What to Watch For During Louisville's Exhibition Games
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. 9 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 Kentucky State to the KFC Yum! Center later today, Friday, Oct. 29. That will then be followed up by hosting West Georgia on Wednesday, Nov. 3. Both games will tipoff at 7:00 p.m. EST, and will be streaming on ACC Network Extra.
"I'm excited about getting kicked off," head coach Chris Mack said Thursday. "I know the guys are tired of probably playing against one another, and I can respect that and understand that. You're matched up with the same small forward for a month or so. You want to see somebody."
Ahead of Louisville's two preseason games against the Thorobreds and Wolves, here are some things to watch out for as the Cardinals kick off exhibition play:
A first look at the overhauled offensive system and pace of play
Ever since the end of last season, Mack made it his mission to fix the at-time stagnant offense and sluggish pace of play from last season. He shook up his assistant coaching staff, which included bringing on Ross McMains - an assistant with the New Zealand National Team known for his up-tempo offensive style.
The program has been busy installing this new system since June, when the players first got back to campus. We got a glimpse of it during the red-white scrimmage earlier this month, but it was not operated to nearly its fullest extent. This was because the team was split in two, and the new fast-paced style, which puts an emphasis on the ball always moving, relies heavily on depth and keeping players fresh.
In the exhibitions against Kentucky State and West Georgia, Louisville will finally be able to operate this new offensive system to its fullest extent for the first time.
Last season, we got used to seeing several players, namely Carlik Jones and David Johnson, stay on the floor for extended period of time - sometimes even all 40 minutes. With the added depth that Louisville has, in addition to the new system, this will not be the case.
"I think tomorrow night, if they're going any longer than four to six (minutes), we're not getting what we can out of our players," Mack said. "We're not getting maximum effort on both ends of the floor if they're feeling 'okay' after four to six minutes."
Of course, it's important to keep in mind that it probably won't get executed to perfection right out of the gates. Still, it should give fans some semblance of what to expect during the 2021-22 season.
A constant rotation of players
As expected with the fact that players will probably not see the court any longer than four to six minutes at a time, be prepared to see nearly the entire roster see action early on in the games against Kentucky State and West Georgia.
Yes, Louisville is exhibition play, so this sort of thing is to be expected. But, considering the Cardinals have so many newcomers on the roster, this will be Mack's first time seeing what rotations actually materialize on the floor, and what doesn't. You can always put together your best guesses during practice, but you won't know what works for sure until you see it play out in an actual game.
Plus, even the starting rotation might not be set in stone. According to the game notes released by Louisville for their upcoming exhibition against Kentucky State, sophomore guard/forward Dre Davis was given the starting nod over forward Samuell Williamson.
When asked about this, Mack said it was not necessarily an indicator of the play from either player. Instead, as previously stated, he is simply toying with what lineup works, and what doesn't.
"We could have our second exhibition game, and it could be a completely new lineup," he said. "We're constantly trying to figure out who plays well together. who would like want to come off the bench. We're nowhere near cementing where we need to be."
An emphasis on the improvement of the little things
With all the newcomers Louisville has, both among the players and the coaching staff, naturally, it was going to take some time for things to truly start gelling for the Cardinals. Fortunately, Mack says he has a crop of "really good, agreeable guys that play for one another", and do everything that is asked from him and the assistants.
But that being said, things still aren't completely perfect. Mack noted ahead of the Kentucky State game some of the younger players are lacking that attention to detail that will eventually get exposed, and that the exhibitions will also uncover who is farther along in their development, and who needs a sense of urgency instilled in them.
Above all else, he just wants his team to executive the little things better. When asked how this was going during the preseason up to this point, while noting that other D1 teams are certainly in the same position, Mack responded by saying, "We gotta get better."
"There are things on the offensive end, such as taking care of the ball, working for a quality shot, giving great effort on the offensive glass, getting your one and two back on every shot," he said.
"Those are details that we hammer out every single day in practice, that as a coach, when game night comes on, and the lights come on, we don't want to change. We want to be the same team. Just trying to make sure our team looks the same, as we ask them to be every single day in practice, regardless of the context to the environment."
(Photo of JJ Traynor: Cindy Rice Shelton - Louisville Report)
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