2020-21 Men's Basketball Preview (long)

I wrote a preview for the season earlier for another site I work for and figured I'd share it here since I hadn't seen any posted yet. Hope y'all enjoy! Boot Up and


They aren’t Duke in the late 80’s or early 90’s, nor are they on the Bad Boy Pistons level, but haters for Will Wade and his LSU Tigers are growing with each passing year.

Wade is set to have his most complete roster in his short four-year tenure at LSU, and whether you like it or not, the Tigers are poised to make their run in 2020-21.

Returners

Thanks to a shortened season and an unconventional NBA Draft process, LSU will return three starters from a season ago — Javonte Smart, Darius Days and Trendon Watford. They also return two key backcourt contributors off the bench in senior Charles Manning Jr. and redshirt-sophomore Aundre Hyatt.

Watford, a 6-foot-9, 235 lbs stretch-four sophomore, is likely the starter who suffered the most from the lack of an NBA Combine. Was he a sure-fire first round pick? Absolutely not, but he could easily have moved up the draft board with excellent footwork and speed for his size. He’s coming off 13.6pts/7.2rebs/1.7asts year in which he shot .489/.269/.674 and is likely to be the player who makes the biggest improvement from last year to this one.

Smart and Days returning was something fans anticipated, and is certainly welcomed given the need for leadership since Skylar Mays graduated. Both players have had bright spots in their two seasons in Baton Rouge, but Wade and co. will need to see more consistent production if they want to make a run at another SEC title.

Days will need to get back closer to the .382 3-point percentage of his freshman season, as opposed to the .295 he put up last season. Smart will need to improve as the primary ball-handler in the offense and be better than a 4.2:2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio he put out last season. He has shown the ability to get hot shooting and take over games, so hopefully we see more of that this season.

Newcomers

This is where the excitement comes in. Alongside the five returning players, the Tigers bring in the No. 6 recruiting class in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, as well as three key transfers in Josh LeBlanc from Georgetown, Shareef O’Neal from UCLA, and Bryan Penn-Johnson from Washington.

The headliner of the No. 6 class is undoubtedly five-star 2-guard, Cam Thomas, out of Oak Hill. Thomas’s game is exactly what the Tigers missed last season after the departure of Tremont Waters to the NBA. He has the ability to be a 20+ point per night scorer and is a walking bucket. Pairing him with a veteran Smart should make for one of the most talented backcourts in the SEC, if not the country.

The rest of the class fills many of the needs left on the roster. Jalen Cook and Eric Gaines will be able to provide athleticism off the bench and a desperate need for a second-unit ball handler. Mwani Wilkinson, a 6-foot-5, 215 lbs winger from Las Vegas will be a much-needed long, athletic wing defender off the bench. And finally, Josh Gray can be an end-of-the-bench substitute to help with rebounding and rim-defending in certain spots.

The transfers help fill the remaining needs on the roster. LeBlanc and O’Neal will provide rebounding on both ends as well as more help defending on the wings and down low. The biggest key to success for Wade and co. will be the play of Penn-Johnson, a 7-foot rim-defender — something the squad desperately missed last season after the departure of Kavell Bigby-Williams. If he can produce similarly to what Bigby-Williams did in 2018 — 7.9pts/6.7rebs/1.9blks — he will help the Tigers defense appear closer to the more-impressive 2018 numbers as opposed to the atrocious numbers of 2019.

Season Outlook

This is undoubtedly Wade’s deepest roster in his time at LSU. They possess the perfect blend of experienced playmakers, young talent and quality depth it takes to make a run in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.

Wade has become a master of scheduling quality mid-major teams that his talented team should beat, but will end up as quad-1 or quad-2 games on the RPI resume come tournament time. They could definitely navigate the non-conference schedule to an undefeated record entering conference play.

The key games to watch on the season are an early-season bout at Saint Louis on Saturday, Nov. 28; a trip to Gainesville to take on Florida on Saturday, Jan. 2; a battle of heavyweights in Lexington against Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 23; and the Big XII/SEC showdown match-up against Texas Tech on Saturday, Jan. 30.

With the talent and depth on the roster, I predict this squad will compete for Wade’s second SEC title in three years, finishing the regular season 21-5 overall and 14-4 in the SEC. You can hate Wade and his strong arse offers all you want, but for now, he’s here to stay and he’s here to win. BOOT TF UP!