A Look at the Louisville Defense

Earlier on in the week, we took a look at the Cardinals offense. Today, we take a look at the Louisville defense.




Louisville runs a full court press typically, trying to force turnovers and pressure the ball. In a half-court setting, they will sometimes run a man to man. They do, however, switch to the zone at times. Both can be effective against the Bears if run properly.



Onto the defensive stats. They hold opposing offenses to 95.3 efficiency (a “average” game is 100). Offense have an Effective FG % of 48.2% (pretty middle of the pack), give up 36.2% of rebounds to the offense (bad enough for 303rd in the nation), and give up 40.8 free throws per game. What they do incredibly well is force turnovers, to the tune of 22.4 per game (59th in the country). Cal does prevent turnovers, but the Louisville press is solid. In shooting stats, Louisville is right in the middle (140-190 range). They are excellent at both blocks and steals, at 11% for both. Those are in the 60-70 range for that. Louisville will give you free throws and offensive boards, but they do play solid defense and force a bunch of turnovers.



Let’s look at the best defenders on the Ville. We start with the big fellow, Samardo Samuels. Samuels isn’t the best defender, but he is 276th in the country in Block % and is solid on the defensive glass. They/he doesn’t do a great job against more athletic big guys; Da’Sean Butler and Wellington Smith, two solid athletes, combined for 39 points. While Boykin is no Butler, he has proven he can dribble and shoot with the best of big guys.



Jerry Smith and Preston Knowles are a pair of thieves on the defensive end. While they don’t contribute much on the offensive end, they both are Nationally Ranked in Steal %. Edgar Sosa doesn’t do much in the way of steals, but he’s solid in ball pressure and a decent defender. Notable guards they shut down: Dominque Jones scored a mere 5, Lance Stephenson 12, and Brandon Triche scored 0, Notable guards that lit them up: Kemba Walker with 15 and teammate Jerome Dyson with 18, Jon Wall with 17 (though that is near his average), Austin Freeman with 29, Oscar Bellfield with 17, Scottie Reynolds with 36, Tory Jackson with 19 and Ben Hansbrough with 21, Scoop Jardine scored 20, and Darius Johnson-Odom scored 22. A long list, but a large sample size is important. Who they shut down: more athletic drivers and a muscular shooting guard. Who they let them get lit up by: good point guards (Randle please) and even not so good ones (Tory Jackson?), shooting guards who can drive a bit and even the pure shooters. In other words, Randle, Christopher, and Robertson all fit the mold for a Cardinals killer.



On the big guy front, Terrance Jennings is a block artist; he’s leading the team in blocks despite little playing time. He’s isn’t a great rebounder, however; that’s where Jared Swopshire comes in. Swopshire is nationally ranked in the defensive rebounding category, and is the only Louisville player who really cleans up the defensive glass (remember, they are weak on the defensive glass). Now we take a look at who has done well or struggled in the big man category. Big guys who have struggled: Michael Washington scored a mere 9, Devin Ebanks scored 9, and Arinze Onuaku with 14 and 12. Big Guys who have played well: Nasir Robinson, who scored 26 despite the fact that I have no clue who he is, the athletic WVU duo, Kevin Jones with 16, Gavin Edwards with 13, and Mac Koshwhal with 26. Overall, they tend to hold big guys in the 10-16 range. Notable is the fact that the guys they shut down are mainly back to the basket post-up type guys, where Boykin is more of an athletic guy. As for the guys that beat them up, Robinson seems to be a bit of a shooter, the athletic WVU crew, and Edwards is big but quick. Koshwhal and Jones are big post-up guys. This bodes decently for Jamal Boykin, but not enough where you can guarantee.



The Cardinals are a good defensive team, forcing turnovers and forcing missed shots at times. They do give up too many boards, and they do let teams get to the free throw line too much. It should be interesting to see how we attack the press, as well as the Cardinals other strategies.