At least the program is going in the right direction. I would love to see more competitive road games though
Well I've done my Lent penance watching this game. Just...ugh. If we don't get some good recruits and soon, we're gonna be waiting on that 20-win season for a very long time.
:lol: I'll ignore this last comment. opcorn: In any case, I'll say this. Having watched the ENTIRE game, I'll say obviously there were some spots that I was yelling at the TV. But, Oregon was like 16-3 at home, and they just did not miss. They were crazy hot and everyone was hitting. They were also a team of mostly Juniors and Seniors playing... transfers and more mature bodies. Sometimes these kind of nights happen, and I was actually feeling better about the team in the second half up til about 4 minutes left, when the Tigers let them pull the game out wider after getting it down to 10 points. I thought the Tigers played hard, and as was mentioned by the announcers, Trent has the team moving in the right direction again, with his "young" team. I think one announcer even went so far as to say perhaps a top 4 team in the SEC next year... LSU should benefit some from teams like Miss St, Vandy, losing players. We'll see. But, if you may, I also think that there is real potential here on this team. Why? I'll say despite the good game that Bass had, in this game, our depth did not really help us. Warren had an off game, White seemed to bring energy, but was a relative non factor. Bass was the best senior on the night bringing some stability to the backcourt, but as we know, he's not a complete point. In some ways, LSU may get better by subtraction. As many times as Warren helped in some games, I think tonight was another example of break downs on the defensive end... our perimeter defense was at times either unsound (i.e., just gambling too much) or a bad match up (i.e., two short guards have a hard time covering Jones tonight). I was a little surprised at how easily Oregon got pretty open layups driving down the lane, and that tells me that rotation in the 2-4 spots is a little too slow. I can't fault JOB though, he played his ass off. You can see where him being a freshman showed... he let his emotions get the best of him as he was picking up fouls, but he played hard, and he showed quite a few moves down low that I don't think he had when he started the season. He's looked like a real factor these last few games, and I think that's a testament to how hard he's worked, to refine his talent. He and Hamilton with another year are going to be a force. I think that Turner finally found the range, and well, you can see where if he can get you 15-17 points, by hitting 3s and learning better how to drive and get fouled, the LSU offense starts to look decent all the sudden. The flipside to this is, he also seemed to break down covering his man, and well, it contributes to the perimeter defense being a downfall tonight. John Isaac provides that better perimeter lateral defense, but wow, he looked a little out of control tonight too--he's got to refine his game. Hickey only played an OK game--he seemed eager to go for easy steals and trying to cause havoc, but the flipside to that was he often was too careless with his pass against the press. Stringer's height in this game was really an achilles heel... he hit a few threes, but he also could not stop their 2, and just made some costly headscratching turnovers. All of this said, I'm glad the young guys could feel what a real "post-season" feeling was. Travelling far, having to deal with a hostile crowd, and feeling the pressure of winning a winner take all situation. If we get Oregon in a neutral site, the score would have been much better--our ability to learn how to play big games on the road, smart, will be the difference in next season vs this one. I think if we keep the perspective that guys like Turner, Stringer, Hickey and O'Bryant are just sophomores and freshmen, we should be encouraged. If they all improve, this starting line-up is going to be pretty stout. If Hickey and Stringer continue to learn how to play smarter as potential PGs in next year's lineup, i think we'll be pretty good with the JOB/Ham front line. There just won't be too many teams that can match up with that on most nights, if the guards can learn to be patient and go inside-out, which they got away from in the first half. I also though now understand why Trent was so high on Malik Morgan, and why he's still really trying to focus on perimeter guys in recruiting. As much as I do appreciate Warren and White and what they've done for this program, I can also say, they led to alot of the inconsistency out there. Warren just seemed out of sorts on defense a lot of the time. Being out of the position, not sliding the feet but going for swipes--there is a reason why he gets into foul trouble a lot. White's FT percentage and defense is also a tough one... With the graduations, here's my take for recruits considering LSU. Again, while Bass, White and Warren are seniors, and god bless 'em for sticking with LSU and getting those diplomas, they were each incomplete players. I think there is real opportunity for playing time here on this team. A Shavon Coleman, if he can defend at least as well as Turner... is going to see serious minutes. If a Norvel Pelle wants serious playing time on this front line sharing time with O'Bryant and Hamilton, what we really are missing is an athletic, quick 3-4 on the front line, to go along with what are going to be two big and skilled players down low. Morgan, if he is as quick as folks say, and cares about defense, and can shoot (and based upon the video I've seen, he can) he is going to see playing time. I think if I was a big man 4, I'd be seeing clearly a nice spot for me on this team. If I was a 2-3 guard forward who is quick, smart and can defend, I'd be seeing some playing time here. I think we need to see continued improvement from Hickey, Isaac, Stringer and Turner, which is just continued little tweaks. Hickey is physically there--he's quick as heck, but has to get better on his passes and recognition of court awareness and continue to refine his outside shot and FTs. Stringer needs to continue to work on his ball handling and better passing over or around players--just that little bit of when to pass and when to hold. When to shoot and when to look down low first--more continued improvement from Stringer is possible given the strides he made this year. With Stringer and Hickey, i'd love to see how much film time they can tolerate--they just have to recognize where they have rushed shots or made ill-advised passes--if this is Donny G who is working with them, that is something that has got to get through this offseason. Turner, well, he's just got to work on his athleticism, strength, lateral quickness and defensive awareness--and intensity. There is room for improvement here, even in just the kids we have. But, if I was a spring recruit looking for a young team with some potential, and I'm a smart, athletic player in search of minutes on a good team, I see a team here with some nice gaps that I can fit into. In any case, good fight Tigers and let's look forward to the offseason! :geauxtige
You gotta give it to TGer. Relentless support of this hoops squad regardless of performance. I'd work for him anyday. :lol:
:lol: But, I thought I was arguing on the basis of performance... Nevada 9-20 10-18 17-13 18-14 (NIT) 25-9 (NCAA) Stanford 18-13 (NCAA) 16-14 (NIT) 18-13 (NCAA) 28-8 (NCAA) LSU 27-8 (NCAA) 11-20 11-20 18-14 (NIT) ? Let's revisit this next year, shall we?
Oh, and by the way, if you read my post above, it's not all roses and sweet nothings... :redface: But, on that note, Shavon Coleman, according to Rivals, visits LSU this weekend. Hopefully he's reading my hoops-filled knowledgeable postings and not your sorry ones... :lol:
