By Chris Duncan
The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville coach Rick Pitino didn't realize how much of a mistake he made scheduling Air Force for his 2002-03 season opener.

The Cardinals, like many teams, were awaiting a federal judge's decision this summer on an NCAA rule that restricts participation in certain events. The rule took effect only two years ago and limited teams to only two of the so-called exempt events every four years.

The Cardinals expected the judge to rule against the NCAA and were planning to renew the Jim Thorpe Classic, one of the events that does not count against a team's limit of 28 regular-season games.

But the judge postponed his decision in July, leaving Louisville scrambling to fill a gap in its schedule.

Pitino thought Air Force sounded good and agreed to the matchup. Assistant coach Mick Cronin told him the next day what he had got the Cardinals into.

"Mick told me, 'Coach, I forgot to mention, it's a Princeton-style of play. They hold the ball, and they have a veteran team,"' Pitino said. "I have no reason to give you my comment after that."

Princeton took the Cardinals down to the wire last season with its precision perimeter shooting and infuriating back-door cuts. Reece Gaines' bank shot with 5.8 seconds left proved to be the game-winner in a tense 66-65 Louisville victory.

The Falcons are coached by former Princeton assistant Joe Scott and play the same methodical style.

"If you're going to play a team like this, it's better to play them when you have a lot of preparation time, rather than one or two days," Pitino said. "They are so unique and so different.

"You're not going to win the pace war. Get in the trenches, get to the fundamentals and do what you have to do to win."

Pitino feels better equipped for a game like this the second time. He added offensive firepower in the offseason with junior-college transfer Prileu Davis and freshman sharpshooters Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia.

But Pitino remains concerned that his team's overall attention span is a weakness.

"Our guys get distracted easily and their focus is not the best," he said. "When fatigue sets in, they surrender. They don't focus in on how to be great."

Pitino is also concerned about turnovers, not just in Saturday's game, but for the whole season.

The Cardinals generated 17 turnovers but committed 15 per game last season.

"All of my great teams had a plus-7 or plus-8 differential in turnovers. They would force 22 or 23 per game, but they would only turn it over 14 or 15 times themselves," Pitino said.

The last two weeks of Louisville practices have been geared to Air Force. The players hope they aren't too prepared.

"We've been practicing so long and so hard for this game, I can't wait to get it over with," forward Luke Whitehead said. "I just hope I don't start running their offense on Saturday. But I think we'll be ready for this team."

The Cardinals have won eight of their last nine season openers and went 16-3 at home last season.

Pitino is still nervous.

"If you win, it's a great game, and you got a lot out of it," he said. "If you lose, it was the worst experience nightmare of all time."