re: If J. Jones doesn't make the NCAA tourney next season

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Last night we seemed run the "no Johnny" offense much better than the "go to JOB" one. Once the offense with the only goal of "get the ball inside to JOB" was gone. Every team in the SEC knows that's the offense we run 95% of the time, and he's not all that good at passing out of it - he's too slow.

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I've never understood why we kept going to the "pass it to JOB III even though he's being double/triple teamed offense" constantly when all it's causing is bad shots and turnovers.

With JOB III gone it will at least force the coaching staff to be a little more creative in the half court.

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Wow. Ludwig was injured for a lot last year. If you think that holdovers like Stringer, JOB, and Coleman were holding them back you might be surprised at how they do next year when they are all gone. Hint: All of the guys on the bench not playing are CJJ's "guys."

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Coleman is a JJ recruit, not TJ.

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So its just Stringer, JOB, and Hickey holding them back? And they are doing so by playing in front of CJJ players who apparently CJJ thinks aren't good enough to get any minutes?

I'm missing the logic as to how they are holding the team back when they are playing 30+ minutes a game.

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You're talking about juniors and seniors playing over mostly freshmen and sophomores. That happens at most schools. We still had 2 freshmen start this season in Martin and Mickey though.

Stringer and Hickey are solid players, and I think they get blamed too much for the defensive shortcomings of the team because they are simply short guards (the forwards are much worse defenders)...but there's no doubt there's room for improvement with going from a 5'8 SG to a Josh Gray or Keith Hornsby. Keith Hornsby was a very good player at his previous school and is 6'4. Josh Gray led all of JUCO this year in scoring and is 6'1.

I dont think there's anything wrong with Hickey. He's not really that short for a PG and he's VERY good getting assists and not turning the ball over while also having a knack for getting steals. His only major issue is 3 point shooting, which he improved a good deal on this year but he still shoots it sometimes like he's a 40%+ 3 point shooter when he's simply not.

It took Dale Brown seven seasons to get to the NCAA Tournament. But when he got there, he reeled off 14 Tourney appearances in 16 seasons, and two Final Fours.

Johnny Jones appears to be moving the program along faster than Dale Brown did, even though the program was not much better when Jones got hired than it was in 1972. If it takes Jones four seasons to get to the Tournament, I'm OK with that.

Besides, in college basketball, it's 80% recruitment anyway, and Jones is a very good recruiter. Give him time.

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The reason we're down on JJ isn't recruiting, it's how unprepared and unmotivated the team looks, even with very good players on the roster. Very poor X & O coaching and seemingly little motivation/passion coming from the bench.

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Sure, there's been big lapses on defense and poor execution on offense, but their biggest problem is they can't shoot. Stringer is about the only player who could consistently hit the broad side of a barn. The whole team needs to spend the next 7-8 months in the gym SHOOTING.

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Keep in mind Hornsby isn't a prospect really, he's a proven transfer.

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Also, Gray made All Big XII Freshman team last year and led all of JUCO this year in scoring. Those 2 arent really prospects, just proven solid to good players at the college level.

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Transfers are transfers for a reason. I have hope that they stay eligible, stay with us and that their production continues with us. Their numbers do look good. But still I'll hold back expectations just a little. Hard learned habit.

And I hope that they can play defense and can communicate on defense.

It would basically take either a drastically remodeled PMAC, or better yet a brand new facility, to attract the kind of coach we need to put LSU permanently on the NCAA basketball map.

We need a facility with suites, bottom line.

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The reason we're down on JJ isn't recruiting, it's how unprepared and unmotivated the team looks, even with very good players on the roster. Very poor X & O coaching and seemingly little motivation/passion coming from the bench.

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I can understand somewhat but the best players are freshmen. Florida's statters are almost all seniors. This team underachieved but only a little. They're young.