re: LSU Basketball Recruiting Thread: 2024 (And Beyond)

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how do you know about this, who is it that is making the rules about who plays how much relative to their scholarship status? how much can a player without a scholarship (but paid via NIL) play without upsetting whoever we are imagining being upset?

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how much media do you consume related to LSU MBB besides the actual games themselves? how many games do you go to in person? the more media you consume the clearer the picture will be. going to games in person allows you to see so much more than on tv. player behavior on the bench, during timeouts, huddles, etc. chemistry issues were blatantly obvious from this. i've seen jalen reed yell at baker to pass the ball to him, get angry when he misses rebounds or a defensive assignment. i've seen baker in turn yell at cook for being a ball hog. locker room management and politics is an important aspect of managing a team.

you do realize the reason hannibal began to play over cook (before cook's injury) was because the other players on the team were getting disgruntled with cook's hogging style of play? this has been confirmed to me out of the mouth of mcmahon himself. while we're on the subject of managing a locker room, let's address collins. i know for a fact the reason he played so little before his injury was because of off the court disciplinary issues. he was supposed to be a key piece of the team because he was tremendous during offseason practice and in scrimmages in the bahamas. but yet, he did something to take him out of the rotation. if this never happened dean would likely have NEVER sniffed playing time. he was NOT a scholarship player.

obviously there is no actual rule that says scholarship players have to play more. but there are unspoken rules in a locker room and there is usually a pecking order on the team. this is abundantly clear if you've ever played a sport at any level above elementary or middle school. i think it's very silly to suggest that baker being recruited to be a focal point of the team and how he received a scholarship (when dean didn't) had zero impact on his playing time. it was very clear baker was recruited to be a poor man's KJ 2.0 and be a significant piece of this team. it's crazy to not see the connection between this and his playing time relative to dean.

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shouldn't the coach just play who is best?

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they should but you'd be in denial if you were to claim that mcmahon has done this during his two seasons at LSU. i can list numerous examples of downright questionable lineup and rotation decisions. blatant favoritism to certain players or overvaluing seniority when there are better players riding the pine.