3. Can 3-point shooting be consistent enough to call it a strength of this team?
When Pat Kelsey assembled this squad last season during the transfer portal window, it was clear what the strategy to win would be. Get elite shooters/scorers for the offense and use them to outshoot and outscore any opponent that comes your way. That is a bold and effective strategy when the team can find the needed shots and hit them at a high level. That has not always been the case for the Cardinals this season.
During the Duke game last week, Louisville had one of its worst 3-point shooting performances of the year, going 11-for-34 and shooting 32% from 3-point range. However, Louisville is also able to get hot from deep, as they did against the Pittsburgh Panthers just a couple of weeks ago, when the Cardinals shot 52% from 3-point land on their way to a 41-point rout.
That’s one of the issues with assembling your team around the 3-point shot: you tend to live or die by that statistic. Hopefully, Louisville can find itself closer to the 52% performance rather than the 32% outing more times than not.