The Floyd Street Tribune: Sweet relief, sweet release
Inside: A reflection on getting over the hump in a season of tumbling down hills.
Thanks so much for sticking with me through a difficult season. Miss the previous newsletter? We laid bare the staggering numbers Louisville basketball is living with this campaign.
In a season as difficult as this, there was something pure and simple and joyous and poetic about Louisville’s win on Wednesday night.
The Mike James 3 to go up seven with 2:40 to go, the one where he back-pedaled and shuffled down the floor shouting and shouting. Jae’Lyn Withers strumming the air guitar after a big 3. El Ellis with his headband off and screaming into the camera. The clip of Roosevelt Wheeler shouting “woo!” into the team huddle.
Those were the scenes of a team that desperately, desperately needed something — anything — to be happy about, to be proud of, to celebrate. The emotions of the experience came through, a potent potpourri of relief and excitement and, yes, even memory of what it feels like to win. Most college athletes who play at a level as high as the ACC won a whole lot before they got to college. That doesn’t make it any easier to win in the ACC or anywhere else at that level, but it certainly (1) makes consistent losing a lot harder and (2) comes back pretty quickly as a core memory when the Ws do happen.
So, today Louisville gets its flowers. The Cards still struggled with giveaways, turning the ball over on a quarter of their possessions, and they didn’t shoot the cover off the ball. But they defended well, they won a lot of 50/50 moments and made a handful of big shots in key moments. Everyone in the program needed a win, no matter how they got it.
