It's probably unfair, considering his success and everything else, but going into the second year with Louisville in the Big East under Rick Pitino, the Cardinals have not looked anything like the team that Pitino led through the Conference USA or even the Kentucky teams he had in the mid-90s. All of the sudden players aren't developing, transfers aren't panning out, and no senior leadership is happening. The questions have to grow, when Louisville has lost a second straight game and a second straight year losing to Kentucky. This time 61-49. The game was tied 40-40 with under 10 minutes left and despite keeping it to 49-45 with just under 4 minutes left, the Cardinals let the Wildcats go on a 12-4 run to pull away.
The team's defense just hasn't been showing up and crunch pressure has seen Louisville continue to wilt. It could simply be the Cardinal players Pitino has recruited and gotten aren't nearly what the recruiting pundits initially proclaimed them to be, but it just seems that there is something else happening.




