La Familia scouts The Ville: "We have the better talent"

A very unique chapter of the Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry takes place tonight at Freedom Hall as La Familia faces The Ville for a spot in The Basketball Tournament semifinals (9 p.m. ET, FS1). The former Cats were a combined 17-2 vs. the Cards in their college careers. How will they fare against them as seasoned pros?

The only member of La Familia who didn’t play for Kentucky was not shy with his scouting report. Kerem Kanter is looking forward to a raucous environment, but expects La Familia’s talent — and conditioning — to win out in the end.

“I’ve never been to Louisville,” Kanter, La Familia’s leading scorer (22.3 points per game) said on Sunday. “I’ve never played there. I’ve never played against those guys but at the end of the day, it’s just going to be a basketball game. Watching the film, they look a little out of shape so hopefully, we can run on them. Go up and down and get them tired. I think we have the better talent and we should win the game.”

Kanter is used to being on the “right side” of a blue vs. red rivalry having played for Xavier, whose rival is crosstown Cincinnati. He’ll quickly learn that Kentucky vs. Louisville is on a different level, even in TBT.

“It’s the rivalry of Kentucky vs. Louisville,” Eric Bledsoe, who is second on La Familia in scoring with 17.7 points per game, said. “The basketball game is unmatched. Just to see, like I said, everybody’s careers, where they’ve gone, it’s special. To come back and play in a rivalry like this, you can’t ask for no more.”

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“We’ve got to weather the storm early”

Twany Beckham, La Familia’s general manager, was a member of the 2011-12 squad that beat Louisville twice, once in the Final Four en route to the national championship. He was also on the 2012-13 team that lost to the Cards in Louisville. Knowing that a matchup vs. The Ville could be coming in TBT, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Beckham stacked La Familia’s roster with Card killers.

“One thing that’s great about this game and this rivalry is this game is going to have players that played in the really tough games,” Beckham said. “Willie [Cauley-Stein], Russ Smith, Peyton Siva, those guys, the Harrison Twins. So it’s a little bit of bad blood, a little bit of friendly bad blood. It’s going to be great.”

The Ville’s leading scorer is David Johnson (16.7 points per game), who makes an average of 2.3 threes per game. Montrezl Harrell is tied with Russ Smith for second in scoring (13.0 PPG) and is the leading rebounder (8.0 RPG). Peyton Siva drives the ship, totaling eight assists to one turnover through three games.

The Ville averages 77.7 points per game, well below La Familia’s 86.0. The former Cards are coming off a dominant win over Team DRC but barely scraped by Sideline Cancer in round two, winning 71-69 thanks to two free throws by Harrell. Beckham expects The Ville, and the crowd at Freedom Hall, to bring its best for what’s being billed as the biggest game in TBT history.

“Those guys will play like Louisville. They’ll be scrappy. They’re going to press. They’re going to get out there and we know that going into the game. Those guys are going to make some early plays and the crowd is going to be into it so we’ve got to weather the storm early.”

Nate Sestina told reporters he still brags about Kentucky’s win over Louisville in 2019 to his friend Steven Enoch, a former Card. Bledsoe and Kanter have been La Familia’s stars thus far, but Sestina has also played an integral role as a floor spacer, hitting 9-22 (40.9%) from three. Both teams shot 50% from the outside in their last games (La Familia 14-28, The Ville 12-24), so the former Cats could use some big threes from Sestina tonight.

“I know for sure they’ve got a bunch of good guards,” he said of The Ville. “Peyton Siva Jr. and Russ Smith, those are the two guys that pop out at me. I know Omar Prewitt, I played against him as a pro for the last three years. I know he can really shoot the ball and obviously, Montrezl Harrell is what he is and who he is. A consummate professional, a junkyard dog who does all the things they need him to do.”

James Young was part of one of the most memorable wins over Louisville, the 2014 Sweet 16 victory in which Aaron Harrison hit a deep three with 39 seconds left to put the Cats up for good. He likes the Cats’ chances again tonight in Freedom Hall.

“I think we like this matchup for real, for real,” he said. “We’re not worried about them; we’re worried about us. We’re not worried about them at all, so let’s just go out there and have fun and we’re going to show it on the court.”