re: Bouncy Ball: Coach Mc talking upcoming season...

quote:

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Collins is an athletic freak but he couldnt get on the floor with kentucky because hes not good and thats no an exaggeration

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Bryce Hopkins couldn't get on the floor at Kentucky either. He transfers to Providence and puts up 16/9/2 last season en route to a spot on the 1st team Big East team. Kentucky is often a stacked deck of young talent. Now, that talent is supplemented with transfers. They aren't playing as many young players as they used to.

That's not to say Collins will be an All SEC player this season. But I would wait to see how he looks in a new environment before completely writing him off. He's the guy with the best NBA measurables on the team. LSU doesn't need him to be a 15/10 player. They really just need him to be a Kavell Bigby Williams type player. (defense, rebound, dunks/put-backs)

If this team has Cook (and I'm not confident they will), the backcourt could be one of the better groups in the league. Cook/Stewart have experience and the ability to score. Tyrell Ward showed flashes last season when McMahon FINALLY decided to give him meaningful minutes. That looked to carry over during the games in the Bahamas. The frontcourt will have experience. Can they put things together will be the question.

This is an "old" team relatively speaking. 9 of the 13 players are Juniors/Seniors/Grad Students. McMahon is hopeful more maturity will produce better results. He's used to having success with older teams. If Cook is eligible, there's no reason LSU shouldn't be able to compete to be in the top half of the league in what may be a weaker SEC compared to last season. If he's not, things will be much tougher. Still, the SEC schedule isn't (on paper) as brutal as the last two seasons, and the Tigers will be tested in the non-conf. schedule much more than they were last season.

Neither the team, nor McMahon are going to get the benefit of the doubt going into the season. They will have to earn it