Well...now they can go because Brady just got Texas Tech transfer, Martin, to committ to LSU! He's enrolling Monday! http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/NEWS01/60113009
punk (i like that), you really dont know much. maravich was great (so im told), but those teams accomplished less than many of cjb's. btw, since then two final fours (which many regard as an accomplishment) and a few sec titles. 3 under Dale in about 25 years and one for cjb in 8 (7 of which under sanctions).
Actually, I believe Dale won 4 SEC Titles. And, I should correct myself. We actually had a great (not just pretty good) basketball program. We just weren't a totally dominant team. One big problem is that Kentucky (the winningest basketball team of all time) was in our conference. And we actually beat them a bunch of times. Imagine if they weren't in our conference how many titles we would have had...But you can't do that, because they are in our conference and have been the best. Still, everyone thought highly of LSU's program because they were consistently really good for a long time when I was a kid in the 1980s. And, didn't we get just 3 years of probation? Just wondering. Later.
i dont know about "great basketball program" in the 80's, the decade you brought up, LSU finished 4th or lower in SEC 5 times. i think the program was good but not great. mostly semantics though. to be a great program you have to consistently be in the natl spotlight. went to NIT or lost in first round of NCAA tournament in 82, 83, 84, 85, 88, 89. in the end, dale made lsu interesting. but any greatness was considered a fluke.
forgot. youre right about dale winning 4 sec titles. also he beat UK tons, although back then he played them twice a year (once 4 times).
Brady's winning percentage and accomplishments just about mirror Dales in the same amount of time he has been here despite the fact that he had to go through Dale's probation.. anyhow... Alabama just spent 30 million on Coleman Coliseum. LSU is so proud that we spent about 5 million on the PMAC and call that progress... Just think if this situation was the same in Football.. We would be crying for Skips head to think they outspent us by 25 million. I went to an Alabama game and was very impressed with what they did with that old dump. The lighting is awesome on the basketball floor. They have put up a "TIDE PRIDE" social area in the end zone in which the big donors have a place to go Pregame, halftime and Postgame to eat really good food and have a cocktail or such. They can also look down from their to see the game in progress. Hugh Durham, the ex georgia coach, used to lament the bama fans that they are Kentucky fans because they only show up when Kentucky plays. LSU has always been this way. We will pack the house when Kentucky comes to town. Do you see us doing that when we play Louisiana Tech? Our basketball players deserve our fans showing up to watch them play and cheer on our team no matter who we play. In the SEC only Arkansas and Kentucky have had their fans show up to see THEIR team play weaker sisters.. the reason is they are Arkansas and Kentucky Basketball fans.. they are their to cheer their team on no matter who they play. Those teams have always done that.. KY had beaten Vandy 34 straight times until they got beat the other night. Vandy has a pretty good program and had not beaten KY in Rupp since 1974.. good gosh... Reason.. KY is a hard place to win as is Arkansas.. I think Alabama is smart to bring in some "social" aspects to basketball. That new area is a place to see and be seen. It has created a different atmosphere in a dumpy old place. Food for thought Skip.. see what they did.. fits right into our culture. We are putting a good product on the floor and it is sad that LSU fans do not respond. Maybe it is because the spend all their money in the fall on football tickets and are ready just to chill out and basketball isn't their thing. We have the same problem up here in Alabama in which basketball is a bandwagon sport. Team starts going good, everyone shows up. Fans also gravitate towards name players.. Besides Big baby, give me a big name player in the SEC this year that just jumps off your tounge... hard to do..I won't get on my soap box on how the NBA has killed this league in the past 10 years. Anyhow.. enjoy this team.. they will play hard.. win the west and depending on the seeding, do something in the dance. Then next year when we lose baby to the NBA, yall can have this same argument over again that we are too young, brady can't coach.. kids are quitting because of lack of playing time.. (see Regis-cant miss in the NBA- averaging 4.3 a game and 35% shooting at George Washington). :geauxtige
Brady's winning percentage and accomplishments just about mirror Dales in the same amount of time he has been here despite the fact that he had to go through Dale's probation.. anyhow... Alabama just spent 30 million on Coleman Coliseum. LSU is so proud that we spent about 5 million on the PMAC and call that progress... Just think if this situation was the same in Football.. We would be crying for Skips head to think they outspent us by 25 million. I went to an Alabama game and was very impressed with what they did with that old dump. The lighting is awesome on the basketball floor. They have put up a "TIDE PRIDE" social area in the end zone in which the big donors have a place to go Pregame, halftime and Postgame to eat really good food and have a cocktail or such. They can also look down from their to see the game in progress. Hugh Durham, the ex georgia coach, used to lament the bama fans that they are Kentucky fans because they only show up when Kentucky plays. LSU has always been this way. We will pack the house when Kentucky comes to town. Do you see us doing that when we play Louisiana Tech? Our basketball players deserve our fans showing up to watch them play and cheer on our team no matter who we play. In the SEC only Arkansas and Kentucky have had their fans show up to see THEIR team play weaker sisters.. the reason is they are Arkansas and Kentucky Basketball fans.. they are their to cheer their team on no matter who they play. Those teams have always done that.. KY had beaten Vandy 34 straight times until they got beat the other night. Vandy has a pretty good program and had not beaten KY in Rupp since 1974.. good gosh... Reason.. KY is a hard place to win as is Arkansas.. I think Alabama is smart to bring in some "social" aspects to basketball. That new area is a place to see and be seen. It has created a different atmosphere in a dumpy old place. Food for thought Skip.. see what they did.. fits right into our culture. We are putting a good product on the floor and it is sad that LSU fans do not respond. Maybe it is because the spend all their money in the fall on football tickets and are ready just to chill out and basketball isn't their thing. We have the same problem up here in Alabama in which basketball is a bandwagon sport. Team starts going good, everyone shows up. Fans also gravitate towards name players.. Besides Big baby, give me a big name player in the SEC this year that just jumps off your tounge... hard to do..I won't get on my soap box on how the NBA has killed this league in the past 10 years. Anyhow.. enjoy this team.. they will play hard.. win the west and depending on the seeding, do something in the dance. Then next year when we lose baby to the NBA, yall can have this same argument over again that we are too young, brady can't coach.. kids are quitting because of lack of playing time.. (see Regis-cant miss in the NBA- averaging 4.3 a game and 35% shooting at George Washington). :geauxtige
Yeah, like I said, our teams under Brown weren't dominant (a few were), but I meant the program as a whole in the 80s...The highly memorable players and coach (even if you didn't care for his coaching), the PMAC atmosphere, the record-breaking Superdome games, the Final 4 runs (with #2 and #3 final rankings) and the fact that they never had one losing season in that era. The national spotlight definitely was on LSU during that whole period. The teams weren't always great, but they were always good and everything surrounding the teams made for a great atmosphere. And I agree with Jeffinbama on some of the things he says. Although, even though Brady had to deal with probation (which sucked), Dale Brown had to build a program from nothing and take trips to promote LSU basketball to get anyone at all to come. It was probably a good thing Dale retired when he did because he was worn out and the crowds might have started to look like those when he arrived if he had taken the court with teams full of walk-ons for a few more years. I agree though that the PMAC has had a flat entertainment value the last few years. They have to spice things up. Trust me, LSU fans haven't spent all their money on football tickets. Just think of the tons of RVs and how much money people spend on those. I know they can afford basketball tickets. It's just that football is more of an event where you come up a day or so early and max out. Basketball is different because there are much more games and it's hard to match the football excitement. Some people do just get a little burned out with football. We're just not as good basketball fans as we are football fans. I can't say I blame people for not wanting to go to some of the really poor games because it can get time consuming and boring. But we should be having better crowds for SEC teams. I know a lot of people want Brady gone, but it does not mean they can't go to a game or two now and then and support the players. Oh yeah, Regis Koundjia was the worst 3-point shooter I ever saw. I never saw that many air-balls in my life. Russell Grant shot better 3-pointers.
Your memories are fading with time, downtown. Dale had a decent program going at LSU and he had some "name" players to pull fans into the PMAC, but there was as much bitching about Dale's coaching as their is about Brady. All you ever heard was that Dale could recruit and Dale could motivate but Dale couldn't coach a lick. Or, as the coaches in the stands liked to say: "he didn't know his Xs and Os". Shoot, Dale could coach. We just got beat by better teams, e.g. Louisville and Darrell Griffith, Indiana and Isiah Thomas, Navy and David Robinson, etc. Two final Fours and about 15 postseason appearances weren't enough to please most fans. They wanted Dale gone. The more things change...
