curious, didnt watch much of this game as they were down 30 by the time i put it on...but, did they go M2M or zone in this one??

We started off in zone, but Kentucky was lighting us up from 3. We switched to man, but to be honest once we were down a lot I stopped paying attention.

classic mistake by a team like this...obviously zone is LSU's strength...id rather a strong team go lights out from the 3 point line and win by 30+ than go back to M2M...errr

armchair coach's 2 cents

Our team makeup forces us to play a zone, but with our lack of length in the perimeter it makes it difficult to block off passing lanes. I do agree that I would rather force them to make 3s. It was getting too easy. He had to go to man. It was a lose-lose situation.

I can teach them zone!

What I noticed in the minimal time I watched was that the guards were asked to cover too much ground in the zone. The center was down too low and forced the guards to cover the foul line. Then when the ball went there, the guards were out of position, where it's an easy pass to either side for a 3 point shot. LSU doesn't have large guards to begin with, so UK was able to just shoot over them and made them.

Also, offensive rebounding is easier against a zone. With Harrellson playing, he's a good rebounder and gave them lots of extra chances. They needed to have Warren to stay with him on a wing as opposed to Ludwig.

Yeah, I think zone or M2M, LSU had some matchup problems. Frankly, a lot of the defense you play is simply dictated by personnel and how hot a a team is. Trent switched M2M in both halves to try to disrupt tempo--once when they were I think already down 20 and in the second half, he started in man and tried to play in man much of the second half, when they were already down 30. I don't think it was necessarily a coaching error, b/c when a team shoots close to 60% from three against your zone, you've got to do something different. In the second half, with the game much out of reach, you almost treat it like a practice session where you see if your personnel can stand toe to toe in a man. For much of the second half, the Tigers played all right (in a primarily man played half, they only lost by 9).

Whether the zone was rotating properly, I think the matchup are just difficult. What Kentucky usually plays is a perimeter dribble drive program (they have 4 guard/forwards and one big), where frankly players are mostly in the perimeter. Hard for a center like Malcolm to do anything other than put a body on Harrelson and that leaves Green guarding a small. That's kind of why Trent had to play Ludwig a lot. The issue becomes UK's size and speed. When they have Knight, 6-3, Lamb, 6-4, Liggins 6-6, and Miller, 6-7, out there, and every one of them can shoot and drive, even the best zone has a hard time stopping it, if they're on. What's scary is that each of those guys shoots the 3 ball with proficiency--only Liggins shoots under .400% and yesterday he was 3-3.

So, there is definitely some personnel issues and perhaps again inexperience issues. You can't press this team, can't really hang man to man, and I think at this stage with this zone, Trent has only installed a 2-3 zone.

I think one of the things underrated here also is UK's defense. When these athletic big guards locked down on us in an aggressive man to man, guys like Stringer (too little size) and Derenbecker (a little slower) are forced out of their comfort zone. What's killing LSU is their offense has deserted them in all of the SEC games, shooting 18% from 3 land in SEC play is hurting their ability to build leads or get back into games. I think some of their shots are ill advised (but then again, on this team, Trent is asking Stringer and Derenbecker to score) but alot of them are just missed shots. Hence the confidence comment I made. I think perhaps the young Tigers were just a little shaky in a packed Rupp Arena where 23,000 strong are yelling at you. UK has like a 27 game home winning streak, so we shouldn't have expected a W.

To me the interesting question, as LSU strives to be the prime SEC nemesis to Kentucky (again) like it was in the 80s and early 90s (and I think it can be), is it a matter of personnel, coaching philosophy, or in game coaching that makes the difference? Here'a a great read on Daddy Dale from the UK perspective, that sort of makes you wonder:

CoachCal.com | Ken’s Cats Corner: Ode to Dale Brown PLUS: LSU Preview

(And, I'll say I lit up when I saw Dale and Rudy Macklin at the game behind LSU's bench--it's great to have that support!)

I look at this roster and ask, how much of this is just the personnel we have, and is this roster going to develop? How much will a low post presence stronger than yesterday next year benefit us (frankly White had a pretty off day, when you could argue one of our only "match up" favorabilitites might have been Green/White, bigger than Harrelson together)? We're still going to need more horses, or at least better developed Turner, Derenbecker and Dotson (and next year Isaac). At the same time, I think that Trent is going to have to instill perhaps better schemes as this team gets more experienced, and he's going to have to do a better job of having his team prepared and motivated mentally ready to jump on the more highly ranked team. Sometimes, I think Trent's more laid back style might lose some edge there.

In any case, there was no better coach preparing the David team against Goliath.
:bball::geauxtige:lsup: LSU BASKETBALL. WE HAVE A HISTORY.

With our size we need to play a 3/2 zone, it gives our guards less room to cover. And you put a guy like dotson at the top. w/ stringer and turner (when healthy) or bass on the wings. Then our bigs down on the block. Its the same zone UK actually runs. They put liggins, the longer guard up top. IMO, that is the zone this team should be running. Cause in the 2/3 our guards looked lost

Dale defeated Kentucky 18 times in his career,the most of any coach in the sec.
Rudy Macklin certainly is one of the top five players of all time to play for the tigers. I think if he does'nt break his thumb on his shooting hand the week of the final four in 81 that LSU would have won it all.


As for the people that think LSU does'nt have a lot of hoops history I believe we have the most regular season sec championships of any school besides of course Kentucky.

I thought the "match up 2-3" zone looked pretty good against Auburn and Arkansas... but I agree likely preparation for UK's line up is a little unconventional.

That's like saying the Saints have more Superbowl wins than anyone in the NFC South except Tampa Bay.