How good is LSU basketball really?

I think it's still a little early to talk about LSU being a tournament team but we'll see. The SEC is pretty damn deep this year.

I think they are playing better defense now that they were when they lost to ND and Marq

10-8 in sec lets you go dancing thats 19-11

NIT would be a great accomplishment in year 1.

They are way better now than they were in the 1st game which is a testament to Wade (and something we never saw from the previous regime).

I think they can be good. If they can keep grinding and not get too caught up in it they can probably make a run at the tournament. The defense that I watched last night plays awesome in the PMAC and travels pretty well too.

One thing that I do know is that no matter what the outcome is Wade will not allow this team to play dumb or play lazy. I said before those two things would be enough for me this year....and that still applies.

Arkansas was a VERY good offense coming into the game (best in the SEC, in fact) so it's not as if LSU played a bunch of bums last night. Certainly Arkansas missed a larger than expected amount of good looks (but that's going to be the case for ANY team that has a good night defensively). I didn't think they would or could this season, but LSU is starting to improve defensively. The plan was to play tight on the 3 guards and force them to take contested shots or give it up to less effective shooters. It's why you saw Epps and others sag way off of the 4's they were guarding. LSU was inviting them to shoot. LSU did the same thing vs. A&M (sagging off of everyone except Hogg). They also did the same thing vs. UK. The difference it that UK refused to settle for jumpers in the second half. Giving bad shooters good looks is ACTUALLY good defense.

Teams like ND and Marquette have good players. No question. But LSU's poor efforts on defense were allowing the good shooters to get great looks. That's a recipe for disaster.

LSU isn't going to sneak up on anyone anymore. And getting 21 point road victories probably isn't' going to happen the rest of the season. But they are starting to show toughness on defense and the glass. That can carry a team night in a night out. Now I expect to see teams start to attack LSU inside with drives. They aren't going to settle for 3's. Can LSU respond defensively?

If I had to be my home I'd say LSU doesn't get into the NCAAT. But after last night they are VERY much in the conversation now.

quote:

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Teams like Notre Dame and Marquette beat us because they can hit open shots

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Either you don't know basketball or you don't pay attention too closely. I'm not saying this team is in NCAA tournament lock but....

Notre Dame in Marquette were making open shots because we weren't defending them.

Our defensive intensity and IQ has improved greatly.

Who played the ball screen very good last night..... Which was an abomination in Maui

I think this team is capable of beating anyone, and i dont' think they would lose to a lesser team at this point in the season.
That being said, the SEC is very tough this year. I'm pretty sure they have the most teams ranked in the top 100 in rpi.
Only Vandy isn't ranked in the top 100, and there's 9 in the top 50.

I still say if they can finish .500 or better, that would be great and exceed expectations, even still at this point. I think you are going to see a lot of teams just over .500 in the league, and a lot of them are going to make the tourney. probably be the most tourney teams from the SEC in quite some time.

Yes I am aware of that. But at some point the team will have its struggle games where they cant seem to play defense. And since that was the primary thing plaguing LSU early on in the season, it can happen again and I believe it will happen again at some point. All CBB teams seem to experience the same struggles at different points in the season, no matter how good the team is.