re: MBB Offseason '25 Transfer Portal Tracker

Both can be improved through coaching/training and shooting is harder to coach up in season. However defense is as much about natural talent as any part of the game. To be a good-great defender you need height, length, lateral quickness, explosiveness etc. Attitude or "want to" can't give you those things. To reduce defense down to attitude is a tired cliché

quote:

---

Shooting is more if a skill where defense is more if an attitude. There are some techniques when it comes to defense but in my opinion defense can be coached up easier than shooting. Hopefully he can get that defensive mindset instilled in his players.

---

I agree to an extent with this, players can get completely lost in translation if there's a heavy switching/rotation defense or hedging, ice, etc. There's not a whole bunch of straight man to man(no help) defense anymore. To your point, you can coach effort and hustle which definitely can be coached much quicker than shooting woes.

Bill Laimbeer was a top rebounder in the NBA for years and couldn't jump over a paper bag. Wes Unseld was a top rebounder at 6'7". Moses Malone said rebounding was all about effort and want to. That last statement can be seen locally with Aneesah Morrow. The top rebunder in women's basketball at 6 '.

I'll respectfully disagree with that. LSU's defense is what kept them in games against teams with way more talent last season. The effort and hustle was always there they just couldn't overcome the scoring droughts we would go through. We could have beaten OM, FL, TN and and Bama last year, all elite teams, and we were right there with Auburn for most of the game. Eventually talent overcame those efforts, Hopefully we have more scoring options this year and can provide the effort on defense to capitalize on it.

Again you can pick and choose different games. Vandy beat us because their big simply backed Chest and Collins back to within 4 foot of the goal and used his size to score. Don't believe that happens with Reed there but it was the first SEC game of the year.The fact is we were in games with Bama, Ole Miss, FL, TN and Auburn deep and it wasn't because of the offense. Yes there were games we got blown out which was the result of playing 5 inexperienced young player that brought that inconsistency and not really gonna waste my time explaining getting blown out by Miss St without Reed, Ward, Vmiller and chest. In fact a few of the last games were without all 4.Hit even a few 3's and beat Bama on the road. Chest doesn't screw up and we beat OM at home. Had Fl on the ropes but then their 7 footer took over in the paint. Again with Reed in there I don't think he dominates 2nd half that much. Played close with Auburn and OM on the road. Lack of scoring. was the major issue and late in those games talent of the other teams took over.

quote:

---

Vandy beat us because their big simply backed Chest and Collins back to within 4 foot of the goal and used his size to score. Don't believe that happens with Reed

---

Carey? He had 14 points on 6-12 shooting. Decent output but hardly an insurmountable obstacle.

quote:

---

The fact is we were in games with Bama, Ole Miss, FL, TN and Auburn deep and it wasn't because of the offense

---

We should have definitely beat ole miss but the whole team folded spectacularly. (But I know Chest is your fall guy for everything. ) Never felt like we were going to win against Bama or Tennessee. They had the horses to hit the necessary levels in crunch time.

Florida could have ran us out the gym but they got lackadaisical and we went on that run. Fair enough. But when they needed to turn it back on they did. Who knows what difference Reed would have made? Probably minimal either way since he’s always been so inconsistent.

quote:

---

Played close with Auburn and OM on the road

---

Oh man.

quote:

---

Again you can pick and choose different games. Vandy beat us because their big simply backed Chest and Collins back to within 4 foot of the goal and used his size to score. Don't believe that happens with Reed there but it was the first SEC game of the year.The fact is we were in games with Bama, Ole Miss, FL, TN and Auburn deep and it wasn't because of the offense. Yes there were games we got blown out which was the result of playing 5 inexperienced young player that brought that inconsistency and not really gonna waste my time explaining getting blown out by Miss St without Reed, Ward, Vmiller and chest. In fact a few of the last games were without all 4.Hit even a few 3's and beat Bama on the road. Chest doesn't screw up and we beat OM at home. Had Fl on the ropes but then their 7 footer took over in the paint. Again with Reed in there I don't think he dominates 2nd half that much. Played close with Auburn and OM on the road. Lack of scoring. was the major issue and late in those games talent of the other teams took over.

---

LSU was better defensively last year than at any point in the McMahon era. That's a fact. But I don't think any objective person would call them a "good" defense. As far as LSU's competitiveness in the SEC, that's debatable. Sure, there were some close games that a few plays here or there could have changed the outcome favorably for LSU. Particularly the Vanderbilt and Ole Miss games....MAYBE even Alabama (though it never felt like LSU truly had a chance to win that one). However, LSU's average scoring margin in SEC play was the lowest (-10) of any team. Their average margin of defeat in 15 losses was 13 points. That's not very many "close" games. If we are propping up "close losses" as reason for optimism, then even South Carolina has a better argument than LSU with a 3 point loss to Auburn, 3 point loss @ Vandy, 1 point loss to Florida, 4 point loss to A&M, etc.

McMahon's teams haven't been good at ANYTHING in his 3 years at LSU. Better than bad still isn't "good". That doesn't mean next year's team can't be good. But doing so means that team will have to significantly reverse virtually every trend of the last 3 seasons.

Don't think I used the term close losses but my point was they were competitive until late in the game when the talent took over for the other teams. SC was almost a mirror image of us as far as that goes. And it was defense that kept us in many of those games until late in the second half but when you don't j have the offense to sustain that then you inevitably lose. A 13 point loss is double digits yes but it can be an 8 point game with 4 minutes left and you end up losing by 13. That is a competitive game under any circumstance. Especially with teams that went to the sweet 16, elite 8 and final 4 not to mention the eventual national champion. Truth is we beat a sweet 16 team, should have beaten another in Ole Miss and were competitive till late with Auburn. AL and FL. We also got blown out by TX, Mizzou and Miss St although St was without Reed, Ward, Chest and Vmiller, This is definitely a no excuses season this year. I do agree with that.

quote:

---

Don't think I used the term close losses but my point was they were competitive until late in the game when the talent took over for the other teams.

---

Or poor conditioning, poor coaching and/or losing mentality of team who doesn’t know how to win/have confidence they could win. Each explanation as good as the next, talent, conditioning, mentality/culture.

We can't enjoy the sport while he's here because we get our asses handed to us on an ungodly consistent basis by any team with a pulse.

All this "coach" has to do to win me over is perform as well OR BETTER than Wade did here.

I don't care who coaches us, I want us at the Auburn, bama, and Tennessee level in the SEC. The guy before had us on that track. This funeral home director is CLUELESS.