re: MBB Portal Targets List

quote:

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You sound like alt26 complaining that players like Curtis Givins haven had the career that some Wade players did.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've NEVER said that

Falsehoods aside, here's my position on McMahon:

He did not inherit a good situation

On paper, the hire wasn't bad. He arguably had the best resume of all of the SEC coaches hired in that cycle except for Mike White who, himself, was largely an average major-conf. coach.

I thought he did a solid job rebuilding the roster in his first offseason. Particularly his HS recruiting given he had been on the school for such a short period of time and he likely had minimal prior relationships with top 100 players because he generally wasn't recruiting them at Murry St.

I thought with HS class, combined with what everyone who follows college basketball for a living felt was a decent transfer class, combined with a returning layer, he would have a solid first season. Not comparable to Wade's prior four years. Not even an NCAA Tournament team. But a team that would be competitive and, if all the cards fell right, could possibly find their way into NCAAT consideration. Those expectations weren't unreasonable because that was what many who cover college basketball thought.

Instead, once SEC play started he led the team to one of the worst SEC performances in the history of the program. One where LSU wasn't even competitive. There is quite a difference between taking a step back because of issues outside of his control and being absolutely horrible. He lost the benefit of the doubt that season because....

It has become commonplace for programs to lose a large portion of their roster in the midst of a coaching change. Yet, there have been multiple programs/coaches that have had far better success than a 2-16 conf record despite being forced to overhaul their roster.

This season LSU looked like the exact same team from last year until SEC play started. Then the team improved, culminating with the wins at USC and vs. Kentucky...before ending the season on a back slide. Finishing with a "postseason" game that fully displayed how much apathy is associated with the program now.

There is more reason to be optimistic for next year than there was going into last offseason. But that optimism is guarded (not just for LSU, but most teams) because at least half of the roster will be new.

Overall, I don't think McMahon has done a terrible job recruiting. Both from the HS ranks and transfers. It hasn't quite been comparable to teams like Kentucky, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee. But not awful. So I lean towards the issue being more in the coaching department. In other words, based upon what I've seen, I'm not convinced McMahon is a "good coach".

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean I'm tuning out like most fans. Nor does it mean I hope McMahon fails. I WANT him to succeed. I WANT to say my opinion of his coaching ability was wrong because, believe it or not, my sense of self worth is not tied to favorable opinions on an anonymous message board forum. I just like the discussion. But until he actually produces noteworthy results on the court the skepticism will remain.