quote:
The hate Gaines gets on here is ridiculous. He brings A LOT to this team. You can bet your arse off though that whenever he has a turnover that there will be 10 threads about it. He's the player the idiots on here have all jumped in to hate on.

Pointing out objective facts doesn't equal "hate." I don't think you will find a single post where I've ever said Gaines wasn't a big part of this team. In fact, you'll find many more posts where I've said the guy has the potential to be the most electric player on the team. Which I still believe to be the case.

While I know that ANYTHING perceived a critical equals "hate", the reality is this team's single biggest weakness is turnovers. And if you don't believe me, go ask Will Wade, who made his team participate in a ceremony where they metaphorically burned their "turnovers" in a trashcan before leaving for Florida. LSU is 3rd to last in the SEC in turnover % (245 in the country). Gaines leads the SEC in turnovers and has one of the worst assist to turnover ratios in the league among guards. That's not "hate". Just reality. Many of those turnovers are a result of being unnecessarily lose with the ball or making lazy passes.

The point of the post was not to dump on Gaines, but to opine that if given the two options, you trust Pinson with the ball more. That does not mean Gaines is a bad player. Or that he does not bring other things to the table that make this team great. In fact, he's probably the most impactful defender on the team.

But when the team's biggest weakness is turnovers, it is probably reasonable to suggest, if given the choice, you would prefer to not have the guy with the highest turnover % on the team being the primary ball-handler.