Yeah, Mays was not a good player at all his freshman year, he developed and got better every year, but his first couple of years he was not near the player he would be later. In a way it's a testament to player development for WW.

And I loved Reath, and yes he's played a bit in the NBA but cmon man - so you're basing that WW inherited a talented team because they had a very, very raw Duop Reath and a freshman in Mays who was not at all ready for this level at that time?

Both can be true at the same time, JJ was not a very good coach, and he didn't leave very much in the cupboard.

And by the way I'm pulling for CMM to be successful here, that's not at all the argument I'm making here.

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Posted by mmcgrath

Indianapolis

Member since Feb 2010

35470 posts

Posted on 3/1/24 at 8:26 am to Tiger Ugly

Mays was a sophomore when Wade started. Yes Mays had a subpar freshman year, but it was mostly about layups rimming out. You could definitely see the speed and handles. He was solid his 2nd year when the game slowed down for him. He definitely flourished under Wade. I would credit Wade but I don't recall another player developing under Wade, mostly because Wade had recruits at a high level out of high school or as transfers.

And there were other players besides Mays and Reath. Jones going 2-16 with the squad he had was just a complete failure in coaching.

This post was edited on 3/1/24 at 8:28 am

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Posted by mcmaniacinsaneasylum

Baton Rouge

Member since Feb 2023

1976 posts

Posted on 3/1/24 at 11:44 am to Tiger Ugly

quote:
And I loved Reath, and yes he's played a bit in the NBA but cmon man - so you're basing that WW inherited a talented team because they had a very, very raw Duop Reath and a freshman in Mays who was not at all ready for this level at that time?

There's also multiple other players on that roster who are either currently playing overseas/G-League or were for a period of time.

One thing I can say positively about JJ was that he was a good recruiter and never shy of talent. (Minus Tuba player

) I think that's a big reason WHY I dislike JJ so much (and why almost every LSU fan dislikes him too). Some of the most talented LSU rosters the past couple decades just to do frick all with them. It's not like he was Trent and couldn't recruit. It was frustrating getting excited over a JJ recruiting class just for our team to underperform year after year.

But imma be real.. The team Wade inherited was MUCH better than a 2 win SEC team. If posters can shite on McMahon for underachieving and only having 2 SEC wins despite having a roster more talented than that (as they should), why can't we acknowledge that the last JJ was better than 2 SEC wins? Especially when the roster JJ had/Wade inherited was MUCH better than the team MM fielded in year 1!

JJ 2 win SEC team = barren cupboard
MM 2 win SEC team = underachieving should have been a bubble team

Why can't we just acknowledge that JJ's final roster grossly underperformed, and was much better on paper than 2 SEC wins. Why do we have to act like that 2 win roster was a reflection of the talent when it wasn't. Why do we have this double standard, why can't we just be unbiased? It's why discussing this shite with y'all gets so frustrating. Hardly anyone is unbiased one way or the other.

It's not like it was an untalented roster. JJ just couldn't do shite with good players. It's no insult to Wade to say that. He took that roster and made it better and got even more out of those players. One of Wade's best attributes as a coach was player development imo. Just look at Tari Eason. But it's not like he had to start at rock bottom.

Wade is a good coach and I've NEVER said otherwise.. but we don't have to make it seem like he inherited frick all to prop him up even more. The pedestal everyone puts him on is tall enough already. Give it a break please.

This post was edited on 3/1/24 at 12:29 pm

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