- Mar 19, 2006
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LOUISVILLE
VS top 25[0-4]|
VS top 50 [0-6]:nono:
GETTING INSIDE
Contenders or pretenders?
The Louisville Cardinals will find out exactly what they are this week with a pair of road games against two of the top three teams in the Big East ? first-place Pittsburgh and third-place Marquette.
The Panthers have been on a roll all season, losing only once ? at home to Marquette ? and the Golden Eagles had been similarly smoking. They'd won a league-best eight straight games before losing at Georgetown on Saturday, and they already have a victory at Louisville under their belt as well.
The Cardinals bounced back from a disappointing loss to the Hoyas with a drubbing of South Florida, at least giving them something to build on heading into the Petersen Events Center.
They shot well, defended well and even got an unexpected double-double out of troubled freshman forward Derrick Caracter. On the downside, junior center Scott Padgett suffered a left foot injury and his status heading into the week was unclear.
Without the 6-foot-11 post man in the fold to battle against Pittsburgh's 7-0 monster Aaron Gray, the Cardinals' charge would become infinitely harder.
With him, beating both the Panthers and the Golden Eagles remains a possibility. Even a victory over one of the two would go a long way toward establishing the Cardinals as a post-season possibility.
NOTES, QUOTES
?Louisville notched a couple season bests against South Florida: 68.0-percent shooting in the first half (17 for 25) and nine 3-pointers.
?The Cardinals have shot over 50 percent from the field in just two Big East games this season, and both times were in victories over South Florida.
?The Cardinals are 12-0 on the season when scoring 70 or more points and 64-4 over the past four seasons when doing so under coach Rick Pitino.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He ... is an extremely slow learner. It's just going to come slow for him." ? Coach Rick Pitino on mercurial freshman forward Derrick Caracter.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER ROTATION: Usual starters ? F Scott Padgett, F Terrence Williams, F Juan Palacios, G Brandon Jenkins, G Edgar Sosa. Key subs ? G Jerry Smith, G Earl Clark, G Andre McGee, F Derrick Caracter.
GAME REVIEW:
Villanova 57, Louisville 53
Georgetown 73, Louisville 65
Louisville 83, South Florida 63
GAME PREVIEW:
at Pittsburgh, Monday, Feb. 12
at Marquette, Saturday, Feb. 17
vs. St. John's, Thursday, Feb. 21
KEYS: First and foremost the Cardinals need junior C David Padgett back and healthy. He's too important a piece, especially on the boards, to lose for any significant amount of time. The sudden emergence of freshman F Derrick Caracter was a welcome sight, especially given Padgett's condition, but the highly touted recruit has been too unreliable and inconsistent to be able to be counted on for any length of time.
ROSTER REPORT:
?Injury-plagued junior C David Padgett suffered a sprained left foot in the second half against South Florida and didn't return. He's considered day-to-day and it could have been worse; the Cardinals feared he'd broken a bone, but X-rays proved negative.
?Freshman F Derrick Caracter burst out of the dog house in a big way with his first career double-double, putting up 16 points and 10 rebounds against South Florida. Caracter has been dealing with weight and conditioning issues and had fallen out of favor with coach Rick Pitino in the process.
?Another injury-plagued player, senior guard Brandon Jenkins, scored a season-high 15 points against South Florida. He hit 4 of 5 threes against the Bulls, giving him eight in two games against them this season.
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PITTSBURGH
VS top 25 [2-1]
VS top 50 [4-3]
GETTING INSIDE
Providence isn't one of the top-tier teams in the Big East, but the Friars gave the Panthers a test over the weekend by showing the team something it hasn't seen much of in conference play ? a man-to-man defense.
Teams tend to play zone against Pittsburgh to avoid problems matching up with Panthers center Aaron Gray. The Friars, however, were confident enough in their big bodies to roll the dice on defense, figuring that stopping the 3-point shooters was at least as important at managing the middle.
In this case, that didn't work. The Friars simply lost because Aaron Gray was too much inside. But a 74-68 victory won't be enough for coach Jamie Dixon to consider that particular challenge solved.
Gray got his third foul with 16 minutes to play, but stayed in the game and dominated in the second half. That's one of those coaching decisions that easily could have gone the other way; had Gray picked up his fourth foul soon afterward, the Panthers might have been in trouble.
The balance between Gray's inside play and the wing players outside shooting has been tough for foes to stop, but Pitt has struggled against physical play and quick backcourts.
Those issues will need to be addressed if this team is to finally break through and get to the Final Four.
NOTES, QUOTES
?The Panthers have been particularly strong away from home this season, entering the week on a five-game road winning streak.
?Pitt has held 10 of its 11 Big East opponents under 70 points, The one time it allowed a league foe to cross that barrier, it suffered its only league defeat of the season, losing to Marquette 77-74 in overtime.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He's a smart player and they know when to look for him. We took the 3-pointers away from them but they made us pay inside." ? Providence coach Tim Welsh told the Associated Press after the Panthers beat his Friars.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Jamie Dixon often says he has nine starters to work in, but Tyrell Biggs is clearly last on that list. He's totaled just 11 minutes over the past three games.
PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? F Levon Kendall, F Mike Cook, C Aaron Gray, G Levance Fields, G Antonio Graves. Key Subs ? G Ronald Ramon; F Sam Young
GAME REVIEW:
Pittsburgh 65, Villanova 59
Pittsburgh 60, West Virginia 47
Pittsburgh 74, Providence 68
GAME PREVIEW:
vs. Louisville, Monday, Feb. 12
vs. Washington, Saturday, Feb. 17
at Seton Hall, Monday, Feb. 19
KEYS: Pitt can beat anyone if it gets a balanced offensive attack, but it will be interesting to see what happens when teams somehow take Aaron Gray out of the game. Louisville presents a particular problem because its big men tend to drift outside, so Gray will have to be careful not to pick up cheap fouls. The matchup with Washington, a highly talented team with little or nothing to lose, could be interesting from that perspective. Talented freshman Spencer Hawes, if he's healthy, can put Gray on alert.
ROSTER REPORT:
?Junior G Mike Cook's 11 points against Providence broke a four-game streak of finishing in single digits in the scoring column. Still, he hasn't made more than four shots from the field since a Jan. 13 victory over Georgetown.
?Senior C Aaron Gray missed the last three minutes of the Providence game after landing hard following an intentional foul from Ray Hall. He said after the game that his back was stiff, but did not expect to miss any time.
?Sophomore G Levance Fields is fourth on the team in scoring, but hasn't been as good in Big East play at finding his shot. He's finished in double figures just twice in the past nine games.
_____________________________________________________________
USA TODAY
VS top 25[0-4]|
VS top 50 [0-6]:nono:
GETTING INSIDE
Contenders or pretenders?
The Louisville Cardinals will find out exactly what they are this week with a pair of road games against two of the top three teams in the Big East ? first-place Pittsburgh and third-place Marquette.
The Panthers have been on a roll all season, losing only once ? at home to Marquette ? and the Golden Eagles had been similarly smoking. They'd won a league-best eight straight games before losing at Georgetown on Saturday, and they already have a victory at Louisville under their belt as well.
The Cardinals bounced back from a disappointing loss to the Hoyas with a drubbing of South Florida, at least giving them something to build on heading into the Petersen Events Center.
They shot well, defended well and even got an unexpected double-double out of troubled freshman forward Derrick Caracter. On the downside, junior center Scott Padgett suffered a left foot injury and his status heading into the week was unclear.
Without the 6-foot-11 post man in the fold to battle against Pittsburgh's 7-0 monster Aaron Gray, the Cardinals' charge would become infinitely harder.
With him, beating both the Panthers and the Golden Eagles remains a possibility. Even a victory over one of the two would go a long way toward establishing the Cardinals as a post-season possibility.
NOTES, QUOTES
?Louisville notched a couple season bests against South Florida: 68.0-percent shooting in the first half (17 for 25) and nine 3-pointers.
?The Cardinals have shot over 50 percent from the field in just two Big East games this season, and both times were in victories over South Florida.
?The Cardinals are 12-0 on the season when scoring 70 or more points and 64-4 over the past four seasons when doing so under coach Rick Pitino.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He ... is an extremely slow learner. It's just going to come slow for him." ? Coach Rick Pitino on mercurial freshman forward Derrick Caracter.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER ROTATION: Usual starters ? F Scott Padgett, F Terrence Williams, F Juan Palacios, G Brandon Jenkins, G Edgar Sosa. Key subs ? G Jerry Smith, G Earl Clark, G Andre McGee, F Derrick Caracter.
GAME REVIEW:
Villanova 57, Louisville 53
Georgetown 73, Louisville 65
Louisville 83, South Florida 63
GAME PREVIEW:
at Pittsburgh, Monday, Feb. 12
at Marquette, Saturday, Feb. 17
vs. St. John's, Thursday, Feb. 21
KEYS: First and foremost the Cardinals need junior C David Padgett back and healthy. He's too important a piece, especially on the boards, to lose for any significant amount of time. The sudden emergence of freshman F Derrick Caracter was a welcome sight, especially given Padgett's condition, but the highly touted recruit has been too unreliable and inconsistent to be able to be counted on for any length of time.
ROSTER REPORT:
?Injury-plagued junior C David Padgett suffered a sprained left foot in the second half against South Florida and didn't return. He's considered day-to-day and it could have been worse; the Cardinals feared he'd broken a bone, but X-rays proved negative.
?Freshman F Derrick Caracter burst out of the dog house in a big way with his first career double-double, putting up 16 points and 10 rebounds against South Florida. Caracter has been dealing with weight and conditioning issues and had fallen out of favor with coach Rick Pitino in the process.
?Another injury-plagued player, senior guard Brandon Jenkins, scored a season-high 15 points against South Florida. He hit 4 of 5 threes against the Bulls, giving him eight in two games against them this season.
_____________________________________________________________
PITTSBURGH
VS top 25 [2-1]
VS top 50 [4-3]
GETTING INSIDE
Providence isn't one of the top-tier teams in the Big East, but the Friars gave the Panthers a test over the weekend by showing the team something it hasn't seen much of in conference play ? a man-to-man defense.
Teams tend to play zone against Pittsburgh to avoid problems matching up with Panthers center Aaron Gray. The Friars, however, were confident enough in their big bodies to roll the dice on defense, figuring that stopping the 3-point shooters was at least as important at managing the middle.
In this case, that didn't work. The Friars simply lost because Aaron Gray was too much inside. But a 74-68 victory won't be enough for coach Jamie Dixon to consider that particular challenge solved.
Gray got his third foul with 16 minutes to play, but stayed in the game and dominated in the second half. That's one of those coaching decisions that easily could have gone the other way; had Gray picked up his fourth foul soon afterward, the Panthers might have been in trouble.
The balance between Gray's inside play and the wing players outside shooting has been tough for foes to stop, but Pitt has struggled against physical play and quick backcourts.
Those issues will need to be addressed if this team is to finally break through and get to the Final Four.
NOTES, QUOTES
?The Panthers have been particularly strong away from home this season, entering the week on a five-game road winning streak.
?Pitt has held 10 of its 11 Big East opponents under 70 points, The one time it allowed a league foe to cross that barrier, it suffered its only league defeat of the season, losing to Marquette 77-74 in overtime.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He's a smart player and they know when to look for him. We took the 3-pointers away from them but they made us pay inside." ? Providence coach Tim Welsh told the Associated Press after the Panthers beat his Friars.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Jamie Dixon often says he has nine starters to work in, but Tyrell Biggs is clearly last on that list. He's totaled just 11 minutes over the past three games.
PLAYER ROTATION: Usual Starters ? F Levon Kendall, F Mike Cook, C Aaron Gray, G Levance Fields, G Antonio Graves. Key Subs ? G Ronald Ramon; F Sam Young
GAME REVIEW:
Pittsburgh 65, Villanova 59
Pittsburgh 60, West Virginia 47
Pittsburgh 74, Providence 68
GAME PREVIEW:
vs. Louisville, Monday, Feb. 12
vs. Washington, Saturday, Feb. 17
at Seton Hall, Monday, Feb. 19
KEYS: Pitt can beat anyone if it gets a balanced offensive attack, but it will be interesting to see what happens when teams somehow take Aaron Gray out of the game. Louisville presents a particular problem because its big men tend to drift outside, so Gray will have to be careful not to pick up cheap fouls. The matchup with Washington, a highly talented team with little or nothing to lose, could be interesting from that perspective. Talented freshman Spencer Hawes, if he's healthy, can put Gray on alert.
ROSTER REPORT:
?Junior G Mike Cook's 11 points against Providence broke a four-game streak of finishing in single digits in the scoring column. Still, he hasn't made more than four shots from the field since a Jan. 13 victory over Georgetown.
?Senior C Aaron Gray missed the last three minutes of the Providence game after landing hard following an intentional foul from Ray Hall. He said after the game that his back was stiff, but did not expect to miss any time.
?Sophomore G Levance Fields is fourth on the team in scoring, but hasn't been as good in Big East play at finding his shot. He's finished in double figures just twice in the past nine games.
_____________________________________________________________
USA TODAY
