If you are a national college basketball fan, you probably view Pat Kelsey’s first two years as Louisville’s head coach as a major success. He took over a program that had won just 25 games in the previous three seasons and immediately turned things around, going 27-8 in his first year. Despite a disappointing first-round NCAA Tournament loss, Kelsey followed that up with a 24-11 season and a second-round appearance in year two. By all accounts, that is a successful start as he continues building the program in his own image.
Louisville showed why Final Four expectations are realistic despite rocky second half
However, if you are a diehard Louisville fan, you know the numbers don't tell the entire story. Kelsey’s 51-19 record at Louisville masks a team that has struggled to beat quality opponents over the last two seasons. The head coach talks a big game, but when the lights shine brightest, his teams have not consistently lived up to expectations. Louisville is just 4-10 against AP-ranked opponents during Kelsey's first two seasons.
Many of those struggles can be traced back to poor shooting performances. When you build your team around shooting more three-pointers than nearly anyone in the country, it helps if you can consistently make them. Last season, Louisville ranked fourth among 365 Division I programs, attempting 32 three-pointers per game. The problem was that the Cardinals ranked outside the top 50 in three-point percentage and 82nd in three-pointers made per game.
Louisville fans knew that while anything was better than the Kenny Payne years, something needed to change with Kelsey's team philosophy. The good news is that he appears to have recognized that, bringing in a frontcourt that would make most programs jealous. He added size, interior scoring, and rebounding to go along with complementary shooting. This year's roster is no longer solely dependent on the three-point shot, and that should pay dividends moving forward.
However, while Kelsey may have learned his lesson and adjusted his roster construction, the players may still be catching up to that new identity.
Pat Kelsey makes it clear Louisville still has areas to improve
In their season-opening 84-70 win over Chattanooga earlier this week, Louisville still attempted 35 three-pointers, making just nine of them. That left the Cardinals shooting a disappointing 26% from beyond the arc.
Leading scorer Flory Bidunga finished with 16 points while attempting just one three-pointer. Meanwhile, Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad accounted for 12 of Louisville's 35 attempts, making only three. That kind of production was not exactly what Cardinals fans envisioned when they saw the talent Kelsey assembled over the offseason.
Despite the familiar shooting struggles, Kelsey's postgame comments offered something that should encourage Louisville fans. He acknowledged being happy with the team's ability to generate open looks, even if the shots weren't falling. However, he also pointed out that after building a 25-point lead with a minute remaining in the first half, Louisville was outplayed by 11 points the rest of the way. He gave Chattanooga credit for its coaching and second-half effort rather than simply dismissing the performance as a poor showing from his own team.
The biggest takeaway came when Kelsey described the performance as "disappointing." He explained that his team did something "you hope your team never does... start feeling sorry for themselves a little bit and get frustrated because the ball is not going in and then you go down on the other end and you don't play hard enough."
That distinction is important. Kelsey wasn't disappointed with how his team shot the basketball. He was disappointed with how the poor shooting affected everything else. He pointed to Chattanooga grabbing 11 offensive rebounds, including 10 in the second half alone, and criticized how Louisville responded when things weren't going its way. Rather than continuing to compete, the Cardinals became tight and tentative. He even went so far as benching freshmen phenom Obinna Ekezie Jr. who played just nine minutes in the first half and none in the second half because of a “coach’s decision”.
In previous seasons, it might have been easy to chalk up a performance like this to a bad shooting night. The argument would have been that Louisville normally shoots better than 26% from three, and a few more shots falling would have made the victory much more comfortable. That may have been true, but it doesn't address the bigger issue.
Not this year. Not with this roster.
This is arguably the most balanced team Kelsey has had at Louisville, with legitimate interior scoring, interior defense, rebounding, and plenty of outside shooting threats. The transfer leadership and young talent give this team the pieces to make a deeper NCAA Tournament run. But reaching that potential requires more than simply making shots.
Kelsey understands that this team doesn't need to shoot exceptionally well to beat quality opponents. It needs to play a complete 40 minutes of basketball. Relying on hot shooting to carry the offense is a thing of the past. As he made clear after just one game, failing to hustle, rebound, and compete when shots aren't falling is not going to get this team where it wants to go. He even said that the first half was “really really good,” but the second half was not and that “really good teams are consistent, regardless of if the ball is going in the hoop or not, they are still elite on defense and rebounding.”
That is the mentality Louisville needs if it hopes to get back among the elite programs in college basketball. The talent is there, the roster is more balanced, and the expectations are higher. Now the Cardinals need to show they can respond when adversity hits.
One postgame press conference doesn't guarantee anything, but hearing Kelsey hold his team accountable for something beyond missed shots is encouraging. Cardinals fans aren't expecting perfection, but they are expecting a team that competes for all 40 minutes. If that message carries throughout the season, Louisville could be taking an important step toward becoming the program its fans expect it to be.
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