Brown: Solution for Louisville basketball's slow starts not as simple as it should be

There’s an answer to helping solve the slow starts by the Louisville men’s basketball team. It’s Tre White.

Simple solution, right?

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, nothing is that simple. Because it’s not just White’s return back to full health; they’re waiting on forward Emmanuel Okorafor’s return, too.

And the 6-foot-9 sophomore may actually be more important.

“We’ve just got to focus. It’s not just one player; it’s a mindset of multiple guys,” U of L coach Kenny Payne said. “… I mean, you can’t start a game off and let a team get a big jump on you.”

The Cards have fallen into a bit of a pattern through the earlier portion of their ACC schedule, where they fall behind in the first 10 minutes and play the rest of the game trying to catch up.

An exception came when guard Mike James single-handedly got U of L off to a fast start at Miami. He made his first six shot attempts and accounted for 16 of their first 18 points. It’s not a coincidence that they pulled out a win in Coral Gables.

“One of our identities is we fight, we never give up,” White said. “So I think we just have to start off stronger, start off together, and that fight is what we do, so I feel like we’ll be tough to mess with.”

Entering Saturday's game at Wake Forest, White had missed three games with a groin injury suffered in practice prior to U of L's loss Jan. 3 at Virginia. He’s come off the bench against N.C. State and North Carolina as he tries to work his way back to feeling fully healthy.

The Cards can’t afford to duplicate their outings against N.C. State, where the Wolfpack ran out to a 12-0 lead; and Carolina, where the Tar Heels made 11 of their first 15 shots and led 26-11 eight minutes into the game, as ACC play continues.

Here’s why Okorafor’s availability might help.

Though he’s played in only 10 games for the Cardinals and averaged fewer than seven minutes of playing time in those games his presence could help Payne restore a rightful rotation.

Okorafor, who has been sidelined by an ankle injury, is the only true big on the roster left who can back up Brandon Huntley-Hatfield after center Dennis Evans was declared medically ineligible to return and a recurring shoulder injury shut down forward JJ Traynor the remainder of the season.

Without Okorafor being available, it’s led Payne to start games with forward Danilo Jovanovich in place of White and Kaleb Glenn in the second half.

Entering the Wake Forest game, Jovanovich had made five starts in his place, and his minutes diminished from 25 in his first start at UVA to just four minutes against Carolina on Wednesday.

When Jovanovich plays in place of White, the Cards lose an offensive threat. Jovanovich has only four made baskets all season. White averages 12.2 points per game, including Wednesday’s 12-point performance after shooting 5 for 8 from the field.

Glenn is the better option. He rebounds at a higher rate and is more athletic.

With Glenn in the lineup to start the second half against the Pack and the Heels, Louisville got off to fast starts and trimmed halftime deficits of nine and 17 down to two and five, respectively. 

But Glenn has the highest foul rate on the team, according to KenPom.com. Despite being just 6-6, he’s the only option as a default backup center for Huntley-Hatfield. The Cards can’t afford for Glenn to rack up fouls early; that’s why they need Okorafor back.

Payne said Okorafor worked out before the Carolina game and was getting better, but he wasn’t ready.

It leaves the Cards waiting for a solution to a problem in a season they haven't had many answers.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball: What Kenny Payne needs to address slow starts