Physicality shown in scrimmage

Louisville men’s basketball wants to be a physical team.

The Cardinals showed some of that physicality in their annual Red White Scrimmage at the KFC Yum! Center Oct. 12. Louisville coach Chris Mack led a 45-minute practice followed by a 20-minute scrimmage in front of nearly 8,000 fans in attendance.

The players didn’t hold much back in drills that required defensive effort in one-on-one situations ranging from the perimeter, low block and full court. Mack has to balance how physical his practices are with the health of his roster.

“I’m a big believer that you either jump on one side of the fence or the other,” Mack said. “You can’t say you’re going to be a tough team and have all fluffy practices where we shoot the ball and nobody gets in a stance. Nobody jabs a forearm in a guy’s chest. We are going to do those competitive drills.”

Senior Ryan McMahon said practices have been competitive. Mack had to bring in referees to decide what contact would be acceptable in a game.

“It’s how we are competing in practice, it’s physical,” McMahon said. “It’s this level of basketball, that’s how it is.”

Mack wants his team to rebound well on the offensive end. The Red and White teams combined for five offensive rebounds in the scrimmage, which can be taken one or two ways, considering it was an intra-squad scrimmage, Louisville either rebounded well defensively or didn’t rebound well offensively.

Dwayne Sutton might embody Louisville’s physical play better than anyone on the roster. The 6-foot-5 forward guarded just about every position last season and makes plays on drives to the basket.

Sutton drew seven fouls in 20 minutes in the scrimmage. He finished with 16 points, making 9 of 11 free throws.

“In order to compete for a championship, ACC, win games, you have to be physical,” Sutton said.

Mack said his players were invested in the weight room during the offseason, which helps the physical brand of basketball.

“Our freshmen, some have lost body fat, some have lost weight if they needed to, some have gained a lot of weight, gained strength,” Mack said.