could give it to TT for the D. or GT for the D, or DL for the 10 1st half points, or TM for 10 boards. no way to pick one. just amazing that im not including GD or DM in the mix. amazing.
Did Taz of 10 boards? Holy crap. We have a hell of a team here. We've only got good teams left to play, but no one is better than we are. As good was we looked last night, our shooting was poor and it was one of the worst games at the charity stripe I've seen this team have. What is sick is that we could possibly play better than we did last night (offensively, not defensively). Really, hard to pick player of the game, supreme team effort, but in a pinch you have to go with TT or Temple, and really it's a tossup between the two. Great game, :geauxtige.
Gotta give Lazare his props. I'm sure all of us thought we were in trouble with 10 minutes left in the 1st half when Davis and Thomas went to the bench with 2 fouls. Lazare carried us on offense. Temple did a tremendous job on Redick. He was physical with him and frustrated him all night. Just a super job. They are my co-players of the game!
I agree with the comments that it was truly an all around team effort, and that Thomas, Lazare, Tas all had vital contributions that we might not have won without. But Temple played 40 minutes. Redick never got anything going. Temple gave Redick a personal hell every single minute of the game, and that is why there's no question in my mind that Temple was the player of the game.
Great posts, and I'm not going to say anything of great revelation... but what struck me last night and today is what an overall AWESOME team effort it was. All the way down to Magnum Rolle coming off the bench with rebounds and a block on Sheldon. What was interesting to me was that despite the attention on Big Baby, Thomas, they both played less than 25 minutes. Darnell comes in for 18 minutes and scores 10 points in the first half to keep the Tigers ahead. Temple and Tas' unsung heroes all season long step up. They each play 40 minutes, play great defense and get rebounds and score key baskets. Darrell Mitchell? Hits a momentum saving 3 pointer to go with a few minutes left. What sticks out to me is what an incredibly good and deep frontline we have and what a tremendous rotation we had last night. Imagine what this team would be with a legit All-SEC "true" point guard?:hihi: Another note, great story on Temple today in the Advocate. http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/2516946.html?c=y&hid=-351592072. What's interesting is how BRADY AND STAFF helped prepare Temple for Reddick. Hate to say it, but one thing that Douggie G did say last night that was true... "LSU prepared better for Duke than Duke prepared for LSU." He also said Brady outcoached Coach K.:wink: So, with all that said, my most valuable POG in order would be: 1. Garrett Temple. Keeping Reddick going 3 of 18 for the game was not only a score changer, but a demoralizer. When Reddick plays well, Duke plays well, and you could tell the psyche of the team was fragile with their star shaken. 2. Tyrus Thomas. His interior D kept not only the interior from scoring but made each of the Paulus and Reddick guessing when coming into the lane. To cap it off, he probably has the most incredible single 30 seconds of the game with a press breaking dunk (that's not going to help keep NBA scouts away from the Bayou) and a block on Paulus that falls nicely into D.Mitch's hands. 3. Darnell Lazarre. 10 points in probably the second most important stretch of the game. 5 of 7 shooting when Davis and Thomas are both in foul trouble in the first half. He's an elder stateman on this team and his leadership and assertiveness really helped when the Tigers could have been vulnerable. 4. D.Mitch. Hard to say between the two Mitchells, but what can you say. D.Mitch hits the huge shots. He had a "quiet" 14 points, to lead the Tigers in scoring, and not only hits the big 3 point shot to stem the tide but also has 5 assists. (note to basketball pundits. LSU has a better assist-to-turnover ratio than DUKE.) 5. Tas' Mitch. Did anyone notice he got 10 points and 10 rebounds in 40 minutes of play? What he also did was work to frustrate Reddick more. Not only did he help Temple occassionally, but more importantly Reddick had to guard Tas'. With the bigger more athletic body, Tas was able to rebound, slash to the basket and score, over and past Reddick. It was almost the worst combination for Reddick--he had Temple devoted to guarding him, and he had to guard our Parade All-American swing. 6. G. Davis. Perhaps his shakiest game. But, the Big Baby is a team player. He iced the game for us. 7. Magnum Rolle. You can tell this guy is going to be a player. What's amazing is you can tell the kid is very raw, but he mixed it up with a NBA first rounder in Sheldon Williams and didn't back down. Put 15-20 pounds on the kid in the offseason and give him another year of organized practices, and he's going to be a very interesting player. 8. Voogd. Ok, you have to give props to everyone, right? Ben plays 2 minutes, and only has one turnover. Gave D.Mitch 2 minutes of rest. AWESOME TEAM EFFORT. :geauxtige :bball: :champs: LSU IS A BASKETBALL SCHOOL. BEAT TEXAS!!!
Tyrus was my hero last night. He established the paint has "his neighborhood" and the Dukie's had him in the back of their minds every time they took a shot. Basketball is also a psychological game....and he got in their heads. GEAUX Tigers! Wish me luck as today I am standing up to tons of Texas alums at work today!!!!
Player of the game has to be either Garrett Temple or Tyrus Thomas. Temple for his glue defense on Redick; JJ played like crap, and thats a credit to Temple (and LSU's ) defensive skills. Tyrus Thomas came up with HUGE blocks, that break down the floor when he split the Duke defenders for the dunk at the end of the game, and he brought fire and intensity that I think really helped fire up the team.
Do any of yall think if Tasim Mitchell stays until his senior season, he will be an all-american. I mean he grabs 10 rebounds, runs up and down the court can play forward at 6-7 and shoot 3's.
