Let's make a Statement on Wednesday

[Secrefreakintariat]

I'm really pumped about our opportunity to win one on the road on Wednesday. We came so close against 'nova and I don't think Louisville is nearly as good as their ranking. With that said, they play a style we've struggled with in the recent past with their full court pressure and different traps they'll spring.

Is it really as simple as this?: we handle their pressure and not turn it over (looking at you especially, Mr. Haas!), we have a great chance of leaving the YUM Center with a statement road win.

 

[BoilerinLouisville]

According to KenPom rankings, their 1st in the country in Defensive efficiency. They are going to swarm our guards full court all game, we will need to take care of the ball-
Will definitely be a tough test in KFC!Yum Center.

 

[Boiler Wolf]

I'm concerned about Louisville's defense as well. Will be interesting to see how we handle it.

 

[B-Westy]

Our guards won't turn it over. It's them doubling the post & digging on our entries in half-court that's going to give us trouble.

 

[SIBoiler2]

Have to hang with them for a half. In the second half the attrition of banging up front with Haas and Biggie will start to pay dividends.

 

[Dakota Girl]

Our guards won't turn it over. It's them doubling the post & digging on our entries in half-court that's going to give us trouble.

I hope that we s the biggest problem. That can be countered more easily than not being able to get the ball up the court. He befall I think we handle the press well. I just worry about a flurry of mistakes taking out of contention late.

 

[Dryfly88]

I hope that we s the biggest problem. That can be countered more easily than not being able to get the ball up the court. He befall I think we handle the press well. I just worry about a flurry of mistakes taking out of contention late.

I agree about the flurry being a concern. We can't afford to have turnovers in bunches. They get 6-8 point spurts from turnovers and we are in trouble. Obviously I don't want a lot of turnovers period, but specifically concerned about limiting their runs off of them.

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

Just taking a quick perusal of Louisville's stats:

Shooting not particularly well (which is not a big surprise): 40.9%, (32% from 3, 65.2%FT)
Decent for turnovers: about 11 pg
Offensive rebounds: 16+p/g

Defensively (which is again not a big surprise), some things jump out:

averaging about 8 steals and 7 blocks per game, also while averaging 47 rebounds per game (about 30+ per game on the defensive glass).

Like some other posters have stated, I expect (similar to a little of what Auburn tried without the big man presence) Louisville to really pressure IH and CS in the half-court....some opportunities on ball reversal will be there if they can handle the double-teams. I wouldn't be surprised also to see Louisville try to trap PJT and DM out of their half-court D. This will be a very good test for the Boilers, especially being in an "unfriendly environment."

A disciplined game and decent shooting, while staying in touch on the glass, and the Boilers can win this one....if they turn it over like usual, however, they'll need some heroic shooting to pull it out IMO.

Looking forward to seeing what the Boilers can do.

 

[ULGrad09]

Louisville guy here. Very excited for the match up, you guys have a very intelligent squad and seem to be have guys that will be able to stay under control. So it will be a great test for my Cardinals.

I see a lot of folks discussing the pressing habits, which is always our bread and butter but I think the main improvement this year is the ability to block shots with multiple long bigs (Anas, Mangok, Spalding). This is something that we didn't have last year, so if the press was beat opponents would normally have a very good chance to score at the rim. This year, that is not necessarily the case. The other aspect to keep in mind is that we could slide back into a match up zone out of the initial press. I honestly think we are better in the aggressive match up versus half-court man to man. So not sure how we will apply the half-court.

With all of that being said, defensively I feel like we are near the top, if not at the top, in the country.

Our weakness, is of course our offense. As a Louisville fan seems like this is the issue every single season. Our offense can be extremely stagnant once we start missing shots, not sure if our players start pressing, lose confidence, etc. Considering we can keep a decent shooting percentage, I think we are in good shape. If not, we could very well be in trouble. Will be a tough test for us, VERY excited!

Good luck guys!

 

[proudopete]

This matchup is intriguing to me as we are the type of team that wears the opponent down over the course of tnr game. If our offense is solid, we have a very good chance at winning most games.

Most teams that press all game tend to wear out towards the middle of the second half under normal circumstances, so if we have a decent shooting percentage, I think we can win. Turnovers is huge for us, but we have been able to score effectively this season to overcome these mistakes. With Louisville, we absolutely need to value the ball and assure we get as many quality looks at the basket as possible. Their offense isn't a juagernaut, but their defense is very good.

It will be interesting to see if we can overcome the press early and at least stay close if we do turn into over, and see if stamina ends up being the deciding factor in this game.

 

[Boileratthebeach]

Its interesting to me given that we are far more offensive focused this year than we were last year. Its almost like we are playing last years defensive minded team. I like our chances.

 

[boilerzz]

Our weakness, is of course our offense. As a Louisville fan seems like this is the issue every single season. Our offense can be extremely stagnant once we start missing shots, not sure if our players start pressing, lose confidence, etc. Considering we can keep a decent shooting percentage, I think we are in good shape. If not, we could very well be in trouble. Will be a tough test for us, VERY excited!

There are a lot of important factors in the game but I think the biggest one might be Purdue keeping Louisville off the offensive glass. We are big, but not quick and sometimes struggle with keeping quicker teams of the defensive glass. Louisville can overcome 40% shooting if they have 25 second chance points.

 

[BoilerDeac]

This is a game that Purdue usually loses. We'll see if that remains the same...would be a HUGE win.

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

This is a game that Purdue usually loses. We'll see if that remains the same...would be a HUGE win.

or YUGE!