CARDINALS

Pitino impressed by Virginia's defense

Jeff Greer

@jeffgreer_cj

University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino reacts to his teams play against UNC Wilmington during the second half of play at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. December 14, 2014.

The way Wayne Blackshear put it on Tuesday may not have fully captured the extent to which the University of Louisville basketball team has studied third-ranked Virginia over the past few months.

"We know what they're about," the senior wing said.

What Blackshear left out is that Louisville got to that familiarity long before preparations for Saturday's game at Virginia began. That's because U of L coach Rick Pitino has made an example of Virginia in coaching defense for his own squad.

On Thursday, Pitino explained that one of his go-to teaching methods is showing his team clips of players or teams that do something well, be it Kenneth Faried rebounding or Zach Randolph "ducking in." Pitino spent time earlier this season studying NBA teams and their inbounds plays, hoping to borrow one or two of them for his own team.

To teach his players about team defense, Pitino put on film of Virginia and its "pack-line" strategy, a style of defending that has helped Virginia become the second-most efficient defense in the country.

"We were not helping right defensively -- we were playing well on the ball," Pitino said. "We were playing what I call 'strong-side defense' very well, but we didn't play weak-side defense, and I showed them Virginia. Five guys play the ball."

Louisville's defense has improved quite a bit in the past few weeks, Pitino said, and that showed up most in the frenetic rally to beat North Carolina last weekend and again in Tuesday's win at Miami.

To beat Virginia in one of the most anticipated college basketball games of the season, U of L (19-3, 7-2 in the ACC) has to play as well on defense as it has in those previous two appearances. Pitino likened it to Louisville's Final Four matchup with Wichita State two seasons ago.

"If you're not in the same class defensively, you have no chance of winning," Pitino said. "It starts with defense, which rebounding is part of. And then you go to offense. We'll show them more ways to potentially score from a spacing standpoint than any other game because they're so difficult to score against."

Pitino isn't exaggerating, either. Virginia's scoring defense is the best in the nation, allowing just 50.8 points per game. Opponents shoot 35.5 percent against UVA (20-1, 8-1 in the ACC) and average a meager 21 points in the paint per game.

But the most staggering defensive statistic that Virginia has is one that could directly impact Saturday's game: Duke is the only UVA opponent to score more than four fast-break points this season, and UVA only allows 2.2 fast-break points per game.

That contrasts with the style of game that Louisville likes to play.

"They just run back -- they don't concentrate on offensive rebounding," Pitino said.

"(In halfcourt defense), basically what they do is five guys play the ball below the foul line, and they don't give you a good look. They put you under duress every possession."

Perhaps Louisville can take a page from Duke's game plan at Virginia. Duke scored 14 fast-break points and 44 points in the paint, and shooting 50.9 percent as a team didn't hurt, either. Toward the end of the game, Duke's wing players hit a few NBA-range 3-pointers to fuel a come-from-behind 69-63 win.

But even borrowing from Duke will be tough, Pitino said. Not because it's hard to emulate, but because Virginia just makes every possession such a slog.

"Virginia, in the last five minutes of the game, just wears you out," he said.

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