Louisville Basketball is coming off of a 71-67 road loss to Michigan State who will probably be the #1 team in the country next week. For Louisville to improve enough in order to beat Top 15 teams on the road (they will have several chances this season)  the Cards must do the following:

  1.  Keep Chinanu Onuaku on the floor.  Nanu has to get into get defensive position before the ball arrives and he must adapt to the new rules on the moving screens.
  2. HIT FREE THROWS.  The Cards are 253rd in Free Throw Shooting % in 2015-16.
  3. Finish Around the Rim.  UofL missed several in close shots both on the fast break and in the half court that need to find a way down.
  4. Get Deng Adel Back.  As a defender Deng provides the Cards with some great length which frees up Damion Lee.  Additionally Adel is extremely aggressive to the rim which results in increased fouls for the other team, layups, and free throws.
  5. Reduce Donovan Mitchell’s foul frequency.  It’s easy to see why Donovan Mitchell has the hype surrounding him.  He can really play basketball, is crafty coming up with steals and is a reliable scorer.  But Donovan’s foul frequency is much too high and in order for Pitino to trust him in a late game environment again Mitchell is going to have to prove that he won’t make the silly foul.  But this also applies to general game scenarios as well.

Stat Comparison

Louisville Grand Canyon
Strength of Schedule (KenPom) 247th 350th
Points Per Game 81.8 (44th) 78.6 (75th)
Avg Scoring Margin +27.3 (2nd) +18.4 (19th)
Field Goal % 50.8% (11th) 45.8% (99th)
2-point FG% 56.5% (21st) 50.0% (125th)
3-point FG% 34.0% (160th) 33.8% (168th)
Free Throw % 65.4% (253rd) 69.3% (163rd)
Rebound Rate 61.5% (3rd) 56.7% (28th)
Blocks Per Game 5.0 (47th) 2.8 (213rd)
Steals Per Game 8.2 (32nd) 7.4 (74th)
Assists Per Game 13.8 (132nd) 14.8 (92nd)
Turnovers Per Game 10.2 (21st) 12.4 (130th)
Opponent Turnovers Per Game 15.3 (53rd) 14.2 (104th)
Team Fouls Per Game 18.7 (86th) 20.4 (181st)
Opponent Shooting % 34.2% (4th) 37.0% (17th)
Opponent 2-point FG% 34.8% (1st) 42.9% (51st)
Opponent 3-point FG% 33.3% (154th) 27.0% (19th)
Opponent Block Per Game 3.5 (192nd) 3.2 (152nd)
Opponent Steals Per Game 4.7 (47th) 7.2 (280th)
*351 teams Play Division 1

Projected Starters

Quentin Snider DeWayne Russell
6-1, 180, Soph 5-11, 155, Sr.
Minutes 29.2 31.0
Points 9.0 9.7
Field Goal % 40.0% 44.40%
3-point % 36.8% 33.30%
FT % 60.0% 63.00%
Rebounds 2.5 2.8
Assists 3.8 5.5
Steals 0.7 2.2
Blocks 0.0 0.0
Turnovers 0.8 2.3
Fouls 1.7 2.0
Trey Lewis Joshua Braun
6-2, 190, Sr. 6-4, 195, Soph
Minutes 30.8 29.7
Points 13.8 16
Field Goal % 41.20% 48.10%
3-point % 35.70% 42.30%
FT % 85.00% 85.40%
Rebounds 5.0 6.5
Assists 3.7 1.2
Steals 1.0 0.5
Blocks 0.2 0.8
Turnovers 1.7 1.5
Fouls 1.5 2.3
Damion Lee Gerard Martin
6-6, 200, Sr. 6-6, 195, Fr.
Minutes 29.7 21.5
Points 42356.0 6.5
Field Goal % 55.6% 47.80%
3-point % 33.3% 53.30%
FT % 83.3% 75.00%
Rebounds 4.0 1.7
Assists 1.7 2.7
Steals 1.8 1.3
Blocks 0.0 0.5
Turnovers 1.7 1.5
Fouls 2.2 2.3
Jaylen Johnson Grandy Glaze
6-9, 215, Soph 6-6, 235, Sr.
Minutes 12.8 21.5
Points 5.0 12.3
Field Goal % 54.2% 57.90%
3-point % 0.0% 0.00%
FT % 40.0% 44.40%
Rebounds 3.7 9.2
Assists 0.2 1.0
Steals 0.3 0.5
Blocks 0.0 0.0
Turnovers 0.3 0.8
Fouls 1.5 1.2
Chinanu Onuaku Boubacar Toure
6-10, 230, Soph 6-11, 215, Fr
Minutes 19.7 14.5
Points 8.3 5.2
Field Goal % 60.5% 50.00%
3-point % 0.0% 0.00%
FT % 57.1% 60.00%
Rebounds 7.2 3.5
Assists 1.2 0
Steals 1.2 0.2
Blocks 1.7 0.3
Turnovers 1.5 1.5
Fouls 2.0 2.7

Bench

Donovan Mitchell De’Andre Davis
6-3, 210, Fr. 6-1, 180, Soph
Minutes 17.2 25.0
Points 6.8 11.0
Field Goal % 50.00% 50.00%
3-point % 18.20% 33.30%
FT % 91.70% 80.60%
Rebounds 3.3 3.7
Assists 1.2 3.0
Steals 1.0 1.2
Blocks 0.0 0.0
Turnovers 0.5 2.2
Fouls 3.3 2.7
 
David Levitch Ryan Majerle
6-3, 180, Jr. 6-3, 190, Sr.
Minutes 6.4 8.3
Points 1.2 0.5
Field Goal % 40.00% 12.50%
3-point % 33.33% 16.70%
FT % 50.00% 0.00%
Rebounds 0.8 0.0
Assists 0.6 0.0
Steals 0.2 0.2
Blocks 0.0 0.0
Turnovers 0.2 0.3
Fouls 0.4 0.2
 
Mangok Mathiang Keonta Vernon
6-10, 220, Jr. 6-6, 225, Jr.
Minutes 19.3 16
Points 7.5 7.2
Field Goal % 56.30% 55.90%
3-point % 0.00% 0.00%
FT % 64.30% 35.70%
Rebounds 6.7 5.7
Assists 0.3 0.5
Steals 0.8 0.5
Blocks 1.5 0.8
Turnovers 0.8 1.8
Fouls 2.3 3.6
 
Anas Mahmoud Matt Jackson
  7-0, 200, Soph 6-8, 210 Soph
Minutes 13.7 18.3
Points 3.2 6.3
Field Goal % 53.3% 37.10%
3-point % 0.0% 30.00%
FT % 25.0% 75.00%
Rebounds 3.3 4.2
Assists 0.3 1.2
Steals 0.5 0.5
Blocks 1.0 0.5
Turnovers 0.7 0.5
Fouls 1.2 1.0
 
Ray Spalding Uros Ljeskovic
6-10, 210, Fr. 6-8, 240, Sr.
Minutes 12.2 8.8
Points 5.8 3.7
Field Goal % 76.20% 55.60%
3-point % 0.00% 0.00%
FT % 30.00% 50.00%
Rebounds 3.8 1.8
Assists 0.2 0.2
Steals 0.7 0.2
Blocks 0.7 0.0
Turnovers 0.8 0.5
Fouls 1.3 2.2
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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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