re: How do y’all see us finishing on the hardwood? (Men’s)

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Tenn - L Bama - L @UF - W @USC - L UK - L

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Tough stretch, indeed

Winning 1 of those will be tough

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NIT is a reasonable goal. I am hesitant to read too much into this win because Arkansas is such a mess right now, so it's more about getting better individually and collectively and the upcoming games will give us a much better idea if we are really getting that or not.

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Yep. NIT would be good after the dumpster fire of last year.

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The back end of SEC play is going to be tough for them. Not many W's in what's left

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Actually, the "backend" is pretty favorable with home games vs. Georgia, Mississippi St, and Missouri, and road games at Vanderbilt and Arkansas. It's really this 5 game stretch starting on Wednesday that is the gauntlet. Can LSU get a game or two during that stretch? If so, ANY of them will be a big win.

Last season McMahon couldn't beat anyone in SEC play. Good or bad. This year LSU has done a relatively good job of winning the games they are "supposed" to win. The next step in the progression is winning some games they are "not supposed" to win. There are 5 opportunities to do so staring them in the face right now.

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No, sir. Kentucky is more possible than Bama

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Agreed

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They appear to be the strongest team in the SEC, notwithstanding the Tenn loss.

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I'm not ready to go there JUST yet. No doubt they are very good. At worst, top 4 in the SEC. But they've had a relatively favorable SEC schedule (to date). Their road games have been: @ Vanderbilt, MSU, Tenn., Georgia. Tennessee blew them out by 20. They won the other road games, but all were by less than 10. At home they've played South Carolina, Missouri, LSU, Auburn and MSU. They dominated every opponent except Auburn. Point being, they are a different team on the road. This week they are at Auburn.

I still think at their best Tennessee and Auburn are more complete teams than Alabama. It's just that when Alabama's offense gets rolling (because of their style of play) they can blow open a game in a hurry.

Outside of poor FT shooting, LSU's offense at Alabama wasn't terrible (though not great). LSU shot nearly 40% from three. They also limited the TOs to 10 (which for LSU is very good). It's just that LSU's defense was poor. Part of that may have been McMahon's decision to try to run with Alabama. I know McMahon wants to play uptempo. I like it. It's a fun style to watch when it is working. But sometimes you have to use discretion. And playing that style plays right into Alabama's hands. It will be interesting to see if he makes an adjustment next Saturday.

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The next step in the progression

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Again, I'm a broken record, but that's what I want to see....progression. Getting better, improving, and developing both individually and collectively.

For me this is without question the main thing I'm looking at and for.

It will be interesting to see if the game last Saturday was a byproduct of some rest/self-scouting that led to better play or just an anomaly where some guys shot lights out against an opponent seemingly coming apart at the seams.

For Baker, the 3's he made have been there all season. He just wasn't making them. Hopefully Saturday gave him some confidence because him being a true threat from 3 can really open up the floor and 3 assist.

I also liked the decision to start Hannibal. Cook is LSU's second leading scorer. But he hasn't been all that efficient in getting those points, and the offense wasn't making up for the bad defense/turnovers. On Saturday he had a "quiet" 20 points on just 5-8 shooting (3-5 from 3; 7-7 from the FT line) in just 21 minutes. Most importantly, he only had one turnover.

Tennessee is the best defensive team in the SEC and 2nd best in the nation. So I'm not expecting LSU to have a game like they did on Saturday. Not even close. But when LSU actually takes care of the ball they are not a terrible shooting team. Probably about on par with Tennessee (LSU's FG% is slightly better). The difference is Tenn. plays great defense and doesn't turn the ball over.