Little Brother has had it rough the past couple of months. They have a coach embroiled in an unbasketball related scandal, they crawled into the tournament only to be ousted in the first round (first time for a Pitino team) by a mediocre California team, and they are losing recruits left and right.
The good news: Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith are gone. They are moving into a wonderful new arena. Coach Pitino got a 4 year contract extension despite publicly humiliating his employer, so the Cards have him (or are stuck with him, however you want to view it) until 2017.
Who does Louisville have replacing their seniors:
Loss: Edgar Sosa PG- Sosa gained the love of Louisville fans for one thing and one thing only: the three point shot at the end of the game in Michael Porter's grill to beat a very poor Kentucky team (except Patterson and Meeks). Other than that, Sosa's departure will not be met with any tears. His inconsistent "Me-First" play was detrimental to the team. Cards fans won't miss the ill-advised three point bricks and his sloppy interior passing. Sosa showed flashes of being good at times but he could never put more than one or two games together. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Taking Place: Peyton Siva PG- Siva's got the skills to pay the bills. He is quick and has play making abilities that Sosa never possessed. He is a terrific ball handler and a great assist man. He needs to improve on his outside shooting and his three point shot. Look for Siva to make some big strides this year.
Loss: "Uncle" Jerry Smith SG- If you want to define "flop" then look at Jerry Smith. Smith had the luxury of players like Andre McGee and Terrence Williams taking pressure off of him and allowing him to make some big shots and score, much like Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia. Once Garcia left, Dean fell into oblivion and Smith did as well. This year he did not have that luxury and was looked upon as a senior leader and failed miserably. His off the court escapades and baby-mama drama almost overshadowed an abysmal offensive performance. His one bright spot was his defense. If he received any special accolades it would be for his trash-talking ability. Unless you look at when he started mouthing to John Wall and then Wall took him to school for six straight points. I just had to throw that in there.
Taking Place: Preston Kowles SG- Knowles is a solid guard that has three point ability. He is athletic but lacks the ability to create his own offense. He and Siva will make a decent guard duo for the Cards this coming year. He lacks the defense that Smith added but he can be a better scorer. Siva and Knowles are the pair that many Cards fans have wanted dating back to last season. Can't say I blame them.
Loss: Reginald Delk SG/SF- Not much to say about Tony's nephew. He could hit the three at times but was an unspectacular player. He added offense but was streaky and inconsistent.
Taking Place: Rakeem Buckles PF- This is not set in stone. My opinion is that Pitino will move Jared Swopshire to small forward and Rakeem Buckles will start at power forward. Buckles has extreme athletic ability and was the only Louisville player to show up in the last game against California. He is a hard worker but his shooting is a big question mark.
Cardinals on the recruiting front:
Not much to report here. Most of what is about to be typed has already been on this website. Justin Coleman may not be eligible, Elisha Justice is going to be a walk-on, Russ Smith is, well, Russ Smith, and center Gorgui Dieng has yet to commit. The Cards have a lot of work to do in order to build a decent recruiting class. If they fail this year to recruit, the 2011 prospects are looking bleak as well. Many are reporting that the jewel to Pitino's 2011 class, Marquis Teague, is going to rival Kentucky. 5 star recruit Michael Chandler has opened his recruiting back up which is the polite way of saying, "I don't think I want to play for you any longer." Ouch.
2010's possible starting 5: Peyton Siva (PG/S), Preston Knowles (Se/SG), Rakeem Buckles (PF/S), Jared Swopshire (SF/J), Samardo Samuels (C/J)
There you have it Cards fans. Ricky P has a lot to do this off season and it doesn't all involve a courtroom. This team will have a great deal of experience. As long as Pitino does not make any grandiose claims (see Marra comment) like he did about how last year's team had experience and talent and then said at the end of the season that they lacked experience and talent. What? How can you start three seniors and two sophomores and lack experience? This year's team will have even more experience and will be more talented in the PG and PF positions. Let's see if they can reach their potential.
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