LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — It’s not easy to change a team’s identity. For the entire run-up to Pat Kelsey’s first season as University of Louisville basketball coach, we talked about offense. Everybody was excited for the high-scoring, high-energy scoring attack he was going to unveil on opponents.
And for much of the early season, he did. Then basketball happened. That is to say, there were injuries. And bad luck. And sadistic scheduling. And adjustments became necessary.
The Cardinals team that has won five straight heading into an important ACC matchup at Pittsburgh at noon Saturday is not the same team that got the attention of the nation by winning five of its first six games nor is it the one that lost four out of five games after that during a 15-day stretch.
The team Kelsey is taking into the Peterson Events Center jungle is now drawing its identity from defense more than anything else. If anyone is tempted to forget that, they just need to look around the Keuber Center practice complex.
“Defense, that’s our ticket right there,” J’Vonne Hadley said after Saturday’s win over Clemson. “We’re not even worried about our offense. Our offense is running really crisp, and that’s a shout-out to our hard work in practice. But it really matters on the defensive end. And coach has done a good job of everywhere we go, we see it on the boards, on posters: defense, defense, defense. Tonight it was ‘Be more physical than the other team.’ He does a really good job making sure we understand what it is that we’re going to have to do.”
What the Cardinals (11-5, 4-1 ACC) have to do Saturday is slow down one of the best offenses, statistically, that they’ve seen all season. Only Duke, Kentucky and Oklahoma (all Louisville losses) have been better.
And, if Louisville should happen to get hot itself from the perimeter, Kelsey wouldn’t mind.
Still, he notes that the reason Louisville has been able to have its top players at less than peak offensive efficiency in recent games and still manage double-digit victories has been defense, and he has singled out Terrence Edwards Jr. for spearheading that effort. Edwards is Louisville’s No. 2 scorer on the season, but has embraced his role as a defensive leader, and has routinely drawn the assignment of the opponent’s top scorer in recent games.
“He’s just been stellar the past three games,” Kelsey said. “… His motor has been non-stop and relentless. … And, you know, it’s a team effort. It’s not just one guy. When we’re playing defense to our standard, we like to say it’s almost like there’s seven guys out there, because each one’s giving a little bit more of himself. And that’s how it’s been the last three games. And he’s been a major tone setter for that, for sure.”
Pittsburgh (12-3, 3-1 ACC) provides offensive threats inside and out, shooting 35.5% from three-point range and 57% from two. The Panthers have a balanced scoring attack, led by guards Ishmael Leggett (16.8 points per game) and Jaland Lowe (16.7 ppg). Two others average in double figures, with a fifth player, forward Zack Austin, averaging 9.6.
Pitt has won 15 in a row at home, its longest home win streak since 2012. A win over Louisville would give the Panthers their longest home streak since 2005-06.
“They’re tough. They play hard, they rebound the ball,” Kelsey said. “They got a bunch of skill, you know, it’s hard to mention all of them. But I think it starts with their back court. Coach (Jeff) Capel is a phenomenal coach. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit through ACC meetings and things like that.”
Louisville will be looking to make a little win streak history of its own, while bucking its recent hard luck against the Panthers. The Cards have lost five straight to Pittsburgh, by an average of 23.4 points. But a win for Louisville would give the program its first six-game win streak since 2020.
“We have a saying called ‘road excellence,’ and we say it starts from the moment you pack your bags, how you travel, how you carry yourself, what our walk-throughs are like in the ballrooms at the hotels, the GBT that takes place at the dinner table, breakfast table,” Kelsey said. “GBT stands for great basketball talk. I got that from Joe Madden, the manager of the Cubs, several years ago when they won the world championship. He said he loves GBT, great baseball talk on the airplanes, in the hotels, just amongst the players. I love great basketball talk. It’s when you pack your bags, you put not one, but two pairs of your defense in there, because defense travels, and if you’re going to win tough road games, you got to be at your best on the defensive end. But there’s no magic secret sauce. … We’ve just got to be tough.”
