently push the ball up the floor on his own. His mindset may now be that if he gets the ball on the rebound, he has more say in the offense- which could ultimately be advantageous for the Cards.

For the Red Team, Christen Cunningham was a surprising leader.  Cunningham was voted by the team as a captain weeks after he first set foot on campus, and it is clear why. The grad transfer, who started all 110 games of his career at Samford and is the all-time assists leader, is going to be a problem for opponents on both ends of the ball. Cunningham recorded 15 points, dished out four assists, and snagged 5 rebounds in the shortened game.

Cunningham was a question mark coming into the season, but it is clear why he is thought so fondly of by his teammates. He is able to craftily get to the basket, and finished in a variety of ways. He also distributed well to teammates, and should have earned more than his four assists.

UConn transfer Steven Enoch, and second year big man Malik Williams provide an interesting dynamic for the Cards at the center position. Both guys have some strong post moves, and have a will to rebound, but they don’t prefer to be a traditional back-to-the basket center. Enoch- playing for the Red Team- scored 10 points and had 8 boards, while Williams chipped in 11 and six for the White.

With Chris Mack running a “4 out, 1 in” system, the Cards will need their centers to be anchors in the middle. In the scrimmage, both took multiple threes and long-range jump shots. They have the ability to make those shots at a high clip, which should be seen as an asset, but Mack would probably like to see his big men getting physical in the paint more often.

Dwayne Sutton looks like a different guy this year, physically. His performance on the court was par for the course, though. He knocked down a few open shots, and created multiple second chance opportunities for his squad.

Notable Concerns

Although the Cards looked better than many expected, there are still a lot of question marks after the first scrimmage.

Can Nwora help more than hurt at the four?

Jordan Nwora is the clear star on this team. His ability to fill it up at all levels is good enough to make a solid living a the next level. The concern for the Cards lies in the fact that they don’t have a true power forward.

Malik Williams could be a quality stretch four, but presents problems with his ball-handling skills, and ability to stay with his man on defense. Dwayne Sutton has the intangibles to play the four, but could have issues staying with power forwards with ACC size. Both guys will see time at the four, but the Cards would like to rely on Nwora as a four so that they can have their ideal lineup of Cunningham, Perry, and King in with Nwora being another ball-handler and scorer.

If Nwora can hold his own on the defensive end as a four, the Cards could be really solid this year. But that is a big “if.”

Can walk-ons help provide depth?

Louisville has a pretty formidable 8-to-10 man rotation in Cunningham, Perry, King, Nwora, Williams, Enoch, Sutton, and McMahon all likely to see significant playing time. Akoy Agau and Kwan Fore will provide depth at forward and guard respectively, but if anyone were to be unable to go, the Cards have some serious depth concerns.

In the past, Louisville has had 13-14 guys that Rick Pitino would be comfortable playing- and they had to due to their aggressive style. However, looking at teams like Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas over the last few years, teams have shown the ability to play at a high level and only play 7 or 8 guys significant minutes.

The Cards will either have to play with a short rotation for most of the year, or they will need to rely on the services of guys like Joe Griffin- who started for the red team Sunday- or talented freshman Walk-on Wyatt Battaile.

If Louisville can get 3-5 minutes a game out of one of their walk-ons (a la David Levitch) it could go a long way in preserving the team during a daunting schedule.

Will big men be comfortable staying inside?

When you look at the way this Louisville team is built, they are solid at every position. They have a true point guard, a true two guard, two or three true scorers- but what could put them over the top is excellent post play from Williams and Enoch.

Steven Enoch could be the type of player who is the deciding factor between Louisville being an average team or being a quality ACC contender. The same can be said of Williams- even though he is more of a knock down type of shooter.

Enoch may be the X-factor, though. Multiple times, Enoch found himself floating towards the perimeter on offense, and assistant coach Dino Gaudio had to (not so gently) remind him to get back into the paint. The Cards need a quality big that they can rely on in order to efficiently run Mack’s system. If Enoch or Williams can become a force inside, Louisville could have a much higher ceiling.

Overall, the Cards looked surprisingly polished, given the situation. There are certainly things that they can work on and improve going forward, but Louisville figures to have an exciting squad going forward.

They will be tested right away when the No.1 Divison II team in the country, Bellermine, visits the KFC Yum! Center on October 28th.