Final Four in 2016? Is Ben Simmons all that great?

Everyone should calm down about last night's loss. Yes, it was bad. Yes, it was shocking since we went to their house and destroyed them only a few weeks ago.

This team reminds me of the 2004 team. We were Great at times but OK at other times and had some losses that made us wonder WTF. But all the bumps and bruises we went through in 2004 turned into a Final Four appearance in 2006.

Here is a comparison of the two seasons to give you relief about that bad loss last night:

Top Players(Both teams had two stars and it was there C and PF)
2005 - Brandon Bass, Glen Davis, Darrel Mitchell
2015 - Jarrell Martin, Jordan Mickey, Keith Hornsby

2005
Brandon Bass - 17.3 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.6 BPG
Glen Davis - 13.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.4 BPG
Darrel Mitchell - 13.1 PPG, 2.9 APG, 2.6 RPG, 1.8 SPG
Antonio Hudson - 13.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.0 SPG
Tack Minor - 10.8 PPG, 4.6 APG, 3.9 RPG, 1.4 SPG
Bench - Garbage. No Depth and No production of any kind. Starters all averaged north of 30 Minutes a game that season.

2015/i]
Jarrell Martin - 16.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 0.7 BPG
Jordan Mickey - 16.0 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 3.7 BPG
Keith Hornsby - 13.2 PPG, 39% 3Pt Pct, 4.2 RPG, 2.2 APG,
Tim Quartermann - 11.7 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.4 SPG
Josh Gray - 7.3 PPG, 3.9 APG, 2.3 RPG
Jalyn Patterson - 6.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 2.3, APG

2004-05 Team
Record: (20-10, 12-4)
Bad Losses: Utah, Houston, Southern Miss, West Virginia, Tennessee
Key Wins: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Florida State, Vanderbilt

2014-15 Team
Record: (21-9, 10-7)
Bad Losses: Old Dominion, Clemson, Auburn, Tenn, Missouri
Key Wins: West Virginia, UMass, Florida (x2), Vanderbilt, Alabama

Team Stats (Per Game)
Points
[i]2005 - 75.2
2015 - 73.6

FG Pct
2005 - 46%
2015 - 46%

3Pt Pct
2005 - 36%
2015 - 33%

FT Pct
2005 - 73%
2015 - 70%

Rebounds
2005 - 36.6
2015 - 39.1

Assists
2005 - 14.7
2015 - 15.8

Steals
2005 - 7.0
2015 - 7.4

Blocks
2005 - 4.2
2015 - 6.3

Turnovers
2005 - 13.5
2015 - 14.6

Then, 2005-06 season rolled around and the LSU roster had lots of young guys including Tyrus Thomas, Tasmin Mitchell, and Garrett Temple who all stepped up when LSU needed them the most.

Brandon Bass left school early the previous year. Imagine if he stayed, a Final Four might not have been the final stop for that roster. But he left, and if Martin or Mickey leave, we will be in the same situation.

If Martin leaves, Mickey will be here another season (like Glen Davis) or vice versa.

We can go even deeper in comparing the freaking Recruiting classes because that is even the same...

2005 Recruiting Class

Tasmin Mitchell - 5 Star, F/G
Magnum Rolle - 5 Star, PF
Chris Johnson - 3 Star, F
Ben Voogd - 3 Star, PG
Alex Farrer - 2 Star, F

2015 Recruiting Class (Not Complete Yet)

Commits
Ben Simmons - 5 Star, SF (Top Overall Player in Nation)
Antonio Blakeney - 5 Star, SG
Craig Victor - Transfer from Arizona (4 Star, PF - Out of HS, Class of 2014)

Should Commit
Malik Newman - 5 Star, SG (Lots of Analysts predicting LSU)