Cards alter philosophy to compensate for missed threes

Louisville coach Rick Pitino spoke to the media Thursday night to address the growing concern surrounding his team's shooting ability.

"If I had anyone on this team that could shoot like my Kentucky teams, we'd be undefeated," a displeased Pitino said. "I can't get through to them about getting the ball inside to David (Padgett), so we have to move to Plan B."

"Plan B" is a series of plays that begin with a missed three, leading the offense to operate after gathering a long rebound.

"Richard's (Pitino) job the last couple of days in practice was to chart where our rebounds landed after we missed," Pitino said. "With guys like Jerry (Smith), E5 (Earl Clark), Tello (Juan Palacios), and Preston (Knowles), the ball usually bounds off about ten feet and into the backcourt. T-Will's (Terrence Williams), however, have been all over the floor. Usually, they graze the rim and hit the guy on the opposite side in the face."

Louisville, who plays Rutgers this Saturday in Freedom Hall, are 12 th in the Big East in 3-point percentage, while leading the league in threes taken.

"I don't think there's any way to stop these guys from taking threes," Pitino said. "It's just their nature. Instead, we need to use the misses to our advantage."

Padgett, the player who will benefit least from this change, seemed surprisingly excited.

"I finally have a chance to get the ball," Padgett said. "We have a few plays in this new package where, after two missed threes, T-Will fires a pass towards me. If I can get a hand on it, I may get a shot."