LSU vs Nicholls

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5 assist?

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5 assists is horribly low. Trae Hannibal had 3 of those 5. I've made it quite clear on here that he should be the starting point guard. We would have had more than 5 assists had he played more minutes. The other guards, Williams (1.0 apg) and Stewart (0.5 apg) are not playmakers.

I sound like a broken record, but McMahon is forcing players to do things that they aren't suited to do. He's trying to make Williams, a true freshman who DID NOT play PG in high school, the starting point guard on this team. I'll admit 2 games is a small sample size, but only averaging one assist per game is worrying. It's not working. It's quite clear that he is not a point guard from watching him play. This isn't just a case of "he's a true freshman he will learn". Williams is a solid player. He is an intense defender. He's just not a point guard. Stewart isn't exactly a PG either, but it makes more sense for him to play the 1 and have Williams play the 2. Williams was an off ball player the majority of the time in high school, and Stewart was a ball dominant guard at Santa Clara. It's incredibly frustrating to see Stewart being forced to play off-ball while Williams and Reed have the ball in their hands more.

Regardless, I think Trae Hannibal should be the starting point guard and get the majority of minutes at PG. He can make plays with his driving ability, is a willing defender, and a good rebounder. I know the rant was very negative towards him for the end of the game turnover he had, but Williams had played just as bad for the majority of the game. He had no points, rebounds, or assists until the last 5 minutes of the game. Trae obviously isn't a tremendous player nor is he the "solution" to our guard problems. He's just quite clearly the best option.

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Fountain off the bench?

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If McMahon was asked about this, he'd probably spew some bullshite about "practice habits" or something. Fountain was arguably our best player coming into this season. McMahon has this infatuation with Jalen Reed. Jalen is becoming a solid player but McMahon talks about him like he's the best player he's ever coached. Unless Reed keeps this level of play up (which is doubtful considering our competition will only get tougher as the year goes on) he will probably go to the bench. Don't forget last year he was a starter until Fountain took his spot. I expect something similar to happen again.

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LSU vs Nicholls

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Did we win? I can’t remember. I think we were down 11 points before we even scored and down 24 points prior to the half.

Hopefully the podium got an assist for being a better coach than the current HC.

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If McMahon was asked about this, he'd probably spew some bullshite about "practice habits" or something. Fountain was arguably our best player coming into this season. McMahon has this infatuation with Jalen Reed. Jalen is becoming a solid player but McMahon talks about him like he's the best player he's ever coached. Unless Reed keeps this level of play up (which is doubtful considering our competition will only get tougher as the year goes on) he will probably go to the bench.

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I got the impression that Fountain was coming off the bench because he missed a lot of time with injuries / stomach issues. He didn't play in any of the exhibitions. I don't mind him coming off the bench as he can sub in at the 4 or 5 and Reed is playing well.

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Don't forget last year he was a starter until Fountain took his spot. I expect something similar to happen again.

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Last year we definitely were playing Reed a lot early to try to develop him as we needed the help up front to support KJ. Looks like it is clicking in this year, but I agree Fountain is more rounded.

As for Williams as a PG, I think they are playing him more to develop him there as we need him to be a pg with Cook out. Unfortunately I have only been able to listen to the games so far, but I would be curious how we look with only one of Trae / Williams / Stewart on the floor and Wright / Ward at SG as the both handle they ball very well.

Looking forward to watching the game tomorrow.

When we lost Jalen Cook this team was cooked. HE was the only option we had to run any real offensive approach. Mike Williams might be a decent player down the road but he's not a starting PG this year. He's really a combo guard too, not a true PG that runs an offense.

McMahon did a terrible job preparing this year's team to operate without someone they likely knew was a 50/50 at best shot when they took him way back earlier this year. Basically put all our eggs in the Cook basket.

- Williams is a combo guard and a true freshman who clearly isnt ready to be on the floor much yet
- Stewart is more a short 2-guard but call him a combo guard too if you want to
- Hannibal is a scoring 2-guard who makes some dangerous passes at times to get assists, but the guy just wants to drive to the hoop any chance he gets in reality

That's anyone on this team who might even be able to run the point on this team. Wright is a 2/3 man. Reed pretends he's a point forward but the guy who never think of running offense outside of a fast break pass here and there. Ward isnt going to be a guy to run an offense at any point.

Basically, there's just no one to run the actual offense. Williams and Stewart have never been high assist guys in the past running a true point, they were scorers.

Wright's stat line looks very similar to Allen Flanigan's last night.

Y’all think mcneese would be Lsu right now?

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When we lost Jalen Cook this team was cooked. HE was the only option we had to run any real offensive approach.

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That is a coaching/roster mistake. There was no guarantee we'd get Cook this season. Given the shoe thing, the NCAA was going to do us no favors. Trae Hannibal seems like our best option at PG on this roster. Basketball 101, you ALWAYS have to have a player on the court who can run point. ALWAYS.

McMahon will be a multi year lame duck coach

Can’t knock the optimism.