re: Do we have a final 4 quality basketball team next year?

No

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Simmons is not a huge scorer.


He absolutely is, just because he also looks to pass doesnt make him NOT a huge scorer. Simmons still averaged damn near 30 points per game this year on the best high school team in the country with a handful of Div-I signees.

I hate to use this comparison but he is very very similar to Lebron. He can drop pretty much whatever he wants whenever he wants but is so good with the ball in his hands is more than capable of getting everyone else involved and with to the attention on him can put up PG assist numbers.

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And Odo was a fantastic rebounder before he came to LSU and Gray was the leading scorer in JC. Sorry but you have to prove it to me by doing it in SEC games. High school is one thing but the SEC is another.

Simmons will have much better shooting teammates to pass the ball to and won't have to try and score as much as he did in high school. The main ways he scored that I saw on video was taking it all the way on a fast break or scoring off of a drive or a p
utback offensive rebound.

Against good college defenses he won't get near as many opportunities to get a break away or score off of a drive. When he drives he will get fouled a good amount of the time. I still stand by my statement that a lot of his scoring will come from free throws and the better he hits them then the more he scores.

I don't think he's going to average 30 ppg.

I would say season wide 18-20ppg, 8-10rpg and 4-5apg would be within reach.

Also, with Blakeney, Hornsby and Patterson, LSU will be deadly from 3. I expect all 3 to approach 40% from 3. Hornsby was at 39% last season, Patterson at 37%. Blakeney can shoot lights out. I expect TQ to improve from his 31% also.

Simmons will need to improve his FT%, but he's starting out on good footing hitting 77% last year. Blakeney was an 82% FT shooter.

We have a lot of versatility in the backcourt and Simmons can play the 3 or 4 and also point forward. I expect Gray to improve as well in his role as a point.

LSU should have a lot of options with lineups.

5 spot is the major question mark along with how does LSU want to play it. We won't always need the size presence there, but we will at times. That means ER3, Victor, Malone need to be viable options.

LSU can get away with a lineup with Victor at the 5 IMO because of LSU's size elsewhere and a lot of teams aren't trotting out 7 footers.

1 - TQ 6'6
2 - Blakeney 6'4
3 - Hornsby 6'4
4 - Simmons 6'9
5 - Victor 6'9

LSU could also go bigger depending on frontcourt development.

1 - TQ 6'6
2 - Blakeney 6'4
3 - Simmons 6'9
4 - Victor 6'9
5 - ER3/Malone 7'0

Or LSU could even go 4 guard with Simmons at the 5.

Plus you have JG, Patterson, and now Sampson to mix in for lineups and depth along with Epps and Bridgewater.

FF or bust is just silly IMO. But I fully expect LSU to compete for the SEC Title (13-5, 14-4) and make the NCAAT as a 7 seed or better.

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Simmons is an incredible player for what it's worth.

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Not being negative, but I hope he's all he's cracked up to be.
I still remember hearing how great Tasmin Mitchell was, what a steal the guy was, how badly Kentucky wanted him etc. Ended up being a slightly above-average 4 yr player, with nowhere near the impact we expected.

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I would say season wide 18-20ppg, 8-10rpg and 4-5apg would be within reach.

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Those would be great numbers. No matter what it should be a lot of fun to watch.

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Those would be great numbers. No matter what it should be a lot of fun to watch.

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I agree and I could have higher expectations than will happen, but I think 18ppg, 8rpg, 3apg would be MY expectations.

The 18ppg would lead the team of course. I also think Blakeney has a good shot to be 2nd on team in scoring, 15-16ppg. Hornsby will complete for 2nd (13.4 last year, 15ppg candidate this year). I think Patterson makes the biggest ppg jump from 6.8ppg to upwards of 12-13ppg. I think TQ improves from 11.5, but stays in the 12-13ppg range.

My reasoning is mutli-fold, LSU will be replacing 32-33 ppg production from losing Martin and Mickey, but also have a better overall and offensive team next year. That along with questionable defense. Martin and Mickey weren't particularly great defensive players IMO, but they did have a presence, especially Mickey with his blocks and even when not blocking adversely affecting shots around the basket. We'll see if LSU can make up the difference.

Also, I would love to see TQ to continue to improve his defense. At 6'6 and already probably our best defender, he has great potential as a lockdown guard or even defending the 3 position in CBB. That's a great niche and most important IMO for his NBA aspirations. (He can improve his shooting along the way, but high defense-okay shooting is his best avenue).

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We will go as far as JJ's coaching abilities (or lack there of) will take us.

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Recruiting and player execution win college basketball games a hell of a lot more than in game coaching ability. We didn't lose to NCS in our game because JJ lacked coaching ability. We lost because players on the court went the last ten minutes without hitting a fricking shot.

You have to be retarded to think JJ cost us that game.

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And Odo was a fantastic rebounder before he came to LSU and Gray was the leading scorer in J

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I stopped right here, you just compared a couple 3 star JUCOs to the #1 player in the country. Simmons is 100% effortless in the way he scores. He can be at 7 points 10 minutes into a game then be at 17 points 3 minutes later simply because he decides to dominate. He has no problem getting the ball i nthe hoop when he wants to.

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Not even close. Team has no depth.

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Duke won it all this year with no depth.