Louisville basketball is set to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish this afternoon inside KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals are 15-6 on the season and are looking to make a run in the ACC to try and earn that crucial double-bye in the ACC Tournament.
With Louisville coming off a big-time win over SMU, Louisville has one clear lineup change that the Cardinals fans have been screaming at Pat Kelsey to make. The Cardinals are set in their backcourt with Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell, and Sananda Fru is the best option at center, but Louisville has to make a change at the small forward and power forward positions.
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Pat Kelsey has an easy fix to make for his starting lineup
The Cardinals got Khani Rooths back in action this past weekend after he missed over three weeks of games with an illness. In that four-game window, Louisville fans quickly realized Rooths is much more to this team than many might have thought.
The Cardinals went 2-2 in their four games without Rooths, including an embarrassing 31-point loss to Duke and a nine-point loss to Virginia. Against these quality teams and ranked opponents, Rooths has to be a key piece for Kelsey, and he needs to get the starting nod over Isaac McKneely.
Kelsey needs somebody with length and size if he wants a shot against good teams, and Rooths is his answer. Louisville is 6-1 when the Cardinals play Rooths 20 minutes or more, and the former 4-star recruit is averaging 10.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in those seven games.
On the season as a whole, Rooths is averaging just 6.5 points and 5.2 rebounds, while shooting 46-percent from the field. The 6-foot-10, 215-pound forward gives Kelsey much-needed athleticism and length in the front court. He is an elite rebounder and someone who continues to spark this team.
McKneely is a knockdown shooter, but against the elite teams with players who can score in multiple ways, are more athletic, and have a size advantage over the Cardinals' sharpshooter, he quickly disappears on the court. Moving Rooths to start at power forward and J’Vonne Hadley to small forward allows Hadley to play a position he is more comfortable with at 6-foot-6, and now McKneely would be coming off the bench to play shooting guard minutes rather than small forward minutes.
Louisville has had slow starts in nearly every game against a ranked team, and with Rooths returning and immediatley making an impact with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, Kelsey has an unavoidable decision to move McKneely to the bench and Rooths to the starting lineup.