LOUIVILLE, Kentucky — Louisville’s men’s basketball program may not have been the prettiest of last Saturday’s game against Florida A&M, but it was a win nonetheless.
Despite shooting 34.4% from the field and recording 22 turnovers, the Cardinals are KFC Yum! The game came on the heels of his 94–83 win against Western Kentucky and established Kenny’s first winning streak of his Pain era.
It’s a far cry from how the Cardinals saw their first nine games of the season. Not only did they lose all nine of his, but the Hilltoppers went into the matchup losing his final six by an average margin of 25.2.
One of the factors that helped Louisville’s winning streak was the return of Sydney Curry.
“You see a little difference in his energy, a little difference in how desperate he is to rebound and fight, and even chasing a blocked shot they called a foul,” Payne said. “It’s a good indication that he was somewhere in the rim.”
The 6-foot-8-inch, 270-pound forward was a force of nature for Louisville last year. In his last five games of his 2021-22 season for the Cardinals, he averaged 17.6 points per game and his 9.0 rebounds, while shooting from the field was his 64.4.
He was widely expected to keep up that pace this season, but he may have been on Milk Carton’s side. In his nine-game losing streak in Louisville to start the 2022-23 season, he not only averaged 1.7 points per game and he averaged 3.6 rebounds and shot 40.0 percent, but also looked lethargic and improved last season. seemed much less energetic than
So what has changed? The answer is very simple. Diet and strict discipline.
Payne didn’t go into specifics about her exact diet, but added that she used to call Curry every morning at 1:30 a.m. to make sure she was following it closely. Early dividends are already starting to come in, as Payne says Curry has lost “about nine to ten pounds” in the past week and a half.
“I think he understands. His energy is up and you can see him coming,” Payne said. “The way he was rebounding the ball even before this game. : He chases the ball with both hands, grabs it and grabs it, gets stronger when the ball hits his hands, that’s important for us.”
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Not only does it show up in practice, it shows up on the court as well. He had 10 points and 6 rebounds in Louisville’s win over the Rattlers, and against Florida A&M he had 13 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. Over those two games, he’s averaging 11.5 points and 12.5 rebounds while shooting 8-of-12 from the field and 7-of-10 at the free-throw line.
After the Florida A&M game, he said, “It felt good to come in with a good mindset to play hard.” It felt good to win and get a good win.
Of course, there is still work to be done. Curry needs to stay true to his diet so he can maintain his current offensive form even if he doesn’t get better, pick-and-roll the Achilles heel and continue working on his defense.
“For us to be a good defensive team, we need Syd Curry to get on the ball screen and get his feet going,” Payne said. “I’m not trying to fool him. It’s one of the things I might do in a pinch, but overall, I want Syd Curry to be confident he can get up on the ball screen. He does it for real and is confident.
That being said, progress is better than no progress. If Louisville continues its upward trend from his current 2-9 record, much will depend on Louisville’s efforts to get what Curry needs and Curry’s willingness to maintain discipline. there is
It just shows that you have to do whatever you have to do: diet, stretch, condition, massage,” Payne said. With energy, we have to.
Louisville will be holding Lipscomb at KFC Yum on Tuesday, December 20th. center. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 PM ET.
(Sidney Curry Photo: Jamie Rhodes – USA TODAY Sports)
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