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Quick Hitters
-Well this was another clunker, and it wasn’t any better to watch the second time. It was actually worse, as you may expect.
-First off, there were several mistakes on defense. Before we jump to just saying “the entire defense was awful” we need to realize that one mistake can break down an entire defense. That could be getting beat off the dribble and then everyone else is scrambling to help because the first guy got beat. It could be helping off of someone when there is already help, so you shouldn’t have left your man to begin with. All it takes is one player not doing his job and the entire unit can look out of sorts. That happened a lot against FSU.
-Relating to that, I’ll just say that a lot of it was David Johnson and Samuell Williamson. So if you want the freshmen to play and “take their lumps” so they can improve, then that’s what you are going to get sometimes. They played, and they made multiple mistakes on defense and it did cost them a lot of points. Now of course it could come back to help later on if they learn from it and apply what they learn. So in no way am I saying that they shouldn’t play. Just saying that freshmen that play significant minutes can usually score but do get lost on defense. That was the case here.
-Jordan Nwora assist/turnover watch: He had zero assists and four turnovers this game, bringing his season totals to 17 assists and 35 turnovers.
-The 32 points and 10 rebounds were a decent improvement from the previous game though.
-David Johnson did do some good things while he was in there. He grabbed six rebounds (four offensive) and dished out three assists. He just struggled to score, going 2-9 from the field.
-Josh Nickelberry got in the game for one possession and dribbled the ball 19 times. It ended with a Jordan Nwora three after a desperation heave from Fresh Kimble, which made for an entertaining play. But you can’t get your opportunity to get some playing time and spend it all dribbling.
-Louisville needed that second scorer to get going and just never got it. Enoch finished with 10 points, but the other three starters (Sutton, Perry, Kimble) only combined to score 15 on 6-22 shooting.
-Forget about size matchups. Florida State just looked like the tougher team that wanted it more. They were on the floor or chasing the ball out of bounds. They seemed more into it. They found the open man and played good team basketball. With how they played, FSU deserved the road win.
-10 days off before the Kentucky game and then a week off before this game have made this seem brutal. So glad we were able to fit a bowl win in there at least. Louisville has to get back on track against a Miami team that is coming off of a 33-point loss to Duke. Now you have games on Tuesday, Saturday, and next Tuesday. Hopefully they can get into some kind of rhythm.
-This feels like a very negative post, and I guess it is. I literally just finished watching the game again, so it’s all still frustrating. Not that it can be super positive after our team just lost. I just hope the guys can get something going against Miami and get this thing back on the right track. Plus these are much more fun to do after a win!
Film Review:
The tale of two Jordan Nworas in the first two clips. In this one, the shot goes up and he finds his man and boxes out instead of running to the rim. I don’t think I have seen that effort to box out before. Loved it. pic.twitter.com/TzWcbBnmux
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
But then the other side of that is this...(bottom corner) pic.twitter.com/o1EmH9M2AT
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
Here we see David Johnson play good and bad defense. He rotates down to help in the post, great recognition by the freshman. But then he leaves his feet and it gives his man space to get the jumper off. pic.twitter.com/nsZK8jIFrs
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
If the tone wasn’t already set, this did it. FSU was going to be the tougher team and look like they wanted it more. Nothing easy at the rim and chasing the ball out of bounds. pic.twitter.com/YmY7fwwcQ1
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
Miscommunication on defense. Malik expects Williamson to get back to his man after Malik helps. He doesn’t, but he gets caught in a position of not fully switching either, so he leaves the shooter open. Either fight through the screen and recover, or switch and communicate it. pic.twitter.com/nWPkcL3qU0
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
For most of the game, Louisville looked out of sync. This was easily the best possession of ball movement in the game for the Cards. Guys making the extra pass and Kimble with the nice shot fake and jumper to cap it all off. pic.twitter.com/IBSYwlhTgm
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
M.J. Walker was on fire this game, going 5-7 from three. Williamson helps off of him and leaves him open in the corner for the three. You can see the frustration from the coaches that he left him. There was already help in the lane. pic.twitter.com/VelEg9PM99
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
Bad possession for Enoch. Starts with him running to the rim when the shot goes up and the ball comes right back to the shooter. Ends with him giving up another offensive rebound and a bucket. pic.twitter.com/UCyZVxQpvx
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
When McMahon drives baseline, Fresh needs to stay in the corner for the open shot. Cutting to the basket does no good if he won’t score down there. Then on defense, it’s probably best to stop the ball and not let him drive all the way to the basket uncontested. pic.twitter.com/fcLspbYvK0
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
FSU did this all game where they’d run a man off of two screens from corner to corner. Rather than fight through it, David Johnson calls for a switch, putting Malik on M.J. Walker. Bad matchup. He creates space and buries another three. Coach Dino seems confused by the switch. pic.twitter.com/cxGydmn4WB
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
Darius Perry hits a big three to cut the lead to five. Crowd is into it, Cards have momentum, and then he fouls all the way near midcourt and we go into a media timeout. Total momentum killer for no reason. pic.twitter.com/vtkovBBRkm
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
This one is on Perry to me. When Williamson is guarding the ball way above the free throw line, Darius has to take that man and send Sam down to the corner. He doesn’t, and the corner is left open. Darius has to know that McMahon then covers the top of the key. pic.twitter.com/Yn5yIk6DDf
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020
Last one to show the baseline screens again. They run Sutton off both of them and then do it again with Kimble. When he finally gets through them, his momentum makes it hard to then play the drive and his man scores. Plus he was able to just shoot over him. pic.twitter.com/2jgcRG84AF
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) January 7, 2020