I have watched the tournament from the opening game yesterday up til the first couple of games today and without a doubt LSU was the most unprepared team so far. I've seen 16 seeds give 1 seeds better games, just about every game has been competitive, certainly the LSU game was the least competitive of the tourney so far. A disturbing trend under Brady is the last 3 tournament losses have all been blowouts. The last two have been really horrible.
I'd have to say that Illinois looked woefully unprepared as well, so did Bama, to name 2. Illinois is lucky they were playing such a bad team. Bama wasn't so lucky. Gonzaga and Wake both looked pretty bad for much of their games as well.
AMEN to that! I could stomach a loss, like Texas - losing but having a chance to win, or even Bama, who was at least in its game. I can't take getting blown out and looking like you have no clue what the other team is doing. I'm glad someone else noticed the disturbing trend of getting blown out in the last three tournament appearnces.
opening round jitters, missing shots and failing to help on defense is a little different than looking like a deer in headlights. this team looked like it had no idea what to do aginst the pressure defense. too much dribbling, not enough passing, UAB's in bound layups after TOs, no penetration into the zone, etc... one thing about those teams you mentioned (with the exception of bama) is that they fought hard and found a away to win. LSU played like they were the play-in winner to the tourney. when you're playing that badly, you need to do something to motivate your team. brady should have started pressing earlier, stepped up the defense or gotten a technical. something to wake the team up. instead, he was sucking on a jawbreaker in his seat. brady was outcoached and overmatched.
Another thing that stands out to me is UAB aims to make you play there pace but last night LSU actually went out and tried to run with them, jacking up 3's instead of trying to get the ball inside. Much like the Wisconsin game when LSU was obviously the more athletic team and let the badgers slow the game dowm and beat the tigers by double digits.
Wisconsin had what LSU didn't, and that was discipline. This doesn't mean that teams that play an uptempo style doesn't have discipline, just a different measuring stick. Discipline is doing what has to be done, when it has to be done, as well as it can be done, and doing it that way everytime! ...and they didn't last night.
I just had this thought: If someone started a thread titled "Unprepared", say, in early July (when all three major sports are out of season) and had an initial post that read, "The coach didn't have his players ready to compete and win.", how many of you would automatically think, "John Brady"? Actually, I think this team was very well prepared. John Brady's a good Xs and Os coach, or at least a competent one, I'm sure. The problem--which has been referenced here, time and again (and again)--is the coach/players relationship. Some say that the players don't respect John Brady. Well, having the coach preach and preach things like ball security and breaking the press, pounding the ball down low on offense to play to our strengths and slow the game down and, above all else, not having your guards get into a 3 point shooting, run and gunning pissing match with the other team's guards (who, frankly, are better at it than you)...and have, from the opening tip, 99.9% of that ignored is, I suggest, yet another example of how players in general hear John Brady but do not listen. It happens, far more often on the NBA level, but it happens: a coach just loses his team and they treat him as a burden they have to bear and an obstacle they have to work around instead of as a source of inspiration. You certainly can't fire a coach coming off a 20 win year and a Tourney birth, but you can ask (as I and others have in the past) if Brady's the best we can do. No, I don't expect Roy Williams to leave UNC and come here or Larry Brown to leave the Pistons, but it is reasonable to expect that LSU basketball be more consistently on par with other major "football first" schools like Florida, Oklahoma and Texas. The feel I get, looking at those places from afar, is that players respect and believe in Billy Donovan, Kelvin Sampson and Rick Barnes. Is it so much to ask that LSU have a similary-regarded coach in place to keep this program at a competitive level? Surely there's a basketball Nick Saban who's tracking this job who sees the potential here. One day, we'll hire him...I hope. :geauxtige
