Arkansas plays the exact style of game that LSU can't seem to wrap their brains around. The Tigers played without any sense of urgency or hustle when they were only down about 10-15 points. You cant take your time passing the ball around the arc then shoot up brick after brick late in the shotclock while Arkansas takes those bricks and lobs them to big Steven Hill inside for alley-oops all game. I really dont think LSU has any problems with gameplan or talent as much as they do with leadership and intensity. The two exact things they lost most of when D Mitch graduated and Tyrus left...
its very obvious, but ive been reluctant to admit it til now---- this team does not have the hosses . the worse-case scenario of the simple math that we were all doing at the end of the season is now painfully evident----LSU '06 minus TT and DM = LSU '07 that cant defend the post or score from the perimeter. tas has stepped up his game a bit but its mostly scavenger points, rolle hasnt developed, mason is an offensive dud, martin is absurdly one-dimensional (and that dimension is inconsistent). ok. this was a road game against a decent team. they wont look any worse. the west is a mess. lsu will probably get in tourney. but it sux to watch them. i cant believe im gonna spend $20 and 2 hrs watching them @uga. my biggest fear.... tasmin = hudson. who is gonna do anything next year? gotta depend on freshmen? back to the drawing board. hey cjb, PLAY ROLLE, PLAY MINOR. its your only chance at something memorable.
Ok, I hear you. And, after hearing that NOONE in the SEC West has won a road game, I feel slightly better. It all falls in Brady's realistic plans, win at home and steal a few on the road. That may be enough. But, I will say this. Mitchell DOES NOT equal Hudson. Mitchell is a man, he had a bad game tonight. He also got bumped quite a bit with no calls. He's our second leading scorer and he has a very bad night tonight. He'll bounce back in our next game. But, clearly the team has yet to gel around Glen. Mitchell's only issue is he can play inside or outside and he hasn't really developed the instinct to take a game over yet. Martin, same thing. If his shots aren't falling, he's got to do other things and get better on shot selection. I don't buy that this team is not talented (if you look at each guy playing right now, you can argue that we're deeper and more "touted" on paper). Clearly, they don't have as good offensive or defensive chemistry as last year's team and that's what must be developed. I think what you have is DM who was one of LSU's greatest silent leaders and clutch 3 point shooters, and T-Train who was a 4th pick in the NBA gone. We lost a fair amount of talent and leadership, but we do have talent. Brady and staff just need to get to work and get the chemistry right. And, I agree with you, PLAY SOME OTHERS. Why give Chris Johnson just 1 minute at the end? Play him sooner, I say. He's a guy that has actually played well, and he's taller than anyone else on our team and hustles--maybe he could have blocked a few alley oop passes. If you bring in Tack and Mason, look to push the ball more. If you're belief is you're going to lose a road game, experiment some there. In any case, I think next year we add Randolph, Thornton and Wright. All capable front line guys who will play a lot.
It sucks that we're already talking about next year. All I'll say about it is, these guys need to start playing like they give a ****.
Teams like Auburn, Ole Miss, Georgia and Vandy are improved this year and if this team continues to shoot the ball like they have been it may be a struggle to get to 8-8.
i know the team looked bad, but alll this doom and gloom seems a bit over the top. remember, we are still talking about a team coming off a final four, with an all-american, and tied with bama for the league lead (i know we lose the tiebreaker, but wait until bama wins at the pmac to put that in the bank). lets relax and let it ride for a couple games before we start preparing the funeral.
My problem watching this team is that all I ever see Brady doing is screaming and yelling. I don't get to watch every game, but I see many on tv and was at the game in Houston. I never see him congratulate the guys when they do something good, or get excited in a positive way. I feel like the people here at A&M that want to get rid of Fran so much have to keep him because they beat Texas -- we're in the same boat because we went to the Final Four last year. I would like to see the team have a little fun every once in a while.
This is my logic. Yes, I agree, perhaps we're being a little harsh... and I for one believe losses during the year are good to get you tourney tougher. But, I think that when teams lose consistently big on the road, it's more than a bad game, and this needs to be a wake up call for Brady, Treloar and Butch. I still give them lots of credit for the final four, and I for one did and still do feel like we've got a solid staff. But, this may be their toughest coaching year yet... people expect more after the final four, and LSU is not sneaking up on anyone this year. On top of that, they were talented enough to be considered a pre-season top 10 or 20 team, so there's the added pressure of having to perform. These demands create more coaching pressure than ever before--also, I see this year as a year to build on the final four--establish some new wrinkles with a more experienced team and show the country (and an increasing number of good national recruits) that we can play top-notch ball. We'll see how and if they get better as the season goes on. :geauxtige :bball: :champs: LSU IS A BASKETBALL SCHOOL. PACK THE PMAC FOR THE 'DORES!
We do have talent, but it's all at the 2 and 3 spots ... Temple, Martin, Mason, Mitch. No PG and no big man to help Davis down low. Lazare is a mystery to me. He was never an offensive threat, but he always hustled, got some garbage baskets, and could rebound. We got absolutely nothing out of him so far in SEC play. We are better suited to get up and down the court, but Brady is not an uptempo coach, so I don't look for that to happen. I'd like to think they have some sort of zone offense that they practice, but man, it doesn't really look like it when watching them. Simply passing the ball around the perimeter is not much of a zone offense. I don't see any easy wins on the horizon.
