re: Could Josh LeBlanc be our key to a successful season next year?

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Everyone not named Watford, Smart, Days or Thomas averaged around ten points a game collectively, it’s definitely bare

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So are you under the assumption that they’ll produce the same stats next season when those 4 players are no longer on the team?

LSU may be able to press well next year. Remember, LSU’s press used to give people fits with the right personnel

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I would expect him to be the primary screener and get some easy buckets on dives and lobs. And his off ball cuts to the bucket will be more fruitful with guys like Cook and Gaines handling the ball.

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No question. Smart was a tremendous scorer at the PG spot. But what you gave up for that was court vision as a facilitator and the willingness to look to distribute and set up guys first. I think Cook still has a more "score-first" mentality carry over from HS, but you can see flashes of the court vision in Gaines. He just has to understand that not every play has to be an electric highlight play. But that vision, coupled with the above the rim ability of guys like Leblanc, Wilkinson, (potentially) Colbert and Fudge will bring the lobs and dives that have been missing for the last two years.

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Hopefully he works on his free throw shooting over the offseason. It seemed to me that it got in his head by the end of the season- I saw him miss a number of point blank shots I know he can finish. Not uncommon for that to happen when you’re worried about avoiding contact so you don’t go to the foul line.

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Probably. But he was such a complete non-factor in terms of what LSU wanted to do on offense that he just wasn't that accustomed to having the ball in his hands in a scoring position all that often. I think that's why he seem uncomfortable in those situations. It's like it surprised even him that he had a rare opportunity to score.

Still, 6'7' with good length and athleticism gives you a lot to work with. Honestly, I thought he would be more of an "X-factor" because I thought LSU was going to be fully committed to being better on defense and that's what Leblanc brought. Instead, he was a bench player for a team that still overwhelming valued great offense over balance with good defense. IMO, the make up of next year's roster might change that calculus which should give Leblanc a bigger role.

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ability to finish at the rim.

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He has ability to get to the rim, not finish. Unfortunately Josh LeBlanc has terrible hand eye coordination. He has good quickness and length. That makes him an asset on the defensive end. Unless something drastically changes defense and rebounding will be his primary role.

Smart was better of a traditional pg then people think. He was a good facilitator who could score and rebound .we will miss him.

You dont lead the sec in assist to turnover ratio,without being a good facilitator, unless you just dont get many assists and he did average 5 plus a game.

He was the best point guard in the sec in both of his starting pg seasons. I dont remember if he ran point 3 years or two ,but for two years he led in that assist to turnover ratio . He was also the best scoring pg too.

Hes a 1st rounder along with cam, I'd bet anything on that.
End of first for smart and cam could easily be a mid to late lottery pick thats from around pick 8-12.

Crazy stat- cam is tied with kevin Durant, zion williamson,and another hofer for the most points ever scored in a Freshmans first two career ncaa tournament games at around 56 I think. That's a big deal to be lumped in with those guy who are all gonna be In the hof . Kinda an arbitrary stat but it says he can score better then almost all other freshman in college basketball history when on the big stage .

I have all the confidence in Wade to do work with transfers this off-season.

Leblanc wasn’t used correctly and his role didn’t play to his strengths this year. At Georgetown his freshman season he was more of a 3 and he was much more productive in that role, 9.1ppg, 7.3rpg, 1.1blocks per game. This year he was used as a backup to Days and Watford and played at the top of the defense instead of matching up on players he should’ve been. He’s a player you use to guard guys like Moses Moody or John Petty, Moody didn’t score a point while Leblanc was on him in the SEC tourney semi finals. With Wade continuing to play small Leblanc is going to have to work hard to adjust because he isn’t used in his natural position.

It should be Cook at point and Gaines as the 2 next season. Anybody who saw Cook play in HS knows that kid can fill it up and he’s an outstanding defender. He’s not going to score at the same rate because of the size in college but he’ll def capitalize on his opportunities when he gets em. Gaines is a lot like Tim Quarterman when he was a freshman. He’s good enough to get on the court because of his speed, defense and ball handling but wasn’t strong enough to put a consistent offensive game out there. As he grows physically his offense will come. He can be a slasher, streak shooter and with his defense and speed he should turn into a solid all around player.

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Leblanc wasn’t used correctly and his role didn’t play to his strengths this year. At Georgetown his freshman season he was more of a 3 and he was much more productive in that role, 9.1ppg, 7.3rpg, 1.1blocks per game. This year he was used as a backup to Days and Watford and played at the top of the defense instead of matching up on players he should’ve been. He’s a player you use to guard guys like Moses Moody or John Petty, Moody didn’t score a point while Leblanc was on him in the SEC tourney semi finals. With Wade continuing to play small Leblanc is going to have to work hard to adjust because he isn’t used in his natural position.

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Well I think Leblanc playing as a backup big was more out of necessity than skillset, especially once Shareef went down with injury and Gray/Penn-Johnson weren't ready to play. He did show the ability to guard well on the perimeter, and his long arms allow him to really disrupt some good players, like the Moody example you gave.

Offensively, it's hard for me to see him as a 3 given he doesn't really have threaten the defense outside of 10-12 feet and his lack of ball handling. I guess it could work if both our bigs are floor spacers like Days and Shareef.

We should still be playing bro