re: Are these basketball additions really gonna make a difference?

ESPN’s latest bracketology includes 13 SEC teams. LSU, Oklahoma and South Carolina are not included. If that is any indication, it’s likely LSU has a new coach one year from now. The bigger question from that is, with a lot of movement this offseason, where do you realistically look?

If you have to ask then the answer is no

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but we seem to be adding mid major players who were decent contributors

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Rinse and repeat cycle w MM. Reload each year with mid tier talent. Hasn't worked yet.

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We have no plan and no direction, that’s the problem. What are we, a mid major coach poaching mid major and lesser talent.

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Don’t hold your breath for an answer. I’ve asked the McMen the question ad nauseam “What is the philosophy McMahon wants to instill?” and have yet to receive any information.

With Nate Oats, you know it’s going to be a run and gun 3 point shooting team. With Kelvin Sampson, you know it’s going to be a major emphasis on defense and offensive rebounding.

Here we are heading into Year 4 of the McMahon era and yet no fans can explain the identity of this program. That’s why, given recent results, I’m very skeptical of any improvement happening.

It really makes you wonder what was discussed in McMahon’s interview for the job. It could not have been too in depth.

Like it or not, I think the first domino to fall in saving us from the McMahon era was Wade getting out of the state. Now that that has happened, should just be a matter of time now (1 more season AT MOST).

I laughed.

I actually like the incoming freshman class more than most of the transfers

LSU starts off with a bunch of wins against cupcakes and when SEC play starts , reality sets in.

Here's my breakdown of the class:

- Thomas is a high end game changer for us. HUGE upgrade from Givens/Sears at PG from last season

- Nwoko has SEC experience coming from MSU and is definitely not a game changer but a perfect backup to Jalen Reed who can give you 15 quality minutes or so

- Sutton could start the 4 spot for us and looks to be a pretty good quality pickup, like most mid-major pickups, have to wait to see how they truly translate but he's my favorite player in the transfer class beneath Thomas

- Tamba the most recent pickup is a a bit of an afterthought mostly coming from a mid-major and wasnt necessarily a notably big producer. I think he's the #5 guy in the big man rotation of Reed/Nwoko and Sutton/Miller and as that would maybe get 5ish minutes a game as needed or a little more if other guys get in foul trouble/hurt

- King/MacKinnon I am lumping them in together as again a couple mid major who were good to really good contributors on their team and we'll have to wait to see how they translate. Neither gets me particularly excited, but I feel like 1 will be starting, potentially both. I really think we need to go out and get 1 more starting guard/wing type that can really shoot (not 38% on 2 3PA a game, more like mid-high 30%+ on 4+ 3 PA a game and was a good scorer overall at previous stop, not 5ppg from Memphis like PJ Carter who to me is a meh pickup as well, just a backup 10-15 minute a game type shooter).

PJ Carter will be the next pickup supposedly, wrote on him above. Will be a 6th year player and wasnt much an impactful player at UTSA or Memphis the last 2 seasons. He's just a shooter off the bench.

To me if we dont get a solid shooting starting guard/wing so Mackinnon/King BOTH have to start, then we've got a pretty big hole there.

To me at least it seems like we've ran out of NIL money or something because the latest pickups are pretty underwhelming, which doesnt bode well for us getting a starting guard/wing type of player. We should have been all over Harper the transfer to Creighton, dude had a GREAT freshman year at Howard where he was MEAC player of the year and would just fill a huge void IMO we have right now. Hard to believe Creighton would outspend us but we seem to be out of real NIL at this point so I dont think we managed what we had very well (Spend TOO much on Thomas/King/Nwoko etc)

It all starts at point guard, and all reports are that Thomas is a good one who will be the best we have had at the position.

Then inside we have a rotation of quality bigs in Miller, Nwoko, and Sutton to play at the 4 and 5. They should do better than hold the fort until Reed is back to 100%, hopefully by conference play.

At the 2 and 3 it looks like we will be playing guards, but King at 6'6" is a big guard who can score and rebound. And the newest addition, if he is a player, can give us a legit small forward with some athleticism. Not sure where McKinnon and Carter (?) end up but both can give us solid 3 point shooting.

So it looks like:
PG - Thomas
SG - Carter
SF - King
PF - Nwoko
C - Miller

Top subs:
Reece (pg)
McKinnon (sg)
Mosely (sg)
Sutton (pf)
Reed (will start eventually at pf)

This team will have a good 1st team with a lot of rotation pieces at the 2/3.

Probably will have a short bench in conference play.

Keep in mind that unless rules change, there will be an overall drop in talent as the 5th year covid players have largely run out of eligibility. So instead of 5 classes of players, we are back to 4. So while LSU may not look like they are setting the world on fire, a good number of teams are having issues in the portal, including several SEC teams.