Pitino: Cards need to snap out of it

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Louisville coach Rick Pitino doesn't need a whistle. He needs a couch, a clipboard and a sign that reads "the doctor is in."

In six weeks, the Cardinals' confidence and top-five ranking has vanished thanks to a pair of neutral site losses, the latest a 70-64 defeat to Minnesota last week.

While Pitino knows his underachieving team could be better at free throws and 3-pointers, he thinks Louisville's biggest problem may be between the ears.

"We've got a lot of guys that have mood swings and that's why I think we're not reaching our potential right now," Pitino said. "I don't think it has anything to do with basketball, I think it has to do with psychology. That's the unfortunate thing. We've got to get through that period."

The sooner the better for the 19th-ranked Cardinals (7-2), who host dangerous UAB (8-3) on Saturday. The game begins the final sprint toward a brutal Big East schedule, one Louisville hardly appears ready for after being dominated for long stretches by the undefeated Golden Gophers.

Though the Cardinals have struggled from the foul line (63 percent) and the 3-point line (34 percent), Pitino is more concerned by the inconsistency of his upperclassmen, particularly forwards Earl Clark and Terrence Williams.

Both have been spectacular at times. But they haven't been spectacular enough to take some of the pressure off freshman center Samardo Samuels, who is still trying to adjust to not being the dominant player on the floor.

"We need to get better play out of our veterans," Pitino said. "They're just not playing any better than last year. They're just maintaining their level. You come back (to school) to get better, not to stay the same and we've got to get better."

Clark, who returned for his junior year after flirting with the NBA last spring, is averaging 13.6 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds. Yet his focus can wane. Pitino joked following a win over Ohio this month that the Cardinals didn't start playing until "Earl got out of his coffin."

Pitino isn't laughing anymore.

"I thought he'd be a very intimidating defensive player," Pitino said. "We've just got to get more out of him and more out of T-Will and not isolated games where you play nine games and two stick out. It should be seven games that stick out. That's the way it is when you have the talent of Earl or T-Will."

The backcourt hasn't been much better.

While sophomore spark plug Preston Knowles has been a pleasant surprise, juniors Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith have plateaued and none of the guards seems capable of getting to the line or getting their teammates involved.

Williams and Clark are the team leaders in assists and nobody in the backcourt has taken more than 21 free throws this season.

Sosa in particular has remained an enigma. He seemed on the verge of becoming a breakout star at the end of his freshman year, scoring 31 in a season-ending loss to Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Yet he's never been able to grab control and has been chastised by Pitino for being too erratic with his emotions and his play.

Pitino said he's tried just about everything to get Sosa to snap out of it and even arranged for Steve Nash to give Sosa a pep talk. It worked. For a couple of days anyway.

"Edgar is his own worst enemy," Pitino said. "He battles his own demons."

The two had a heart-to-heart while the team was in Phoenix last week. Sosa told Pitino how he'd received a call from a relative who had watched the loss to Minnesota and wondered why Sosa looked so morose on the bench.

"He said to me 'That really hit home,"' Pitino said. "And it does hit home while we're sitting on the couch in Phoenix talking, but as soon as he gets in between the lines, it changes. The day he overcomes this, he'll be a really good basketball player. I hope it's before he leaves here."

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