After the buzzer: Louisville falls to Tennessee

This version of “After the Buzzer” will be a little shorter. With the quick turnaround to another game on Friday and Thanksgiving in between (so no telling how many dozens of people will see this), I will leave it at just the quick hitters and film review. Sound good? Let’s go.

Quick Hitters

-Louisville hung right in there with the #5 team in the country on a neutral floor. It didn’t get away from them until around the 6:50 mark. That HAS to be encouraging.

-What happened at the 6:50 mark? The phantom foul on Dwayne Sutton, which resulted in Chris Mack’s technical. It was 77-70 at that point, and Louisville didn’t score again until it was already 85-70. Huge play.

-It wasn’t a foul. I loved Chris Mack repeating how soft the call was.

-Steven Enoch, please come back on Friday. We need you, buddy.

-Jordan Nwora…sigh. What to make of you. I really want to be excited about the 23 points and 10 rebounds. But the coach in me sees eight turnovers, zero assists, and more mistakes on defense. Take the good with the bad, I guess. But if that bad ever gets fixed, watch out.

-Akoy Agau proved that if needed, he can provide a lift. 11 points and five rebounds in 16 minutes? Yes, absolutely. We will take that anytime.

-Looks to me like V.J. King is forcing it a little too much. I don’t know if he doesn’t get the ball enough in the flow of the offense, so when he does get it, he feels he has to make a play then? Either way, even on some of the drives where he gets fouled, he has collapsed the defense and has multiple wide open shooters on the perimeter.

-Personally, I like the 1-3-1 zone and was happy to see it. I am not sure that was the right personnel in the right spots, but I do like that we have that in our arsenal. I like to mix it in every now and then to throw a team off or get them out of their rhythm for a few minutes.

-I am trying to not take for granted that when one of our guys ends up on the floor, he has four teammates rushing to help him up. That’s a big deal. I love seeing it.

-Christian Cunningham remains solid with the ball and didn’t turn it over once. He has eight assists and four turnovers in four games.

-There are no moral victories in college basketball, but you can still be encouraged after a loss. This team is fun to watch. They can score and they never stop competing. They have to fix some issues on defense, whether it’s being in the right spot or just simply putting your hands in the air (seems simple, I know) and cut down on the turnovers, especially the ones that lead to the other team getting in transition. But I am looking forward to seeing how the guys respond on Friday. Someone is leaving this tournament with an 0-2 record. Let’s hope it’s our old rival, Marquette.

Film Review