Thoughts on Red/White Scrimmage

Saturday night, Pitino and the Cards held an open scrimmage. This was a good chance to see the rotation and how they will work together this year and also to see how far Swopshire is in his recovery from the groin injury.

The starting rotation is a much smaller deal with the way Pitino shuffles the lineup during a game but for conversation purposes the Red team started Siva, Chris Smith, Behanan,Gorgui, and the always classy Kyle Kuric.

The high profile and big bodied freshman, Chane Behanan, put up good numbers in scoring 32 points. Yet, the way he went about this was a disappointment for his coach. Pitino, speaking with Courier Journal, “This is probably the weakest he’s played,” the coach said. “He didn’t have an offensive rebound. He didn’t have an assist. He played on the perimeter too much. That’s what he did in high school. We think he’s a gigantic body inside and almost impossible to stop. He’s the type of guy who should go to the free-throw line 10 to 12 times”. Behanan, along with Blackshear, are two of the more high profile recruits Pitino has brought to Louisville. It will be interesting to see how the coach is able to mold these young superstars into playing a valuable role instead of being the only one in the spotlight.

Swopshire was only 3-14 from the field, but he was able to go strong to the boards and pulled down 10 for the losing White team. He is still working to get back to playing shape. These scrimmages are a good way to help determine how far along he is and for him to test his injury in game simulations.

Other Notes on Injuries and Blackshear from Pitino
-”Rakeem Buckles (knee surgery) is two weeks from starting individual instruction, six weeks from practicing and two months from playing.”
-”Stephan Van Treese (knee injury) is two weeks from returning.”
-Wayne Blackshear “This young man has not touched a basketball in six months,” Pitino said. “He’s going to need two weeks just to get in shape, then he’s going to need another month to get back to the level of basketball that he once was. You won’t see the player we saw in high school until December or January.”

See Video Highlights courtesy of The Courier Journal

Quotes courtesty of The Courier Journal