In this week's edition of ScoreCards, former Louisville player Tony Williams reflects on life after basketball and thoughts on the current U of L team Dominique Yates, Louisville Courier Journal


Welcome back, friends. It's been a while. 

Take off your shoes, turn on "Return of the Mack," pour yourself a glass of bourbon and let's dive into the latest Louisville basketball mailbag. 

The last time we did one of these, it was December and the Cards had yet to wade into conference play. Louisville was unranked, Kansas and Virginia were still undefeated and Dwayne Sutton had yet to record a double-double. 

How things have changed. 

Chris Mack is in the conversation for ACC Coach of the Year, Louisville is coming off its latest road upset of a ranked Virginia Tech team and March Madness isn't far away. Let's take a look at how things are shaping up for the Cards in the home stretch.  

From Blacksburg: Louisville bounces back with road upset of Virginia Tech

More headlines: What we learned from Kentucky's win over South Carolina

Got a question for next time? Follow me on Twitter (@danielle_lerner) and stay tuned for the next prompt for mailbag questions. 

Plus-minus is one of those numbers that I believe is only useful when analyzed in context with other stats. Louisville doesn't track cumulative plus-minus throughout the season, and neither does the NCAA. According to, Dwayne Sutton leads the Cards in box plus-minus (per 100 possessions) and is +11.9 through 23 games. 

Sutton's impact should be of no surprise to anyone who watches Louisville games, but Darius Perry is an example of how plus-minus can be fickle. In his last four appearances (he did not play in the Jan. 26 win vs. Pitt), Perry totaled 8 points in 46 minutes and was a combined -13. In Louisville's loss to UNC, however, he was the only Cardinal to finish in the positive (+3 in 17 minutes). Some of that was due to his 8 points, but it was also a result of his defensive efficiency when Louisville used a smaller lineup to put extended pressure on UNC. 

Another example is Khwan Fore, who averages 3.6 points in 19.6 minutes per game and whose box plus-minus of +4.0 ranks eighth on the team behind less-used players like Perry and Ryan McMahon. But a closer look shows Fore's defensive box plus-minus is +3.8, third on the team, revealing his inherent value as a defender. 

I think a lot of this has to do with Christen Cunningham, who most of the time is the one bringing the ball up the floor. Opponents know Cunningham is dangerous because he is equally capable of throwing a quick entry pass inside, pulling up for a 3-pointer or driving to the basket himself. Louisville's offense runs best when it has time to move the ball and set up a play, so opponents try to force decisions early in the shot clock. 

The Cards also have a lot of shooters who can hit from long range, which necessitates extended pressure. 

I'll assume you're asking this question to suss out whether King, a junior, could leave Louisville after the season either as a grad transfer or to pursue professional opportunities. I don't think King's season thus far has been good enough to warrant him turning pro, and I haven't heard anything concrete about him transferring. 

Louisville spokesman Kenny Klein said he didn't know specifics of King's academic progress but that the forward is a good student who has been named twice to the All-ACC Academic Team. 

Jordan Nwora is obviously Louisville's best candidate to turn pro, and I would expect both him and Steven Enoch to at least test the NBA draft waters. Nwora has potential to be a late second-round pick (I'll post a more detailed story on this later in the week), while Enoch is flying more under the radar at the moment. Both would have a much better chance to improve their stock if they played another year of college ball. I'll put the odds of either leaving at around 25-30 percent. 

I outkicked coverage for this question to Jake Lourim, our Louisville football writer. Jake says: "Zero. They'll be done after this week." The Cards are expecting to wrap things up Wednesday, national signing day, with a handful of recruits. You can follow a live tracker here. 
