29 pictures from the Derby Classic game.

Enjoy

The sixty-third edition of Wallpaper Wednesday.

I know it is Tuesday, but I wanted to get this out in time for the first game (even if it is only by a few hours). I’ll admit to slacking off a little on WW the past few months but it sure has been hard to be motivated by football. I won’t commit to a weekly release but you can count on a few more wallpapers this season :). As always click on the picture to get the full-size one.

Yeah a win.

The team has made great strides in a short time. Here are 63 pics from the Exhibition win.

The Halloween game may have been a little scary but at least it was a win.

Wasn’t pretty, but it never is against the tigers.
65 pictures from the Exhibition.

YEAH, Basketball is back.
78 pictures from the UofL scrimmage.

51 pictures from the UofL football Victory.

31 pictures from the UofL football Victory.

For more information, click on the link below…

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Are you ready for some football?

The EmpireBowl NFL league is entering its 8th season and by now is run like a well-oiled machine. Our commissioner Needabuzz is a fantasy vet and he’ll be using the free fantasy tools at foxsports.com for all scoring and stats. Right now there is no limit on the number of entrants so feel free to check out this thread if you’re interested. More information will be forthcoming as we get closer to kickoff.

Basketball season never ends.

Whether you’re just not feeling football this year or you’re just a hoops junkie like myself, you should check out our EmpireHoops BigEast Basketball league. We use only BigEast basketball players in this league which makes it a lot of fun for us Card fans. This will be our 2nd season and we had a blast last year. No outside websites are used so all scoring, stats, roster moves, trash talking etc. are done here at CardinalEmpire.com. Entry into this league is first-come, first-served so get in quick to assure yourself a spot when we start drafting players in October. For everything you need to know visit our fantasy hoops page in the forums.

45 pictures from the UofL football Spring Game.

The sixty-second edition of Wallpaper WednesdayThursday.

It’s a day late, but as I alluded to in my previous post, I am going to be a lot more lax on the schedule for WW’s during the summer. I was happy to receive a request for a Harry Wallpaper because I never made one with just him as the subject (although he is in a couple of them). So here is a wallpaper in honor of my man Harry who is in town for the Spring Game. As always click on the image to view full resolution at my Flickr archive.

The big seasons are over and I haven’t figured out what the WW schedule will be like over the “summer”. I had a few requests in my inbox I will try and knock out, but the stream is going to slow down this offseason. I apologize to anyone looking for their weekly dose.

–prudat

33 pictures from the UofL recruits at the game. 30 various other pictures including recruits for other schools.

first the UofL recruits

and now the other pics

29 pictures from the event.

The sixty-first edition of Wallpaper Wednesday.

A celebration of the Women’s Basketball 2008-2009 Season. They fell a little short of the ultimate goal but you can’t complain about the best season in school history. Photos were taken by Sam Hunter (www.flickr.com/photos/samhunter/). As always click on the image to view full resolution at my Flickr archive.

The sixtieth edition of Wallpaper Wednesday.

I was hoping to do two of these but alas only the Lady Cards are going to be representing in the Final Four. Photos were taken by Sam Hunter (www.flickr.com/photos/samhunter/). As always click on the image to view full resolution at my Flickr archive.

For the Louisville Cardinals, Friday’s meeting with Arizona in the Sweet 16 is more than just an opportunity for a second straight berth into the Elite Eight. Even if Terrence Williams and company can’t remember it (they were 7 at the time), Friday’s Sweet 16 meeting with Arizona is a shot at tourney vindication. It was in the 1994 West Regional that Khalid Reeves and the #2 seed Wildcats dispatched of the 10th-ranked Cards, ruining the postseason debut of Louisville’s black jerseys with an 82-70 drubbing behind Reeves’ 29 points. Fortunately for the Cards, a #1 overall seed ensures the home whites for at least one more game… and a shot at returning 15 years of postseason humiliation.

When the two teams meet at Lucas Oil Stadium, similarities to that Sweet 16 matchup won’t be hard to find. Louisville enters the Sweet 16 as one of the most athletically gifted, physically imposing teams left dancing, putting studs like Williams, Earl Clark, and Samardo Samuels in places once occupied by Clifford Rozier, Greg Minor, and Dwayne Morton. But in talented guard Nic Wise and future NBA players Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill, the Wildcats have the horses to run past Louisville’s vaunted press and right into the regional final.

Can these Cards vanquish the demons of postseasons past? Will Nic Wise and Chase Budinger do their best Damon Stoudamire/Khalid Reeves impersonation for interim coach Russ Pennell? We dig in (and bury those old alternate road unis) for a look at the Wildcats of Arizona.

#12 Arizona Wildcats (21-13, 9-9 Pac-10)
Head Coach: Russ Pennell (1st season, 21-13)
Key Players: F Jordan Hill (18.4ppg, 11.0rpg, 54.5% FG), F Chase Budinger (17.9ppg, 6.3rpg, 3.4apg, 65 3-pt. FG), G Nic Wise (15.7ppg, 4.6apg, 64 3-pt. FG)
All-Time Series: tied, 2-2
Last Time: For seniors Terrence Williams & Andre McGee and juniors Earl Clark, Jerry Smith & Edgar Sosa, Chase Budinger and company should prove familiar faces Friday night. Budinger starred against many of the current Cards in the 2006 Jimmy V Classic, outplaying Louisville as a true freshman in Arizona’s 72-65 victory at Madison Square Garden. Budinger scored 17 points while C Ivan Radenovic posted a double-double (22 points, 13 rebounds). Williams added a double-double of his own (13-10) while Juan Palacios led the Cards with 15.
How They Got Here: For the most criticized at-large selection, the tourney gods sure shined a favorable light on their pod in week one. After drawing an overseeded Utah team in their opening round meeting, the Wildcats were the beneficiaries of Wake Forest’s opening-round no-show. Cleveland State’s Cedric Jackson couldn’t quite replicate his opening-round heroics against the Cats, sending them to their first Sweet 16 since 2005.

Required Reading
Surging Arizona Wildcats roll into Round of 16
Don’t be fooled by Arizona’s 12 seed
Chemistry, this year more than ever, key for Wildcats
Cats’ play rings a bell with Cards coach
Cats made mountain out of Hill
In Year 3, Budinger blooms into team leader
Arizona’s Budinger, Hill and Wise get rewarded
On Campus With ‘Cinderella’ Arizona

The Good
Cerberus Cats Much like the mythical dog of Greek legend, these Cats have their own three-headed monster waiting at the gate to the next round. In Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and Nic Wise, Arizona has a top trio that matches up well with any other triumvirate still playing at this point in the season. While Budinger’s early accomplishments at Zona have made him the face of this Wildcat team, it is the highly underrated Hill and Wise who will prove to be Louisville’s toughest match-ups. Hill is a lanky, athletic big man who burst onto the Pac-10 scene in 2008-2009. After an up-and-down sophomore campaign, the junior center for Zona has become a double-double machine averaging 18.4ppg and 11.0rpg for the Cats this year. Wise is a super-quick, strong player for his size (5’10”) who can beat you with his great court vision (4.6apg) or an equally adept long-range shooting eye (42.4%). Despite his lack of size, the diminutive floor leader draws an impressive 4.0 fouls per game (only Samardo Samuels draws more among the Cards) and earned 145 attempts from the free throw line this season.

Shoot ‘Em Up With Zona’s big three leading the way, the Wildcats are one of the best shooting teams you’ll find. As a team, Arizona shoots an effective field goal percentage of 53.4% (34th nationally) while ranking in the top 35 for three-point FG % (39.4%, 18th) and FT % (73.9%, 32nd). Hill (54.5%), Budinger (47.6%), and Wise (45.8%) all rank in the nation’s Top 175 for overall FG%. Louisville, by comparison, has only one (Earl Clark, 45.3%).

No Harm, No Foul Despite playing in a league known for its finesse style and quick whistles, the Wildcats are one of the least-called teams in the nation for holds, blocks, and reach-ins. Arizona commits just 15.7 fouls per contest, ranking them 23rd nationally among the least-whistled teams. Six different players have combined for just 11 total disqualifications on the season with only Nic Wise (3) earning more than one early evening on the bench from among the regular starters.
No paint for you! With 6’10” Jordan Hill patrolling the middle of Arizona’s match-up zone and long forwards Chase Budinger and Jamelle Horne on the wings, the area inside the three-point arc has been a regular no-fly zone for Wildcat opponents. While rare trips inside the arc have been successful for opponents (49.4% 2-pt. shooting), teams are still getting just 49.6% of their total scoring from 2-point land (266th of 344 ranked). Arizona is not even close to a shot-blocking threat (just 3 per game), meaning that teams just don’t bother entering the middle of the Louisville-like zone. Instead, Arizona opponents are taking 40.7% of all field goal attempts from behind the arc, settling for the triple instead of looking to make something happen in the paint.

The Bad
Arizona Wil_cats See, no D. Arizona has been not unlike its Pac-10 counterparts for much of the season, ranking in the middle of the pac(k) or worse in most every defensive statistic. Arizona allows a somewhat reasonable 68.2ppg (180th nationally) on 43.3% shooting (166th), but makes life too easy for teams who can get inside their match-up zone. Once Zona opponents have found a way inside the 2-3 look, players are shooting 49.4% inside the arc, ranking the interior Arizona defense 228th nationally. It all adds up to an effective shooting percentage of 50.4% for opponents, 228th amongst all DI teams.

Set Up A Perimeter Perimeter Few teams left dancing protect against the three-point shot worse than the Arizona Wildcats. In fact, none do. As a percentage of total points allowed, Zona allows 35.7% of its opponents’ points to come from behind the arc, worst among the Sweet 16 teams (Villanova is next at 34.8%). Arizona is middle of the pack protecting against a big shooting night, allowing opponents to connect on 34.5% of their three-point attempts (183rd nationally). But twelve different Wildcat opponents have gone off for big nights, hitting at least 5 three-pointers in individual efforts against the Zona zone. Of those 12 players, eight of them came in Arizona’s last 8 regular season games, capped by Cal’s Jerome Randle canning eight in the Bears’ 83-77 win.

The Ugly
Get ‘Em Bodied For all the length along Arizona’s front line, the Wildcats are not a very effective team protecting the offensive glass. While Hill is a glass eater on both ends of the floor, the rest of the Cats typically fall short when it comes to grabbing defensive rebounds. Teams this season have corralled 33.8% of all offensive rebound opportunities, ranking the Wildcat box-out unit 223rd nationally in protecting their own glass against second chance opportunities.

Basketball on Demand For teams facing the Arizona defense, hoops have been like on-demand TV… no interruptions. Arizona does not create much havoc for its opponents, coming up with just 6.2 steals per game (203rd nationally) and causing a turnover on just 18.2% of opponents’ possessions (300th). Once inside the lane, the rim is usually wide open against any threat of a third-row return to sender since Arizona averages just 3.0 blocks per game (185th) with Jordan Hill accounting for much of that threat (58 blocks on the season, a 1.7bpg average).

Go Deep! As previewed in the regional revue, Arizona may be the thinnest of all remaining tourney teams, getting next to nothing off their bench. The Wildcats are getting just 17.8% of their minutes played from the bench, ranking them 340th among 344 DI teams. In their two opening-weekend wins, the Cats got a grand total of 46 minutes off the bench, which turned into just 5 points and 3 rebounds (28 minutes and all 5 points came from sophomore G Zane Johnson).

The fifty-ninth edition of Wallpaper Wednesday.

Last (at least for the immediate future) of the superhero series; Preston Knowles. I know some of you were expecting a Sweet Sixteen Wallpaper but, call me spoiled, I hope to be making one a little higher on the food chain. As always click on the image to view full resolution at my Flickr archive.