They are who we thought they were?

Yeah yeah, I know that this title for an article has been way over used on this site, but I had to do one on my Cards closing out Freedom Hall in style. First of all, if ANYONE claims they knew what kind of game the Cards were gonna come out with, they're full of it. My previous article talked about how inconsistent they have been all season, and they didn't disappoint this game, shooting a paltry 35% from the field (25% from beyond the arc) in the first half, and then came out and shot a ridiculous 58% in half number 2. Mind-boggling, I know.

With all the farewell hoopla going on, it wasn't hard to at least guess the Cards would not go down without a fight. Even with shooting as poorly as they did, and the 'Cuse hitting over 50% in the first half, Louisville found themselves down by a mere 5 points. I said to my friends before tipoff (note: tipoff for us didn't come until about 5:30 as we all had to miss the game live, so we dis-connected ourselves from the world by turning off our phones and staying away from live radio and tv) that if Louisville could keep it within 10 by the half that Pitino could make good adjustments and seal a W to say bye to the Hall. At the half were the festivities where the '80 and '86 championship teams were recognized and Legendary Coach Denny Crum ended them by saying, "We've still got a ball game to win." Even Denny wasn't too caught up in the festivities as he was pulling for the current roster of Cards to close out the game.

I've also said over the last few weeks/months that even though Jerry Smith has been almost AWOL offensively, I liked his hustle and determination to play the game, especially on defense. They said during the game that he actually lead the team in steals this season, so apparently my observations of the game aren't too awful. However after scoring our first 8 points and making a couple key hustle plays, he injured his wrist on a dunk and had to be replaced in the 2nd half by none other than sophomore Kyle Kuric. Anyone who has watched Louisville games this year knows that Kuric is truly an athlete. The kid can get above the rim, he hustles on defense, gets rebounds...it's a mystery to me why he hasn't seen more PT this season. He showed that he definitely deserved it by putting up a MONSTER 22 point second half. The kid played out of his mind on both sides of the ball, and got one of the best ovations I've ever seen from a Freedom Hall crowd.

After the game when everyone had their speaches, Coach P addressed the crowd, and fittingly left Coach Crum to make the final words as he also addressed the Cardinal Faithful with some nice sentiments, and closed out the arena for Card fans by saying, "Goodbye to Freedom Hall." A fitting gesture from the great coach.

As for the Big East Tourney and beyond, the Cards are a six-seed in the Tournament and have secured a first-round bye. As I've said before, they could make a run to the final game or get blown out in their first...your guess is as good as mine. The same holds true for the Big Dance, I have ZERO predictions because you just really never know. I'm faithful and hope they do well, and know that they're definitely capable of beating anyone in the field on a given night...but they've just not shown me the consistency that leads me to believe they'll do much better than a Sweet 16 (which I'd happily accept this season).

Here is a final look at the last night in the Hall as posted on YouTube.