re: Lsu basketball Bahamas

LSU ends the tour 3-0 with a 118 - 79 victory over Club Orbas Argentina (COA).

Jordan Wright led the way with 27/5/2. He also shot 45% from 3.

To provide a little bit of context, South Carolina beat COA earlier in the week 106-67. Creighton beat them 111-89

Outside of one horrible quarter vs. Puerto Rico (which McMahon called the "worst in the history of Bahamian basketball"), LSU looks to have performed on par with the other teams participating in the event: South Carolina, Iowa St., Creighton, A&M.

The good:

LSU shot the ball really well overall. Over 50% from the field in all three games. Various guys had solid performances. Most notably Stewart, Ward, Baker, Wright. They also shared the ball pretty well. Generally averaging 1 assist on every 2 or so made baskets. The opponents also shot a pretty low FG% against LSU. On average, less than 40%.

The not so good:

The amount of turnovers was ridiculous. Yes, LSU played at what appears to be a very fast pace with a ton of total possessions. But averaging nearly 20 TOs per game is something that can't happen once the games start to matter. The "bigs" also don't appear to have rebounded the ball as well as one may have hoped given the level of competition. However, that may have been a product of "tight rims" as the guards for LSU seem to have an inordinately high number of rebounds. If guards are getting a lot of rebounds that usually means they are getting long rebounds. Tight rims are going to cause misses to come rocketing off the rim. Finally, freshman Mike Williams suffered a hyperextended knee injury 6 seconds into his first game. Hopefully it is not too bad because LSU needs some depth in the backcourt.

The competition level doesn't look to have been all that great. The best team LSU played was Puerto Rico, who judging by their other results, would probably be akin to a good mid-major team. The second team LSU played was awful. Today's opponent was probably about as good as an average mid-major team.

It is also noteworthy to keep in mind that Jalen Cook didn't play. Nor did Derek Fountain. I bet if you took a poll as to who most think will be LSU's leading scorer this season Cook would win in a landslide. For his part, Fountain was probably the most consistent and efficient player (on both ends of the floor) besides KJ last season. That's two guys who you'd think would be key pieces in the regular season.

3-0 doesn't mean LSU is destined for the Elite 8. But it was somewhat encouraging to see LSU competed on par with teams like A&M, Creighton, and Iowa St...all teams that will likely be projected to reach the NCAAT this season.

Hopefully this trip serves as building block once LSU starts practice in October.