By Russ Brown
Special to NKyTribune
LOUISVILLE — With University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino still making himself scarce to the media for the first time in his 15 seasons here, three players were made available Friday to preview Saturday’s game against Eastern Michigan and it turned out to be an entertaining and informative session.
Among the three — freshman Ray Spalding and sophomores Quentin Snider and Anas Mahmoud — Spalding stole the show with his one-sentence description of playing for Pitino and other observations.
“I’ve never met a guy so short who cusses so loud,” the Louisville Trinity High School product said, prompting laughter from the reporters on hand in the Yum! Center practice facility.
Spalding added that “every day you see a new side” and that it took him awhile to get used to Pitino’s intense style and expletive-laden, X-rated language, which he did with the help of some advice from Snider and the Cardinals’ other veterans.
“Q gave me a lot of tips on how to handle Coach Pitino. So did some of the other players who played last year,” Spalding said. “It kind of got too me a little bit. My coach at Trinity cussed a little bit, but it wasn’t anything like that. (Pitino) told me to listen to his message. He said, ‘I relay a message in those cuss words. Don’t think too much about those.'”
So what has been Pitino’s main message to the 6-foot-10, 210-pound forward?
“Work hard every day. Get stronger, of course. Defense. Here at Louisville Coach Rick is really big on defense, rebounding, blocked shots. I am really keyed in on my school work also. Getting to classes on time.”
When Spalding signed initially, he thought that he would be going against Montrezl Harrell in practice this season, but Harrell skipped his senior season to play in the NBA, much to Spalding’s relief.
“I’m kind of glad he left,” Spalding said. “He’s a big guy.”
Spalding made his first career start in Louisville’s last game, a 111-63 rout of Grand Canyon and is listed as a probable starter against Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. Saturday in the KFC Yum! Center.
While it’s still not clear where Spalding will fit into the rotation once the competition heats up, beginning with the Dec. 26 trip to Kentucky followed by the ACC season, he has had his moments against outmanned non-conference opponents.
Spalding scored in double figures in back-to-back games last month, totaling 30 points while hitting 14-of-17 shots. He had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds in 31 minutes against North Florida after scoring 12 points against St. Francis Brooklyn.
However, against UofL’s only quality opponent so far, then-No. 3, now-No. 1 Michigan State, Spalding played only six minutes and registered goose eggs across the stats sheet, except for one assist, in the 71-67 loss.
“I think Ray Spalding, for the minutes played. . .he plays 14 minutes, has seven rebounds, seven deflections, two blocks, he played very well, Pitino said of Spalding’s performance against Grand Canyon following the contest. “He did a very good job. Ray is going to be terrific some day. If I had a Christmas wish, I wish that Louisville would have more talented players like Ray Spalding and Quentin Snider.”
As Spalding noted, he needs to get stronger to be able to hold his own in the paint, but he isn’t the only Cardinal in that predicament. Mahmoud, a seven-foot beanpole, arrived on campus weighing 187 pounds and has gained 26. He hopes to reach 220-225 by the end of the season, but that’s going to be difficult with all the running in practices and games.
“I’ve been trying to gain weight, but my body type is not the type that will go to the 260s or 270s,” the Egyptian native says. “Hopefully, I can get to 240 or 230 at some point. That would be really nice. In the off season I’ll have a better chance to gain more weight.”
Mahmoud says he lifts weights five times a week and eats as much as he can, but “it’s just my body type, I guess. I don’t think my body will take me far.”
Mahmoud has played in all seven games as a reserve, averaging 3.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per outing. He has blocked 10 shots, all of them coming in the last four games.
The No. 22/19 Cardinals (6-1) have won their five home games by an average of 37.2 points, and Saturday’s game figures to be more of the same. Although Eastern Michigan, a member of the Mid-American Conference, has a 6-3 record, three of those wins have come against three NAIA teams — Siena Heights, Marygrove and Madonna (the school, not the singer) and a Division III program (Rochester College).
The Eagles’ two Division I victories were over Vermont (70-50) and Nebraska-Omaha (80-73). They lost to Michigan State, 89-65.
BOWL NOTE — UofL’s bowl assignment just got better. In a surprising move, Texas A&M announced that starting quarterback Kyle Allen has been granted his release to transfer and will depart immediately, leaving the Aggies (8-4) shorthanded for their Music City Bowl game against the Cardinals (7-5) on Dec. 30 in Nashville.
Allen, a sophomore who was a five-star recruit out of Arizona, started nine games this season, including the last two after losing the starting job to freshman Kyler Murray for three games at midseason.
Allen completed 160 of 283 passes for 2,210 yards and 17 touchdowns, with seven interceptions, this season. Murray, who presumably will start against UofL, passed for 686 yards and five TDs, also with seven picks. He rushed for 335 yards (6.3 per carry). Murray’s backup will be little-used sophomore Jake Hubenak, who played in five games, completing 12-of-27 passes for 92 yards.