What to Watch For During Louisville's Exhibition Games

The Cardinals will warm up for the 2023-24 regular season with a pair of exhibitions against Simmons College and Kentucky Wesleyan.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At long last, live games against an actual opponent have returned for the Louisville men's basketball program.

The Cardinals might have to wait until Nov. 6 to kick off the regular season, but until then, they have a pair of exhibition matches to get them warmed up - and the first one has finally arrived.

Louisville will welcome Simmons College to the KFC Yum! Center later today, Wednesday, Oct. 17. That will then be followed up by hosting Kentucky Wesleyan on Monday, Oct. 30. Both games will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. EST, and will be streaming on ACC Network Extra.

"I think that they're capable," head coach Kenny Payne said. "I've seen it in spurts. I need to see it consistently. I need to see it when lights are on. I need to see it when times are hard, not when times are good."

Ahead of Louisville's two preseason games against the Falcons and Panthers, here are some things to watch out for as the Cardinals kick off exhibition play:

An Increase in Chemistry and Overall Cohesiveness

As Louisville fans know, one of a myriad of issues that last season's team had was that their effort and chemistry was extremely low. Body language was poor, effort was largely absent, and they quite frankly at times looked like they did not get along with each other.

Considering that Louisville will be playing a pair of opponents that will be vastly out-matched, there won't be a ton of true X's and O's takeaways that Payne and his staff will be able to ascertain from these exhibitions. That's why his the main thing he will be monitoring during these two matchups will be how they play with and feed off of each other.

"I want us to be connected," Payne said. "I want there to be chemistry on the floor, chemistry on the bench from the players cheering for those that are in the game. I want us to look like a unit that cares about each other. Those things are important, because if we're going to be a really good team, it's not going to be one guy or two guys. It's gonna be a group of guys that have all fallen into each other, and they're doing this together."

The 2023-24 squad consists of mostly newcomers, with only a handful of returners from last year's 4-28 team. The few players that did opt to come back for year two under Payne have noticed a drastic difference in the overall vibe surrounding the players and team as a whole.

"Just from the beginning when we got here, it just seemed like a whole different vibe and a whole different team," forward J.J. Traynor said. "It's just is a lot more fun this year. Guys are competing day in and day out, and guys are picking up what the coaches want them to pick up quicker. I think because of that, the culture is it's easier to develop, and I think the players are getting it more."

An Emphasis on Playing With More Fight and Physicality

A common characteristic of last year's team was that, more often than not, at the first sign of even a little bit of adversity, they would fold. No matter how much momentum Louisville had at any given time during a game, if the opposition went on a run, the threat of it snowballing into a full blown Cardinals meltdown was very possible.

This time around, Payne is looking for his team to not only have a stronger mental approach, but wants them to have a constant mindset that they are in it to win it no matter the circumstances.

"I'm looking for us to just fight, that's the big thing for me," he said. "Just Fight. Not a fist fight, but fight to be disciplined in what you're doing to make sure that you're successful. Let the other person know you're in a hard competition, and that you're playing it to win."

Of course, on top of having a mental toughness, he wants them to be more physically tough as well. Last season, there were multiple instances of Louisville simply getting out-muscled. Some of this was effort based, but some of it also came from a perceived lack of aggression. 

Considering three of Louisville's post players - J.J. Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Dennis Evans - are as stocky as some traditional bigs, Payne will be looking for them to try and counter that by being as assertive as they can.

"People are going to test us physicality-wise. You look at Dennis (Evans)' body, you look at J.J. (Traynor)'s body. Yeah, they're good basketball players, but they're slender. College basketball is going to try to is physical. I'm constantly on these guys about, you may be thin, but you better be hitting. If you don't hit, then you deserve to get hit. That's the way this works. The aggressor is first. So, I'm looking for us to play physical, to build on that. Not just those two guys, but all our bigs, all our forwards, all our wings."

Defensive Effort Dictating On-Court Time

With so many fresh faces and the amount of overall talent that Louisville has heading into the season, Payne has had a difficult time trying to pencil out a lineup and his overall rotations. In fact, he still doesn't have a starting five, and likely won't decide on it until the moments before tip-off.

But regardless of who is starting, who is coming off of the bench and what roles each player has, how much playing time each player gets will directly correlate with their effort on the defensive end of the floor.

"If I have a group on the floor, and the other team is scoring easy, another five may come in," Payne said. "I want the pressure to be on them. To know that we're trying to pitch shutouts. Doesn't mean that we are, but we're trying to. It means they may make a shot, but it'll be a hard shot that they're making. There will be pressure all over the floor, and that's going to dictate how long you play, who's on the floor, all of those things."

Payne hasn't been shy about wanting to be a defensive-minded program since he took over in March of 2022. In his eyes, defensive effort will serve as the bedrock for the culture he is attempting to establish at Louisville.

"I'm trying to create, through the process, a culture of fighting, a culture of perfection defensively, a culture of togetherness offensively, to where it'll take care of wins and losses and we'll see the end result of that," he said.

(Photo of Kenny Payne: Matt Stone - Louisville Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter