EZ The Blog

When a washed-up sports radio host has only one outlet left.

Just hours after Rick Pitino told the local media that all underclassmen players were returning to the Louisville basketball team for the 2010 season (and their brand new KFC Yum! Center), Samardo Samuels may be doing otherwise, but I doubt it.

Over the last three hours, the big scuttlebutt has been exactly whether or not Samuels has declared for the NBA Draft.  The Jamaican Basketball Association issued a release saying just that (click here to read it).  Disclaimer: please TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH.  There are misspellings and misinformation in the release (I’m pretty sure Louisville didn’t make the Final Four).

According to many mock drafts, Samuels may not even get drafted.  Samuels doesn’t show up in DraftExpress.com’s latest mock draft.

My guess is that he’s just testing the waters–declaring for the draft this year, coming back, then going for sure next year.  But who really knows?  The press release, based on grammar alone, is not nearly enough for me to make a really good guess.  But, it’s a guess nonetheless.

But the bigger story is the perception that was created of some lack of communication between Pitino and, arguably, his best returning player.  Only five hours transpired between Pitino saying all players were coming back, and Samuels declaring for the NBA Draft.  Even if Samuels was only testing the waters, I’m pretty sure Pitino would’ve said something about it at his press conference earlier today.

A very bizarre afternoon in Louisville.

(h/t Adam Zagoria at ZagsBlog.com)

Take a look at what this year’s football schedule looks like for Charlie Strong’s first year at the University of Louisville.

What do you think about the schedule?  Comment below.

To me, it’s funny and not all that brutal, but my goodness–Rick Pitino was mad last night, and Ralph Willard may have got the brunt of it.  Steve Masiello, literally, was taken aback by it.  Make your own observations.

Just when I got done singing the praises of Rick Pitino’s team on the road this season, they go and lay an absolute egg up in Newark against Seton Hall.

And, yes, I know Louisville may have been screwed royally on this play late in the game:

And even though the team is a very mediocre 3-3 in the Big East Conference (and just seven wins away from the NCAAs according to Pitino), the Cardinals are fourth in the Big East when it comes to point-per-possession offense and defense.

This from the smart folks at BasketballProspectus.com:

                      Pace    PPP   Opp. PPP    EM
1.  West Virginia     64.4    1.13    0.99    +0.14
2.  Pitt              65.2    1.11    0.99    +0.12
3.  Villanova         71.7    1.18    1.06    +0.12
4.  Louisville        68.7    1.14    1.03    +0.11
5.  Syracuse          71.6    1.10    0.99    +0.11
6.  Marquette         62.9    1.16    1.07    +0.09
7.  Georgetown        64.4    1.10    1.02    +0.08
8.  Connecticut       69.8    1.00    0.98    +0.02
9.  Cincinnati        66.6    0.98    0.99    -0.01
10. St. John's        65.4    0.93    0.95    -0.02
11. Notre Dame        66.5    1.09    1.12    -0.03
12. Providence        72.5    1.05    1.10    -0.05
13. Seton Hall        71.1    1.03    1.10    -0.07
14. S. Florida        68.0    0.92    1.06    -0.14
15. Rutgers           71.0    0.90    1.12    -0.22
16. DePaul            65.8    0.86    1.15    -0.29

So, what are we to make of this?

Maybe those stats are padded by the big wins over South Florida and Providence.  Or, maybe Cards fans (well, most some) are getting too frustrated too fast.

Either way, things better start changing… and soon.

(h/t @EamonnBrennan)

The spincycle got a nice little run at the Yum Center Wednesday during Louisville head men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino’s standard day-before-the-game press conference.

Pitino said that his team’s goal is to make it to 10 conference victories (video of the presser, thanks to the Courier-Journal, is below).

I got news for Pitino.  Ten wins ain’t gonna cut it.  But that’s probably not news to Pitino.  He’s HAS to know that’s not enough, right?

The table to the right is Ken Pomeroy’s (KenPom.com) projection for Louisville the rest of the way which also predicts an eight-loss Big East slate.  The projections also show one win over ANYONE IN THE TOP 40 CURRENTLY–a home win over Georgetown (white suit optional).

This is NOT a NCAA Tournament-worthy resume.

Now, it probably won’t go like this.  No Rick Pitino-coached team ever does the predictable.

But take a look again at that remaining schedule–slice it however you want–and tell me how the Cardinals get into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large with just 10 Big East victories (and an 18-12 regular season mark).  They’d have to get to the championship game of the conference tournament to have a shot.

Watch Pitino here:

Vegas has spoken and it’s time to pick a side.  What you got?

Kentucky is a 20.5-point favorite at home against Georgia.  Give me the Bulldogs.  First conference game for the young Cats, and Georgia riding high after the big win over No. 20 Georgia Tech.

The Cardinals are also in the friendly confines (but, that new arena is coming along nicely) as an 11.5-point favorite against St. John’s.  Rick Pitino’s teams at Louisville, as we’ve seen again this year, always have a December full of headscratchers, and then one or two again in January.  That inexplicable loss is coming soon Cards fans (mark it down).  I don’t know when, but I’m gonna say it will not be tomorrow.  I say Louisville covers the 11.5.

The Hoosiers are a seven-point underdog at Assembly Hall (the one in Indiana) against Bruce Weber’s Fighting Illini (I’m cool with Weber, but he is the most unlikable coach in the Big Ten, right?).  I think this number is skewed because of the performance that Tom Crean’s squad made in their last game at home, a New Year’s Eve win over the meddling Michigan Wolverines.  I’ll seem like a Hoosier Hater when I say this, but I think IU caught lightning in a bottle that day. First game of the Big Ten season, at home, playing inspired basketball for their injured star Maurice Creek.  The spread is lower than it should be because of this.  That stuff is over.  I don’t know if they win more than three games the rest of the way, if that.  And I think Illinois is a double-digit victor over the Hoosiers.

Well, we’re a little over 48 hours removed from the “Battle of the Bluegrass” and it certainly was a lot to take in.  A couple thoughts in the little time I have right now.

In the first 45 seconds of the game, there were:
- six total fouls
- three technical fouls
- a coach telling an opposing player that he was going to get his ass kicked by Eric Bledsoe

Find me a more eventful first 45 seconds of a game, and I’ll show you a coach who wears a scarf to a postgame press conference Jesus Christ.

The Wildcats are obviously one of the best teams in the country.  John Wall, although he didn’t play like the best player in the college basketball for 40 minutes on Saturday, is still the best player in college basketball.  He finally decided to take over after Louisville got their (only) lead and was not stopped.

DeMarcus Cousins, while awesome, showed just how “street” he was on Saturday.  Cousins obviously threw an intentional elbow to Jared Swopshire while going for a loose ball.  There’s not a doubt in the world about that. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just a diehard UK fan (and that’s okay).

Louisville did a good job of getting themselves back in the game, and taking the lead.  Kentucky got complacent for the first 10 minutes of that second half, and the Cards easily played the best defense they played all season in that same span.

But athletes are athletes, and Coach Cal’s got a bunch of them.  The better team won.

It was as sloppy a game that I can ever remember being that fascinating.  It was must-watch television for much more than just the locals.

But I’ll still never know why Rick Pitino thought it “cool” to wear a scarf indoors after the game.

In lieu of typing up something, how bout just mumbling my way through it? It’s a little quicker.

I keep on hearing about this possible expansion of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tourney. Wow, another day of March Madness would be pretty sweet, but wait…

EZ and Bo Show producer Sweeney is in jeopardy of having his man card revoked after this he thinks. And, well, I may have mine revoked too.

Jeff Goodman has drawn a lot of ooooh’s and ahhhh’s from the Louisville basketball faithful this preseason for not putting the Cards in his preseason Top 25.

Well, we just had to ask.

Goodman, senior college basketball writer for FoxSports.com, spoke on our radio show (The EZ and Bo Show, weekdays from 3-6 ET on ESPN 1450 The Ticket in Louisville… shameless plug) about a number of topics as we reach the tipoff of another season.

About Louisville: “Whose gonna lead this team?” Goodman asked.  “Two years ago, it was David Padgett.  Last year it was T-Will.  I just don’t see that guy on this team.”

His surprise of the 2010 season: “Texas will win the title.”