CARDINALS

No rest for key players as Cards face Va. Tech

Jeff Greer
@jeffgreer_cj
North Carolina's Brice Johnson, right, pressures Louisville's Montrezl Harrell (24) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

The University of Louisville basketball team's stat sheet looks a little top heavy when it comes to playing time.

Guards Terry Rozier and Chris Jones, wing Wayne Blackshear and post Montrezl Harrell have played 1,961 minutes between them, which accounts for 61 percent of the entire roster's playing time. Rozier and Harrell each average 31.9 minutes a game, with Blackshear (31.6) and Jones (29.1) right behind them.

Why? Necessity, says U of L coach Rick Pitino.

"I can't" give Harrell more rest, Pitino said Monday. "Unless he's in foul trouble. There's too much of a drop-off. We lose too much, especially in a North Carolina game on the road."

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The problem extends to Louisville's other key guys, too. Harrell played 38 minutes in Louisville's 72-71 loss at UNC. Rozier and Jones each played 37. Blackshear played 31.

Don't expect those minutes to change very soon. While they'd never admit it, it's fair to wonder if U of L's core four players had some fatigue toward the end of Saturday's game, and how much minutes they're logging also speaks volumes for how Pitino feels about his team's bench at this point in the season.

Before the season began, Louisville (14-2, 2-1 in the ACC) expected to get bench production from sophomore guard Anton Gill and forward Akoy Agau, plus freshman big man Chinanu Onuaku and point guard Quentin Snider. Mangok Mathiang was expected to start at center, and once he became eligible, freshman wing Shaqquan Aaron would be able to help with some perimeter scoring.

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Instead, after 16 games, Onuaku, Mathiang and freshman Anas Mahmoud have played musical chairs at center; Gill, Snider and Aaron have been inconsistent at best; and Agau left the program altogether.

Onuaku played 27 minutes at UNC, cobbling together eight points and eight rebounds. But after reviewing film of the game, Pitino said the 6-foot-10 big man "stood around too much."

What's worse, Pitino said, is that only Mathiang challenges Harrell in practice, but Mathiang spends more time playing against Louisville's centers than Harrell. Mahmoud and freshman forward Jaylen Johnson, the primary players tasked with guarding Harrell, aren't making the 6-foot-8 All-American better or pushing him for minutes.

"It's very easy for him to score almost every time down the floor (in practice)," Pitino said of Harrell. "Our guys don't make it difficult on him ... so when he plays against good length, he has a difficult time scoring."

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The same issue's happening with Louisville's perimeter players. While Snider's "willing to work" on improving his defense, Gill just isn't pushing Jones or Rozier in workouts or producing enough to warrant much playing time.

Gill didn't play at all against UNC.

"If you look at his statistics and what he does in practice, I think you'd rather have Terry and Chris in the game," Pitino said. "I'd rather have Chris and Terry in the game 36 minutes than sub."

Meanwhile Aaron is working hard to catch up after missing the first nine games of the season as the NCAA looked into his amateur status. The 6-foot-7 Seattle native arrived at U of L with just 177 pounds to his lanky frame.

He's still adding mass to his body, and he's still learning Louisville's complex defensive system. Those two factors have made his playing time fluctuate from 23 minutes against Wake Forest, when he scored 11 points, to just 11 total minutes over the past two games.

"The young players don't know how to work," Pitino said. "They've never done it before, so you have to bring them along, bring them along.

"This is a very unusual group because they're weak physically, they're weak emotionally and they're weak basketball-wise."

In other words, Louisville's "core four" will keep logging lots of minutes until something changes.

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