“ALL RISE!!! Court is now in session. The honorable Bucket Hat King LJ tha Fiasco presiding. Please be seated and come to order”
The Cards went to Charlottesville. What always happens happened again. They played great, Virginia made better plays. The Cards couldn’t buy a bucket late, had mental breakdowns, but fought the entire game.
Cavs gave us our 12th loss on the season and 9th in a row to them. It’s now tournament time.
To the notes:
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No bailiff this week. I am giving everyone a few days off as we head into tournament play. We all need a breather and some “me” time. Clear eyes, full hearts, Go Cards.
- I have learned watching the Cards play Virginia takes way too much energy. More energy than I am willing to give. So I watched Saturday’s game by removing all expectation and hope. I have accepted that Virginia did some black magic to have this type of dominance of Louisville for this long. The curse cannot be lifted until Tony Bennett leaves or we find the sorcerer who cast the spell and get them to reverse it. Accept it and move on.
- So glad to see Dwayne Sutton come out of his slump in the finale. If we are going to have a deep run in the ACC/NCAA tournament he will be needed. I think Louisville is going to be a match up nightmare for some teams in the big dance, assuming Virginia is not in our region.
- The swagger and toughness that we saw in January appeared to return against Virginia. Louisville has fought back from double digits all year up until February hit. That was encouraging to see heading into tournament play.
- I do this every year, but I keep telling myself that we only have 2 losses remaining. Its weird knowing that if you lose twice now you are home until October. You can either be home in two weeks or be playing on Monday night in April. That’s the reality of March. Sucks at times but its also what makes this month special.
- Virginia never fouls. Neither does Notre Dame’s Women’s team. It just doesn’t happen. EVER.
- Let it be know, I will take the single bye over the double bye every time. For some reason when Louisville gets the double bye they usually face UNC or Duke in the quarterfinals. We can’t get away from them. At least we finally won a ACC game last year. If the Cards win Wednesday, they get UNC in a rubber match. Oh joy….
- I just want Jordan Nwora to pass the ball on a fast break. Just once. I also want him to stop driving into two defenders. It was clear that Ty Jerome was not going to foul if you drove at him. But on a fast break, if you are not strong with your dribble, he is going to take your lunch money. Just need him to involve his teammates more when he is bottled up.
- Just know that calling for Mack to be fired or saying “if Pitino was here we would…..” is grounds for an automatic block.
- Chris Mack’s Xavier teams were notorious for stubbing their toe down the stretch only to have a strong March run. Here’s hoping that trend continues this season at Louisville. We are battle tested, what better way to show that then going on a nice run?
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The courtroom will now be open for questioning:
AP (@GoCards_AP): People can’t be really throwing in the towel on Coach Mack already are they?
Yes, they are. Some people never wanted him to begin with. Some people are still loyal to Denny and Rick. People were waiting patiently for Mack to lose so they can “well actually” us. These are not, and never will be true Card Fans.
This is March Outkast (@OutkastCard): What should happen to fans who think this years team is the same as last years?
Obviously they are blind or just plain stupid. Regardless, leave them alone. Don’t ever try to reason with an idiot. There is nothing to gain from it other than a stomach ulcer. Some of our fans are conditional supporters. Louisville in January was the greatest thing since bluetooth. Louisville in February had fans calling out Vince Tyra for his hire. We are not exempt from dumbass fans in our fanbase, its so annoying.
Lady Boss (@LadyBoss502): Can we start a transfer portal for bad fans who want to fire Coach Mack? I’ll toss them in myself.
Utilize your mute and block buttons. Some people use scare tactics for attention. Some people use shock-tweeting as a way to say “hey look at me”. We have a ton of Kardashian’s in the Louisville fanbase. I liken it to Kim K. having to get naked each time Kanye’s album flops or Beyonce does something awesome. If you have to tweet like an idiot to get noticed on a free social media app you’re doing it wrong.
Tony Montana (@TMo4Cards): What is your prognosis for our women’s team?
They deserve a #1 seed but losing to Notre Dame again probably knocked them down to the two seed line. Hoping Arica Carter’s knee is okay and Sam showed her toughness playing through a broken nose. I don’t like how we played in the ACC tournament but I think we will fine tune some thigns and make a good run. I think they can and should make the Final Four but it really depends on the matchups. The officiating is also pure trash.
Something needs to be done about how bad the refs are in the NCAAW. Not just for Louisville but for everyone. It really appears the refs have favorites and give some teams a fair whistle while others get the shaft. I will let you guess which side Louisville falls on.
Bass Ackwards (@ChadinJax): I know you get tired of my nonsensical Q’s, so I’ll give you a serious one. Would Tonya Harding re-enacting her Kerrigan attack on opposing players be the only way we ever beat UVA?
LOL, no. I think we the tide will turn eventually. We will probably be old and grey but it will turn. It seems that if you can shoot lights out and have a overly talented team you can compete with UVA. We have did it in back to back years with an interim coach and now a first year coach with a thin roster. I think once Mack gets his guys in here, we will be able to change some things. Look at it this way, UVA was swept by Duke this year and for 32 minutes we dominated them. Nevermind, that is a terrible analogy. Call up Tonya, get the crowbar ready.
Danimal (@Lord_Chewie): If Vince Carter decided to enter the Dunk contest next year, would he win?
No. He may still be able to dunk but that vertical is not what it used to be. Guys like Donovan, Hami, and Dennis Smith are not going to allow that to happen. I would love to see it though but I think father time has grounded Vinsanity.
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And in closing. It’s tournament time. There are no more “next time” games. This is next time. The Cards cannot afford to give a half-ass effort because there are literally no more do-overs left.
Whatever happens this week and next, I am just happy to be back in the tournament. Missing a bowl game sucks, but there is nothing like missing the big dance. When you are sitting in a bar and everyone is rooting for their team and you realize your team is sitting a few tables away eating wings its a garbage feeling.
If you feel the need to bash or criticize Mack, just remember we supposed to finish 11th in the ACC….we finished 6th. We did not have a recruiting class with freshman. We were turned down by a ton of grad transfers. CC, Khwan, and Akoy did us a favor. This team was destined to go back to the NIT this season, but here they are.
Just enjoy it. Regardless of what happens, enjoy it.
Tis March.
Be cool in this hot city.
Court adjourned (bangs gavel)
LJ Nesbitt
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