“ALL RISE!!! Court is now in session. The honorable Bucket Hat King LJ tha Fiasco presiding. Please be seated and come to order”
Well that seemed to work out well.
Let’s see. Suggest Deng Adel needs to lose his starting job and then sit back and watch him have a decent game in a win against FSU, and then a monster game where he scored a career high in a win against Virginia Tech. Suggest Ryan McMahon should not start over Q, criticize him for fouling a lot, and then sit back and watch him save our butts against FSU and then hit a clutch 3 pointer from Frankfurt 3 days later to seal a game against Virginia Tech. Oh yeah, make sure you heap a bunch of praise on the Louisville Women’s team and sit back and watch them beat the lucky charms out of the #2 team in the nation on Thursday. Man….this is weird.
I am not saying I am the reason we won but since the 1st and only edition of BucketHatology posted all of this has happened. I know, I know…..I am as freaked out as your are. The Cards are 13-4 overall and 3-1 in conference. The Louisville Women are 19-0 and the new #2 in the nation. The KFC YUM! Center crowd was treated to some good basketball the past few days. Life as a Louisville fan feels good at the moment, even if the feeling is temporary.
Let’s get to the notes before someone comes in the room to “well actually” me.
Any outbursts and you will be removed by the bailiffs Amanda and Gary Kinnaird (@AandG_Kinnaird) who are the Cardinal power couple that we all can get behind…..no seriously….I want to hire them as my personal security guards. I know you’re wondering why a blogger needs security, well that is none of your damn business and I would like for you to stay out of my personal affairs.
Gary looks like he was a drill sergeant in his past life and we were introduced to Amanda at the Purdue game in Indy when she flexed her 16 inch pythons on the big screen and made all the guys go sit in the car. It’s rough in these streets….
- What grit and heart this team showed against Florida State. They reminded us why we are all fans to begin with. Down 17 at one point and in danger of getting ran off the court for the second time in as many games, they dug in and fought. That is all we as a fanbase ask. No we don’t like losing games, but we appreciate if the team at least competes. We don’t celebrate moral victories here in Louisville, but we applaud character. That wasn’t luck last week. THAT was Cardinal basketball.
- I love the taste of crow especially when it’s in the form of 27 points . I have been very critical of Deng Adel mainly because we all know how good he can be when he gets his team involved. Some guys make other guys better. Siva was great at it, so was Russ. Damion Lee made us all fall in love with his leadership which he passed on to Donovan Mitchell. While Deng is still working to get his team involved, against FSU his 5 assists and the team’s passing throughout the game really proved to be the difference. I am not sure if the staff said anything to Adel, but whatever changes he made the past two games I hope it continues.
- I am going on record right now to say that Ryan McMahon will be that white guy that opposing teams absolutely hate by his senior year. Cardinal fans were tormented by Travis Diener, Brandon Plavich, Gerry McNamara, Drake Diener, and EVERY SINGLE WHITE GUY that has played for Notre Dame. So it feels good to finally have one on our team that does all the agonizing things that those guys did. Not since B.J. Flynn has it felt so good to be sure of something. See, with B.J. we knew he would draw a charge at least twice a game. Yes, he flopped 98% of the time but the man was a pro at it, he would fall to the ground as if he had been shot and then get up with a look that said “got ya”. With Ryan, we know we are getting a three pointer shot from Hazard, KY each game. We know that he will have a quirky pass that will lead to a basket. But here lately we are getting “balls of steel” Ryan. Clutch threes, big steals, and huge blocks….he is stuffing the stats. I want him to start but he is doing all of this off the bench. Lets not mess with a good thing.
- Big Play Ray was doing his thing again last week. Enjoy him for the next month and a half, I think Ray is gone after this year and the way he is playing his draft stock will soar. You can really see the progress he has made and kudos to Padgett and staff for working with him to improve his game.
- I don’t want to bring down the positive vibes, we all know about the negative cloud hanging over the program (every announcer who does our game won’t let us forget) but can I just say I really hope Darius Perry stays around. He may not play much now, his shooting is not great, but his energy on the bench is infectious and people are taking notice. The bulldog on defense, Perry seems like your average fan just having fun watching a basketball game. Despite what is coming down that pipe in the future, I think Perry being on this team will be key, and this fanbase will be grateful for it. Just a great kid…
- Shout out to the fans that went to bed at halftime during the Florida State game. The same fans who claim they are “Red Till I’m Dead”. I get that there is no way to tell people how to be fans but too many times the bandwagon fans infiltrate the fanbase and make it rough for true fans who have been with the program through thick and thin. I was going to post the tweets I saw slamming the team in BucketHatology but it would take up the entire post and I don’t give shine to people who throw shade. So, like I did during football season let me remind you that:
A) Your fat ass is not better than anyone on the team and if you stepped on the court right now you would be screaming for a breather within the first 3 minutes of play.
B) The same fans slamming the team are the same ones clamoring for a picture with them when they see them around the city. You can’t be a critic and a groupie fam.
C) Quentin Snider would embarrass you one on one. As would Jacob Redding. Humble thyself.
D) Yelling “should have dunked it” at Anas and Ray all the time won’t change the fact your middle aged ass can’t. Let’s not forget the last time you tried to dunk on a lowered rim you ended up on bed rest with two herniated disks and a steroid pack for pain.
E) Your negativity is not helping at all, we have enough of that to go around these days. If you want to pile on go join that fanbase down the road. Make sure to keep that same energy when Louisville is winning…
- The curious case of Jordan Nwora continues and I am all out of guesses as to why. Under the old coach we would get the “defense is lacking, or his body fat is not where it should be” reason. But I am literally at a loss as to why Nwora can’t even get off the bench now. Then again, I am not on the coaching staff, I don’t see what happens in practice, and I don’t know what, if anything, has happened. Here’s to Nwora seeing playing time in the future and remaining positive while doing so.
- Quentin Snider came up big for the Cards on Saturday with some big buckets and key free throws. He went 8 for 8 from the charity swipe and remains clutch for the team. Q has had a few nerve wrecking turnovers here and there but for the most part he is doing all of the things a senior point guard should. Still waiting to hear him complain just once. Don’t think its coming, because leaders rarely do.
- VJ King has found his three point shot. He knocked down four of them on Saturday to stop any run the Virginia Tech would try to make. The sophomore still makes a few mistakes each game but he is attacking the rim more and making some tough shots.
- Dwayne Sutton is another guy who is really coming on here lately. His defense is improving, his offense has picked up, and he is becoming a key reserve that the Cards can count on. I always thought that he was a ball of nerves being that he was a hometown kid playing for the team he grew up cheering for but it seems he has calmed down and is letting the game come to him. The same can be said for Malik Williams. Though I still cringe when he shoots a three, those shots are beginning to fall now so keep shooting them big guy.
- There are certain things in my life that I wish I can see. My Oakland Raiders winning their fourth Superbowl. The Patriots losing to Cleveland and missing the playoffs. The Grammy’s actually rewarding a little known artist who makes great music but can’t get their record played on the radio. Semi-trucks NOT getting stuck under the 3rd street viaduct. Logan’s restaurant making food that wont make people physically ill. The geese on Linn Station road actually showing respect to the drivers. But most importantly, as a die hard Louisville basketball fan, I just want to see my Cards win a game in South Bend, Indiana. I know in 2013 we won the championship and our last loss that season was to Notre Dame in 5 OT’s, but I wanted that one…….bad. And we had that one all but sealed. We had it in regulation, we had it in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th OT as well. I don’t understand what it is about the Edmund P. Joyce Center but apparently the leprechaun that lives in the basement has cast a spell over the Cards and whatever it is has been magically delicious for the home team. You know what else pisses me off about Notre Dame? Yeah, we normally get our revenge a few weeks later at the YUM! but it’s like Louisville is the only team that can’t win up there. And then Notre Dame goes on to lose in the first weekend of the tournament each year. It’s agonizing.
- Also, Notre Dame does not deserve Mike Brey. Mike Brey is too good for them. Mike Brey reminds me of the owner of a sh*tty bar that looks like crap on the inside but has the best drinks and bar food in town. I just want to have some beers with Brey and listen as he tells stories of all the times he and Jim Boeheim got trashed at the Big East tournament and had to sleep it off at Madison Square. I don’t think that is asking too much.
And in closing I made the prediction that Coach Padgett and staff would win where the old staff couldn’t . While the game against that team down the road didn’t go as planned, we still have the game against Notre Dame tonight as well as Virginia. Just get one of those and you get a statue built.
Also, there is no reason that the YUM! should not be sold out for the Women’s team for the rest of the season. That atmosphere last Thursday was the loudest its been all season. While the men’s team may be going through hell, the Louisville women have given fans the feel good vibe this city so desperately needs. Jeff Walz is one of the best coaches in the country and we have had one of the best teams in the nation for the past few years since he has been here. Show them some respect.
Here’s hoping that whatever mojo Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen had can be packed up and taken with the men’s team as they head to the pit of Cardinal misery tonight. Dilly Dilly…..
Be cool in this hot city.
Court adjourned (bangs gavel)
LJ Nesbitt
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