Louisville Basketball: 2019-20 season review of the Cardinals
By Neil Adler
Assessing the Cardinals
From many perspectives, Louisville completed 2019-20 in virtually identical fashion to its pre-season expectations. Not really above, and not much below.
If we want to get ultra-technical, the Cardinals’ No. 5 pre-season arrangement in the major polls didn’t get met by where they ultimately settled.
However, in all fairness, Louisville didn’t have the opportunity to make noise in either the ACC or NCAA tourneys, and convincing accomplishments in both events could have undeniably catapulted the Cardinals into the top five nationally.
Members of the media predicted Louisville to align at No. 3 in its league. The Cardinals, as we know, ended up tied for second place. If you desire to discuss semantics, then Louisville may have slightly over-achieved in the ACC.
The pre-season and eventual All-ACC first units included Nwora. That’s clearly a wash, in my humble opinion.
Before 2019-20 launched, Nwora commanded the most votes for Conference Player of the Year. When the league awards got distributed, Nwora barely missed out on the ACC’s premier prize, coming in second in the balloting to Duke sophomore point guard Tre Jones.
Does that mean Nwora under-achieved? Maybe a tad, but that’s all.
In examining Louisville as a combined entity, the Cardinals resided at No. 6 in scoring offense within the ACC, and at No. 2 in scoring defense.
Louisville also docked in the conference’s top six or better in a bevy of other statistical categories, such as shooting percentages from the field, the free-throw line and 3-point range, offensive and defensive rebounding, and dimes doled out.
Mack and his assistants developed their guys into models of consistency in a ton of departments. Credit the coaches for a job solidly done.
Sure, the Cardinals skidded here and there. A duo of mini-slumps ensued. Yet Louisville did pick up a multitude of quality victories and remained relevant for the duration of 2019-20.
Perhaps most importantly, this program, stung by scandals and turmoil that continued on for several previous stanzas, obtained the No. 1 ranking. Given the ugliness endured by the Cardinals, even though they held that perch for just a smattering of time, it’s still no small feat.