U of L scrimmage, media day rewind
Hello everyone and welcome to basketball season.
Yes, basketball season.
Today is Louisville basketball media day, which will be followed by a 2 p.m. intrasquad scrimmage. Cards coach Rick Pitino will address the crowd before the game.
You can watch the game on WHAS-11 or on WHAS11.com.
Here are the rosters for the scrimmage:
Red team: Wayne Blackshear, Terry Rozier, Quentin Snider, Mangok Mathiang, Jaylen Johnson, Chinanu Onuaku and Dillon Avare.
White team: Anton Gill, Chris Jones, Montrezl Harrell, Shaqquan Aaron, Anas Mahmoud, Matz Stockman, David Levitch and Trent Gilbert.
And away we go with the scrimmage ...
SECOND HALF
* Minutes after Mahmoud sent a Terry Rozier layup into the seats, Pitino grabbed the Yum Center mic and praised the 7-foot freshman Mahmoud, calling him "the Big Egyptian."
* Harrell had a captain's moment early in the second half as his team saw its lead slim down. He came out to halfcourt, caught a pass and turned to face his team. "Calm down!" he shouted. "Calm down." At the whistle, he put his arm around Mahmoud and offer some tutoring.
* We saw a few signs of Quentin Snider's promise here in the second half. The freshman point guard just had a veteran play: Pump fake, baseline drive, reverse layup with the rim-shield to help.
FIRST HALF
* Chris Jones looks much quicker and is the early standout for me. He split defenders in the early stages of the game, attacked the rim and scooped to Harrell for a dunk. He used his body to shield Snider on a drive and layup. He finished the first half with nine points, six assists and four steals. He had three turnovers, but they were on activity plays.
* Really impressed by Anton Gill. He's assertive and confident. He's always had the offensive prowess and ability. He seemed hesitant last season, but in this setting today, he's been anything but his old self. He has eight points and five rebounds so far. My guess is he's Louisville's go-to 3-point shooter this year.
* Anas Mahmoud is very skinny. So is Shaqquan Aaron. But both have made the kind of skill plays that made them intriguing prospects to Pitino. Mahmoud in the first half already has some fans on his side. He's had a block and a few steals that led to breakaway dunks. Mahmoud finished the half with six points, two steals and a block. Aaron made one 3.
* Montrezl Harrell is aggressive and looking for his offense, inside and out. His first shot of the game was a 3. He actually made his second 3-pointer. He's clearly the most developed guy on the floor. He's big and physical. He had 12 points and five rebounds at halftime.
* Props are in order for Wayne Blackshear. He looks confident and aggressive, much like Gill. He has 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists. He's attacking the basket.
* Terry Rozier is explosive and quick. He had a few big-time plays, including a split-defender drive that ended with a skip in off the glass for two. He has 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.
* Other halftime stats: The teams are 31 of 68 shooting and 6 of 23 from 3-point range ... Quentin Snider is 0 for 5. He looks nervous but has the talent to be a good bench guy this season ... Mangok Mathiang has four points and three boards ... Chinanu Onuaku looks like a guy who will play minutes this year. He has five points and five rebounds.
A few updates from media day ...
* Point guard Chris Jones spent part of the offseason in Florida, working out at his former junior college up in the state's northwestern panhandle. While he was there, the 5-foot-10 Jones shed five or 10 pounds and worked out with Kemba Walker and Kyle Lowry. He gave up fried food -- wings are his favorite -- to lose the weight. The speed and power that he's now playing with reminded Pitino of ... you've heard this by now ... Mighty Mouse. Jones did some Google research and decided that he didn't hate the nickname.
* Terry Rozier is expected to be the most improved player on Louisville's roster. He had a big summer workout circuit and rose on several NBA mock draft boards, with some even including him as a lottery pick. He spoke at length on Sunday about fixing inconsistencies in his jump shot -- he stopped twisting his lower half and falling away. He also said losing Russ Smith was "a big loss" to the offense -- there isn't one guy who Louisville can say, 'Go get a bucket,' Rozier said -- but his close relationship on and off the court with Jones will help ease the transition.
* Mangok Mathiang is up to 220 pounds, he says. He walked into the exit interview at the end of last season and got his marching orders: Add weight with muscle. The difference? Mathiang says he's more powerful and quicker, which has especially helped as he continues to develop his post game.
* Wayne Blackshear knows how critical this season is for him. It's his last chance to live up to the reputation he had as a high school prospect out of Chicago. He didn't go home at all this summer. He stayed in Louisville to figure out why he was so inconsistent and why he was so hesitant to attack. The lack of aggression led to dwindling minutes, major efficiency issues and, ultimately, a season that weighed heavy on his mind once it ended. Blackshear said he wants to prove he's not a spot-up shooter.
* Sophomore guard Anton Gill was missing one thing last season: Bulk. He wasn't physical enough to play defense the way Pitino wanted. He's added 10 pounds this offseason, he said, and the impact's been immediate. They haven't talked lineups yet, but Gill knows he's the sixth man for this team and has to play with speed and quickness on both ends. He's already seen an improvement in his offensive game, which Pitino already praised last season. But the biggest change is on defense.
* Forward Montrezl Harrell, who's back this year after surprisingly spurning the NBA draft, said the day-in, day-out grind of playing in the ACC will help him prepare for his future as a pro. Read my feature on him from last week right here.
* Sophomore big man Akoy Agau (sports hernia) missed about 10 or 11 weeks after having offseason surgery. He originally came back after the 6-8 week healing process, but he felt like he rushed his return. He wasn't prepared for the conditioning or physicality, and suffered what he called a frustrating setback. He hasn't been able to play as much with his team in more recent workouts, and that's left him behind schedule. But, Agau said, he learned so much from an up-and-down freshman year, one in which Harrell dominated him every day in practice and Pitino relegated him to the end of the bench, that he's prepared to deal with the health struggles.
* Ballard High product and Kentucky Mr. Basketball winner Quentin Snider is U of L's No. 2 – a big jersey to fill after the departure off all-time great Russ Smith. Snider said he feels no pressure to take Smith's number. He said he did it as an homage to Ellis Myles, his AAU coach with the Louisville Magic who wore No. 2 at U of L. Snider is fitter and faster than he was at Ballard, down from 13 percent body fat to about 7, and he's lost about 10 pounds. "I got rid of that gut, and now I've got that pack," he said, pointing to his stomach.
* Jaylen Johnson discussed his anxious summer while he waited to gain academic clearance from the NCAA. He said his grades were never an issue. The matter was that his school, Ypsilanti High, changed districts and changed its title, and all of his transcripts had to be resubmitted and reapproved by the clearing house, and the process drifted well into August. He actually lived in Louisville all summer with his mother, who's moved here and rented an apartment. He came to watch U of L's workouts, but he was prohibited from participating. He lifted weights and played ball at L.A. Fitness, played in open gyms at Bellarmine.
Playing against Montrezl Harrell – "the greatest power forward in the country today," Johnson said – is leading to quick improvement.
* Chinanu Onuaku looked strong and fit, having shed about 20 pounds of fat while gaining about 10 pounds of muscle. He has little interest in trying to score as a freshman. He knows his goal is to rebound and block shots. He's still only 17.
* Anas Mahmoud has been eating 4-5 complete meals and 4-5 snacks a day as he tries to bulk up his skinny frame. The 7-footer has gone from 184 pounds to nearly 205, he said, since arriving on campus in June. He said his play in the Red-White games will be a factor in whether he gets to play this season. His hope is he doesn't have to redshirt.
* As you'd expect, basketball is not a major sport in Norway, so Matz Stockman is the rare Norwegian playing major college basketball. He said he began playing when he was about 14 while playing handball. There was a basketball hoop next to the handball court, and he shot around with the handball. He then watched Michael Jordan highlights on YouTube and got inspired to take the sport more seriously. He said skiing and soccer are the most popular sports in his country. He has the goal to be one of the best basketball players ever from Norway. He was aware of only one or two other guys who ever made it to the NBA.
* Shaqquan Aaron has gained about 10 pounds since coming to Louisville and seems to be adjusting well to the college game. He enjoys the challenge of facing Wayne Blackshear – maybe the biggest small forward in the country, Aaron guessed – every day. Aaron, Onuaku and Johnson all felt underrated in high school. Aaron definitely feels that he deserved to be a McDonald's All American, and he uses that somewhat as motivation to prove himself as an elite player in college. Mahmoud praised Aaron as immensely skilled.