Pitino: Onus on Onuaku

Rick Pitino explored a thought as he sat at the podium after his Louisville team's 70-60 loss to North Carolina on Thursday in the ACC tournament.

For the second time in as many weeks, Pitino said he would consider altering the way his team operates. After the 71-59 loss to North Dame two Wednesdays ago, Pitino indicated that Louisville would play a simpler defense going forward.

This time, faced with a scoring problem from his team's centers that has lasted all season, Pitino suggested a personnel switch.

"We're not the greatest outside shooting team, but to be honest, I think I've got to make one change which has nothing to do with perimeter shooting," he started.

"I think I've got to make a change at the (center) spot to get more offense into our (center) position – too many doughnuts on certain nights, so we'll probably have to make a change there."

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A day later, Pitino called The Courier-Journal to describe what Louisville needs to make a run in the upcoming NCAA tournament, aside from taking smarter shots vs. challenged ones.

First, he said they held a three-hour practice on Friday afternoon, allowing standout forward Montrezl Harrell and guard Terry Rozier to sit out. Senior wing Wayne Blackshear only worked out because he missed two practices last week with a toe ailment.

Pitino left Friday's workout session -- and one-on-one meetings with his players -- certain of one thing: The change Louisville needs has to come from freshman center Chinanu Onuaku, and not necessarily a different lineup.

"I had a long talk with Chinanu, and I told him, 'If you don't block shots and get offensive rebounds and putbacks, then we're playing 4 on 5.' He agreed with me," Pitino said.

"Effort-wise, he's playing about 60 percent of the game. When you're 6-10, 250 pounds and you're not a scorer, if you don't block shots and get offensive rebounds, then what good are you? So, I said, 'If you don't step up and do this, then we're going to get knocked out (of the NCAA tournament). The onus is on you. I don't need you to score -- I need to get scoring off offensive rebounds, and I need you to block shots.'

"He's got to be the guy. If he does his job effort-wise, then we can make a run. If he doesn't, we'll have a quick exit."

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Redshirt sophomore Mangok Mathiang, the hero of last Saturday's 59-57 win over Virginia, can help, too, Pitino said. But the 6-foot-10 Mathiang is best served as a bench player.

"Mangok helps big time, but he's a bench player," Pitino said. "He's got to finish the game for us. If he starts the whole game, he's going to be in foul trouble."

The other option -- "small ball," or playing players up a position in the lineup -- has crossed Pitino's mind, he said, but the options on the wing are limited beyond Blackshear, Rozier and point guard Quentin Snider.

Anton Gill and Shaqquan Aaron have been inconsistent all season, and they have defensive deficiencies that have limited their playing time even more.

"If you go small -- you know, (freshman wing Shaqquan Aaron) and (sophomore guard Anton Gill) aren't playing very well," Pitino said. "I've gone long enough with Anton, trying my best to be patient ... I've gotten to the point that I'll go with David Levitch."

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Still, Pitino seems more comfortable with the first option: Lighting a fire under Onuaku.

Only one team in Division I college basketball has had less scoring from its centers this season than U of L. Florida A&M, a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference squad with two wins and 27 losses, got 9.2 percent of its points from centers. Louisville gets 9.3 percent.

No squad in the past eight years has reached the Final Four without 13.8 percent or more of its points coming from centers, according to basketball analytics site, KenPom.com.

"Look, everything's thrown out the window -- this is NCAA time," Pitino said. "(Onuaku) has to step up."

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