Tweet
Louisville's lack of consistency causes lackluster beginning to the season
[Rick Pitino, above, says team age and lack of true leader is a big problem for this team.]
Louisville came into the season one of the most talked teams in the land, so young but with so much talent. Experts predicted them to start off the first month of the season a perfect 5 and 0, but it has been anything but that. Despite a blow-out win against Hartford at home, Louisville has been performing very badly on the road, struggling to come away with a win against UNLV and then failing to do so against BYU and Old Dominion. For a young team, losses like those sting, even if BYU went on to upset North Carolina as well. Pitino needs to turn things around before this young team's confidence implodes.
Rick Pitino talked about the team's last two losses in a scheduled press conference.
"The only thing I can point at right now and say that they're doing well is scoring in transition. Without that, we wouldn't of beat UNLV, Jackson State, not even Hartford. This team is really young and with only two seniors on the team (David Padgett, Juan Palacios) none of the players have really stepped up in practice and took on that team leader role. Offensively, we're exceptional, when confidence is high, we click, but as soon as it starts to go south, shot chucking begins. The thing this team needs right now is maturity."
After the two losses, Louisville slowly fell down the top 25 and finished the month of November ranked 15th in the nation and 89th in the RPI. Listed below are the statistical leaders for Louisville, the top twenty-five and the outlook of games for Louisville in December.
Louisville's Statistical Leaders
Points Per Game: Terrence Williams, 18.0
Rebounds Per Game: Earl Clark, 8.8
Assists Per Game: Terrence Williams, 2.2
Steals Per Game: Edgar Sosa, 2.2
Blocks Per Game: David Padgett, 2.2
Turnovers Per Game: Edgar Sosa, 2.4
Fouls Per Game: David Padgett, 2.6
December Outlook
vs Miami (OH)
vs Dayton
@ Purdue
vs Marshall
vs Morehead State
vs Iona
Comment