U of L beats UK - U of L fans now believe their "okay" team is a top 5 team again lol

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090105/COLUMNISTS01/901050359

The first University of Louisville basketball practice after the puzzling Wednesday-night loss to Nevada-Las Vegas was scheduled for 11 a.m. on New Year's Day. Except for Edgar Sosa

Sosa was summoned to Rick Pitino's office at 10:15 that morning. Pitino had a request for his mercurial junior point guard:

Think hard about an immediate transfer to another school. Call your mother and brother and talk about it. Happy New Year.

Sosa had endured these meetings before with his demanding coach. Every year since the kid arrived from New York City in 2006. But to Sosa, this one sounded different. There was more of an edge to Pitino's voice. The coach was tired of his pouting, tired of the way he dropped his head whenever one of his jumpers clanked, tired of his sloppy passing, tired of the way Sosa's game has regressed since his promising freshman season.

"I want you to look at some schools where they don't play any defense," Pitino said. "It's painful watching you."

"He was pretty serious," Sosa said. "He said it was going to be our last meeting."

Not true. Sosa and Pitino had another meeting yesterday. They met on the middle of the floor at Freedom Hall. They were surrounded by the rest of the U of L Cardinals, a disbelieving University of Kentucky team and a wall of sound.

This meeting was a celebration of the stunning, 25-foot dagger that Sosa delivered against the Wildcats, a high and deadly three-pointer from the top of the lane with 2.3 seconds to play that beat UK, 74-71.

"That's the Edgar Sosa that I know," said Andre McGee, the senior who shares time at point guard with Sosa. "He's a tough, confident player who can make all the plays. Everybody on this team believes in him. He just has to stop being so hard on himself."

The only folks that Sosa was hard on yesterday were the defenders UK coach Billy Gillispie assigned to him.

Sosa was supposed to drive and then toss the ball to somebody, preferably a more dependable shooter like McGee or Jerry Smith.

Not this time. Pitino barked at Sosa to attack the basket with six seconds to play. But he waved off a pick from Will Scott, surged ahead on a drive and then realized that UK point guard Michael Porter was backpedaling to stop him from getting into the lane.

So Sosa, a 20 percent three-point shooter this season who had missed his last five three-pointers, stopped and launched. It was just as perfect and unforgettable as the game-winning shots Tony Branch, Milt Wagner, Reece Gaines and others have made for the Cardinals through the years.

"It feels good to know that 20 years from now, I'll be able to tell my kids that I made a shot like that," Sosa said.

But the true value in yesterday's game for Sosa was that he started for the first time in two weeks and finally delivered 26 formidable minutes, scoring a season-high 18 points, making eight of nine free throws and balancing his two turnovers with two assists and two steals. Before yesterday, Sosa had scored only 19 points in U of L's previous five games. A player who had averaged 11.4 points was giving the Cardinals less than half that -- and practically no leadership -- this season.

Sosa not only made the game's final three, he made the first one, too, this one from 22 feet at the top of the key. Sosa punctuated that shot by punching his right fist and turning to shout at a visitor sitting in the first row across from the U of L bench -- former Cardinal Francisco Garcia.

You see, Sosa's meeting with Pitino wasn't his only face-to-face session since the UNLV game, a game in which Sosa played 13 uninspired minutes, contributing four turnovers, no assists and two points.

Garcia used a break in the Sacramento Kings' schedule to arrange an unplanned visit to Louisville. He was a surprise visitor at the Cardinals' morning practice at Freedom Hall yesterday. He told Sosa they were going to eat the pre-game meal together and then they would talk.

Actually, Garcia would talk. Sosa would listen. Garcia, another New York City guy, is one of his heroes.

"I just told him he was a better player than that," Garcia said. "I told him that playing basketball was fun, and that he needed to start having fun on the court again."

"He didn't understand why I had that screwed-up look on my face all the time," Sosa said.

The screwed-up look on Edgar Sosa's face disappeared yesterday. Perhaps a game like the one Sosa played yesterday can make it stay away.

Reach Rick Bozich at (502) 582-4650 or rbozich@courier-journal.com. Comment on this column, and read his blog and previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/bozich.