Lsusports had a headline that said "LSU almost caps comeback over Alabama". And it occurred to me that, if I had to describe the early Johnny Jones era at LSU to date in one word, it's "almost". Almost beat a ranked team. Almost closed a close game. Almost got over some performance hump.
Almost is better than nothing but pretty common in basketball. I don't think Brady had the talent jones has, so almost isn't getting r done.
But Brady was hamstrung by probation and lost scholarships "early on." Jones really doesn't have that excuse. But having said that, Jones' early recruiting success should earn him a little patience.
My concern is, those recruits are going to stop coming to BR if we dont start giving them a reason to keep coming. Patience is a hard game to play in college basketball.
Short of making the tournament (not likely given the remainder of the schedule) or a very deep run in the SEC tourny, Johnny needs a big, signature win on the resume this year.
Everyone, while I'm as disappointed as you all (and frankly, I don't know what's worse, getting stomped (as we all know we have been by Bama at the hands of a Mr. Grant) or coming back and losing a close one on the road), I think we need to take a deep breath with all of this sky is falling stuff. To be fair, all of this "close but not close enough" didn't apply to Missouri? We won that one, right? Now, we've got some chances... tomorrow against Kentucky (twice), some key games against Georgia, Arkansas, and Florida. Pack the PMAC regardless of the Bama loss--it's Kentucky on national TV (only bummer will be the weather). When you look at the "logic" of NCAA college basketball, you also find LSU with a BPI close to exactly what it was after the Missouri win... in the mid to high 50s. That's because it was a narrow loss on the road. And, while Bama may be down this year, Bama is a team that has been pretty dominant at home generally speaking. It was a must win for them, not sure it was a must win for us. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/teamId/99 I think the marbles for the season are certainly going to be in the "big" games as Dolemite says. I think clearly we should not have lost to URI and we had a bad loss against Tennessee. We could have flipped the coin against the likes of Ole Miss, Bama, and UMass. Memphis is a game that you go back and say, what if our guys were a little bit more mature and experienced. I think regardless of all of that, this season still has a lot of legs to it, and even the Kentucky game tomorrow will be a huge opportunity, but not a must win game. Much like last year, LSU needs to be peaking at the right time, and finding itself playing as hard as it can in the back half of the SEC schedule. Steal a game or two against the big boys like UK and FL, and we have a significant chance to make the tourney still. I still look very longingly to the recruits that Jones has brought in and will bring in. I don't think that it's time to worry about CJJ's recruiting just yet. I think JOB is playing a little bit better and will step us as the season goes on (as a NBA potential pick, he can't afford not to). I think we forget about guys like Keith Hornsby and Josh Gray who are stepping in next year, as mature Junior bigger guards. I think our frontline will continue to gel, with Martin and Mickey gaining experience. Add a huge center like Elbert Robinson, and a potential guy like Aaron Epps, to back up Martin and Mickey, and another 7 footer kid like Malone getting more minutes, with another year in the weight room, and the future is bright. Sometimes with recruiting you can't see 1 year or 2 down the road, but from where I sit, there's still a lot of solid momentum there. Let's hope the PMAC is loud and full tomorrow night!
I'm very impressed with JJ's recruiting & I'm disappointed in LSU's success in the big games this year. I'm certainly not givin up or bailing but I think maybe I expected to much from this year's team. They sure don't play good defense & our small guards have hurt LSU in that area. There is still time to save the season but it's gotta start NOW! Coachin & team defense needs to be better. What's the deal on Martin? I sure thought he was gonna be better.
