For Louisville, Russ Smith holds all the cards
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS – He coughed. His teammates hacked and gagged. Coaches recoiled in horror as he leaned into the timeout huddle. Patient Zero himself grew weary as the night went on, desperate not for Gatorade but for antibiotics, the best chicken noodle soup and the nice, warm sheets in his hotel room.
But faster than you can say sick, Russ Smith was making layups when he should have been laid up in bed. He was taking free throws instead of his own temperature. No runny nose, just running in transition. Vitamin C? Try lockdown D.
The more experienced Louisville Cardinals brushed illness aside to finish the upstart Oregon Ducks, and it was the ailing Smith who led the way in Louisville’s 77-69 win in the semifinal of the NCAA tournament’s Midwest Regional.
The Cardinals are a popular pick to win the national championship, and if they do, Smith is likely to be the reason. Even when fighting a cold, the junior star is hot, as he finished with a career-high-tying 31 points and surprisingly blocked the fourth shot of his career while shooting a scintillating 9-of-16 from the floor.
A better stat to show Smith’s dominance might be this one: Smith 9, Ducks 8. That was the score for the first 8:54 of the game. From the opening tip until he checked out for the first time with 4:35 left, Smith had 14 points and an assist, accounting for 16 Louisville points. Up to that point in the half, the entire Oregon team had scored only 21.
Smith single-handedly held off the Ducks in the final 7 1/2 minutes especially, with seven points and a sleek pass that created a dunk. That helped the Cardinals withstand an 18-point lead being cut to six. Smith’s closing stretch put away an Oregon team that, it must be said, didn’t quit.
Turns out it was just a question of overcoming a debilitating virus for the top-seeded Cardinals.
I sort of had to prod our guys the entire night, said Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who added that he told his team to just fight through it because he saw they weren’t playing the way they had all season. Russ has infected our entire team with a ridiculous cold, and all of our guys are really sick. It took a lot out of us because Oregon’s so good. Russ had to play way too many minutes. On every timeout, Russ is hacking in our faces.
For his part, Smith conceded afterward that he was terribly ill.
I just kept coughing, Smith said. I was pretty sick where it affected my conditioning. I talked to Coach a lot about what I could do to help the team win. I’m not the only one. Peyton [Siva] has got a cold. Chane [Behanan] has got a cold, and we’re fighting through it, dig in, just do whatever we can.
For the Cardinals, the one question hanging over the team is whether they have The Man on a title contender. Some feel Smith still must show he has what it takes to carry the load under immense pressure. While he was insanely good in helping Louisville win the Big East, Smith’s decision-making and shot selection are often under a microscope, and for good reason. In eight games this season, Smith made less than 30 percent of his field-goal attempts, and can flirt with recklessness.
In a sport in which most champions have ruthlessly steady stars, defensive-minded Louisville is likely to face more questions as they advance deeper in the tournament.
Russ Smith is a talented young man, Ducks coach Dana Altman said. When he got going, we didn’t have an answer.
Games like Friday’s erase doubts. Often, college basketball’s title winners are built around future NBA standouts, with Anthony Davis, Kemba Walker, Tyler Hansbrough and Carmelo Anthony serving as recent examples. But, scouts’ quibbles aside, Pitino said Smith is on that level.
I’d have him in the top 12 in the draft, the Hall of Fame finalist said. I’m very happy that everybody’s missing the boat because I’ll have him another year. When you watch the pros today, they go right away. And Russ is able to get to the foul line, get a shot off and guard. We were short of gas tonight without Russ Smith. We couldn’t win. He carried us on his back to a Final Four last year. That’s what Russ does.
Nonetheless, from here on out, Louisville could lose at practically any point and it wouldn’t be considered a giant upset.
This is about the ability of the Cardinals to score, and the biggest burden falls on Smith, who accounts for more than a quarter of Louisville’s offense. Trouble is, he’s prone to forcing the issue.
In Smith’s defense, things appear to be moving in the right direction.
Our offense has really grown in the last few weeks, Pitino said. We’re shooting an amazing percentage, which we didn’t do all season. That’s why we’re in the Elite Eight.
That could change at any time, starting on Sunday against a very good Duke defense here at Lucas Oil Stadium.
As much as Louisville’s defense is driven by all five players on the court, the points come from Smith, who averages 18.8 per game – no other Cardinal scores more than 10. Pitino’s bunch is built upon a sum-greater-than-parts concept, but in the home stretch of a close Final Four game, the weight of leadership will fall to Smith.
Anytime we struggle, center Gorgui Dieng said, he’s the first one I’m looking to.
Ultimately, Friday night was about Smith dominating a do-or-die game in that role. Only four times in school history has a player scored more points in an NCAA tournament game. If Smith can find a way to do that three more times against progressively tougher competition, the Cardinals will be riding their electric shooting guard to a trophy – cough or not.
