Louisville Preview: Stepping Into a Hornets' Nest

College of Charleston (0-0, 0-0)

Louisville (0-0, 0-0)

KFC Yum! Center
Tipoff Saturday at 1pm on ESPN3

We finally made it to college basketball season, Cougar fans. It's been 7 months since the Louisville Cardinals celebrated a national championship on the floor of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. After what has seemed like an eternal offseason the College of Charleston men's basketball team will finally take the floor - picking up right where the college basketball season left off.

Two years ago the Cougars walked into the deliciously named KFC Yum! Center with tempered expectations and gave Louisville a tightly contested game thanks to well-rounded contributions from their role players. Last season Rick Pitino knew not to underestimate the team he was facing on the return visit to Charleston and referred to TD Arena as a "hornets nest" buzzing with a thirst for revenge. That analogy proved to be on-point for all of 15 minutes before TD Arena sat in stunned silence as the Cougs quickly fell behind early and left with the biggest black eye of an otherwise successful season. The Cardinals would go on to ride this same strategy of aggressive defense and lightning quick transition offense all the way to another national title for coach Rick Pitino.

Which brings us back to this season and this game. The Cardinals will be playing their first real game since winning it all and, as such, will be hoisting the NCAA Champion banner into the rafters to the delight of their own hornets' nest in Louisville. It's a tall order for any team to play the Cards that day but it's the biggest stage in the country and there's no better way for the Cougars to introduce themselves to a new conference than to take on the reigning champs.

Most notably absent from the team that went 29-5 last season are point guard Peyton Siva and big man Gorgui Dieng. Both those players harassed the Cougars last year at TD. Also out for the opener is a guy who has played CofC four of the last five seasons: Final Four MVP Luke Hancock. The second-hottest shooter in the championship game (Spike Albrecht #neverforget) will be sitting this game out due to a nagging Achilles injury. Also, forward Chane Behanan (who also feasted on the Cougars the last time these teams met) will miss this game as part of an indefinite suspension for breaking unspecified university rules.

However, the Cards will still have the player who did the most damage last year in Charleston - Russdiculous Russ Smith. Joining him in the backcourt in place of Siva is last year's junior college Player of the Year, Chris Jones. Also with a good chance of seeing playing time is Kevin Ware. Or as many of you remember last seeing him, the gentleman with his leg bone potruding through his skin on national television. Despite sustaining the most gruesome injury I've ever seen in a live sporting event, Ware has been practicing with the team for a few weeks and played sparingly in Louisville's final exhibition game.

It's taken us this far down the page to get to the players taking the court tomorrow for the Cougars. Until last week Wojcik had held his cards close to the chest with regard to the starting lineup. The decision to start freshmen Canyon Barry and Joe Chealey was a surprise to many but both players had solid exhibition game debuts last week. With height and athleticism blessing both players, the physical tools are enough to warrant both teenagers sharing the floor at tipoff against the reigning best team in college basketball. But with the lights on and a raucous crowd in attendance, the much-lauded decision making abilities of both players will be tested the second Louisville starts to swarm on defense.

Returning to face Louisville are seniors Willis Hall, Anthony Thomas and Nori Johnson as well as juniors Anthony Stitt and Adjehi Baru. Adjehi and Nori have both played well against the Cards in the past. The Anthony's will need to not turn the ball over (easier said than done against that press) and focus on defense. At just 5'10, Jones is actually a pretty good matchup for Stitt to defend. The do-it-all CofC guard is my favorite player to watch on D and I don't think CJ knows what he is in for. AT is coming of the bench (allegedly - he could still start tomorrow) because of his strength as the team's "swiss army knife." Against most teams, Thomas' size and ball-handling ability make him a matchup problem, but most of the Cards team is built the same way.

Here's what I'll be watching for in this one:

• Composure - KFC Yum! Center is going to be a mad house after the Cards raise their 2013 Championship banner to the sky. Couple that with the country's best defense at forcing turnovers and you have a huge first test in keeping your cool as an opposing team. Anthony Stitt knows what to expect after struggling to hold on to the ball last year against the Cards. The aforementioned freshman are also stepping right into the fire for their first collegiate action.
• Turnovers - very much related to composure. Last year against Pitino the Cougars coughed the ball up 27 times. Last Saturday against Newberry they had 21 TO's in a victory. So much of Louisville's offense is derived from their defense getting a takeaway and turning the other way. The first step in keeping this game close is to limit the Cards' opportunities.
• The new defensive rules / free throw shooting - The new attention given to hand checking and holding is meant to benefit teams that play smart defense. The Cougars were one of the best teams at defending without fouling last year but I can foresee some growing pains as they get accustomed to playing with their hands off the opponent. On the reverse end, the Cougars (namely those hanging closest to the basket - Baru, Stitt, Chealey) will probably get more free throw attempts than they're used to. The Cougars need to convert on the freebies to limit the game quickly getting out of reach.
• Adjehi Baru - perhaps the only player in a CofC uniform last year who looked like he belonged on the same floor as Dieng, Behanan and Blackshear. With another year of development and conditioning and a weaker front line for Louisville, it's exciting to think what Baru might be capable of in this game. If he can stay out of foul trouble I expect him to impress some Cards fans.
• Joe Chealey - talk about a welcome party to collegiate basketball. Chealey has impressed everyone from the coaching staff to his teammates and the Cougar faithful with his maturity and leadership as a freshman who just turned 18. He'll go from playing against DII Newberry to the #3 team in the country within a week. Let's hope he's ready.
• Canyon Barry - underhand free throws on the national stage. Prepare yourselves. 

This is a huge test for the Cougars in just the opposite way that the Newberry game was. Few people are giving the Cougars a chance but without four contributors from the team that marched all the way through the madness last season, the Cards could be caught off guard. A strong showing, healthy players and promising play would be a great start to the season. Let's all just rejoice in the fact that college basketball season is finally back. Let's all enjoy this for the next 5 months. Go Cougars.