re: Emmitt Williams will complement Naz Reid very well

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Days will also be a 3.

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Probably not next season much, he's way more a stretch 4 for now. If you watch his film, he rarely ever puts the ball on the floor. If I had to rate the 3 bigs coming on on how close to a 3/SF they are:

1. Reid (Dude handles the ball like a solid guard could...not PG, but solid ball handling guard, but at his 6'10 250ish size, will play 4 and 5)

2. Williams (He doesnt have a consistent outside shot, but one is there, he can handle the ball some, but he is so much suited for a close to basket 4 spot, violent dunker and great rebounder)

3. Days (Not much at all a ball handler, doesnt like to put ball on ground, VERY good outside shot, smooth and consistent, highlights littered with him catch and shooting 3's...suits the stretch 4 role well)

Anyone know if we'll be bringing in additional players for this class now that Kiir is off the team? I'd love to bring in someone his size that could be a starter by the time he's a junior and just let him develop behind the great players we have and provide depth when needed (maybe 2 min/game).

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We will not start Waters, Mays, and Smart. Honestly, I think WW liked Mays as a change of pace off the bench from Waters. And Waters is our starting PG.

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Disagree.

In one of Wade's post season interviews he said Mays is a "career starter at LSU and will remain so".

I think Wade is very comfortable using 3 guard lineups. Especially with someone with the 6'4" height like Mays does.

I started a thread on the SECR about next seaosn lineups and posted this for us...

I'll take the conservative approach to LSU's lineup:

Starters
C: (6'11, 230) SR. Kavell Bigby-Williams (20-25 min/gm)
PF: (6'9, 250) FR. Nazreon Reid (25-30 min/gm)
SF/G: (6'5, 184) SR. Brandon Sampson (15-20 min/gm)
SG/CG: (6'4, 200) JR. Skylar Mays (25-30 min/gm)
PG: (5'11, 167) SO. Tremont Waters (25-30 min/gm)

Bench
PF (6'6, 217) JR. Wayde Sims (5-10 min/gm)
PF (6'7, 215) FR. Emmitt Williams (20-25 min/gm)
PF (6'7, 220) FR. Darius Days (10-15 min/gm)
SF (6'5, 215) SO. Brandon Rachal (10-15 min/gm)
SG (6'3, 165) SR. Daryl Edwards (15-20 min/gm)
PG/CG (6'4, 185) FR. Ja'Vonte Smart (25-30 min/gm)

Open Spots
2 open spots, looking for a JUCO and/or transfer (sit out or grad)

Wher enot to get hung up on is starters vs. bench, as you can see I think Smart plays just as much as Mays/Waters and Williams just as much as Bigby-Williams.

I just want to say how much fun it is to be able to have these types of conversations and it not be our in he sky thinking.

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The three spot starter will depend on who is playing the best and opposing team match up

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i would imagine the only 3 three players who start every game are waters, kbw and reid. other than that, it probably depends on matchups. wade showed that he would go with a different lineup even late in the season.

i think people are overestimating sampson and mays. unless sampson explodes like the ull game (and then proceeded to disappear again at utah) he's going to have a hard time finding minutes. he's inexplicably muddling through his time with a great coach. i expect mays to back up waters a lot next season. he's a great change of pace and to have a player like that come off the bench is priceless. after the season starts and these stars start doing their thing, that career starter comment will be a distant memory. players like rachal, mays and edwards are about to be significantly eclipsed. sampson has the talent but just isn't clicking.

the question for this team is going to be defense. how quickly can the new pieces fit together to form a workable defense? how hard are the stars going to work? if those two questions get a positive answer, that team is going to be a force.

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Starters
C: (6'11, 230) SR. Kavell Bigby-Williams (20-25 min/gm)
PF: (6'9, 250) FR. Nazreon Reid (25-30 min/gm)
SF/G: (6'5, 184) SR. Brandon Sampson (15-20 min/gm)
SG/CG: (6'4, 200) JR. Skylar Mays (25-30 min/gm)
PG: (5'11, 167) SO. Tremont Waters (25-30 min/gm)

Bench

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Agree (as I usually do with your thoughts) on all of this except for your estimate on Waters. I know you said you were being conservative; but I just have to think that Waters (especially in the games against tougher competition) Waters will be in the 30-32 minute range. He averaged 33 this year, and I believe was around 35-36 in conference games. While I don’t expect it to be that high, as that was more out of necessity, I do still expect him to be the highest minutes guy on team. He is just that special (as I know you know that) and the offense is just that much better when he is on the court. I believe Mays will continue to develop and Smart will be great with some development under this staff; but I don’t think either have quite the PG skills that Waters has in order to keep him off the court more than 8-10 minutes a game.

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Wher enot to get hung up on is starters vs. bench

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Could not agree with you more on this! It’s like most of these people didn’t watch the championship game the other night and notice how Nova’s 6th man was the MVP of the game and had more minutes than most of the starters, which he did a good portion of their season. I think it is just a product of most our fan base not paying much attention to basketball for several years now and not realizing the evolution of the game and how some of the traditional molds are being broken. And Wade is definitely one that buys into the new approach to basketball.

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At times, we got out physicalled this past season. Williams will put an end to that.

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If you're talking in the paint, it was all the time. There were maybe 2 games where Epps and Reath out-physicalled anyone.

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Garrett Temple is the perfect example of what Sampson should be trying to do, imo.

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Exactly. Temple has made a nice, quiet career for himself in the NBA. If he's handled his money correctly, he's probably set up for life. Temple is Sampson's blueprint for success. The problem is, Temple was doing the stuff he needed to do ever since he was a Freshman. There were people saying he wasn't SEC-caliber and was only playing because of his family. I'm not sure if I ever agreed with that assessment, but Temple put in his time, worked very hard and turned himself into an NBA player. Sampson can do the same, he just doesn't have as much time at this point. I'm hoping Sampson explodes as a player next year.

My only issue with your opinion is that you are putting so much stock in players youve never seen before. To say that there is no way that Mays and Sampson will start next year is short sighted imo. What if some of the freshman come in abd have a hard time grasping college ball? What if the incumbents take a leap forward in year 2 of the system?

Personally, I don’t really like the way the offense runs when Mays is the main point guard. I feel like he gets to out of control and stops seeing the court at times. Imo, Smart (if he’s as good as advertised) would be the better option to come off the bench to spell Waters. Obviously you could start both waters and smart and make smart the primary handler when Mays enters for waters too. Then again, Mays could improve in this aspect and my point is moot .

As for Sampson, players get better year to year. I wouldn’t count him out. All it takes is for Wade to get his message through to him in the offseason and he could easily average 15 ppg. I’m not saying that it will happen, I’m just saying don’t count it out as a possibility.