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MBB : Early conference play opinion
Posted on 1/21/24 at 10:25 pm
Posted on 1/21/24 at 10:25 pm
The team is better than anyone but the team expected and way better than the td basketball fans expected. The guard\wing options are impressive at times. Their speed allows enough spacing for more 3pt opportunities and lane openings.
Coach seems to have settled on Baker, Dean, fountain, Reed as the 4/5s with Williams, cook, wright, and Hannibal pushing the offense. Reed, ward, wright have all improved their overall efficiency as the season has advanced.
The defense hasn’t been a top characteristic for this team. Less than 5 instances of double digit rebounds by team. Consistently put opposing team in the bonus and have the same opportunity with 75% free throw percentage.
The SEC schedule for all teams is brutal. If you think this team isn’t going to get sprains, strains, colds, broken hearts, go watch baseball. However coach has a couple role players on the bench in wilk, stew, collins or chest. The team is moving in the right direction. I don’t see more than 8 sec wins but was guessing 5 a month ago.
Geaux tigers! Keep fighting!
Coach seems to have settled on Baker, Dean, fountain, Reed as the 4/5s with Williams, cook, wright, and Hannibal pushing the offense. Reed, ward, wright have all improved their overall efficiency as the season has advanced.
The defense hasn’t been a top characteristic for this team. Less than 5 instances of double digit rebounds by team. Consistently put opposing team in the bonus and have the same opportunity with 75% free throw percentage.
The SEC schedule for all teams is brutal. If you think this team isn’t going to get sprains, strains, colds, broken hearts, go watch baseball. However coach has a couple role players on the bench in wilk, stew, collins or chest. The team is moving in the right direction. I don’t see more than 8 sec wins but was guessing 5 a month ago.
Geaux tigers! Keep fighting!
Posted on 1/21/24 at 10:33 pm to slutiger5
Only likely wins I see for LSU hereafter are Arkansas, Missouri, and @ Vanderbilt. Anything else besides Alabama/Tennessee is a toss up. Not sure if LSU will steal any more road victories.
It’ll probably get you to the NIT at least. Had LSU hung on against 15-2 Dayton and not lose to that in state school, they might’ve been almost a bubble team at the moment.
It’ll probably get you to the NIT at least. Had LSU hung on against 15-2 Dayton and not lose to that in state school, they might’ve been almost a bubble team at the moment.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 10:37 pm to Jrv2damac
quote:
Only likely wins I see for LSU hereafter are Arkansas, Missouri, and @ Vanderbilt.
Did you see @A&M as a win before it happened??
Posted on 1/21/24 at 10:38 pm to slutiger5
We are better than expected but still not good enough IMO. I like McMahon but there has been a standard set in LSU athletics the past few years and I don’t think MBB should be held below that standard for any reason. At LSU I don’t want to compete for an NIT spot, I want to compete for a championship like we do in just about every other sport.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 10:49 pm to Jrv2damac
I’m not guaranteeing a win but Georgia is in the same boat. We can steal that one. “Can.” We match in most stats.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 11:17 pm to lsudave1
Dude, if lsu can go to Athens and steal one, then they may have a chance against to get 1 of the next 2. Don’t look too far out.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 12:08 am to slutiger5
quote:
The defense hasn’t been a top characteristic for this team.
I would disagree and say if anything forcing turnovers and being annoying on defense has been this team’s identity
quote:
Less than 5 instances of double digit rebounds by team.
Baker is soft and can’t rebound but McMahon plays him the most. Reed has not lived up to his billing and lags in real time. I can see the gears turning in his head as he watches the ball sail over his head instead of going up for the rebound. Fountain, Collins, and Chest are good rebounders but don’t see the court enough. Idk why fountain doesn’t play. McMahon just hates collins I guess. And Chest got a redshirt (which was a terrible decision).
It’s quite sad that the best rebounders on our team have been guards. Baker has had games where he was outrebounded by players a foot shorter than him (Cook and Stewart) as well as Williams and Wright. Pitiful.
quote:
However coach has a couple role players on the bench in wilk, collins or chest.
I agree but he doesn’t play them so
This post was edited on 1/22/24 at 12:09 am
Posted on 1/22/24 at 12:58 am to mcmaniacinsaneasylum
quote:
I would disagree and say if anything forcing turnovers and being annoying on defense has been this team’s identity
We lead the conference in turnovers. It’s hard for me to use the 3:1 philosophy and say our defense can be in the forefront of this teams identity when they’re just trying to get one back. Atleast they’re fighting.
This post was edited on 1/22/24 at 1:00 am
Posted on 1/22/24 at 6:35 am to mcmaniacinsaneasylum
quote:
Baker is soft and can’t rebound
I agree, he does have some skills offensively, but Nichols showed the second game of the season how to defend him. If doubled as soon as he gets the ball he absolutely panics. And he was billed a good 3-point shooter coming in....he has not been here.
McMahon it seems is gonna ride it out with him though so I think we're just gonna have to hope he gets better.
quote:Ward has finally started to develop into the player he was billed, I agree....Reed though we see definite flashes, is still lagging.
Reed has not lived up to his billing and lags in real time.
As for the rebounding and toughness (IMHO they go hand in hand) my concern from day 1 was this was a huge weakness and something I didn't see improving as it was intrinsic.
However, out of the blue the game in College station and the games that followed until this past one, we seemed to have found something there and were actually beating all our opponents on the board and playing with toughness.
That did not happen Saturday.
This post was edited on 1/22/24 at 6:38 am
Posted on 1/22/24 at 7:22 am to lsudave1
It’s just going to take some time to get out of the shadow of the ncaa investigation/ruling. Going into last year was still a big question mark and kept recruits away. If he can pull a big name or two, develop his guys in support positions and team defense I don’t see how this isn’t a team with a solid chance to make tourney next season. I think it’s becoming clear that MM was not hired as a lame duck coach.
Most folks believe that basketball was sacrificed for football as a business decision. I don’t think you can hold basketball to the “standard” when the program was handcuffed by the “standard bearers”.
Most folks believe that basketball was sacrificed for football as a business decision. I don’t think you can hold basketball to the “standard” when the program was handcuffed by the “standard bearers”.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 7:41 am to slutiger5
quote:
The team is better than anyone but the team expected and way better than the td basketball fans expected.
I'm not sure this is accurate. The advanced analytics had this team ranked in the mid-50s preseason, so it was a legit bubble team. Not having Cook eligible hurt during OOC play. However, the last 3 games have highlighted some of the concerns about Cook in conf play. He is shooting below 35%, including below 20% from 3, and has 14 turnovers. He has to play better for this team to have a chance. A real positive for Cook is that his defensive play has improved over last season as CMM has coached him up.
The offense is streaky and is 5th in the conference in 10-0 runs per game, but they counter that by completely disappearing at times. The streaky offense and not so great defense has resulted in LSU giving up the most 10-0 runs in the conference, even worse than Vandy. So they are never truly out of a game but no Tiger lead is safe
Posted on 1/22/24 at 7:51 am to slutiger5
Better than expected. That’s the nicest thing I can say so far.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 8:32 am to rds dc
quote:
the last 3 games have highlighted some of the concerns about Cook in conf play. He is shooting below 35%, including below 20% from 3, and has 14 turnovers. He has to play better for this team to have a chance.
Yes, he has to be more efficient for us to be at our best.
quote:
A real positive for Cook is that his defensive play has improved over last season as CMM has coached him up.
I'm not seeing the same things you are here, I have been very disappointed with his defense. Or else his defense at Tulane last year was absolutely horrible.
This post was edited on 1/22/24 at 8:34 am
Posted on 1/22/24 at 8:40 am to slutiger5
quote:
The team is moving in the right direction. I don’t see more than 8 sec wins but was guessing 5 a month ago.
I can agree to this, even thought the TAMU game sucked and we fell apart down the stretch 3/2 is a good spot for this team.
Now while I see some progress all that can get wiped away if they can't regroup after a loss with a really tough stretch ahead. Also Playing Baker is coaching malpractice at this point. Idc if we have to run four guards out there he is a black hole. Admit you missed on him and let fountain/Dean/Collins take his minutes
Posted on 1/22/24 at 8:58 am to slutiger5
We are a big man away from being alot better. We dont get much from them unless Dean playing against smaller opponents.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 9:04 am to LSU1SLU
If they get stop the turnovers and get rebounds things could be different. These things lose games. If you don't have a really high powered offense to overcome these issues, you won't win against similar competition.
Even with that, they are hanging in these cames and fighting and sometimes pulling them out. It is above my expectations. But now they have teased me a little and my expectations were increasing.
Even with that, they are hanging in these cames and fighting and sometimes pulling them out. It is above my expectations. But now they have teased me a little and my expectations were increasing.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 9:06 am to Pnels08
quote:
Also Playing Baker is coaching malpractice at this point. Idc if we have to run four guards out there he is a black hole. Admit you missed on him and let fountain/Dean/Collins take his minutes
Yeah, I really hate to pile on the guy but I agree. Baker does not rebound and does not give us much defensively either especially for a 7-footer. If he's not scoring, and most games of late he's struggled to, then there is no reason to have him on the floor.
But it looks like CMM is riding with him so.....
Posted on 1/22/24 at 9:17 am to GatorH8r
quote:
It’s just going to take some time to get out of the shadow of the ncaa investigation/ruling. Going into last year was still a big question mark and kept recruits away.
McMahon signed two top 100 players (Reed and Ward), along with a guy just outside the top 100 (Phillips) with that "ominous shadow" hanging over them. He was also able to retain 3 players from the 2021-2022 roster...which is more than some other teams who went through coaching changes were able to retain. And those teams performed FAR better than LSU did last season.
McMahon did a terrible job last season. Plain and simple. The bar for "success" last year was as low as it had been at LSU for quite some time...and he failed to come anywhere close to it.
quote:
team defense
This further illustrates you don't really know what you are talking about. Defense is the strength of this LSU team.
quote:
I don’t see how this isn’t a team with a solid chance to make tourney next season.
Why is next season going to be some magical year? There are 7 guys on the roster who are seniors/grad students. Now, some of those guys may be able to return for an extra "covid" year, but there is no guarantee they will. There is more roster movement in college basketball than in any other sport. While we all hope McMahon will be able to retain everyone who had eligibility remaining, the likelihood is he won't simply because of the nature of the sport today. Thus, it is very likely 50% (probably more) of his roster will be brand new. Maybe that will be a great roster. But it is ridiculous to sit here today and say "next year" will be a tournament team when no one knows what next year's roster will look like.
The transfer era has completely changed the game. The days of the progressive, linear rebuild are over. Previously, when a new coach got the job the only options available to him to immediately improve the roster was HS signees, JUCO players, and a small pool of grad transfers. That's not the case any longer. A guy can come in, immediately flip the roster, and have success in his first year. Multiple teams have done just that. Is that a high burden to place on a new HC? Sure. But that's the reality we live in. The transfer portal can gut your roster in the blink of an eye. But it can also be used to become very good, very quickly.
As far as the early conf. play thus far, LSU has performed better than expected. They sit at a disappointing 3-2. I say "disappointing" because Saturday's game was winnable. Overall though, the early start has not be disappointing. Last season LSU was getting blown out almost immediately following the second game of SEC play. That hasn't been the case this year. They've won 3 and competed in all but one of those games (Auburn)...which is excusable. Is that enough to say McMahon deserves year 3? IMO, not quite yet, but he's pretty close. 5-6 SEC wins will get him next year.
But this program needs to start moving. The "cloud of investigation" is over. The sanctions were minimal. And the expectations here aren't terribly high. No one is expecting a SEC championship or deep tournament run this season...or even next. But the expectation do need to increase. Hopefully LSU does just that the rest of the season. The opportunities are certainly there. So while it's great to at least be interested in the team at this point, they have to start winning more games they "aren't supposed to win." That is the next step.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 9:30 am to slutiger5
Man, wait until the season is over before giving a verdict.
Its like giving an opinion, firing the coach, in the first quarter.
We have some tough games in the next couple of weeks. Let it play out.
Its like giving an opinion, firing the coach, in the first quarter.
We have some tough games in the next couple of weeks. Let it play out.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 9:38 am to Gus007
There isn't a team in the SEC we can't compete with. Winning is another issue. Cook needs to play at a higher level for this team to win some of these close games and they need to rebound as a team as we don't have a dominant big on the board. Reed should be that guy but he is soft when it comes to rebounding.
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