This week, FanHouse is taking a look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.For the Louisville Cardinals, Mike of Card Chronicle gives us the details on a Cardinal team with high expectations, but a few glossed over questions.
When forwards Earl Clark and Terrence Williams elected to spurn the NBA in favor of returning to school for another shot at a national championship, the Louisville Cardinals immediately jumped from middle-of-the-pack top 25 squad to one of the five or six teams with a legitimate case to enter the 2008-2009 season ranked No. 2.
The Cardinals, a regional finalist a season ago, begin this season with the highest expectations of any team in the Rick Pitino era. The squad returns four of five starters from a year ago, five of its top seven scorers, and adds a top five recruiting class headlined by 6-8 manchild Samardo Samuels, the most highly touted recruit Pitino has ever lured to the Derby City.
With just three departed seniors and the additions of Samuels, fellow freshmen Terrence Jennings, Jared Swopshire and Kyle Kuric, and Mississippi State transfer Reginald Delk, U of L may be unmatched when it comes to depth, a trait that should benefit the Cards greatly when it comes time to tackle the unfathomably deep Big East.
How well the veterans and newcomers gel is something no one can know until games start being played, but on paper this is a team that possesses everything necessary to finish its season in Detroit.
Why they should be ranked here:
Size, athleticism, depth, outside shooting, experience, coaching; this group has all the qualifications demanded of a top five team. Samuels, Clark and Williams make up perhaps the top frontcourt in the country, and the underrated backcourt duo of Andre McGee and Jerry Smith were the main reasons this was the best defensive squad in the Big East a season ago.
Why they should be ranked higher:
The Cards return four starters from a team that finished last season ranked No. 6 in the country, and the one guy who's gone is being replaced by the USA Today National High School Player of the Year. It's anyone's guess after North Carolina, but there isn't a team vying for that second spot that can match Louisville when it comes to size, depth and athleticism. Rick Pitino has more bodies to throw at opposing teams than he's had in any of his prior seven seasons at U of L, and that alone will be enough to pull out victories on nights when not all cylinders are firing.
Also, don't forget that if David Padgett and Juan Palacios don't get hurt last season then Louisville likely doesn't lose to the likes of Dayton and BYU, likely doesn't get demoted to a three seed and likely doesn't have to play North Carolina in Charlotte. If last year's squad had finished the season as a national semifinalist, then we're likely talking about the undisputed No. 2 team in the land.
Why they should be ranked lower:
There may not have been a more valuable player in all of college basketball last season than Padgett. The captain always knew where everyone on the floor was supposed to be, and was aptly described as the "best offensive facilitator in the country" by Tom Crean. His worth was on full display in Louisville's 59-51 win over Georgetown when the Cards scored 50 points during the 28 minutes he was on the floor, and just nine when he was on the bench. Andre McGee and Terrence Williams are both seniors, but whether either has the maturity or gusto to step into Padgett's shoes is an enormous and presently unanswerable question.
Excellent work as usual, from Mike. If you aren't checking on Card Chronicle on a regular basis, you are missing one of the best writers in the college sports blogosphere.
