A lot of our best basketball teams were train wrecks at some point early on

Amen.

Maybe it’s just me but didn’t most expect this team to struggle some early and get better throughout the year? This team is young and Wade is trying to figure it out. The sky is not fallling. If we don’t improve, then I’ll worry a little. They played arguably their best half of basketball in the first half and arguably their worst in the 2nd half. Some of that can be blamed on coaching but imo being young and inexperienced and playing on the road we’re the main factors. Once this team comes together it’ll be dangerous.

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This team will be humming in February.

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And by that time it very well could be too late.

Right now they don't have a single Tier 1 win on the resume. Last year they had two of those in OOC play (Michigan and Houston). Thus far, they have blown two opportunities to get at least one of those wins.

Now, there's likely no chance to get one in OOC play, unless you think St. Mary's will be a top 50 team and/or Furman will be a top 30 team at the end of the season (NET rankings). And that's assuming LSU wins both games. WHO you beat matters greatly and right now LSU has ZERO notable wins.

The margin of error for SEC is shrinking to nothing very quickly and asking this, or any team, to run roughshod through the SEC is asking a LOT. And with this teams' deficiencies, weak defense; inability to keep good teams off the offensive glass, they are going to have a lot of trouble winning on the road.

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They play three straight games against teams that are better than them on paper. They lost the first. Let’s see what happens before we declare them dead, huh ? Specifically because they are just learning each other’s names.

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What I'm saying is when the committee sits down in March they look at the ENTIRE season. Who you beat and where you beat them are BIG factors. Road/Neutral site wins count for more than home wins. LSU is currently 1-3 in games away from home with only 1 more chance to get a win away from home in OOC play. Letting games vs. FSU and Houston slip away are tremendous lost opportunities which mean they are going to have to win several road games in SEC play to make up for these loses. Possible? Absolutely. But right now the same issues that plagued them last season, with nearly a completely different roster, are plaguing them again this season. It's a big reason why they have now lost 9 road games in a row dating back to last season.

At some point you start to run of of games to say "they're young, let's just wait and see what happens as we go on". They are a 1/3rd of the way through the season now with no real significant wins on the resume. That's not doom and gloom. That's just a fact.

I remember just hoping to scrape our way into the tournament after that loss at UCONN in jan 06. Gotta keep fighting.

So are we going dancing this year or what? Has that expectation flown out the window now?

Depends on how hard we melt. If we melt hard enough we go to the tournament. The Rant taught me that.

Is it time to back up a U haul to Wades front door?

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Everybody understands the clock is ticking. Everybody understands we need tournament resume points. What I am saying is that many of us EXPECTED this brand new team to struggle early . And get better along the way. I think it’s ridiculous to make all these definitive pronouncements on December 13.

Just ONCE, can we demonstrate some PERSPECTIVE as fans and let things play out a bit before we flood the board with anti- Will Wade threads and hold a board eulogy for a season that just started. Patience bro.

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We're a third of the way through. The season hasn't "just started". There are only 3 OOC games remaining before entering SEC. PERSPECTIVE is understanding that it's hard to make up for lost opportunities (which the FSU and Houston games are). While there is certainly time for this team to improve, the trends are not encouraging.

Last year Wade was able to improve upon the absolute dumpster fire that was Jones' final season. When you dug through the numbers you saw an LSU team that was a pretty efficient offensive unit (top 40), but struggled mighty on defense (3rd worst in SEC) and keeping opponents off the offensive glass. That led to a lot of inconsistency and inability to win away from the PMAC (they lost their final 9 road/neutral games). Much of that was understandably attributed to a lack of talent/depth (particularly in the frontcourt) and just the implementation of a new approach.

In the offseason Wade signs a terrific freshman class and virtually turns over the entire roster from last season (only 3 returning contributors). He seems to particularly bolster the front court talent and depth which was thought to be the biggest shortcoming of last year's team.

Flash forward to today and the numbers show that the SAME issues that plagued last year's team are again plaguing this year's team...despite what was thought to be a significantly improved roster. Currently LSU is again, a pretty efficient offensive team (top 30). Unfortunately, they are still nearly just as bad defensively (2nd worst in SEC) and are getting killed on the offensive glass (221st in opponent offensive rebounding %). It's probably not a coincidence that they have struggled away from home (currently 1-3)

NO ONE is (or should be) saying Wade should be fired. But I think it's very reasonable to start to question his coaching. Two nearly completely different rosters, but the same problems. Don't you have to look at the commonalities to try to figure out what could be going on?