The Floyd Street Tribune: Two Louisville basketball comments that caught my attention
Inside: What Danny Manning and El Ellis said on my Floyd Street's Finest podcast has me very intrigued about Louisville's future. Plus, as always, recruiting!
Thanks for reading The Floyd Street Tribune! If you missed last week’s newsletter, you can catch up here. We discussed El Ellis and his role with the new coaching staff, and after having him on the podcast, I can delve deeper into that very subject. Subscribers have access to each newsletter via the main TFST page.
Two thoughts: Quotes that caught my ear
Let’s talk about two quotes from my interviews on the Floyd Street’s Finest podcast with Louisville guard El Ellis and associate head coach Danny Manning that particularly caught my attention. I don’t want this to defeat the purpose of listening to the pod and I don’t want the podcast to replace the newsletter, but when something interesting is said, this is a great space to expand on it and analyze it. I highly encourage you listen to both interviews in full.
Let’s start with Manning, because his episode came out last week. (You can listen on Apple or Spotify.) One thing he said really stuck with me. In the context of college Kenny Payne being a versatile swingman at 6-8, a forward who was comfortable inside and out, Manning said Louisville might have “times where we run out on the court and we have a 2-guard standing 6-8.”
With the current roster makeup, and the potential addition of Emoni Bates, that does seem like a real possibility. I’ve noted before and I’ll say again here: Louisville’s roster composition is tall — 6-3, 6-5, 6-8, 6-8, 6-8, 6-9, 6-9, 6-10, 6-10. If Bates joins, that’s another 6-8/6-9 guy in the mix. And if Louisville adds Malachi Smith, the backcourt would be 6-3 (Ellis), 6-4 (Smith), 6-5 (James), 6-8 (Bates) and 6-8 (Ree).
How does that impact style of play? Well, a lot.