ESPN Men's Basketball

Updated: February 3, 2005, 1:09 AM ET

Palacios validating comparisons to Mashburn

Not your typical freshman, Juan Palacios just might make Louisville a major player come March.

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By Pat Forde
ESPN.com

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Last year they were the Calamity Cardinals. They were a 10-car pileup of crucial injuries and close losses that turned a 16-1 start and No. 2 national ranking into a 20-10 season that ingloriously ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

This year Lucky Louisville appears to be enjoying a February fortune inversion. Tay-jo Mojo is looking out for these Cards.

Louisville's landing Pitino gave fans across the Commonwealth reason to shout.

That would be Colombian freshman power forward Juan Diego Palacios, who goes by Tello, which is pronounced "Tay-jo," and he's the halo over the streaking Cardinals' heads. Two straight games now he's banked in 3-pointers -- the first in a 36-point bludgeoning of Tulane, the second of much greater consequence.

It happened to ice a 77-70 victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday night, enabling a rare regular-season sweep of the Conference USA kingpin Bearcats. (How rare? The only other school to sweep Cincy in C-USA's decade of existence is Marquette.)

With 75 seconds remaining in Freedom Hall, Louisville was trying to hold both the ball and a slippery four-point lead. Star player Francisco Garcia had fouled out. So had the guts of the team, fifth-year senior Ellis Myles. To make matters worse, the shot clock had dwindled to seven seconds when Palacios found himself with the ball in his hands, 25 feet out near the top of the key.

"Shoot it!" Rick Pitino called from the sideline.

Shoot it? From NBA range? A freshman power forward? Clearly, Pitino is a believer in Tay-jo Mojo.

"I wouldn't have done it if he didn't say that," Palacios said, smiling. "... I knew I was far from the basket so I just said, 'God, help me make this shot.' "

It's been a big sports week for God. He cleared Terrell Owens to play in the Super Bowl, then granted Palacios' prayer jump shot -- off the glass.

Praise the Lord and shoot the 3. Just remember to call bank.

"Two straight games -- he's just Lucky Lucky From Colombia," said Myles, smiling and shaking his head. "That's what I'm going to start calling him."

Start calling Palacios the biggest difference between this 19-3 Louisville team, which has won eight straight, and the one that floundered offensively in the low post the past two seasons. The Cards outscored the brawny Bearcats in the paint 36-30 Wednesday. That's no small feat, and it's in no small part because of Palacios' 17 points, 10 rebounds and 8-of-10 shooting.

The with-the-kiss 3 was huge, but Palacios had another basket that showed how much better life can be for a team with an inside game. Ahead 46-44 but struggling after losing a seven-point halftime lead, Louisville got the ball into the 6-foot-8, 252-pound Palacios on the low block -- a hazardous place to be against the Bearcats.

Palacios handled the immediate bumps and shoves as the defense collapsed upon him, then lofted a gorgeous jump hook over shot blockers Eric Hicks and Jason Maxiell for a big basket. This was the kind of play that validated Pitino's season-long comparisons of Palacios to Jamal Mashburn. The kid had already showcased the soft hands, the strong body, the ability to shoot with range and run the floor -- now here was the interior move against a team that can inhale a post player.

This was the kind of play Pitino would have surrendered his shoe-contract money for last season. In fact, he didn't think Palacios had that play in his arsenal yet.

"He shocked the hell out of me tonight with that," Pitino said. "I was stunned."

That's just another example of Palacios' steep growth curve. A kid who grew up playing soccer, he didn't take up basketball seriously until later in life, then learned it so quickly that he moved to New York to further his career. Once there, he learned English in a trice and now speaks it smoothly.

Pitino signed Palacios late last year, sweating out a brief flirtation with the NBA. Since then he's been the salve that healed the loss of signees Sebastian Telfair and Donta Smith directly to the pros.

At Louisville he's started from Day One, but blossomed over the last month. You won't find too many freshmen averaging 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds over their last eight games, or too many power forwards who have made 11 of their last 17 3-point shots.

Nor will you find many freshman big men who make so many good decisions with the ball. Pitino is comfortable with Palacios leading the break, and on two occasions last night he made quick passes in transition to open 3-point shooters.

"He really understands the game," Pitino said. "And when you tell him something, you don't have to repeat it."

Said Taquan Dean, who had another heroic game with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists: "He's definitely not like a typical freshman."

The only time Palacios sounded like a typical freshman was postgame, when talking about his mom. He was hoping Maria Cevera was able to watch the game back home in Medellin, and was eager to call her and find out.

And what would her reaction have been to that banked-in 3?

Palacios laughed.

"She's probably at the hospital right now," he said.

Hopefully she's OK, because there are bigger games ahead as the Cardinals charge into a challenging final month. And if Louisville can keep waving its magic Juan to ward off injuries and bad luck, it could be a major player come March.

Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com