Pitino: Scrimmage shows Cards need practice

The University of Louisville basketball team isn't ready for primetime, coach Rick Pitino said after Sunday's Red-White scrimmage.

In fact, the Cardinals aren't ready for Barry University, Louisville's Division II opponent in this coming Saturday's exhibition.

"It's the opposite," Pitino said. "This team needs a lot of practice, a lot of work, a lot of skill development and fundamentals.

"This basketball team needs practice, practice, practice."

What prompted Pitino's comments?

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After Montrezl Harrell and Terry Rozier led their White squad past the Red team 89-86 in another entertaining practice at the KFC Yum! Center, several statistics jumped off the page, and not all of them were good.

The Red squad, anchored inside by Mangok Mathiang and Chinanu Onuaku, grabbed 30 offensive rebounds. Good for them, not so good for White team, which used Harrell and freshmen Anas Mahmoud, Matz Stockman and Jaylen Johnson in the post.

The White team also lost 22 turnovers, while the Red team shot 35.8 percent.

Those numbers, at least to Pitino, outweighed more sharp performances from Rozier, Harrell, Mathiang, Wayne Blackshear, Anton Gill and Chris Jones, Louisville's core of six returning players.

Pitino blamed the issues on his team's lack of strength, particularly among the young players.

"We're nowhere near where we need to be," Pitino said. "This is by far the weakest, physically, that we've been in the last four years. We're very weak right now."

Harrell, Jones and Rozier each took over the game at times.

Harrell, who finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three assists, once again showed off his expanded shooting range and improved ball-handling.

He even spent some time at small forward, which was not an accident, Pitino said. Harrell did, however, miss six of his seven 3-pointers and lose six turnovers.

"What he's got to understand is that he has to shoot more jump shots as a (post player) than at (small forward)," Pitino said.

"As a (small forward), he should punish a smaller player inside. He's got to get it to where he's 75-25 inside."

The 6-1 Rozier, a sophomore with high expectations for this season, looked increasingly confident as the game wore on, showing his smarts at the helm by dribbling away from several traps and commanding the offense.

He scored 19 points from 7 of 15 shooting, adding six rebounds, five assists and four steals to his stat line. He played the entire game.

"Terry's a raw talent," Jones said. "I think he's ready for (more minutes). His game's going to show."

Pitino praised Jones for his attitude during Sunday's scrimmage, saying the 5-10 point guard made it clear that he did not want his team to lose in leading the Red team's rally after falling behind by 23 points.

His final numbers jump off the page: 28 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. But, Pitino said, Jones dribbled too much and didn't grasp the purpose of a team exhibition.

He was 8 of 26 shooting and lost two turnovers.

"He wanted to win badly but he did it the wrong way," Pitino said.

Sunday was the last chance for some of the players to possibly earn playing time in the early part of the season, though public scrimmages are only part of a larger sample size that Pitino and his staff will use to evaluate their roster.

Onuaku (eight points, 11 rebounds), Shaqquan Aaron (18 points), Quentin Snider (nine rebounds, three assists) and Anas Mahmoud (13 points, four rebounds) helped their chances with solid showings.

But Pitino again expressed his concerns about Aaron, Snider and Mahmoud's strength and weight. The Cardinals' exhibition against Barry will give a clearer picture of Louisville's early-season rotations, he said.

"Most of the young guys aren't going to play," Pitino said. "We're not going to play a lot of these freshmen because they're physically and mentally not ready to play."

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).

RED (86) - Blackshear 7-15 5-8 20, Onuaku 3-8 1-2 8, Mathiang 5-9 3-4 13, Gill 5-14 2-2 15, Jones 8-26 8-10 28, Avare 0-3 0-0 0, Gilbert 0-1 0-0 0, Agau 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 29-81 19-26 86.

WHITE (89) - Aaron 6-8 3-5 18, Harrell 9-18 5-6 24, Mahmoud 3-4 7-10 13, Rozier 7-15 4-5 19, Levitch 0-0 1-2 1, Snider 1-3 2-2 5, Stockman 2-3 1-2 5, Johnson 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 30-55 23-32 89.

Halftime - White 41-34. 3-point goals - Red 9-30 (Blackshear 1-7, Onuaku 1-1, Gill 3-6, Jones 4-11, Avare 0-2, Gilbert 0-1, Agau 0-2), White 6-18 (Aaron 3-5, Harrell 1-7, Rozier 1-4, Snider 1-2). rebounds - Red 46 (Mathiang 16), White 38 (Snider 9). Assists - Red 14 (Jones 6), White 20 (Rozier 5). Total Fouls - Red 27, White 21. Fouled Out - none. A - 10,759.