Louisville won't be crummy

Sporting News, The, Jan 15, 1996

It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

Jason Osborne and Alex Sanders were slated to regain their eligibility at the end of the first semester, and Eric Johnson was set to blossom as a sophomore rebounding machine. Yep, things looked promising for Louisville, which was poised for a run at the Final Four in Denny Crum's 25th anniversary season as Cardinals coach.

Alas, Johnson injured his knee early in the season, and Osborne and Sanders failed to make the grade. It was time to regroup.

The core group of Louisville players who have bobbed and weaved through investigations, suspensions, injuries and uncertainties decided it was time to discard the what-ifs and go with what they had.

Crum has worked to sharpen fundamentals and improve as many available parts as possible as his team has embarked on what figures to be one of its roughest conference roads ever taken.

So far, so good, as Louisville has opened the season 104 despite the distractions. But many difficult games loom, including encounters with UCLA and Massachusetts in addition to some daunting Conference USA games.

In order to continue succeeding, the Cardinals can't afford to say, "Poor me we don't have this rebounder or that jump-shooter."

"You can think that way, but as long as you do you'll put yourself in more trouble than if you think positive," forward Brian Kiser says.

To generate an us-against-the-world mind-set, Crum worked the Cards in double sessions in late December, concentrating on the basics.

"We've been working on boxing out," says 6-foot-4 forward Alvin Sims, who has emerged as a force. "We don't have the size and strength that other teams have."

"I've got to hit the boards harder, because the big bodies aren't there," says Kiser, Sims' 6-7 counterpoint on the other wing. "With one guy staying back for defense, everybody's got to be crashing the boards on offense. When we're on defense, everybody's got to crash."

Mainly, though, everybody's got to continue bonding to keep the team from crashing. There has been lots of documentation of teams losing top guns but rallying and playing better as a result.

"That kind of situation -- teams losing a star player and becoming better -- reinforces the fact that there's no one player who makes a team," Kiser says. "A team is a group of individuals who can really work together. That's what we've got to become."

"I guess everybody will be prepared to adjust and play new roles," Sims says. "We'll be all right."

There is time, and apparently the right mix of personalities, to make the necessary alterations.

"It's been really tough, not knowing who's going to be there, not knowing the starting lineup," point guard DeJuan Wheat says. "It's not what we all wanted. But this team has held together."

Crum, whose club was ranked in everyone's preseason Top 25, says Osborne and Sanders never were part of the equation with him.

"I'm sure (the other players) were hoping that (Osborne and Sanders joining the squad) would happen," he says. aBut we assumed when the season started that they would not be playing, and we've practiced and played accordingly."

For the most part, the Cardinals have played hard.

"I think we've got some guys who play with a lot of heart," Kiser says. "I also think we lost a guy (Johnson) who could have helped out a lot. Eric was out there wanting to sacrifice to make the team better.

"We've got some veterans in myself, Alvin, Tick (Rogers) and DeJuan. A lot of things can be overcome by sheer desire. I think we can still be good."

Good enough to make the NCAA Tournament? Maybe, if Louisville does the following:

1. The Cardinals must play more games with the crackling effort they showed against Kentucky and fewer games with the dull effort they gave against Boston College.

2. The Cardinals must get dependable work from Damion Dantzler, who's starting to shine, Beau Zach Smith, B.J. Flynn and Charlie Taylor. They would gain confidence with increased playing time.

3. Crum needs to be more imaginative and less stubborn. Mix in some -- gasp -- zone, which absolutely nobody expects the Cardinals to play. Shock some people with bursts of full-court pressure, another Cardinal rarity.

4. Turn loose me shooters. No Sanders, no Osborne and no Johnson means no power game. Teams will double- and triple-team big man Samaki Walker, so it would be wise to consider turning Kiser, Wheat, Rogers and other volunteers loose from the perimeter.

Wahoo woes

Speaking of teams in f-lux.

As Virginia stumbled through another shaky December, many pointed out the Cavaliers' history of starting slowly but recovering in time for conference play. Just the kind of thing Coach Jeff Jones doesn't want to hear.

"The assumption is that things will get better by themselves, and that's not true," Jones says. "We have established a pattern of starting off slowly. What people need to realize is that it takes an awful lot of sacrifice and hard work to get things turned around.

"We've been fortunate enough in recent years to turn things around. (But) there are no guarantees. It takes the same type of sacrifice and hard work, and in some ways the mentality that our backs are to the wall and that we don't have the luxury of messing around anymore."