re: I really think Quarterman is the key to LSU making the tourney down the stretch

Quarterman is definitely the most important player, assuming Simmons is doing his thing.

Teams are going to focus on Simmons. We need a player capable of dominating a defense that is not keying on him. Quarterman did that to Kentucky, and in theory can do that against anyone. He's a tough matchup, he's not like Gray (for example), where you could just commit a fast guard to stay with him.
Very few teams have a 6'6" wing that can run point, post up and rebound if needed, etc, and defend against that, that would NOT be part of the plan to manage Simmons.