re: I look at last night's game in this light.....

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There are many pluses and I love this team but here are the things that bother me:

1. Lack of team defense.

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Can be traced to ONE thing. A misplaced overemphasis on steals/turnovers. It's why they are constantly in poor position guarding the ball. It's why they unnecessarily leave shooters open to "help" for a steal. It's why they lose track of the man they are guarding. They are constantly watching the ball in total focus of trying to get a deflection/steal. Their ENTIRE approach to defense centers around getting steals. And to that end, they are wildly successful. They lead the SEC and are in the top 20 in the nation in every major steals category. However, it comes at a tremendous costs because their defense is atrocious on possessions where they don't get the steal they so desperately seek. It why you can simultaneously be the best team in the league at stealing the ball and the 2nd to worst team in the league in defensive efficiency.

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2. Lack of rebounding as a team.

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They are a really good offensive rebounding team. They are a really weak defensive rebounding team. That is simply a Wade staple. All of his teams have followed that pattern. It can probably traced to the level of emphasis they put on offensive rebounding vs. defensive rebounding. Different players...same results.

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3. Lack of off screen plays for Thomas and lack of pick and roll plays.

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Agreed, but this is what you have to live with when you don't have a "facilitator first" PG (like Waters). Smart is a big time scorer. In fact, LSU doesn't win last night without him. But when you're a scorer you're always looking for your shot first. That's not a knock on Smart. Just a reason why you don't see execution on the screen and pop game.

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4. Average quickness.

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Some guys don't have great lateral quickness (like Days). But I don't think LSU is grossly deficient in that category. Why? Because they can be plenty quick offensively. They aren't "quick" defensively because, well, they don't really care enough to be quick defensively to stay in front of a ball handler. It's hard to swallow that the great athleticism can only manifest on one end of the floor