LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The most dangerous thing any observer can do after an intrasquad scrimmage is make sweeping predictions about a college basketball team.
Unconfirmed sources say I once watched a University of Louisville Red/White scrimmage and suggested that Samardo Samuels flashed skills that reminded me of (gulp) Wes Unseld. (OK, I'll confirm the report. Air ball, Dr. Bo.)
But let's live dangerously. Considering the Louisville men's basketball team won four games last season, it would be silly to craft a column saying that coach Kenny Payne's second Cardinal team will be better than his first Cardinal team.
Of course, they will be better.
Payne has his guys, guys that want to play with his spirit of unselfishness and togetherness, guys who have flushed the negativity of the last two winters out of their DNA. The world could not survive another 4-28 over the next 100 years.
After watching a Red team, led by Tre White (17 points) and Dennis Evans (12 points and five blocks), defeat the White team led by Skyy Clark (11 points and five assists), 62-51, on Wednesday night in front of 5,719 appreciative fans at the KFC Yum! Center, I decided that instead of suggesting anybody reminded me of the next Pervis Ellison or Donovan Mitchell, I'd focus on Three Reasons the Cardinals will be better.
1. The Leadership of White and Clark
The leadership void was never filled on this team last season. When things went poorly, spirits and effort sagged. Heads dropped. Negativity reigned.
White and Clark looked and talked like guys who will not let that happen nearly as much season. They shared the ball. They played fast but they did not play out of control. They looked to score without looking to hunt shots.
"What I saw from (White) tonight is why I brought him here," Payne said.
White had 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a steal — and did it under control. On multiple trips, White organized his teammates in a huddle and delivered instructions on what his teammates on the Red squad needed to do better. He is a sophomore who exceled at USC last season and looked the part.
Ditto for Clark. Too many times, Louisville played out of control last season, a crushing quality that led to a team that ranked 352nd in the nation in turnover percentage.
Clark played with reasonable pace. He can beat defenders off the dribble but he was not obsessed with it. He encouraged freshmen Curtis Williams and Kaleb Glenn to keep shooting even when their attempts were not falling. He did have five turnovers, but at least two were the result of teammates dropping crisp passes.
"Me and Tre, we've known each other since ninth grade," Clark said. "So we've been best friends for a long time. And we're both some dogs and we're going to feed off each other.
"When we both get rolling, we feed off each other and we feed off the team. We both love to compete on offense and defense. So only good things can happen."
"For myself, I really just want to be a leader this year," White said. "I want to show that I can lead a team.
"But also, besides me, I'm just really excited to be with this group of guys. Our chemistry is crazy.
"Like if we're off the court, we'd be together all day. So it's really like when we play on the court, it's like it's not even like a game. We're just playing for each other. So it's really the bond. The brotherhood we have is gonna go a long way."
2. The Potential of Evans
At 7 feet, 1 inch tall, Evans is 3 inches bigger than his tallest teammate, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. But there are four Cardinals who weigh more than Evans, who is listed at 215 pounds. His legs look like the legs of a 150-pounder.
I mention that because Evans has work to do in the weight room and in conditioning drills. Payne mentioned that the Cards' staff must help him get strong in his ankles, knees and hips.
That might take another year or even two.
But Evans appeared to have the skills to help this team this season. He's a big guy who plays like he wants to be a big guy. He ran the floor and worked to establish position near the basket on both ends.
He blocked five shots and likely altered the arc of at least five more. Defense matters to Evans.
He attempted seven shots and made all but one. The first five were dunks, and the sixth was a layup. His second flush was a reverse over his head with his back to the basket. There was nobody on the Cardinals who could make shots like that last season.
With experience and added strength, Evans looked like a guy who will impact games this season, even if he is a bench guy who plays limited minutes. It's been a few minutes since Louisville had a guy with his skill set.
"Dennis changes so much," Clark said. "Five blocks, you guys are going to see that all season. I think he should average that.
"But having Dennis under the basket (on defense), I mean l like to attack downhill but I've got to think (about that) even throwing lobs."
3. The Ongoing Fight for Playing Time
Depth was an issue for Louisville last season. There was no depth at point guard. There was minimal depth inside. There is not a more powerful motivator than the bench but Payne did not have the opportunity to bench guys who played out of control last season.
That should change this season.
As I said earlier, it was only one 32-minute scrimmage. Sweeping proclamations are dangerous.
But if you asked me to pick the five guys that Payne will start when the season begins Nov. 6 against UMBC, this would be my group: Clark, White, Mike James, J.J. Traynor and Huntley-Hatfield.
But Evans, Williams, Glenn, Koron Johnson and Ty-Laur Johnson looked like pieces who intend to help.
I asked Payne how close he was to settling on his first five.
"Not close at all," Payne said.
"I want them to earn it, to be honest with you. I want to be able to look at this and say I've got 10 starters, 11 starters, 12 starters. Now you all figure it out.
"They can make my job easy. Or they can make my job literally very hard.
"We have a lot of good players. But in order for them to make my job hard, all 12, 13, 14, 15, whatever, they've all got to play great. Then, I've got to make decisions.
"But if some guys decide, I'm not going to class today, my job just became easy. I'm not sharing the ball. My job just became easy.
"I don't like my teammates. My job has became easy. I'm gonna be late to something. My job just became easy.
"So I'd like for my job to be hard. But they decide that."
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