I love it! :hihi:

I'm trying to remember if WCT actually predicted which games would make up those 3 losses.

Seriously, I think we should compile all of the predictions on this team from beginning to end. It's kinda amazing to me the pessimism of the basketball "fans" vs. the football fans. In football, we think we're going to win every game almost to the point of being ridiculous, and in basketball it seems we go the other way---alot of folks think we're going to lose more. Then, those same people seem to ignore Brady's results when we exceed those results. I predicted at the beginning of the season a 12-4 conference record, with five losses a possibility. We have a chance to exceed expectations again, at 11-2.

Bring back the magic in PMAC! Bring back the faith! :geauxtige :bball: :champs:

He never actually predicted WHICH teams we would lose to...

I think the pessimism has to do with the realism facing college basketball coaches today. Typical non educated basketball fans will try to compare the LSU mens and womens programs successes. Do you think the Women's program would be ranked #3 in the country if Augustus had gone pro at the end of her freshman or Sophomore season? Absolutely not. Do you think the womens program will suffer next year without her.. Absolutely.

To sustain a program when you are not in the elite these days is very difficult. Can we be in the elite?

First of all lets look at what in my opinion the elite programs possess.

1. Facilities- We threw $5,000,000 at the PMAC and we are saying how great that was. Alabama, which is not an elite program by the way, spent 30,000,000 on their tired facility. Adding an area where the big wigs can socialize and be seen. Auburn has announced that they are going to build a $50,000,000 facility. Bobbu is writing the check. We should build a new Basketball arena with private suites and also have 2 rows of floor seats that we can get large donors to pay for. If LSU truly wants to be known as an elite basketball program, you have to have facilites to keep up with everyone else. Saban did if for us in football. UAB has had their Golden 100 club since the program started. At halftime, you get to go in a very nice room and have a cocktail or 2. Pregame, you have chalktalk with the assistant coaches and get a pregame meal.

2. Fans- Fans that show up when we play ULL and sell out the place. Not just when we play Kentucky. Hugh Durham used to chastise the Alabama fans saying they only show up to watch Kentucky play. Said they must just be Kentucky fans. A documented fact is that many Kentucky fans will go to away games just to see Kentucky play because they cannot buy tickets to the games at home. I know for a fact that if you were able to, which you are not, the value of 2 midcourt seats (license to buy those seats) are marketed at $250,000 in Rupp Arena. With that license, you still have to buy the tickets and make a donation to the Athletic Association for $25,000. Louisville for the same license is $100,000.

3. Talking heads- Jay Bilis does wonders for Duke by just being in the position he is in. Dick Vitale is a moniker for the ACC, Big Ten and Big East. People pay attention to Vitale and he is marketing what ABC/ESPN wants him to. We have a joke of a TV contract to expose the SEC. We get the late game on ESPN on Tuesday nights and are just now looking into doing a SEC/Big 12 challenge. Do you think if the SEC was getting Vitale at least once a week the perception of the conference would change? Of course it would. Do you ever see Digger Phelps and Jay Bilis really pump up the SEC? No, why? We are not on their network except the late game on Tuesday nights. The SEC office does a horrible job of promoting mens basketball nationally.

If I had more time, I would point out the rest of the stuff that we are behind in. Blame Brady if you want but he is not the overall problem when you talk about the mechanics of being an elite program. I am sure the first attack of this post will be that if he won, people would show up and support him. We have won 2 straight West championships in the last 2 years and our only hard sellout is Kentucky. No wonder he has a chip on his shoulder. It starts with a culture similar to our football program and a school president and athletic director that demands excellence in its facilities and a fan base that supports them no matter if they win or lose.

It is a damn shame that our own fans dont have faith in us. The bad part about it is that West Coast Tiger is not the only fan that feels like this. We still have "fans" that REALLY think we are going to be one and done in the NCAA tourney. So, 3-3 down the stretch hunh West Coast Tiger... I think not. Anyway, this team is playing well and I said it at the beginning of the year Im honestly thinking elite8 or possibly final4. We have a grat group this year, and they play well with each other:bball:

Good well thought out post. Where is 'Golfer to join in on this? He seems to think $$ is just coming out of LSU's ears and we should fire the coach and buy Coach K. :wink:

Now, I don't debate any of the things you're saying. There IS just a completely different level of attention given to hoops at Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc. If I had the time, I'd also do a study of what makes an "elite" program. But, I think ultimately, there is something to be said for a school and a conference emphasizing a sport. I think there was a time when SEC was more of a basketball conference, namely when Arkansas was winning IN ADDITION to Kentucky (perhaps you'd argue in the 80's it was us and Kentucky). I would say then, we were on the tube more and talked about more, just because we were winning. Unfortunately, our teams haven't delivered in recent years. Young teams don't get to final 4s, and schools that have underclassmen leave for NBA money, don't develop the depth to get you there. You add to that the fact that the SEC is a football first conference, and I'm not sure there IS the love of basketball from the ADs to the equivalent of the Big East, ACC and Big 10. Some SEC schools KNOW that Basketball is their bread and butter (Vandy, Kentucky), so they invest in keeping that sport their focus, but that's not universal in the conference.

I think it's an interesting study, b/c you have to in some sense rule out the "pure basketball" powers, i.e., those schools that only excel in one sport. Duke is a anomoly, b/c they ONLY care about basketball (and maybe lacrosse :hihi: ). So, they've got an advantage in the sense that they pay all of their money to Coach K, they're able to "market" themselves as the pinnacle of college basketball, and the Cameron Crazies are the best fans in the world, and so, guess, what... they're elite. I'd say Gonzaga, Marquette, UConn, Georgetown, UNC, Kentucky all fall in this camp, and it's just going to be hard for LSU to be that kind of school.

You have to consider what have schools like Texas, Michigan, UCLA, arguably Florida, Tennessee (women's hoops) etc. have done and study that against LSU. These are all schools that have excelled in all sports, including FBall and Basketball at one point or another (but, not surprisingly, also won the bball NC less). These are the large public institutions who have large athletic budgets, discriminating sports fans, and diverse interests. Being in Austin, I will STILL say that Barnes complains about fans, DESPITE being a final 4 coach. There are games where 4-5K fans show up for the game (not 16,000). Alot of folks worry that THAT fact (fan support) will lead Barnes to go to Indiana, or the ACC, just because heck, every coach wants to be playing in front of exciting gym crowds. He has great (and I mean GREAT) facilities and a top of the country type salary, and has put final 4 teams on the floor--and he still doesn't have the fans that come out for EVERY GAME. But, Texas is where we want to be from a winning standpoint, and I think they'd still be considered "new elite" even though the fan support isn't the best.

So, I think you raise great points. The problem is that none of these things by themselves can be a pivot point. The AD is not going to just invest tons of $ over night, nor are fans going to become Cameron Crazies over night. Perhaps folks think that some instrumental move (fire Brady, build a new gym) will make us elite, but what is going to be the catalyst for that move? I guess if EVERY other SEC school has a better gym than us, it might do something (it must have helped 'Bama, since they just signed Senario Hillman, a hot Jr. guard we were also recruiting). But, I think realistically, it has to start on the court. Brady has won the West AGAIN, he has a young talented team, that's a home town team, that if stays together, will bring more people out next year. If he wins consistently (and of course, I'd argue that he IS doing that over the last couple of years), does a little better in the NCAAs, fans will start to come back, and SKIP will feel more like he has a valuable franchise to invest in... :geauxtige It can also start WITH the fans. If the fans start to get educated about this team, how good it really is, start to pack the PMAC again, that can also help.

By the way, part of bringing back the magic.... BRINGING BACK THE '86 TEAM!!!! Win or lose, our fans have to go see the last final four squad we had... http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/2363666.html. It's tradition and it's an amazing story. STILL the only 11th seed to EVER make the final four.

We can be elite again, one small step at a time... :bball: :champs:

It just points out that you will complain even if you have to scratch your head to think up a way to do it. You are truly the worst type of fan. Don't even try to deny that you hope for an LSU loss so you can come on here and crow.

ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto!!!!!!!!

Excellent counter-point! :thumb:

We are definately on the same page longhorn. I would put Kentucky and Arkansas in the category of RABID fans. It is part of their life to go to basketball games. It is not that way at most schools in basketball.

Tommy Amaker, the ex duke coach K prodigy at Michigan, has about the same record in the same amount of time that Brady has been at LSU. He inherited probation (far less than what LSU received) and they aren't ready to fire him yet.

It will be very interesting if we have a big run this year to see if we can keep our coach from going to a better situation. Read this again... it will be very interesting to see if we can KEEP our coach from going to a better situation. The street runs two ways in this business. I am sure many of the bashers will say don't let the door hit him on the way out, but it would not surprise me in the least. Then they can complain about the next guy that comes in and has to deal with the support and facilities that we have.