A Look at Louisville’s Offense

As you all probably know, on Friday our Bears take on the Louisville Cardinals in an #8/#9 match-up. For our first preview, we’ll take a look at the Cardinals offense.




First, we take a look at their overall statistics. They are a strong offensive club, ranking in the Top 20 of Ken Pomeroy’s Efficiency Rankings. They hit the glass very strong, as they are in the Top 20 in that category. That could turn out poorly for the relatively poor rebounding Bears (though we do hold our own in that category, ranking in the Top 100). They shoot 51.5% in effective FG%, among the top 70 in the nation. They don’t get to the free throw line much (208th in the country). Louisville is poor at shooting 3’s (33.9%, good for 187th in the nation) but convert their 2’s (51.9%, 36th). 48.5% of their points come from 2 pointers. Despite their poor 3 shooting they rely on them for their scoring (31.6% of scoring, 64th in the country). Translation: Louisville is a good offensively, as in among the top 20 in the nation. They rebound their misses and shoot at an efficient rate. They won’t hurt you too much at the free throw line, and they will miss 3’s. They do take a lot of 3’s, but 2’s is where they are at their best.



Samardo Samuels is a big guy who can do a lot of damage to the Bears. Our big man troubles have been well chronicled; it’s no surprise that we struggle in the post. Samuels averages 15.3 points per game, 7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. Samuels shoots 52% on the season and 71% from the free throw line. He has nearly as many offensive boards as defensive (123 to 102). The sophomore is 32nd best in the country at drawing fouls at 6.9 per game. He is in the top 500 in tons of categories nationally (that’s a lot of players!), with them being Offensive Rating (422), Effective Field Goal % (458), True Shooting % (323), and Offensive Rebounding % (134). Watch out: Samuels doesn’t miss much, grabs boards, and gets to the free throw line. I am scared.



Edgar Sosa is a senior point guard for the Cardinals. I’m not as scared of him, but he still is a dangerous player. Sosa averages 13.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 4.5 rebounds. He turns it over 2.7 times a game, and shoots 45%. Sosa ranks in the top 500 of many categories (with Samuels), ranking 403rd in Offensive Rating, 211th in Effective Field Goal %, 318th in True Shooting %, and 38th (very high) in Assist Rate. Sosa does not turn the ball over much, and he’s very solid at finding open teammates. Sosa does take 25% of his team’s shots. Sosa, a 38% 3 point shooter, has scored 198 points from long range (or 46% of his total). Getting out on him when he is shooting will be key. He doesn’t drive too much (104 free throw attempts; Andy Rautins, a 3 shooter almost exclusively, has take 72) though he still is a bit of a threat. He can really hurt us in transition and from beyond the arc.



Four more guards provide contribution, with Jerry Smith and Preston Knowles playing major minutes while Reginald Delk and Peyton Siva come off the bench. We’ll start with the bench players. Delk is someone I worry about; again, the Bears sometimes have problems getting out on shooters. Delk may not do much else, but the senior sure can stroke it. Delk has the 20th best Offensive Rating in the country, despite a limited role. When shooting, he shoots 42% from beyond the arc and 48% from the field. Siva is a freshman from Seattle who has a reduced role lately, playing 8 minutes in the last 2 games. Siva is also dangerous from the outside, shooting 40% from 3 and 44% from the field. He averages 4 points per game. He can penetrate and get to the inside. On to the starters. Jerry Smith is very important; in games he has missed, they are 0-2 (including a loss to Charlotte and Cincy), and in games he scores 10 or more points the team is 9-1. Smith is currently nursing an injury, but will likely play. Smith on the year averages 8.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and shoots 40% from the field on year. He shoots 29% from 3. Smith is a lock-down defender, but we’ll get to that later. He’s good scoring off of turnovers. Smith isn’t much of a scorer, but he can do damage when hot. The other major guard is Preston Knowles, who averages 7.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, shoots 37% from the field, and 29% from 3. Knowles is another guard lacking an offensive threat, though he can make steals and turn them into buckets.



The others big fellows for the Cardinals are Terrance Jennings (a starter), Jared Swopshire, Kyle Kuric, and Raheem Buckles. We’ll start with Swopshire, who plays more minutes but does not start, is a 6-8 220 forward who averages 7.6 points, 6 rebounds, and shoots 39% from the field. He occasionally shots the 3 (66 attempts), making 32% of his shots from that range. He doesn’t get to the free throw line much, and is another not so great scoring threat. That said, our size is a problem so he could hurt us. Rakeem Buckles doesn’t demand much attention, mainly because his minutes are slowly dropping off and he doesn’t play much anyway. Another freshman, Buckles has played 7.5 minutes in the last 2 games. He is 6-8 and averages 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds. He shoots 47% on the year. Again, Buckles isn’t much of a threat but you never know with our big guys. Kyle Kuric is a bench guy that worries me. A 6-4 guard/forward, he’s a specialist in the shooting department. His 3 point shooting on the year is 35%, but he hit 4-6 against Syracuse and could do that to us. Kuric averages 4 points on the season. Considering our perimeter defense, Kuric’s shooting is a concern. Finally, we move to Terrance Jennings. Jennings, a 6-10 240 product of Sacramento, California, is a sophomore and a starter. Jennings scores 5.2 points per game and nabs 3.5 rebounds. He is very efficient, shooting 63% from the field. He is a poor free throw shooting, only making 55% of his attempts. Jennings actually has a higher offensive rating then both Samuels and Sosa. He, given the right opportunities, could wreak havoc on the Bears defense, especially sans Amoke.



If you didn’t feel like reading that giant wall of text, a brief synopsis. Samuels is an incredibly efficient player who doesn’t miss much and pulls down tons of boards. Sosa is a talented guard who can hurt us from beyond the arc or driving, and he does it efficiently as well. Watch out for him assisting teammates. In the backcourt, Reginald Delk and Peyton Siva come off the bench and provide two different things: Delk excellent 3 shooting, Siva dangerous attacker of the lane. The other starting guards are Preston Knowles and Jerry Smith, both limited scorers who play defense. In the frontcourt, there’s Kyle Kuric, a solid 3 point shooter who comes off the bench as well as Jared Swopshire and Rakeem Buckles, a pair of solid rebounding big men. Terrance Jennings, a guy who misses only 37% of the time, is very efficient and can hurt us. The overall Louisville offense is 3 relient, but they don’t hit them much other than Delk, Sosa, and Kuric (Siva can pop a few too). Terrance Jennings and Samardo Samuels both can post up solidly.



Hopefully this gives you a very long view of how Louisville’s offense functions and who it runs through. Go Bears!