LSU Men's Basketball - 2013-14

The silver lining is that he may not be one-and-done. If he comes back and has a year's worth of experience under his belt, he may grow into more of the player that we were expecting.

 

We need a few years of great recruiting to add depth so that Jones can mix and match better against opponents and also when guys are having off games. We have that somewhat with the shooters but not really with the big guys.

It looks to me like Jones is recruiting very well and this will happen if guys stuck around for a few seasons. Keeping my fingers crossed as we aren't going to bring in 5 McDonald's AA's every year like the UK's, Duke's, etc.

 

Agreed. That is certainly not the program I wish to see at LSU. I hope we can recruit some high quality guys who will stick around and be good players. We really don't have to have "great" players. With the way college BB is right now (lousy), 5 pretty good players who work hard, have a good BB IQ, and play as a team will take you a long way in the NCAA and give you a decent shot at winning the whole thing.

 

Pretty much. With so few teams having kids who stick around, and therefore not really even playing as a team at all, those programs who can get kids for 3+ years and who recruit character and intelligence, not just athleticism, can have a style of team BB that is rarely seen anymore.

I would LOVE for LSU to have a program like that.

 

Agreed. My other school is VCU (went there for undgrad). Shaka Smart has built a great program there and the guys do stick around 3+ years. I don't think the "Havoc" system he has in place would work in a UK-type situation. There are a lot of different defensive looks that take time to learn and perfect.

 

Before I get into this interesting topic, let's just first off say, CONGRATS to a Tiger mens' team that thoroughly dominated a relatively under-manned Vandy team in the PMAC on Saturday. http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=209373586

Whatever they did Saturday night, it's working. Hard to understand if what CJJ did in the last week or so, switching the starters lit a fire under certain butts, but what we saw on Saturday was a more complete game from starters and reserves alike. Stronger commitment from Johnny O'Bryant, nice all-around game from Malik Morgan (nice shooting night) and Jordan Mickey, and at the same time, good energy from Stringer and Martin from the bench. About the only person to have sort of an off game was Coleman, but you can never discount a double digit win against a SEC opponent, much less a 23 point win against an opponent who had just beat SEC upper-tier Missouri. If LSU can keep their effort at this level, their ability to outrebound and outhustle opponents, and find some consistent shooting (they hit 48% of 2s, 36% on 3s, and 75% on FTs), they should be alright on most nights. Speaking of Missouri, another game tomorrow night on ESPNU. With some 9700+ fans in attendance on Saturday night, there's an uptick in fan interest it seems as this semester goes on. Hopefully we can break 10K on a weekday night to see a very good Missouri team at home. It's early to say that this is a "must win", but certainly LSU needs to (1) hold home court, and (2) get some "quality wins" in building their resume. This one qualifies. In fact, this next couple of weeks is huge. Missouri, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia -- ALL on ESPN.

As for the discussion at hand, I think the fallacy in your thinking is perhaps that you are comparing life as a mid-major versus life at a power conference. While it is true that continuity and 4 year seniors are the "norm" at places like Butler, VCU and Wichita State, those are not big-conference schools that have to slug through a rigorous schedule night after night against premier athletes (although I take that back because Butler may be in the Big East now? And, I'll also say that even Butler is cracking the recruiting with top 100 type recruits). I do think at a power conference, you have some pressure to keep the "talent" level pretty high to be truly upper echelon. It really also depends on the coaches' systems and the fan base. I still remember the number of posts over the years about how "Brady ball" and "Trent ball" were death to a fan base. When you recruit a bunch of "4 year" players I think maybe the insinuation is that you're recruiting heady, less athletic players that have to survive as playing as a unit, hard-nosed defense. How will that play in Tigertown, where fans may not even be coming out for this kind of team, with McD AAs on it?

I think that CJJ certainly has his recruiting game down, and while I'd love to see kids like Mickey, Martin stay all four years, I think truly "national champonship" teams have a blend. You have to have special players mixed in with 4 year players to truly have a chance at the title. At the end of the day, you recruit the best players you can get, and put in a system that fits your players and an environment that encourages rather than discourages retention (e.g., Brady). The truth is even with great players, noone is assured of a "one and done" situation until the season's played out. Someone like Jarrell Martin may be staying 2 or 3 years as opposed to 1 or 2 years, after seeing what college ball is all about, and someone like Johnny O'Bryant (both McD AAs) stays 3-4 years--even though their expectations coming in were to potentially be in the NBA sooner. Bottom line is recruit the best talent you can get. I personally think recruiting in that top 25-100 level (e.g., Mickey, Quarterman) ensures that you're getting talented players who are around 2, 3 or 4 years. Someone like a Ben Simmons (a top 5 player in CO 2015) is someone you have to take no matter what the situation, but he's likely someone that takes that team to an Elite 8 or Final 4 level, if he's blended in on a foundational team of juniors/seniors, like a mature Quarterman, Mickey, Martin and JUCO guys like Josh Gray and Keith Hornsby who will be seniors his freshman year, for example. Bottom line, there is absolutely nothing that CJJ is not doing on the recruiting side from my point of view. He's mixed in a good number of talented kids, mixed in talented JUCOs in the right years, and also been in the mix for NBA level talent. The only issue I see is whether he can sustain that kind of success and blend it/coach it to the maximum potential.

 

What I saw in the Vandy game was more or less what I was expecting from LSU this year. JOB is the key, he needs to step up.

 

This is pretty awesome.