re: A Lot of People Giving Gaines Hell

Did I hear the announcer say he was 6’ 2” and 145 pounds? In college I was 6’ 2” 165 pounds and I was skinny!

No doubt he closed it

Gaines is a tremendous defender and can be a difference maker on that side of the ball. He has extreme confidence in himself and is not afraid of the moment. That confidence is what it takes to make the plays he did at the end of the game last night. It's also what hampers his consistency.

He had 4 turnovers last night and is leading the SEC in that category. Turnovers are what are absolutely killing LSU offensively and Gaines is the biggest offender...despite generally not being LSU's primary ball-handler They are turning the ball over on nearly 20% of their possessions. It's a big reason (along with the foul disparity) why last night's game was so close despite LSU shooting 50% and holding Florida to 36% shooting. LSU is not a bad shooting team. But they have to get shots! Turning the ball over 14-15 times per game is taking away those shots. Wade knows it. It's why the team had a ceremony where they "burned" their turnovers in a garbage can the night before going to Florida.

Gaines can be electric if he would just be willing to make the solid play on offense when it is there rather than always looking for the highlight play. When he makes those highlight plays they are great (the drive at the end; the lob to Fudge)...but the bad ones keep teams in games when LSU, because of their tremendous defense, should be pulling away. IMO, he's this generations Tack Minor. The good can be really, really good. But the bad leaves you saying WTF?!

That said, he is a critical part of this team and is probably one of the few "game changers" on a team that is really more comprised of several solid player that elite difference makers.

Spot on!

Whether it's Gaines or someone else, usually seems to be Gaines, this team is usually 1-2 good possessions away from building a lead that is probably going to seal victory and instead a few bonehead TO's leading to 5-6 pts straight and we have to hold them off to win at the end.

While he still is out of control a little too much, I give him tons of credit for how improved he is. Last year he was a turnover, fouling machine with no offensive skills. It would be hard to pick any former player who has improved as much from one year to the next as Gaines. While I don't want to give up his aggressiveness, we are going to have to accept some amount of mistakes that brings with it as long as he continues to make far more good plays than bad.

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A Lot of People Giving Gaines Hell

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Meh.. not really. Most of the criticism was fair. There are a couple idiots that don't know wtf they're talking ab calling him garbage etc but just as many if not more threads like this-
Eric Gaines Deserves his flowers


I've been critical of his ball handling and decision making at times but also gave him full credit for turning around the Kentucky game.

I think the kid is doing great things for the team. If he matures even a little watch out cuz his ball skills are amazing and he’s already helping us win games down the stretch.

Bump. Dude is a elite.