Virginia Basketball: Keys for Cavaliers to triumph at Louisville
By Neil Adler
1. Clog the middle, force tough 3s
It’s no secret that the Cavaliers encompass one of the fiercest defenses in the country, as Virginia only allows a mere 54.6 points a game, which is astounding. The Cardinals connect on 35.6 percent from beyond the arc, a decent clip I’ll acknowledge, but not spectacular by any means.
In its debacle against Syracuse, however, Louisville shot a woeful 21.4 percent from downtown, and it could have proven a bit worse, as several attempts fumbled around the hoop and ultimately went through. The Orange excelled, from my perspective, because it packed in the paint with efficiency and made the Cardinals heave up a ton of really challenging looks, with the bulk of them clanging harmlessly off the rim.
Of course, we all know that Syracuse’s sole defense is its vaunted 2-3 zone, whereas the Cavaliers usually stick to a man-to-man approach that does contain various zone tendencies. So while not an apples-to-apples comparison, there’s no reason why UVA’s suffocating defense can’t do something similar, that is, clog up the middle and force Louisville to defeat the Cavaliers from long-range. Should that type of scenario occur, Virginia has an excellent opportunity to land a victory in a boisterous and frenzied environment.