Does anyone understand what Pitino was doing tonight?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Why on earth would he play a zone against a team that shoots the three like we do?  Why on earth would they not try to run us and wear us down?  Why wouldn't they go to their bigs time after time (I know they tried on some occasions).  I don't get it.  It was like watching Steve Yoder's game plan against Marquette when we had Robb Logterman playing point guard and they decided not to press us.

I'll take it, I just don't understand what Louisville was trying to do? 

Great win by MU.  Ticket punched, playing for seeding.  Hilarious gymnastics by Buzz on the sidelines.

[NotAnAlum]

Rick planned to call off the press and throw that zone at us to keep our guys out of the paint and limit us at the line.  He figured he could grind us out with a half court game.  But his plan took all the aggressiveness that the Cards thrive on out of them and his inside out offense was way too predictable.  The Cards made a come back when they finally switched back to their full court trap but MU responded

[ChicosBailBonds]

Rick planned to call off the press and throw that zone at us to keep our guys out of the paint and limit us at the line.  He figured he could grind us out with a half court game.  But his plan took all the aggressiveness that the Cards thrive on out of them and his inside out offense was way too predictable.  The Cards made a come back when they finally switched back to their full court trap but MU responded

Agreed, I don't get what he was doing.  Played right into our strengths.  A coach should play to his team's strengths as much as possible.  Really an odd decision by Rick, but I'll take it.  UL looked absolutely horrible tonight.  My guess is if we play them again in the BET, they would try to run us off the court.

[Steve Buscemi]

Pitino was too worried about not showing his face to the student section who were chanting,
"Karen Sypher!!!"
haha


Here's a pic of Buzz's gymnastics... hahaha

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/photos?gameId=300620269&photoId=494251

[New Era Warriors]

ya I was one of those goofballs in the student section chanting "KAREN SYPHER!" haha loved it. btw. this is what Pitino was doing tonight:
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/photos?gameId=300620269&photoId=494247#photo_494247

[77ncaachamps]

I think he tried to match us. But they're more inexperienced than we are.

Should've done the Pitt thang and just tossed it down low.

Too bad Samardo was a bit of a wussy on the blocks.

[Lennys Tap]

Agreed, I don't get what he was doing.  Played right into our strengths.  A coach should play to his team's strengths as much as possible.  Really an odd decision by Rick, but I'll take it.  UL looked absolutely horrible tonight.  My guess is if we play them again in the BET, they would try to run us off the court.

So your first thoughts were Pitino coached poorly and his team played terribly. Funny, I was at the game and my first thoughts were Buzz coached superbly and the team played wonderfully. Go figure.

[classof70]

So your first thoughts were Pitino coached poorly and his team played terribly. Funny, I was at the game and my first thoughts were Buzz coached superbly and the team played wonderfully. Go figure.

Good one T.

[GGGG]

So your first thoughts were Pitino coached poorly and his team played terribly. Funny, I was at the game and my first thoughts were Buzz coached superbly and the team played wonderfully. Go figure.

Come on...why can't it be both?  Pitino IMO should have pressed, or at least played aggressive man=to=man, but instead played the slow down halfcourt game.  He made no adjustments when it became clear that Samuels was a disaster inside.

[Blackhat]

Our defense was the catalyst to the win.  We played some stellar d in the first half and much of the second.

   Pitino could have pressed the whole game but MU eventually settled down and was shredding man to man quite easily as well.

[MU83]

Why on earth would he play a zone against a team that shoots the three like we do?  Why on earth would they not try to run us and wear us down?  Why wouldn't they go to their bigs time after time (I know they tried on some occasions).  I don't get it.  It was like watching Steve Yoder's game plan against Marquette when we had Robb Logterman playing point guard and they decided not to press us.

I'll take it, I just don't understand what Louisville was trying to do? 

Great win by MU.  Ticket punched, playing for seeding.  Hilarious gymnastics by Buzz on the sidelines.

The reason he went zone was because every time Pitino tried man-to-man, we blew right past the defenders off the dribble.  It was obvious that Louisville could not cover man-to-man, so I'm not sure Pitino had a choice.  Also, our ball movement was outstanding; not much dribbling and quick crisp passes which made it very difficult for Louisville to rotate in the zone.  This is in stark contrast to the offense Indiana runs where the guards pound the ball at the top of the key and then throw up a panic shot with the shot clock running down.

Also, great job by Buzz to front and then double team Samuels.  It threw him off him off his game early, and he never recovered.  The game plan was outstanding, and give credit where credit is due.  On this night, Buzz was fantastic.

[chapman]

Why on earth would he play a zone against a team that shoots the three like we do? 

Because their man to man was even worse.

Why on earth would they not try to run us and wear us down? 

Because Slick Rick had to sit his "runners" because they couldn't take care of the ball.

Why wouldn't they go to their bigs time after time (I know they tried on some occasions).  I don't get it.

Because they were fronted to deny the entry pass to perfection, doubled when the ball went in to them, and Samuels was beyond frustrated and completely thrown off his game. 

Louisville plays much better games than this, but it was a terrific gameplan and graet execution by our players.

[avid1010]

Agreed, I don't get what he was doing.  Played right into our strengths.  A coach should play to his team's strengths as much as possible.  Really an odd decision by Rick, but I'll take it.  UL looked absolutely horrible tonight.  My guess is if we play them again in the BET, they would try to run us off the court.

I think his plan was to throw the ball inside on offense, and run a zone on defense to prevent his bigs from having to come out and guard Lazar/Jimmy on the perimeter.  Mike Kelley, who played some defense in his day, predicted it before the game because of the mismatches that Lazar and Jimmy create for teams.  Obviously it didn't work, and I hate Slick Rick as much as the next fan, but the guy can coach.  I didn't think his players brought the intensity they needed to have to win.  I actually like the way Mike Kelley does games, and it was repeated over and over again how MU was getting every lose ball, every 50/50 rebound, etc.  Louisville makes the game a bit interesting midway through the second half and MU gets two offensive rebound/put-backs.  That's all effort.  I think Louisville was looking to do what Cuse did to us, but they're obviously not Cuse!

[TVDirector]

it looks like he was trying get his azz kicked.
and to that end, he was quite successful.....

whattacoach.

[avid1010]

it looks like he was trying get his azz kicked.
and to that end, he was quite successful.....

whattacoach.

He would have had as good a chance as any to be one of the best ever had he not taken huge $$$ to go to the NBA.

[NavinRJohnson]

The reason he went zone was because every time Pitino tried man-to-man, we blew right past the defenders off the dribble. 

Agreed, although we did this against the zone as well. He was doing anything he could to keep the ball out of the lane. We shoot great from behind the line, but those shots go in a whole lot more when the ball gets into the lane first. UL just didn't have a chance last night, no matter what defense they played.

[tower912]

Weird, Syracuse runs a zone and it worked for them.   Pitino believes this is his worst defensive team at Louisville.   He knew his bigs could not guard Lazar or Jimmy on the perimeter.   He zoned, and attempted to have his guards stay home after getting beat off of the dribble to protect against the kickout, betting  his bigs would be able to control the middle.    He guessed wrong.    And maybe, just maybe, Buzz can coach a little bit. 

[BrewCity83]

I think we can all agree that Buzz outcoached Slick Rick last night.

[MarquetteDano]

Although the zone was ineffective, it wasn't completely useless.  It kept Samuels out of foul trouble as people have mentioned.  Let's remember that in the first half a good percentage of our shots came off turnovers from Looeyville's pathetic offense.  Hard to get in your zone when you are back pedaling on defense.

I was surprised in the second half that they didn't go man since no one was in foul trouble and they did need to pick up the pace of the game.

To me, this game was not decided on Marquette's offense/Louisville's defense, it was decided on Looeyville's offense/Marquette's defense.  Louisville has never looked worse on offense.

[AZWarrior]

ya I was one of those goofballs in the student section chanting "KAREN SYPHER!" haha loved it. btw. this is what Pitino was doing tonight:
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/photos?gameId=300620269&photoId=494247#photo_494247

He looks like the devil!

[AZWarrior]

Also, great job by Buzz to front and then double team Samuels.  It threw him off him off his game early, and he never recovered.  The game plan was outstanding, and give credit where credit is due.  On this night, Buzz was fantastic.

There was one stretch where Fulce was doing an excellent job of fronting Samuels and denying him the ball.  The announcers kept referring to Fule as "Williams", however.   

[Henry Sugar]

He looks like is the devil!

fixed

[AZWarrior]

fixed

[gumbyandpokey]

Although the zone was ineffective, it wasn't completely useless.  It kept Samuels out of foul trouble as people have mentioned.  Let's remember that in the first half a good percentage of our shots came off turnovers from Looeyville's pathetic offense.  Hard to get in your zone when you are back pedaling on defense.

I was surprised in the second half that they didn't go man since no one was in foul trouble and they did need to pick up the pace of the game.

To me, this game was not decided on Marquette's offense/Louisville's defense, it was decided on Looeyville's offense/Marquette's defense.  Louisville has never looked worse on offense.

And Louisville looked completely disinterested for long stretches.  But, as usual, Buzz had a good overall game plan and Pitino gambled on the zone and lost.

[ChicosBailBonds]

No Lenny, it wasn't my first thought, though during the game I turned to my son and told him I couldn't believe he was zoning us.

Mike Kelly made a statement when both Lazar and Butler were on the bench late in the first half that every single possession for Louisville should be nothing but throwing it down low.  I don't think they threw it down once in that time period.

It was strange and thought it was a worthy question to ask.  Only you went where you went in this thread which speaks volumes.

The only teams that seems to have taken advantage of that weakness are Syracuse and Pittsburgh.


The Louisville fans, whom I assume know their team fairly well, asked the same question in several threads.  Looks like Slick Rick outsmarted himself.  Fine by me.  Our guys were ready....well done by Buzz, the staff and the players.