quote:
Yes the program declined, but you cannot lay all the blame on Dale Brown. Dale signed the number one recruit in the country, Randy Livingston in 1993. That summer Livingston sustained a devestating knee injury and was never really the same again. When he was able to play Liivngston was at about 75% of his true ability and was still the best player on the court. Unfortunately, injuries continued to derail his seasons at LSU and the program began to slide.

I won't deny how good Livingston could have been, but in earlier years when Dale was more invested we managed to overcome key losses.

Macklin was lost for the year in '79 to injury. His jersey hangs in the PMAC, yet we still won the SEC that year.

Scales left after '80 unexpectedly as it was rare in those days for players to leave early, yet we made the Final Four.

Nikita Wilson had to sit out the second half of the '86 season, yet we made the Final Four.

Blanton injured early in the year missed the '87 Elite 8 run.

But Dale had really started to let things slip. With Livingston out we had Henderson and really not much else.

Earl was overrated and Dale really sold his soul to try to salvage his legacy. I don't agree at all Earl would have made a difference. He was a role player at the end of his career at Kansas.

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Posted by tigersbb

Member since Oct 2012

10443 posts

Posted on 3/26/17 at 11:22 am to Tiger Ugly

quote:
I won't deny how good Livingston could have been, but in earlier years when Dale was more invested we managed to overcome key losses.

While the talent level did slip Livingston was so good at making every one around him notches better. He had an incredible feel for the game and the team would have continued its NCAA tournament run. Remember they were 4-0 in the SEC when he was lost for the season with his last knee injury in 1995.He was Superman in the last five minutes of a close game.

My point on Earl and Powell was that Dale was still recruiting high level talent, he id not just get lazy as some have contended. Who knows? If Earl had stayed at LSU and avoided all of the swirling mess that surrounded him his career as a featured player and Brown's last two years could have turned out differently.

Any knowledgeable LSU fan would agree that what Dale Brown achieved was incredible when placed in historical perspective. Yet some would only focus on the last four seasons or on what was not accomplished while failing to credit him for the phenomenal things he was able to do.

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