Louisville Showcases New-Look Offense in Exhibition Win Over Kentucky State
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Much has been made over the Louisville men's basketball program's efforts to overhaul their offense this offseason. The Cardinals brought in assistant coach Ross McMains to help jump start their sluggish pace, as well as several newcomers to aid in their poor three-point shooting.
We had some semblance of these changes during the program's red-white scrimmage earlier this month, but it was not completely indicative of them due to the scrimmage format.
When Louisville kicked off exhibition play at the KFC Yum! Center Friday night against Kentucky State, we truly had our first glimpse of the Cardinals' new-look offense - and it was markedly different from that of last season's.
From the jump, they played much more noticeable hustle. Of course, this was aided by an overall increase in athleticism from last year's team, but there were seldom any moments where Louisville slowly brought the ball up the court - whether that was off a made shot or offensive rebound.
Then, once the ball was brought onto their end of the floor, you could see the retooled system play out in real time. The spacing between players - both in half-court sets and on the fast break - was much improved from last year, and ball movement was much more frequent.
"I thought our spacing was really good," head coach Chris Mack said. "If you have clogged spacing, drivers are going to bobble the ball and fall over their teammates because of where we spaced one another. I thought that was a byproduct of that."
As a result, the Cardinals were able to score from anywhere on the floor. They shot 46.3 percent from the field - including 57.1 percent in the second half - connected on 35.7 percent of their three-pointers, and took 34 free throw attempts.
The increased pace also resulted in many more opportunities, as to be expected. Averaging 67.2 possessions per game last season, which was good for 320th in Division I, Louisville finished the night with 78.
The increased depth from last season's team also allowed them to stay fresh for the entire game. No player saw more than 23 minutes on the court, which led to the Cardinals scoring on 43 of their 78 possessions - or 55.1 percent.
"We're trying to squeeze out every bit of opportunity once we have the ball, whether it is a made shot or a missed shot and that doesn't happen if we jog up the floor,' Mack said. "So we are spreading and trying to get to the corners, we are trying to play off spacing and trying to squeeze as much as we can off of transition."
Unlike last season, Louisville's goal is to not drain the shot clock on every possession in an attempt to find the best shot. Whether it's two seconds into the shot clock or 29, they simply want to find the best look they can, and several players took advantage.
Noah Locke finished with a game-high 15 points, taking advantage of the increased spacing to sink a pair of threes and five free throws. Jae'Lyn Withers and Samuell Williamson also stood out, as both had double-doubles, with the former posting 14 points and 15 rebounds, and latter putting up 13 and 10.
Yet, there is still some work that needs to be done. Louisville shot just 13-22 on layups, and turned the ball over 17 times. While only Matt Cross had more than two turnovers, and Mack is willing to live with some turnovers due to the increased pace at which they now play at, he still wants to get this area cleaned up.
"There's a difference when you have an aggressive turnover, guys trying to drive in the gap, making a play, versus the casual turnovers," he said. "We had way too many casual turnovers tonight. Those have to be eliminated."
Of course, at the end of the day, it's hard to come away with truly meaningful takeaways from an exhibition played against a Division II opponent. The new offense certainly looks promising, but Mack was a tad bit disappointed in the overall effort coming out of the half, and wants to see that improved upon as well.
"We've got a long way to go," he said "I knew I'd say this regardless of what the outcome was, but, we're a work in progress just like a lot of teams this time of year."
(Photo of Samuell Williamson: Cindy Rice Shelton - Louisville Report)
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