Big Red Louie
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Louisville basketball: An early season review of Team 106

By Tristan Beckmann

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: Steven Enoch #23 of the Louisville Cardinals and Dwayne Sutton #24 react during the first half of the game against Marquette Golden Eagles at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: Steven Enoch #23 of the Louisville Cardinals and Dwayne Sutton #24 react during the first half of the game against Marquette Golden Eagles at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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LOUISVILLE, KY – NOVEMBER 17: Darius Perry #2 of the Louisville Cardinals reaches in as Jibri Blount #2 of the North Carolina Central Eagles dribbles the ball during the first half at KFC YUM! Center on November 17, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – NOVEMBER 17: Darius Perry #2 of the Louisville Cardinals reaches in as Jibri Blount #2 of the North Carolina Central Eagles dribbles the ball during the first half at KFC YUM! Center on November 17, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

Defense and Rebounding

The most impressive thing for me is the intensity that the team has played with on the defensive end. Chris Mack preached that his team needed to play with more passion on defense after they got exposed by Bellarmine in an exhibition and Ohio State in a secret scrimmage. The Cards are forcing their opponents into tough shots, resulting in poor offensive numbers. Teams are hitting just 39.7 percent of their shots against Louisville, which is a top 40 defensive rank for the Cards. They’re also connecting on just over 30 percent of their three-point attempts.

Those numbers are good and might be tough to maintain as they face better teams, but there are a few concerns for the Cards defense that need to be worked on. Coach Mack has emphasized this many times already this season, but the team needs to get better at preventing the opponent from grabbing offensive rebounds. It also would not hurt if the Cards grabbed a few more offensive boards themselves. The Cards got dominated by Youngstown State and NC Central on the offensive glass, as they were outrebounded a combined 34-11 in the two games. These numbers have to get better if the Cards want to challenge teams like Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia. The Cards have plenty of talented guys who are willing to fight for rebounds down low, and these numbers should improve as the season goes on and guys get healthy.

Louisville also needs to capitalize on the mistakes of opponents and force them into turning the basketball over more. They’ve only forced 42 turnovers in four games, which is the 298th best number in the country. With guys like Darius Perry, Dwayne Sutton, and Jordan Nwora, I believe the forced turnovers will start to come more often. The Cardinals will also welcome Malik Williams back in the coming weeks, and he’s a proven presence on the defensive end. David Johnson should be back soon as well, and more often than not, his size should allow him to succeed on the defensive end against opposing guards.

Overall, Louisville ranks as the sixth-best team in the nation in terms of adjusted defensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy. They are behind Virginia, Duke, Kentucky, Ohio State, and Michigan State in that department. Over time, we will find out if this team is for real on the defensive end and my bet is that they are. Now let’s look at some of the players that have stood out to me when watching the Cards play.

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