I long ago swore off posting my thoughts about the basketball team, what with the majority here having drank the Purple colored Kool-Aid that John Brady and our AD has passed out for free with discounted tickets and a sub-par product on the court, but I'll digress with that tangent and get to the point... If anyone is watching what's happening on ESPN (Cox Cable Channel 35 in Baton Rouge), then you realize just what heights a SEC Basketball program can reach. The atmosphere in the amazing O'Connell Center is electric. Dickie V. is flapping his gums about the amazing recruits Donovan's brought in. The fans are all decked out in either blue or orange. The team played inspired on defense and tough, though they got calls and non-calls, depending on their end of the court, the entire game, to erase a double digit first half deficit to go up by as many as 10 in the 2nd half...even though they're down with less than a minute to go here, and they'll probably eat a tough home loss, I'd like to talk about this program. They execute no matter the defense, and they execute no matter the situation...They play tough, they have multiple players who excel at movement without the basketball as well as they excel on an individual level. They run, they transition well, and they execute their half court offense well. They have players who can put the ball on the floor and create their own space and their own shot, and then hit that shot. They have players who can hit the open three, or move through a set of picks and drain a perimeter shot as well. They basically do things that John Brady has never heard of... I apologize to all who love him and adulate him, but this man is no Billy Donovan, and Donavan, along with Tubby Smith of Kentucky, are the best coaches in the conference. There is no excuse for why we are saddled with a poor facility and a poor coach. John Brady will probably end up with a better than .500 record in the conference this year, and may very well win one or two games in the conference. He'll go to the 1st round of the NCAA's... How many years will LSU reward mediocrity with a rollover or an extension? I for one tire of mediocrity...regularly scoring under 60 points. I tire of a good defense with a totally inept half court offense. I tire of a coach so entranced with a half court offense as Brady is. We recruited run the court athletes like Regis Koundja and Tack Minor. We have great athletes like Darrell Mitchell, Jr., and Bass...Yet we have NOT tried to push an up-tempo pace at all this year.... We have a team baffled by a zone defense, with no hopes of figuring out this Rubix Cube anytime soon....How long will we continue to allow this man to be a band-aid over a bullethole? Brady is a good coach. He knows his X's and O's. His problem is hubris. He recruits well, then doesn't adjust his gameplan to his players and personnel. His off the court antics are much maligned and lamented facts of my posting history's lore, and I won't go into that... But, on this eve of a re-celebration of our newfound excellence and a new attitude as fans, lets all agree that John Brady just isn't the man to bring LSU to the heights it can attain. I want people to talk about a refurbished P-MAC like they talk about Rupp or O'Connell or Bud Walton... I want people to talk about Brandon Bass like they talk about Reddick, or Okafor, or Jamir Nelson... I want people to respect LSU Basketball. I want to stop settling for mediocrity as fans... Do you all want the same?
Geez! I know you don't like Brady for reasons other than his coaching and recruiting ability but give the guy a chance. He is not the Wizard of Westwood or Zen Master Phil Jackson but the Tigers are 14-4 with a very young team in the first year that Brady has had to work without the restrictions of probation that occured before his tenure. I just watched Kentucky beat Florida at the O'Connell Center 68-65 so neither one of those ranked teams score in the 100's in the SEC either. The team is better now than they were 2 weeks ago and by the end of March they will be better than they are now. LSU is 14-4. Florida, a team that was ranked #1 early in the season is now 13-6 after tonights loss.
I said our team can't crack 60 points on a regular basis...They played a tough defensive game and almost combined for 130+ points...We ended up combining with Ole Miss for what...102 or so? I didn't say we had to average 100, but we need to put a more fan friendly product on the court...We need to have better opponents on the court in the pre-conference portion of our schedule...We need to allow our players play to their strengths... No one has refuted that this is a young, still meshing and gelling team. I certainly have not, at any rate... What I am wondering is why Brady doesn't say, "Man, we can't run the half court against the zone...Let's just run the damn ball up and down the court from time to time, so as to generate some type of tempo." Don't even talk about the game if you want to compare. The amount of perimeter movement by players WITHOUT THE BASKETBALL was more in that 2nd half than in the ENTIRE SEASON FOR LSU! You also wouldn't wanted to have seen Air Force play UNLV last night. I have never seen such an active basketball team. Such fluidity without the ball...a true offense, and they bring new meaning to the word execution. Their coach makes that team GET AFTER IT, and those are all guys that signed on KNOWING they'd make a four year commitment to the Air Force and the Armed Services when they're done, which isn't exactly a strong selling point to recruits... The bottom line is that we're settling for less, and we're fooling ourselves by telling each other it's more... One day, we will learn...
It's as simple as either put a great ,entertaining product on the floor or only a few will attend. Watching the tigers is kind of like watching a sailor sail into the wind. He may be getting there but it's boring to watch.
Our b-ball teams has it moments. Remember when we upset Florida in the SEC tournament? Of course we were completely embarassed in the NCAA Tournament by Purdue...
I'm drinking the Kool-Aid John Brady has done an excellent job during the probation years at LSU. This is his first year coaching at LSU while not on probation. We are 14-4 and 4-3 in the SEC. Let's see where we finish the year before we insult his coaching skills (oh wait you alweays do that).His teams are well known for improving and coming on strong towards the end of the year. I know you have dissed this man for years because of his personal life and it hurts you to see him do well and it scares you to know that John will lead this team for years to come . The only way Brady leaves LSU is if he takes another job where the fans support their BBALL program unlike the bandwagon LSU BBALL fans. How many games have you been to this year? I have been to all but a few and yes our offense is struggling. We also have, quite possibly, THE BEST defense in the SEC. My point is when it's all said and done this team will probably make some waves in the NCAA tournament. As you stated, He has recruited well(we have to start somewhere). I wiped the slate clean this year,when it comes to Brady, and I think we sit right where we should be after 7 SEC games. Poor me another glass of Kool-aid! Go Brady! Go Tigers!
