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re: Full LSU (Men's) Basketball Schedule has been announced
Posted on 8/21/24 at 10:05 am to ForeverLSU5
Posted on 8/21/24 at 10:05 am to ForeverLSU5
I don’t pretend to know the inner workings of the athletic dept, but it just seems like something that would never happen as long as Woodward is still here.
He would have to swallow his pride and explain to the public why he fired him and then decided to bring him back. Would make for an awkward press conference.
I do think we’ll know a lot about McMahon after this year. Roster is better. OU, TX and Kstate were middle pack of the Big12 last year. Stetson and Wisconsin were tournament teams. FLA st and SMU were middle of the pack of their conferences. All challenging, but winnable games.
He has to do better in OOC games to build confidence going into SEC play.
He would have to swallow his pride and explain to the public why he fired him and then decided to bring him back. Would make for an awkward press conference.
I do think we’ll know a lot about McMahon after this year. Roster is better. OU, TX and Kstate were middle pack of the Big12 last year. Stetson and Wisconsin were tournament teams. FLA st and SMU were middle of the pack of their conferences. All challenging, but winnable games.
He has to do better in OOC games to build confidence going into SEC play.
1
Posted on 8/21/24 at 10:27 am to TigerMonkey7
quote:
Lacks talent is a stretch. The whole bench is filled with top 100 players and the starters were scoring double figures and one even 20+ at respectable programs.
This is where I am as well. I don't buy the "no talent" argument. I'm not saying LSU is necessarily up there with Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, UConn, or even SEC teams like Alabama and Tennessee. But there are seven guys on this roster who were top 100 prospects in their respective recruiting classes. Another, Mike Williams, was just outside of that. LSU had the 17th ranked HS signing class in 2023 (with the two top players (Reed and Ward) still on the team. This year's class was ranked 14th. That's up there with many of the "big names" in the sport. The transfer class wasn't guys with household names. But they are all 4th and 5th year players with a ton of experience.
No one is expecting or demanding this team be a Final Four contender. But I don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to be in strong competition for a NCAA Tournament spot.
Hopefully that happens and this whole discussion is a moot point. But if it doesn't, you have to start looking a common denominators when the rosters change significantly from year to year.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 11:12 am to baytiger11
quote:
I don’t pretend to know the inner workings of the athletic dept, but it just seems like something that would never happen as long as Woodward is still here.
He would have to swallow his pride and explain to the public why he fired him and then decided to bring him back. Would make for an awkward press conference.
Woodward didn't want him fired, it was all Tate. If the BOS and big boosters decide they ultimately want Wade back then he'll be back (provided he chooses to).
Posted on 8/21/24 at 12:42 pm to Alt26
quote:
've LONG said LSU basketball misses a chance to capture an audience in that December lull between the end of football season and a bowl game by not scheduling a big name opponent at home (like they used to routinely do).
the apathy toward basketball the last 20 years at LSU is just a fact. As one who has kept season tickets throughout that time, I can tell you it's sometimes feels like a job going to these games against these teams we schedule OOC. Even for a die-hard like me man it's at times forced, and sometimes there's no enthusiasm in it.
Man, if you're not gonna do it to take advantage of the lull like you say and bring in a big name, do it for the couple of thousand who suck it up and go to these games because they love LSU hoops - give them something.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 12:45 pm to Ampipe96
quote:
The thing about Wade’s schedule was he was great at manipulating the NET.
Yes, absolutely WW had a guy who helped him massage scheduling for purposes of manipulating the NET and he did that well. Home OOC schedule still sucked.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 1:38 pm to Alt26
quote:Agree, but we have to remember that 3 of those will be true freshmen and a 4th is a RS Freshman.
But there are seven guys on this roster who were top 100 prospects in their respective recruiting classes.
2 are of course juniors Reed and Ward, and we will be leaning on them a lot this year.
The 7th "top 100" is a wildcard in RS Junior Daimion Collins. If he plays well this year he could be the first player under McMahon to become an early entry into the NBA draft.
Keys to the season:
Daimion Collins staying healthy and playing well.
Reed and Ward stepping up and becoming consistent stars.
How fast the Freshman get up to speed and compete for minutes.
I think the transfers are solid and will help us to a better record in the OOC schedule, but I would love to see MW3 getting starting minutes by Conference play as well as CG3. Vyctorius, CG3, and MW3 can be a very solid nucleus for years to come.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 1:50 pm to ForeverLSU5
quote:Nonsense. Woody signed him to the extension that gave him a clause to fire him, the exercised it without hesitation. And if Tate wanted him fired as bad as you say, there is nothing bringing Wade back.
Woodward didn't want him fired, it was all Tate.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 3:57 pm to mmcgrath
quote:
I think the transfers are solid and will help us to a better record in the OOC schedule, but I would love to see MW3 getting starting minutes by Conference play as well as CG3. Vyctorius, CG3, and MW3 can be a very solid nucleus for years to come.
The transfers SHOULD provide some benefit defensively (at least Carter and Bailey). But neither have ever been great scorers. Or at least efficient scorers. So I don't see a Jordan Wright type of player in that group.
He MUST get at least some of the freshmen contributing in significant roles pretty quickly. They don't have to be the go to guy (unless one emerges), but I don't think letting the freshmen just languish on the bench benefits anyone. In 2023, Ward and Phillips barely played until the end of the season. All while LSU was getting their asses kicked over and over 14 straight times. There was no downside to getting those guys minutes to at least try something different. Yet, he wouldn't.
Last year he played Williams out of necessity with Cook ineligible. But he chose to redshirt his higher rated recruit (Chest) for a team that was just barely a .500 team. A couple of the aspects LSU struggled in were rebounding and defense. Chest is not a complete player yet. But I don't think it would have been unreasonable to give him some minutes to see if he could help in some areas. A redshirt in this era of basketball is pretty ridiculous because it is HIGHLY unlikely a player stays at the same school for 5 years. It was just a wasted year of potential development for Chest.
I said it earlier, but I think McMahon's biggest flaw has been his inability to quickly adjust. Like all coaches, I'm sure he has a plan of how he wants to play going into a season. He has a plan going into the individual games. But there is NEVER a season, and rarely a game, where everything goes according to plan. A reluctance to adjust has hurt him. Just a small example of that was towards the end of the season it was becoming clear to all Dean was a more impactful player for that particular team. Maybe Baker had better overall skill, but Dean was more impactful. Despite that, Baker continued to start every game and get at least as many minutes as Dean...often more.
Posted on 8/21/24 at 5:18 pm to Alt26
I don't know why this has to be repeated over and over, but Ward said he was not ready when the season started his freshman year and he had to put a lot of work in to get ready. And he still played 23 / 32 games that year.
Also, it was Chest's decision to redshirt. I don't know how it is a waste to work out and practice the whole year with a team while preserving your eligibility.
As for Phillips, who knows and who cares? He was playing at a position where our one solid player was playing, and very few 7 footers play a lot as freshmen, especially ones ranked outside the top 100.
As for willingness to change game plans mid season, did you not see the change of point guards and understand the cajones that took?
Also, it was Chest's decision to redshirt. I don't know how it is a waste to work out and practice the whole year with a team while preserving your eligibility.
As for Phillips, who knows and who cares? He was playing at a position where our one solid player was playing, and very few 7 footers play a lot as freshmen, especially ones ranked outside the top 100.
As for willingness to change game plans mid season, did you not see the change of point guards and understand the cajones that took?
This post was edited on 8/21/24 at 5:22 pm
Posted on 8/22/24 at 6:44 am to Alt26
quote:
I said it earlier, but I think McMahon's biggest flaw has been his inability to quickly adjust.
I think lack of toughness has really been a glaring weakness both of the first two years under McMahon. And that revealed itself in rebounding and defense in general and inside in particular.
I'm not sure if we get an injection of toughness with any of the folks coming in but I hope we do.
Posted on 8/22/24 at 11:38 am to mmcgrath
quote:
I don't know why this has to be repeated over and over, but Ward said he was not ready when the season started his freshman year and he had to put a lot of work in to get ready. And he still played 23 / 32 games that year.
Also, it was Chest's decision to redshirt. I don't know how it is a waste to work out and practice the whole year with a team while preserving your eligibility.
Both of those guys are going to say the right things to the media. But I promise you, neither showed up asking to take limited/zero roles as highly recruited true freshmen. Were either ready to come in and be "stars"? No. But there is no substitute for real game experience, and LSU had plenty of opportunities to give them such because they weren't exactly playing for anything big over the last two years. Particularly in 2022-2023 when they were losing almost every SEC game...often by double digits in the first half. It wouldn't have been a big risk to let some of the freshmen (beyond Reed) get meaningful minutes rather than garbage time minutes in the 2nd half after going down 20+. Frankly, that is a very antiquated mid-major approach. One, where coaches would often get the 2nd - 3rd tier DI guys who they knew they could keep for 5 years without much risk of transfer or leaving early for the draft. The object there was a slow development to have them competing as 3rd, 4th, 5th year players. Highly rated 1st and 2nd year players have been big contributors at the major conf. level for decades now. It's pretty uncommon for coaches to sign 4-5 star prospects, then bury them on the bench for the first 1-2 years before seeing if they can even contribute.
quote:
As for willingness to change game plans mid season, did you not see the change of point guards and understand the cajones that took?
The change he made at the end of a 1-7 stretch where the PG basically checked out on the team? LSU was 12-12 (4-7) at that point. There wasn't a whole lot of risk in making that change. Conversely, it probably serves as more proof of his general unwillingness to adjust given it took going from 3-1 in SEC play to 4-7 before anything changed.
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