re: Give MM 3 years and quit whining.

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So one coach brought his players from Cleveland State and the other brought his players from Murray State and the players from Cleveland St ended up being better but somehow that's MM fault.

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The point is that despite the constant cries of "leave Matt alone", he wasn't the only new coach that got stuck with having to essentially rebuild his entire roster upon getting the LSU job. Missouri's new HC had to do so (9 transfers). Kansas State's HC had to do so (10 transfers), and many other schools with new HC's had to bring in 6, 7, 8 new players. Yet, coaches at Kansas St and Missouri have found ways to win and be competitive immediately, while LSU is currently on a 10 game losing streak with 9 of those losses coming by 10 point or more. And the only loss by less than 10 was to a (at that time) 10-1 (0-8) last place Big 12 team that was missing one of their three leading scorers.

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They have played some of their best ball against Tenn, Mizzou and AL.

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You unintentionally proved how bad McMahon has been this year by trying to make an excuse for his terrible performance. "Some of their BEST ball" resulted in a 21 point home loss to Tennessee. A 10 point loss at Missouri where LSU fell behind by double-digits 8 minutes into the game and NEVER got the game within single digits the rest of the way. A 10 point home loss to Alabama. And that is their BEST basketball. Which by definition means other games have been worse!

This isn't a case of a HC failing to meet unrealistic expectations. The expectations were the lowest they have been in 6 years (since Wade's first season) and he's not even coming close to reaching those. But for South Carolina being horrible, LSU would be the worst team in the SEC.

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but anyone calling for his job right now is an idiot

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What exactly do you see that gives reason for optimism? The team is getting blown out in every game. The current recruiting class is wholly unremarkable relative to major-conference programs. They will be losing their best player (K.J. Williams). The freshman class he signed going into the season has given you virtually nothing (though Ward did show flashes once McMahon was forced to play him last game). And it is entirely likely he is going to have to completely rebuild the roster again next season given transfers are just the nature of college basketball today. So with, potentially, a WORSE roster than this season, where is the hope for better days? And if there is no realistic outlook for improvement, why waste 2-3 more years just to "confirm" that?

That said, he's not going to get fired. I know that. But I don't think it is wholly irrational to have serious concerns about the guy given the horrible performance to date. In Johnson's first season LSU won the SEC. In Jones's first season LSU at least competed in the SEC (with a very weak roster) and he signed a top 10 recruiting class for the following season. In Wade's first season he took a very pieced together roster (with Waters being a late-signed savior) an led a team picked to finish LAST in the SEC to a tie for 6th place. He also signed a top 10 recruiting class for the following season.

As we sit here today it is not unrealistic to think LSU may "achieve" or tie the worst conference record in the history of the program. And unlike with Jones and Wade, there is no great recruiting class to give reason for optimism next season.

I want McMahon to succeed because I want LSU to succeed. But I'm not going to bury my head up my arse to pretend he hasn't been horrible in SEC play (and not all that much better in non-conf. play). It is what it is. Want to stop the criticism? Win some damn games instead of being virtual lock for a 10+ point loss every time out.

Be careful. I posted a couple weeks ago to give MM a chance. The rant lived up to its reputation. I placed myself in front of a firing squad. I still see effort in the team and no one wants to win more than they do. It appeared that way to me against Bama. I’m all in. If 3 years from now we don’t see a change. Then it may be time to move on

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Genuine question S, which coaches came into their program as late as McMahon with potential heavy sanctions pending?

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Tommy Lloyd at Arizona last season. Foolishly, he didn’t just accept his team couldn’t be good. And with a little bit of naive determination he was able to scrap his was to a 33-4 record; a Pac 12 championship and No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

LSU “fans” are the only ones pissing themselves daily about “severe sanctions” all while finding any and every excuse possible to excuse McMahon from doing a bad job this season. NO ONE, repeat, NO ONE thought LSU should be fighting for a SEC championship like Arizona did last season. But this team is not even close to half of that goal. They are literally fighting to just not be the worst team in the SEC…in a conference where nearly half the teams have first year HC’s this season.

I think the “leave Matt alone” crowd thinks those criticizing him are doing so because he’s not going to win the SEC this year. That couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s that he’s not even competitive. 1-9 SEC record with NINE straight double-digit losses.

This year was going to always be trash. Nobody was going to walk into the shitshow Woodward created and do well. Next year better at least show some solid improvement or he should be gone

He gets a pass year one but won't be so lucky for year 2

It’s so bad, MM hasn’t done one thing to give hope. We have managed to not improve all year, we get blown out, his offense is middle school level and boring, his recruiting his poor and his energy is low. I really want to be wrong on him but I’d put it at 99.99 that he is going to be a failure. I’m clawing for any light from him that we will be ok but nothing is there.

I thought maybe bubble NIT. I put the bar so low, bubble NIT even just missing it but maybe we could have some hope in recruiting. Instead we get dead last in the sec, double digit uncompetitive games, and 51 in recruiting ranking. I put the bar on the ground and MM is managing to dig a tunnel under it.

The man was on everyone's short list. He can flat out coach. He inherited a very young team with a cloud hanging over it. Most of the young players decided to transfer instead of dealing with the unknown of a new coach and culture. The players were also targeted by other schools with NIL money in place to lure them over.

Give CMM a few years to right the ship. With our new "Collective" in place we should be able to get a few nice pieces. Give it a few years.

It’s the same dumbasses who were claiming last season that Wade needed to be fired because we were only .500 in conference.

The same talking points you heard from members of the admin behind closed doors. Make no mistake, there is an effort to control narrative on this board.

Woody is in serious damage control mode. WW is not going to get hit with a show cause and will be coaching college basketball in the next 2 years. It will be obvious that Woody blew it up because he didn’t like Wade and wanted his own guy. His own guy is now painfully over his head and has a high price tag to buy him out.

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Whining and crying about the basketball program until the ruling comes down sometime this year doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense.

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Eh..... yes and no.


I agree that it doesn't make a lot of sense to jump to conclusions about whatever "sanctions" are imposed, however, to expect the team to be competitive is fair.

McMahon is/was/supposed to be a good offensive coach and this team has looked really flat. There is no fire at all. There's no energy, no leadership. From anyone, including the head coach. That's not meant to be a shot at McMahon or any of the players, it's just a fact. I, and I think anyone that's being realistic, isn't expecting this team to make a run for the Final Four or something but at least be competitive. I haven't seen that. Even in the PMAC. That's on the coach. If the coach is in over his head, the players only know what the coach instructs and then the results follow suit.

It's my understanding that his recruiting hasn't been the best (just what I've read) so I don't know if next year's roster will look much better than this.

I'm not saying the guy needs to be fired tomorrow but it's definitely concerning when the team doesn't look inspired or like they would like to be somewhere else.