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College basketball
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 1, 2003
If Louisville has returned to national prominence, as its record and lofty ranking indicate, coach Rick Pitino will know what was the turning point: his decision to move star shooting guard Reece Gaines to point.
"When we did that," Pitino said, "that's when we became a much better basketball team and showed great promise."
The No. 8-ranked Cardinals (15-1) are winners of 14 in a row entering today's nationally televised game against No. 19 Indiana (14-5); 11 straight since that position change in the backcourt. Their streak includes a resounding 81-63 win against intrastate rival Kentucky and road wins against Ohio State, Charlotte, East Carolina, Tennessee and Southern Mississippi. The Cards were 3-10 away from Freedom Hall last season.
"It was definitely a mental adjustment," said Gaines, a 6-foot-6 senior. "As a 2-guard, all you have to do is shoot when you're open. I have a scoring mentality, but the point-guard spot is different. You have to look for your teammates first and pick your spots. That was a big adjustment.
"But I've always been unselfish. I never scored to fill my stat sheet. I only scored because that's what the team needed me to do to help us win. Once I realized the team needed me to play the point to win, I started to adjust to it and now I like playing there."
In 11 starts at point, he is averaging 14.8 points and 4.9 assists, which includes his first double double Wednesday against Southern Miss, 16 points and 11 assists.
Gaines' move has allowed Pitino to give more playing time to talented freshman shooters, guard Taquan Dean and small forward Francisco Garcia, nearly 20 minutes a game each. Pitino has 10 players averaging double-digit minutes, which keeps players fresh as they press and ballhawk in a halfcourt defense, a signature of his successful Kentucky teams.
"It's kind of unusual for a player (to move) in midstream like this," Pitino said. "It just shows you the talent Reece Gaines has to go from one of the best scoring 2-guards in the nation, change his whole mental approach to the game, become a point and get other people shots. You have to be truly great to do that. I think he is. I think he is one of the premier guards in the country and now he's one of the premier point guards in the country."
For the record, Pitino made a similar early season move like this while at Kentucky in 1995-96.
Pitino had shooting star Tony Delk at the point, but realized after two games that was a mistake. He then inserted Anthony Epps at point and moved Delk to his more natural spot as the 2-guard. Delk ended up the SEC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American, and the Wildcats won the NCAA championship.
'CAUSE YOU'VE GOT PERSONALITY: N.C. State sophomore swingman Julius Hodge has drawn a bit of criticism for being too demonstrative. While Herb Sendek, the Wolfpack's stoic coach, said his star is making progress in channelling his energy more productively, he does not see anything so bad.
"I don't want every one of our guys to come out of a cookie cutter," Sendek said. "I think Julius' passion and spirit and competitiveness adds a lot to our basketball team. He's a guy who's genuinely enjoying what he's doing. He's somebody who's having fun out there playing basketball. He wears his emotions on his sleeve sometimes, but if somebody were wearing a gray flannel suit and didn't have any expression on his face, then you'd say to me, 'Gee. It doesn't seem like your guys are having fun, Herb.' So, you have to be who you are."
STAT LINE: Manhattan junior guard Luis Flores went 13-for-18 from the floor and 16-for-18 from the line for 44 points in last week's 93-86 win against Fairfield.
-- Brian Landman covers men's college basketball. He can be reached at (813) 226-3347 or by e-mail at landman@sptimes.com.