LSU played their first and only preseason exhibition game Friday night against an overmatched Morehouse College. Being that this is only an exhibition game, I will concentrate much less on the box score and more on what we learned about this team. There was certainly a lot to told from this game that should paint us a much better picture of what to expect from LSU early in the year.

First off, the starting lineup will be:

PG: Josh Gray
SG: Keith Hornsby
SF: Jarell Martin
PF: Jordan Mickey
C: Elbert Robinson III

While that was expected, I was surprised at how willing Coach Jones was to move to a quicker, athletic lineup. Coach Jones brought in Tim Quarterman and played him at the 3 spot alongside Gray and Hornsby for extended periods. When LSU went "small" they moved Martin and Mickey down low and LSU was really able to run.

Bringing in Quarterman to play the 3 was all made possible by Jalyn Patterson being much more game ready than most expected. I was absolutely shocked with the way Patterson played. He was very disruptive on defense and was able to find good space on offense. He played 19 minutes and looks the part of a guy who can give LSU quality minutes and allow the Tigers a much needed option on the perimeter.

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LSU held Morehouse to 22% shooting from inside the arc in this one, mostly due to LSU's ability to alter shots inside. Mickey had 5 first half blocks and LSU totaled 13, more than any game last season. That was the good. The bad was LSU got outrebounded by 20. They allowed an unthinkable 34 offensive rebounds. Many times it was due to LSU gambling on a block. Other times it was simply a hustle issue. Either way, it is something we will have to carefully monitor, because against top competition, that would be a complete game changer.

The most impressive performance of the night went to Jarell Martin, who looked determined to make an impact. He had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. He was very efficient with the 22 points coming on only 12 field goal attempts. He looked better defensively and was able to hit jump shots as well as get to the rim.

Random thoughts on game:

Quarterman first off the bench.

Patterson very disruptive on defense.

Gray lightning quick to the basket.

Went small before bringing in a backup center. Odo came in before Malone who didn't show up till 7 minutes left in the game.

Will play any combination of guards and they could all play PG or SG.

Bridgewater looks small in the post, but quick.

The #blockparty is very real.

Defense is going to be so much better than last season. The guards are way stronger on defense than last year.

The blocks took LSU out of rebounding position occasionally.

I enjoyed the 30 second experimental shot clock, surprisingly. Did not take away from offensive sets.

Elbert Robinson (ER3) settled down and played pretty good defense. Did not look to be a threat on offensive side, but his frame is intimidating and he had good hands to get loose balls in the paint.

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Filed Under: LSU Basketball