LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Louisville point guard Peyton Siva whipped the pass to no one in particular and watched the ball roll out of bounds.
The sophomore waited for the whistle and trademark foot stomp from Louisville coach Rick Pitino. It never came, not under Pitino 2.0.
“Coach P is real like laid back, real chill,” Siva said. “He’s letting us play, but he’s being the coach at the same time. He has this new like, feel about him that is making everybody around him confident.”
Following a difficult 18 months in which he acknowledged a brief sexual encounter in 2003 with a woman later convicted of trying to extort him for millions, Pitino is trying to rebrand both himself and his program.
The Cardinals will debut a sparkling 22,000-seat downtown arena this fall, and with it an uptempo style he used so successfully during previous coaching stops at Providence and Kentucky.
It’s a move Pitino felt he had to make, in part to make up for his team’s decided lack of size and in part because he believed the program needed a shot of adrenaline.
He’s planning to provide it with a run-and-gun style reminiscent to the way his high-flying Kentucky teams played in the 1990s.
Louisville isn’t nearly as loaded as those teams were, but that’s not exactly a problem. The change has given him renewed energy following the federal case against Karen Sypher, who was convicted of extortion and lying to the FBI in August after threatening to take her encounter with Pitino public.
“I’ve been through a tough 18 months and now it’s over and I had to do the right thing in a lot of places,” he said. “Also I’m much more tolerant of certain things.”
And apparently happier too.
Pitino was downright playful at times during Louisville’s media day, poking fun at freshman guard Elisha Justice as he walked off the floor following a round of interviews.
“Does anybody want to talk to the King?” Pitino said while Justice blushed.
That doesn’t mean expectations are lower. The Cardinals were picked to finish eighth in the Big East, and playing at a breakneck pace could be problematic at times considering the team’s lack of depth.
Yet the Cardinals are optimistic. Though they lost their top three scorers from a team that went 20-13 and lost in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last year, they also lost some locker room drama.
Charismatic but inconsistent guard Edgar Sosa is gone. Sophomore center Samardo Samuels opted to bolt for the NBA.
Planned reinforcements, however, haven’t exactly panned out. The NCAA ruled incoming freshmen Justin Coleman and Gorgui Dieng ineligible while Memphis transfer Roburt Sallie didn’t meet the deadline to get his academic affairs in order.
Louisville is appealing the NCAA’s decision on Dieng. The 6-foot-10 center had his picture taken with the team on Thursday but must sit out team activities until the NCAA makes a decision on his status.
Either way, the Cardinals have to press on. Pitino is dubbing this season a “bridge year,” hoping a solid recruiting class coming in next season will return the program to the top of the Big East.
His hope is to get the system installed this season, then upgrade going forward.
“Our style is to wear people out,” Pitino said.
Even if he’s not worn out himself. Now in his 10th season with the Cardinals – easily the longest stint in his lengthy coaching career – the 58-year-old says he’s “probably more fired up than I’ve ever been.”
And he’s not afraid to shake things up. Longtime friend and assistant coach Ralph Willard took on a new role as director of operations to make room for new assistant Mark Lieberman, who joined the staff this summer along with Tim Fuller.
Their presence has energized both Pitino and the Cardinals. The tempo during practices has been fast paced, and during a scrimmage on Thursday they worked with the NBA’s 24-second shot clock instead of the NCAA’s 35-second version. He’s blowing the whistle and calling a turnover if it takes the offense more than three seconds to get past halfcourt.
The message is simple: Run and then run some more. Shoot and then shoot some more.
“It’s either ‘go hard or go home,”’ said senior guard Preston Knowles. “This system and how we play in the Big East is not for the faint of heart.”
Nor does it create room for prima donnas. Given the speed he anticipates his team will play, there will be opportunities for everyone. He has praised the camaraderie on the floor, hoping togetherness can overcome the obstacles the Cardinals will face going forward.
“This team realizes that they’re a chain-link fence,” Pitino said, “if one link breaks down, the team will break down.”
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