[Ghost01Participant]

I know virtually every “expert” out there has picked them to win at all or at the very least go to the final four. And heres the thing, I love Louisville, they are a very good team, balanced, experienced, and put on immense pressure. But to suddenly be the no doubt favorite to win it all, when they got placed in the toughest region? I just don’t see it. This year has been all about parity. Now a team beats Nova, ND, and Cuse back to back to back, and that’s enough to determine, thats it, they are definitely a class above everyone else?

A few facts about their season…

There best non conference wins were Memphis, Missouri, and Kentucky.

They went 2-1 against Notre Dame and Syracuse, and beat Marquette once. Those were the only ranked teams they beat all year except Missouri (who obviously didn’t finish ranked). I just don’t think their body of work jumps out as WOW this team is UNSTOPPABLE! They won a decent conference. They didn’t have to play Georgetown in the tourney, who was the other truly good team from the conference.

For a team to take on the mark as the no doubt number 1, I just think they have to have an overwhelmingly impressive resume. And I really think the conference tourneys skewed our view of this. Indiana and Duke were really the 2 best teams all year. Then Louisville wins their conference tourney, Indiana and Duke don’t, and now they are both after thoughts. It actually reminds me a lot of the last time Louisville was number 1 overall. They got hot at the end of the season, won the conference tourney, got seeded ahead of Pitt and UConn, who were both better than them all year, and more importantly UNC, who was pretty clearly the best team all year but lost in the ACC tourney. I don’t hate Louisville. I just don’t love them in this bracket because their region is tough and they aren’t walking-on-water good.

[rileymcshea3Participant]

I was surprised when I heard they where the number 1 seed overall , but I have hem losing to saint Louis .
To me there overrated and beat bad teams because siva and smith are to much to handle for bad teams and live off of turnovers

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

Russ Smith can shoot you into or out of games ala JR Smith. I have them going down to Oklahoma State in sweet 16

[machu46Participant]

All it takes is one team of referees to call hand-checks and Siva, Smith, and Hancock will be in serious foul trouble.

[phila9012Participant]

I love watching louisville play. Their defense is incredible, they force so many deflections and turnovers and just run. They have trouble shooting against a zone defense like syracuse, but they were able to press and run syracuse out of the building. Russ smith and siva are experienced along with dieng. They are built the opposite of kentucky because they dont have the great NBA prospects, but they get 3 and 4 year kids who work hard and improve and who also have good chemistry. I think they have as good of chance to win it as anybody.

[drk3351Participant]

While I do think Louisville is a great team, I have them losing to Duke in the Elite 8.

[FastAndFuriousParticipant]

Hell no, im with you, Peyton Siva chokes BIG TIME in big games, no way Louisville will win it all.

Maybe if Siva can come up big they might have more of a chance, but he’s a choke artist.

[SiggyParticipant]

Siva shouldn’t even be in a position to be a choke artist. He’s not a scorer or a shooter either. He’s a game manager and defender. He could go 3 for 10 and still have a good game because his defensive impact will always be there…unless he gets into foul trouble. He shouldn’t be the one taking shots in key moments either. His game to game success should be measured the same way that a guy like Aaron Craft’s gets measured.

[TomShoeParticipant]

Believing in the hype is the surest way to have your bracket die a horrible death.

No one’s talking about Duke and Indiana because they dropped games against teams they should have beaten. As good as Louisville is, there’s no denying they’ve been white-hot over their last 10 games or so. What worries me is when they’ll cool off and come back to Earth.

Everybody picking Louisville means I’ve avoided picking them to win it all. I have to go with Indiana, Kansas, Gonzaga, or Duke to win it all in my opinion.

[SiggyParticipant]

If they cool off they’ll still have the toughest defense in the nation.
They’ll always be in games because their defense wreaks havoc. So even if they struggle in the halfcourt offensively, they can still get points in bunches because they force and convert TOs.
To be successful against them, the opposing guards have to find a comfort level and rhythm, but that’s tough to do because everything they do defensively is designed to disrupt guard play, turning non-decision makers into decision makers.

[i’m jus so offendedParticipant]

I’m with you 100 percent dude. They won the Big East tourney and next thing you know, even hops on the bandwagon. I’m not sold. I’ve seen Siva whither against better PG’s

[FastAndFuriousParticipant]

It’s not even about Siva making and taking big shots, the dude plays like a punk at times, I lost all respect for Siva after he logged 41 minutes in that 5OT game against Notre Dame and only managed to get 2 points and 4 assist!!! No way in hell am I a senior with as much freedom as Siva and only manage that in 41 minutes!

[SiggyParticipant]

First of all, he’s not that good and never was. Second, he doesn’t really have a whole lot of freedom. He pretty much does whatever Pitino tells him to do.
He’s on the floor to take care of the ball, distribute it, run the break and be a demon on defense.

[Dale WorthingtonParticipant]

Louisville is the 2nd best team in the country. They are strong at the point, on the wing, in the post, are ridiculously athletic, have great depth, and play the best defense in the country.

I fully expect them to be in the National Championship against Indiana.

Anyone who thinks they will lose to Saint Louis is delusional.

Saint Louis is below-average at the point, well below-average down low, is unathletic, and has played one high-major opponent all year: Texas A&M.

Other than that, they’re awesome!

This is the same Saint Louis squad whose only player averaging more than 3.5 rebounds per game is 6’5. This is the same Saint Louis squad who is 289th in offensive rebounding%.

[Ghost01Participant]

Dale, that’s all good and fine, but the bottomline is…who knows what happens when these teams play each other. It doesn’t matter what you have done, it matters what happens in the tourney. And by the way, their conference is good. VCU and Butler are way better than Texas A&M despite the fact they aren’t a “high major team”. They also beat New Mexico by 14, who everyone loves in this tourney.

Again, SOS or who you’ve played/beat means absolutely nothing at this point. In 2010, the only ranked team Butler beat the whole year was #15 Ohio State. In 2011, they didn’t beat a single ranked team and Duke was the only ranked team they even played against. Both teams pulled a string of major upsets and got the NC game.

[Dale WorthingtonParticipant]

Right, but they still are below-average at the point, well below-average down low, and unathletic.

Their only player averaging more than 3.5 rebounds per game is 6’5. This is the same Saint Louis squad who is 289th in offensive rebounding%.

Regardless of what they did or didn’t do this year, how could a team with such noteworthy weaknesses be successful come Tourney Time. There’s no chance.

[Ghost01Participant]

If they are below average at so many areas, then why were they so good this year? Oh yeah, because they were one of the best defensive teams in the nation, and on par with Louisville defensively. So what happens if St. Louis is playing really good defense, and Russ Smith isn’t hot? Yes they are soft upfront, but Gorgei Dieng isn’t a very polished offensive player. Louisville wins with their back court, and St. Louis can guard good back courts, they’ve done it all year. They also just beat VCU, who isn’t as good as Louisville, but theoretically wants to do the same thing, cause havoc and speed up the game. So it’s not like this is foreign territory for them. Also, Louisville doesn’t have anyone who matches up very well with Dwayne Evans, St.Louis’ best player.

I’m not saying St. Louis is a lock, or will even win the game. But nothing is more ignorant or foolish than declaring NCAA Sweet 16 games over before we’ve even gotten to the first round. Who know’s what’s going to happen?

[Author]

Posts