4. Interior offense will play second fiddle to the 3 point shooting
Louisville entered the season touting its anticipated 3-point shooting game, but many did not anticipate the major discrepancy between interior and exterior scoring. Louisville has 23 of its overall 31 makes against Bucknell come from the 3-point line. The Kansas game was not much different, with 11 of their 21 makes coming from the outside. Coach Kelsey has stressed his desire to utilize the 3-point line to its fullest potential since he set foot on Louisville’s campus. Now he has the exact team he wants to do just that.
This, however, raises some concerns about the interior scoring ability of the Louisville frontcourt, especially on nights similar to the one against Kansas, where the 3-point shooting was less than stellar. European transfer Sananda Fru was brought in to be the interior force for the team, specifically assisting in the interior offense category.
Although Fru struggled in the first exhibition game with only 1 point, he improved in the second exhibition, showing more fight and aggressiveness to go along with his 11 points. Fru’s game will need to continue to improve to keep defenses honest on the interior and continue to open up shots for Louisville’s playmakers.