2014-15 Louisville Cardinals Basketball Preview - SCACCHoops.com

2014-15 Louisville Cardinals Basketball Preview

by WebMaster

Posted: 10/17/2014 8:04:46 AM


While Louisville has already made their introduction to the ACC on the gridiron, it seems pretty clear ACC basketball is the place they'll make their biggest impact.  The Cardinals are coming off back-to-back visits to the Final Four and bring a top 10 team to the league.  They also bring a Hall of Fame coach in Rick Pitino.  Pitino's team boasts a strong frontcourt and a backcourt with talent but something to prove.



Record: 31-6, 15-3 (CUSA)
Schedule

Backcourt

The backcourt has a hole left by a great college playmaker, Russ Smith.  Smith has indicated that Louisville won't miss a beat with him gone though.  Point guard duties will go to Terry Rozier who averaged 7 points per game in his sophomore season.  Rozier can be a dynamic playmaker for the Cardinals.  One thing to watch is Rozier's decision making.  It's important for a young point guard to distribute, but if Rozier is leading the team in shot attempts there's something wrong.

Chris Jones should get time off the ball.  The one-time Juco player of the year, Jones averaged 10.2 points per game while making 38% of his shots from behind the arc.  Pitino hopes Jones can step his game up on the defensive side of the ball as well and become a defensive stopper.  Also on the wing, Anton Gill is the returning player with a chance to see significant minutes.  While Gill played just over 5 minutes per game last season, he's a good perimeter shooter and can help stretch defenses.  Quentin Snider (RSCI #37) should also be in contention for big minutes.  Snider was one of the top high school players in Kentucky a season ago and is a long range specialist.  Shaqquan Aaron (RSCI #25) is a frosh that could also see minutes.  Aaron has bigtime potential, but a bigger learning curve than Snider.

Frontcourt

The frontcourt should be the strength of this team.  Montrezl Harrell will anchor the squad.  Harrell surprised many by turning down what is assumed to be a first round selection in the NBA draft.  Harrell averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game last season.  There are few big men in the ACC that can match Harrell's combination of size, quickness, and strength. 

Wayne Blackshear should get time beside Harrell, although it remains to be seen if it will be in a starter's role.  Blackshear is a player that has shown the preference to defer or even play tenatively at times in the past.  This play has resulted in Blackshear ending up in Pitino's doghouse as a result.   Blackshear averaged 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game last season.

Anchoring the middle will likely be Mangok Mathiang, who averaged 3.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game a season ago.  More importantly though were the 1.4 blocks per game that Mathiang brought to the Louisville defense.  While the offensive skills are raw, Mathiang's defense of the rim are important to Louisville's high pressure defensive system.

Pitino has a number of other options in the frontcourt including Akoy Agau, a player that Pitino has lauded for being one of his most improved players.  Freshmen Jaylen Johnson (RSCI #67) and Chinanu Onuaku (RSCI #64) will get time in a reserve role.  Newcomers Matz Stockman and Anas Mahmoud are less polished players that may be redshirt possibilities this season.

Projected Starters
Terry Rozier
Chris Jones
Wayne Blackshear
Montrezl Harrell
Mangok Mathiang

Schedule

Louisville's schedule opens up with Minnesota, a battle of the Pitino's.  You can bet that one will get a fair amount of media attention.  After the opener the the schedule gets significantly easier until a trip to Indiana for the ACC/B1G Challenge in early December.  Then, at the end of December, Louisville will host their in-state rival, Kentucky Wildcats.

In conference play, the first thing I looked for wasn't their matchups against Duke or North Carolina, but whether Montrezl Harrell would get to play at Virginia Tech.  Harrell was once committed to the Hokies, but when Seth Greenberg was let go, Harrell opted to re-open his recruitment.  Alas though, Harrell and the rest of his teammates won't get a trip to Blacksburg.

Louisville does get two conference matchups with UNC, Virginia, a much-improved Miami team, and Pittsburgh.  In notable single game matchups, Louisville will host Duke and travel to Syracuse.

Prediction

Louisville has already been named a top 10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, released yesterday.  The Cardinals are hoping to return to the Final Four for their 3rd consecutive year.  While Harrell will be a force in the paint, I believe Terry Rozier will be the most important player for this Louisville team.  Rozier recently took 25 shots in Louisville's opening scrimmage.  While Rozier was on a team opposite Harrell and Chris Jones, its still a huge red flag for your point guard.  Assuming Rozier's decision making falls in line with Pitino's desires, Louisville has the ability to be Final Four team once again.

by Jon Pence @scacchoops

Fantasy Player to Watch

Montrezl Harrell will likely be one of the top 5 players taken in your ACC Fantasy Basketball draft. Players with the ability to score and dominate the boards are always one of the best bets for your first round pick.

Last Year's Player Statistics

Name Games Mins Pts Asts Rebs Stls Blks Tos
Russ Smith 37 30.2 18.2 4.7 3.3 1.8 0.1 2.8
Montrezl Harrell 37 29.7 14.0 1.2 8.4 0.9 1.2 1.5
Luke Hancock 36 24.2 12.3 2.2 2.6 0.9 0.2 1.5
Chris Jones 33 26.4 10.2 2.9 2.3 1.7 0.0 1.4
Wayne Blackshear 36 19.5 8.2 0.7 3.1 0.8 0.5 0.6
Chane Behanen 12 17.1 7.6 0.9 6.3 0.7 0.2 1.3
Terry Rozier 37 18.1 7.0 1.7 3.1 0.9 0.1 0.6
Mangok Mathiang 37 14.4 3.6 0.4 3.6 0.4 1.2 0.6
Stephan Van Treese 37 22.2 2.9 0.7 5.7 0.7 0.6 0.6
Tim Henderson 33 6.7 1.9 0.5 0.8 0.2 0.0 0.1
Kevin Ware 10 5.2 1.5 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.6
Anton Gill 26 5.4 1.2 0.2 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.1
Akoy Agau 19 4.7 0.9 0.1 1.1 0.1 0.2 0.4
David Levitch 18 2.6 0.9 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.2

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