One player who can bring a “different dimension” to Louisville basketball

Did Chris Mack find Louisville basketball’s new lead point guard against Kentucky?

When I tell you that I aged 20 years in a matter of a few hours leading up to tip-off of last weekend’s much-anticipated matchup between Louisville basketball and Kentucky, you have to believe me. Louisville had to get a win, they just had to – at least that’s what I convinced myself heading into the game simply because for the first time in quite a few years the Cards were a better team.

The game was up and down, back and forth almost the entirety of the matchup, and though there was a lot to be frustrated about with the outcome there was a lot to walk away with that would and should lead you to believe that the Cards are just fine.

The 12-point comeback was great to see, as Louisville had primarily been the one giving away leads this season, as was the play of Steven Enoch. In a game where there was an evident advantage for the Cards, Enoch was dominant in the paint and was without question the best player on the floor for Louisville.

We can talk about the worrisome play of Jordan Nwora, who easily had his worst game as a Cardinal (at least under Chris Mack), and we can also talk about Ryan McMahon’s shooting woes and struggles to go head-to-head with bigger, stronger guards. All of that talk is warranted.

But to me, the biggest positive take away from last Saturday’s loss was the long-awaited emergence of Lamarr “Fresh” Kimble.

Graduate transfers are a fickle thing across college basketball. Each year a “free agency” period of sorts begins shortly after the NCAA Tournament where hundreds of players decide to spend their final season of eligibility playing for a new program, whether that be in a larger role (maybe they moved up from a smaller conference) or vise Versa. As we’ve seen with past teams here at Louisville, despite having tons of hype, graduate transfers don’t always gel or fit what you think they can do or can be.

In the case of Fresh Kimble, it looked like a hand-in-glove fit for Chris Mack and Louisville. The Cards needed a battle-tested, veteran guard to come in and lead the show much like grad-transfer and Kentucky native Christen Cunningham did last season.

Kimble was the first-ever three-year captain at St. Joseph’s where he averaged double-figure totals in points in three of his four seasons at the school before deciding to set out for a new challenge. He brought to Louisville with him, the ability to score in a variety of ways at a very high level, lockdown defensive capabilities, as well as the aforementioned leadership.

Through the first 12 games of the season, Louisville fans waited to see the Fresh Kimble they heard about all through the summer, the one that former Louisville legend Previs Ellison called “another Cassius Winston.” It didn’t really happen, however. At least, not at first.

In fact, people began to question whether Kimble was going to be able to play any sort of role on the floor for Louisville other than a reserve guard who can spell Darius Perry or McMahon for short bursts. Even Chris Mack acknowledged that the play Louisville received from Kimble wasn’t “great,” noting it took “CC” time to get adjusted to the offense and style of coaching last season before he was able to take off.

But that didn’t change the plans Mack had for Kimble.

With Louisville desperately needing better point guard play to win big games, Mack called on Kimble against Kentucky. His previous averages of 4.2 points, 2.9 assists, and 1.4 turnovers, along with just 34 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from three were out the door. Mack needed his veteran guard to provide the spark that would help Louisville win arguably their most important non-conference game.

Playing a season-high 29 minutes, Kimble gave Louisville the spark offensively that they desperately needed. You can even make the argument that his elevated play on the offensive end allowed for Mack to sit Nwora down during his struggles, putting the ball in the senior’s hands to make plays.

That’s exactly what he did, to the tune of 12 points on 5/9 shooting adding in four assists and zero turnovers. Kimble also had his best game shooting from deep, going 2/3 (his first game of the season with more than one three) including his second-half three-pointer that brought Louisville to just a one-point deficit and became his first three-point attempt in 14 attempts.

With Ryan McMahon struggling with the length of guards Ashton Hagans, Tyrese Maxey, and Immanuel Quickley and Darius Perry only able to do so much on his own, Kimble went to work offensively.

As our friend Chris Hatfield pointed out on Twitter, Kimble essentially took on Kentucky’s top defender in Hagans and won, all while playing lockdown defense on him when asked to by Coach Mack.

Kimble played with the controlled confidence that we had all heard he was capable of, meaning he got to finally play offense the way he had been asked to at St. Joseph’s. During the midst of Kimble’s early-season struggles, our own Will Reddington pointed out last month that a change of responsibilities was going to be needed for Kimble to thrive.

He wrote:

"“Maybe a roll change to being a “score first” point guard can be manageable with another guard on the floor like Ryan or Darius, who can assist with the set up of the offense. Or maybe it takes Mack scrapping his exact thoughts on the point guard role and letting Fresh be Fresh?”"

Following the tough loss in overtime, Mack spoke with the media about his team’s performance and wasn’t shy about his praise for Kimble. He said, “He (Kimble) made some terrific plays today, His ability to finish, I thought as the game wore on he gained a lot of confidence, hit a big-time 3. We know Fresh has it in him. I was really pleased to see how our point guards responded today.”

Now with Florida State just a few days ahead and a challenging ACC schedule awaiting Louisville, Mack needs Kimble to be the same guy he was against Kentucky “every day.” The Cards have shown this season that they can score the ball with the best of ’em, but when Nwora has a bad day (like he did against UK) or Enoch can’t get going – Louisville will need the scoring punch of Kimble.

If they get it, watch out. As ESPN’s Jeff Borzello said, Fresh Kimble brought a “new dimension” to the Louisville offense that could be crucial to the Championship aspirations for Louisville.