Double Bonus: Louisville

2015BB_louisville_perrantes001b
Virginia had to use various offensive strategies against Louisville in order to pull out the 5-point win. ~ Mike Ingalls

Virginia and Louisville battled in front of a sold-out crowd at the John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday with the Cavaliers winning 52-47. Honestly though, considering the toughness, physicality, and refusal to wilt on display, they probably would have slugged it out in an empty building, on a playground, or anywhere else really. The Double Bonus revisits the showdown.

A Change In Approach

Louisville presents a difficult challenge for opponents because of its strategy on defense. The Cardinals rotate defenses and try to disrupt your rhythm offensively. That’s not all that unusual. What is unique is their match-up zone and man-to-man camouflage attack on defense. Sometimes, the Cards are in a straight match-up zone. Sometimes, they are in a straight man-to-man. Sometimes, they use both … in the same possession.

Opponents have to decide how to deal with those shifts.

“They switch it up so sometimes you can’t tell,” UVa’s Malcolm Brogdon said. “You’ll bring the ball down and in that possession, they’ll switch back and forth. So they’re just hard to get a read on in terms of running your offense.”

...