Just got back, pretty dissappointing =( Even as a casual fan I could see alot of the problems talked about here.... First half we seemed to give up alot of offensive rebounds. Lots of points off of follow-ups and second efforts. Big baby was on fire the first half, but is he always supposed to be up there around the point? Of course, everyone else seemed too scared to take a shot and that is the only place they weren't double teaming him so I guess he was taking what he could. Their biggest flaw is obviously that no one will, or can, seem to take a shot, and that killed them at the end. Who was it that missed that wide open two from the set inbound play, complete airball? God, killer miss, really took the wind out of the fans. Off topic-how early do you need to get there for seats in the courtside student section?
Um,basketball suks anyway.What the hell is interesting about it anyway?Can't wait till soccer,track&field,air hockey and bowling season starts up.
Chris Johnson missed that shot.... Which comes to my rant about Brady (long time reader, first time basher). Why would you put a kid who has 33 minutes the entire season in that position (Yes, I am aware he started and played great)? A clutch shot going to someone who rarely played, and cold off the bench? Next... Why would he take Ben Voogd out? The offense was running like an.... OFFENSE! 1 minute after he gets a steal and a layup, he gets subbed out for Temple, who did nothing in those final 7 minutes. His stats for that final stretch: 1 REB, 2 TOs. Ugh... I don't know if I can stomach another blow-up by this team.... :dis: Get here when they open the doors, an hour and a half before-hand... I'm sure later now that we lost 4 in a row. The students finally come to games, and they can't seem to win anything.
The disappointing reality for me is that I felt pretty good about what I was seeing on the floor..... until crunch time. grrrr Good to see Johnson play in something other than an exhibition game. Great kid with a lot of heart. Easily pushed around on defense at times, but has a nice outside shot. So kind of a trade-off between the good and the bad. He did have some nice defensive plays though. I suspect he earned himself more playing time tonight. Was not shocked to see him get put on the bench in the second half. He is simply not used to playing a lot of minutes. I really felt proud and happy for him when I heard his name announced in the starting lineup. Now lets hope he doesn't break in half.
I think you just go with Voogd at the point and Johnson at center. At least you have a semblance of a team out there with a true point and center. Rotate everybody else in. Go small 3 guard at times, and traditional 2-2-1 at all other times. I just don't see how you run an offense without a true point. And LSU has proven that theory pretty well this season.
While the result would agree with you, I don't think that in it of itself is the problem. Temple, going back and looking at his line, had 5 TOs to 6 assists, but to his credit shut down Steele. What I am more critical is the "timing" of his mistakes. You pick the wrong time to come in and turn the ball over in the last 3 minutes. While I would love to see Chris Paul running the show at LSU, or DJ Augustin for that matter, I think the more fundamental problem is our "game time" changers are not there. The ball getting into the hands of D.Mitch at the end of the game is not a given, and in this case, it's hard to get the ball to Glen Davis, b/c he's a forward not a guard. Thus, the general rule that guards get you where you need to go. That being said, 'Bama beat us with Davidson, not Steele. So, we didn't lose because we don't have a true point. We lost because we turned the ball over in the last three minutes, didn't convert, and let Davidson score. After playing well for most of the game, we crumbled at the end. And, to someone else's point, that's not due to lack of talent (presumably, Temple and Martin are talented), it's due to lack of crunch time experience and confidence. I mean even the announcers were on Martin's case for catching a pass out of bounds--just shouldn't have happened. Neither of these guys have had to handle the pressure in the last minutes... Martin's a first year transfer and this is essentially Temple's first year playing point. The silver lining is Big Baby may be staying at LSU another year after all, Tack leaving LSU leaves another schollie to sign a GUARD, and Davidson's a senior and leaving after this season... :grin: :geauxtige LSU IS A BASKETBALL SCHOOL. KEEP THE FAITH.
Temple doesn't appear to making any kind of strides at point. And stats don't tell the real story anyway. He doesn't create offense. You need someone who pushes the action, forces defenses on their heels. Temple gives you none of that at point. Voogd isn't perfect but at least he serves quite well in that regard. The Temple experiment needs to end.
True...but everyone else will be back including Hendrix, Steele, and Gee. Plus, we have 2 of the best guards (PG-Pickett, SG-Hillman) in the nation coming in next year to help Steele out and give us more depth at that spot. Demitrius Jemison is going to end up being a great PF also.
Not saying you will be good or not next year, but played those guys in high school and they can light it up.
