Since Louisville basketball hired Pat Kelsey as its head basketball coach, things have been generally positive, and the Cardinals have gotten the fresh air they needed after many years of below-average basketball. After the firing of Rick Pitino, Chris Mack, and Kenny Payne, Louisville needed a winning lottery ticket of a head coach. Kelsey has been the right answer after taking the Cardinals from 8-12 to 27-8 in just one season after the disaster that was Kenny Payne. Kelsey had a statement first year that had him etch his name in the history books after leading Louisville to the ACC championship and winning the ACC Coach of the Year award.
Even though Louisville lost to Creighton in the round of 64, Cardinals fans were just happy to be winning again. However, year two for Kelsey was looking to take a major step forward, and that just has not really been the case for Louisville in 2026. Besides beating Kentucky, the Cardinals have not had a marquee win this season, and Kelsey is only 1-11 in quad 1A games in his tenure at Louisville.
A quad 1A win means a win against a team at home that ranks in the net at 1-15, neutral 1-25, and on the road 1-40. The Cardinals have struggled in their two seasons under Kelsey against ranked teams, especially this year as they are 0-6 against current ranked teams. One trend Louisville fans have now noticed is Kelsey is also 0-15 when trailing after the 5-minute mark in the second half. Which most fans and media linking that to a lack of coaching adjustments, and a lack of preparation for big games.
Pat Kelsey has to start making adjustments to help Louisville win big games
Kelsey is a great coach; no one is denying that. He is a certified winner who Louisville fans appreciate all he has done in his two seasons. But if he wants to be one of the greats at UofL, and if he wants to take this team to the Final Four, he must make game-time adjustments.
The biggest example that comes to mind are the first three games against Duke that Louisville has played under Pat Kelsey. Louisville led at halftime in all three games against the Blue Devils but lost every game in the end. Louisville got outscored in the second half by 15 in game one, 16 in game two, and by 20 in game three. Not to mention the 31-point loss on the road against Duke last month, 21 point loss to Tennessee after being down seven at halftime, and a pair of nine point losses to Virginia and Arkansas.
When the Cards go up against these ranked opponents a common theme is Louisville fights to keep it close in the first half, but the second half begins and the Cardinals go down big right out the gate in the second half. Louisville was down by 25 against Tennessee, 20 against Arkansas, 14 against Virginia, 14 in the first matchup with Duke, lost by 31 to Duke in the second matchup, and was down by 16 to North Carolina.
On the other side, Kelsey has shown that when Louisville is favored to win or is a toss-up against an average or slightly above-average team, Louisville wins nearly every time.
Take Louisville's wins over Kentucky, SMU, North Carolina State, Cincinnati, Indiana, Virginia Tech, and Cal, for instance. Louisville led nearly the entire game and won all of those matchups. The issue lies when Kelsey has to make adjustments or change the defensive or offensive schemes during games. Kelsey wants to play his brand of basketball no matter what, and at some point, he has to understand when to deviate from it if it is not working.
This also applies to Kelsey's rotations, where he has seemingly stuck with the same lineup all year and will not change it under almost any circumstances except injuries. Issac McKneely has had a rough five games, averaging 6.0 points on 34 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc. However, instead of starting Khani Rooths, who brings much-needed defensive tenacity and physicality to the floor, he has always opted to start McKneely.
Louisville has the potential to be a great team and has the roster to compete with nearly anybody in March. All the issues with this season could be forgotten with some tournament success, and while it is obviously in the players' hands, Kelsey will need to start making adjustments if he truly wants to be one of Louisville basketball's legendary coaches in the future.
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