Louisville basketball: 3 bold predictions vs. Clemson
By Jacob Lane
Louisville starts at least one new player
Fans have been clamoring for a shakeup in the starting lineup for a few weeks now since David Johnson and Malik Williams have come on strong in the latter half of the season.
Those wishing for something different to begin the game may be in luck this Saturday vs. Clemson.
Louisville began its last match-up at Georgia Tech on a sour note, letting the Yellow Jackets out to 12-2 and 15-6 leads to start the game. The Cardinals actually led Tech the rest of the way, but ultimately fell short due to an extremely lackadaisical start and a stretch of way too many fouls and turnovers in the second half.
If not for fouling out in the final moments of the game, Johnson may very well have pulled off the comeback single handily, as he scored seven straight points in the final moments of the second half and pushed Louisville back within one possession on multiple occasions.
While backup big man Williams played 28 minutes (more than double Steven Enoch) producing at an incredibly high-level on both ends of the floor. He finished with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and a blocked shot and was easily the best player on the floor for the Cards throughout the entirety of the game.
Against Clemson expect a lineup change for Louisville, which at this point really isn’t a bold prediction. Chris Mack’s comments to the media during his press conference previewing Louisville’s matchup against Clemson made it crystal clear there would be lineup changes but without mention to who or where.
It’s obvious that Louisville needs a change considering their tendencies over the last 10 to 12 games to start incredibly slow. You can look back at games like Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech again and see how Louisville struggled to create the level of intensity, especially on defense as Mack pointed out, which led to getting far behind and having to dig themselves out of their own grave.
Louisville has offense, they have rebounding and they have playmaking but the missing ingredient to the full masterpiece is energy early on and that’s why Mack will probably insert Malik Williams and/or David Johnson.
Who will come out and head to the bench? That remains to be a mystery. Obviously, if Williams is added to the starting five, Steven Enoch will be taken out as Mack has only played the two together on a few occasions. It’s the guard spot where Mack would have an interesting choice.
Darius Perry and Fresh Kimble both provide really good things when on the floor but neither has been good together at the same time but on maybe one or two occasions. You worry about the mental effects moving Perry might have to the bench, considering he’s started every game this season, while you want as much veteran leadership and tough-mindedness which Kimble provides.
Clemson is a bigger test than most probably realize and if Louisville doesn’t make a lineup change and starts slow, there will be a lot more questions that will need to be answered. Thankfully, I think Mack will move both Johnson and Williams, which will spark a big win for Louisville.