Louisville is big, strong, athletic and well coached. Charismatic head coach Rick Pitino , in his sixth year at the helm of the Cardinals, has quickly brought this
program back to national prominence. He sports a 73% winning percentage as a collegiate
head coach with assignments at Boston U, Providence, Kentucky and Louisville.
Results show that he has tallied 5 straight 20 victory seasons, highlighted by
taking The Ville to the Final Four in 2005 and a final national ranking of #3
. He is committed to producing a vibrant program that he hopes to continually
challenge for the National Championship. Annually his teams bring an up tempo
style with an exciting pressure defense.
Although this year’s team may not yet be considered amongst the nation’s
elite, they have the horses to run pretty far. All five starters spread the
scoring opportunities around with four averaging double figures per game. They
all shoot over 40% from the floor, and feature three prolific three point shooters.
Louisville also has a very strong bench with five players that seamlessly fit
right in with the starters . There is little or no drop off on the floor while
the starters are offered a breather. They boast size, three very good ball handlers
and shooters, with one of them also deadly with the long shots. Louisville can
field either a smaller, quicker team that can fly up and down the court, or
quickly switch to a much larger and stronger team that can dominate in the paint.
Pitino has amassed a group of athletes that are easily interchanged as game
conditions predict.
STARTING LINEUP
#5 G/F Earl Clark (6’8” 220) , 11.9 ppg , 42% fg , 29 blocks
#34 G Jerry Smith (6’1” 200) , 11.0 ppg, 43% fg , 35.5% 3pt 22 steals
#33 G Andre McGee (5’10” 180), 7.2 ppg, 41.3% fg, 41.4% 3pt
#1 F Terrance Williams (6’6” 210) , 11.9 ppg, 40.9% fg, 40% 3pt,
25 steals
#32 F Derrick Caracter (6’9” 265), 11.1 ppg, 57.5% fg, 21 blocks
LOUISVILLE BENCH
#10 G Edgar Sosa (6’1” 175), 7.9 ppg, 35.9% 3 pt
#20 G Will Scott (6’3” 185), 3.4 ppg
#3 F Juan Palacios (6’8” 250), 5.8 ppg
#4 C David Padgett (6’11” 245), 10.0 ppg, 71.4% fg
#43 C/F Terrance Farley (6’10” 245), 2.0 ppg
Rutgers (8-8, 0-3) will be facing yet another immense challenge against Louisville.
While occasionally showing flashes of brilliance and surprise, the Knights have
been plagued by unexplainable mental lapses throughout the year. Winning can
only be achieved by eliminating or at least minimizing these transgressions.
Rutgers has now gone three games scoring 50 points or less per game, need to
erase that memory, and continue to work for the best shots.