Pitino says Siva and Sosa may both start
by Mike Rutherford on Mar 10, 2010 2:44 PM EST
in Basketball
20 comments
While breaking the news that senior guard Jerry Smith will miss the Big East Tournament because of an injured thumb, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino stated that he was considering starting freshman Peyton Siva at point guard Wednesday night and sliding Edgar Sosa over to the two spot.
Pitino justified the potential move by stating that Sosa seemed to enjoy playing at the two during Monday's practice, and added that he might actually be more comfortable playing off the ball, something he did in high school.
This would all be well and fine...if Pitino hadn't completely shot down the move the 55,000 times or so that it has been proposed to him over the course of Sosa's career.
Here's one of the tidbits from our recap of Pitino's Jan. 29 press conference:
Moving Edgar Sosa to the two is not an option because Edgar doesn't defend well from the two spot on the press and is too small to guard a lot of the shooting guards in the Big East one-on-one. It would also take away his ability to be a playmaker off the pick-and-roll. He understands why it's being suggested (Jerry's shooting woes and Edgar' reliable outside stroke), but doesn't think Sosa would be as good at the two as Preston Knowles. Says bringing this topic up to Edgar is enough to send him into a panic attack.
It's easy enough to chalk stuff like this up to "Pitino being Pitino," but I'd be lying if I said it didn't irk me just a tad. When he makes completely contradictory comments like this, he's essentially admitting that it's foolish to take anything he says seriously. I don't think it's anything to get angry about, it's just a bit frustrating.
All that being said, I'd be shocked if Preston Knowles didn't start and even more shocked if Siva and Sosa spent any more than 12 minutes on the floor together tonight.
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Bizarre
I read that in the CJ this morning and I was like, wait, Sosa was a 2 in HS!?!?! What the hell? Haven’t we been begging to have him at the 2 for 4 years?
So bizarre. Switching line-ups this late in the season is bad enough, although win injuries I understand.
But PK and Marra are both 2s.
So weird, all of it. Maybe he’s just messing with Mick.
The experiment may very well be a failure, but I would like to see it for 5 minutes.
Really, I just want to get Siva more run without cutting too much into Edgar’s minutes. This is a way to do that. PK will get his minutes either way. It probably affects Marra more than PK if Pitino does this.
by cardsinindy2010 on Mar 10, 2010 3:06 PM EST reply actions
Our Friend
Anvillen showed us that Siva played very well against UC earlier this season. Naturally MC will prepare for this, so I think RP is messing with MC, alluding that Siva will play point. Sosa will play PG for the majority of the game, if he wants to score he’ll score either way.
Pointless
Since Sosa has been at UL who’s been the PG? (one of my knocks on coach Ps recruiting, he hasn’t had one) Edgar is the closest thing he’s had to a point guard and he’s worked hard to make him understand the position. It’s been a long road breaking habits and developing discipline he probably didn’t want to jeopardize any of that by moving him. I think he should have experimented with the lineup earlier in the season, but it screws up the rotation at point. I love PK but he’s a terrible ball handler. I wouldn’t want Jerry handling either. Neither siva or Sosa give you great defense. All that said, I hope he tries them together. Two playmakers on the floor would be fun to watch.
IMHO Pitino is toying with Cronin.
We all know what he says to us fans and the Press have absoluitely no bearing on what he will eventually do during a game.
Yeah, he's constantly playing mind games
And I think that his statement earlier this year was more of a reflection of his desire to get Sosa to focus his play on creating for others and protect Siva from pressure, because that’s what the team needed. Now however, with Edgar playing more within himself and Peyton playing well in the minutes he’s been given, I think he’s now more comfortable with stating something a little closer to the truth, which is that Sosa wants to score more, and Siva could probably use more of Sosa’s PG minutes.
We’ll see, it’s essentially a throw away game anyway, so an experiment like this, which could add a dimension to the team if works out, is probably worth trying.
So, in conclusion, I’m not surprised or irked, because Pitino hasn’t ever demonstrated that he’s really a straight shooter when it comes to player performance.
Sosa and Siva
Havent we been waitin for Coach P to play dese to together all year?
Hopefully this doesnt back fire on us now n we are capable of a nice run and getting ryhthm.
Prolly messin with Cronin
but to echo others, I’d like to see it for one whole segment (amount of time between TV timeouts), with the caveat that Samardo MUST be in the game. If the segment comes out +5 or better, it’s a good setup. Less than that, it’s not worth it from a potential foul trouble situation.
Honestly, that’s my biggest worry is fouls. Having both of them in the game at the same time just ups the chances for having a lame duck PG playing defense on Deonta Vaughn.
by Remote Cardinal on Mar 10, 2010 4:49 PM EST reply actions
Wonder if Mick will double Samardo tonight?
Cincy has the size to guard him one-on-one, but after the way Marquette demolished us by running hard doubles at Samardo on every catch, if I were scouting us, I would at least consider this option.
by cardsinindy2010 on Mar 10, 2010 5:01 PM EST reply actions
Cincinnati has been playing a ton of zone lately
so we’ll probably see that, and maybe they would double up on Sam with Gates and Thomas. Siva smoked their guards in the first game, so him playing with Sosa is a good thing. I would like to see Edgar with the ball some with Siva, since Sosa has been a great passer this season. I don’t get why, when he finally has been a point guard this season, Rick is moving him off come tourney time. It makes no sense.
If cincy doubles
We hav the shooters on the floor n we have to knock the shoots down and keep on taken them.
Also it would b smart for coach P to put any of the 4’s on the high post to make the pass to the outside or b able to drive towards the hole.
This should be a really good easy win for the cards if they just play efficent and make 10 plus threes.
Rick's mind games
His lineups remind me of my golf game. The only constant is inconsistency.
Sosa and Siva
make Cincy’s G’s play a little more up top I think. This might free up Delk and others for corner 3 looks. Especially if Cincy does what they’ve been doing lately (playing more zone). I do think Cronin will double down on Samardo if SS looks at all like he’s got his head in this game. Never know with that guy. On paper, I think we match up well with Sosa and Siva in the game together with Cincy’s line-up. It would be a disaster against better defending G’s, though.
Pitino's rationale for refusing to pay Sosa at the 2
has been his lack of defensive skills. Maybe on offense Siva plays the PG and Sosa the SG, but on defense Siva defends Cincy’s SG. Discuss. Debate.
Given the zone that we usually play, I don't understand why this is such a big deal.
If we go man, I get it. And yes, I know that our zone has man principles, and that we sometimes switch out of the zone to a man, but Edgar sometimes gets caught on 2 guards in those situations anyway, regardless of whether he plays alongside Siva. Maybe the idea is that those two together present our weakest defensive guard combo.
by cardsinindy2010 on Mar 10, 2010 7:17 PM EST up reply actions
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