Louisville’s resume is complex to this point because it has good victories over Mississippi State, NC State, and Maryland but also losses to DePaul, Furman, and Western Kentucky. From a Bracketology standpoint, they’re probably right on the bubble but the concern is that this team isn’t good enough to win 13-14 games in ACC Basketball play to get an at-large spot.
Coming into the season, we knew the Cardinals would be deep, running a 9-10 man rotation. The problem is that no one has stood out in a positive way, which creates problems overall. It looked like Florida transfer Noah Locke could be that guy after a strong start to the season but he has regressed, averaging 10.5 ppg.
The good news is Malik Williams, who is now healthy, is having a big season inside, leading the team with 10.9 ppg and 9.7 rpg. But no one else is averaging in double figures, with the other seven rotation players going between 4.7-8.5 ppg. The offense has been stagnant at times, shooting just around 30% from three-point range and ranking towards the bottom in terms of getting to the free throw line.
Unless one of the ball-handlers (El Ellis, Jarrod West, Mason Faulkner) can step up and be the leader of the offense, the Cardinals aren’t going to get much better. And that means a 10-10 record in league play may be their destiny, because no one scoring over 11 ppg will cut it, regardless of how down the conference may be.