The bad vibes are about to get worse.
In a story that feels like it’s been told a thousand times over the last 12 years, Louisville got off to a slow start against Virginia, tried to make a handful of runs, but ultimately fell by a comfortable margin, 79-70.
The styles, the players and the coaches might have all been different, but the prevailing sentiment after the game was all too familiar: The Cavs worked the Cards from pretty much start to finish.
Another story that was similar was the way U of L played without the services of freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. The Cards struggled to find open looks, shot the ball poorly when they did get open looks (10-of-38 from three), and then did a subpar job defending the perimeter on the other end.
It’s been exactly a week since I wrote the following:
Gut-check time. Fight or flight. Fork in the road. Whatever you want to call it, it certainly feels like we’ve reached that moment for this group of Cardinals.
Based on their two performances since then, it doesn’t seem like Louisville has chosen the path the fan base was hoping it would.
Building your offense around a star player and then losing that star player (and having an ongoing mystery surrounding it) certainly sucks, but at this point what’s the plan? Keep doing the same things that haven’t worked against any team with a pulse? Just hope Mikel comes back and fixes enough problems for this team to magically become contenders? Go through the motions and hope to limp into the tournament?
This is, without question, the lowest the overall vibes around the program have been since Pat Kelsey took over, and everyone in that locker room is running out of time to reverse this course.
Category: General Sports
