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If Tito Horford and Nikita Wilson are on that 1986 Final Four team, do we win the title?
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:01 pm
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:01 pm
Horford was 7'1", 245 and went to Miami and averaged 14 points and 9 rebounds per game.
Wilson was 6'8" and averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Horford was kicked off the team right before the season started and Wilson was declared academically ineligible halfway through the season. They also lost 7 foot center Zoran Jovanovich to a knee injury at Christmas time. and, guard Dennis Brown was also declared academically ineligible and miss the whole season. That's how Ricky Blanton, a 6-7 freshman, became the center. That team came together for a Cinderella tournament run, but what if they had Hereford and Wilson? Do they still come together? Or, are they another example of a really talented Dale Brown team that failed to meet expectations?
That team had John Williams, Don Redden, Ricky Blanton, Anthony Wilson, and Derrick Taylor. It was still a really talented team. But, what if Horford and Nikita Wilson had played? Would that be our national championship team?
Wilson was 6'8" and averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds per game.
Horford was kicked off the team right before the season started and Wilson was declared academically ineligible halfway through the season. They also lost 7 foot center Zoran Jovanovich to a knee injury at Christmas time. and, guard Dennis Brown was also declared academically ineligible and miss the whole season. That's how Ricky Blanton, a 6-7 freshman, became the center. That team came together for a Cinderella tournament run, but what if they had Hereford and Wilson? Do they still come together? Or, are they another example of a really talented Dale Brown team that failed to meet expectations?
That team had John Williams, Don Redden, Ricky Blanton, Anthony Wilson, and Derrick Taylor. It was still a really talented team. But, what if Horford and Nikita Wilson had played? Would that be our national championship team?
18
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:06 pm to AlaTiger
That was a Dale Brown team that actually came together at the end and overachieved.
We beat Kentucky to get into the final four and Kentucky was really really good that year.
We beat Kentucky to get into the final four and Kentucky was really really good that year.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:13 pm to AlaTiger
We win it if we have Nikita. Nikita could have handled Pervis Ellison. Tito would have been icing on the cake. It always perplexes me that Dennis Brown was academically ineligible as he was an incredibly bright kid. I don't think he would have had more than 7-8 minutes a game but that would have included at least 3 dunks, lol.
Beat Purdue, Memphis State, Georgia Tech and Kentucky. I was at all except Ga Tech. Sorry Roger Harden. Sorry Mark Price. Sorry Gene Keady. Not sorry.
Beat Purdue, Memphis State, Georgia Tech and Kentucky. I was at all except Ga Tech. Sorry Roger Harden. Sorry Mark Price. Sorry Gene Keady. Not sorry.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:14 pm to AlaTiger
It's really tough to say. Blanton, given his athletic limitations in playing center, played extremely well in the tournament. He outplayed John Salley, William Bedford (both good 7' centers) and did well against Pervis Ellison (6'9"). The offense really clicked, though, in a way that I doubt it would have if Wilson (who was great his senior year) or Horford were playing. In other words, I don't think Blanton would have even been tried at center, but could have been nothing more than Redden's replacement off the bench.
I remember Blanton and Jovanovich were friends and it was J's injury that prompted Blanton to try to bulk up. I don't remember how accurate that is.
To be honest, that team may not have made it as far as they did without the adjustments they made to deal with that adversity.
That was probably LSU's most inspiring BB team ever.
I remember Blanton and Jovanovich were friends and it was J's injury that prompted Blanton to try to bulk up. I don't remember how accurate that is.
To be honest, that team may not have made it as far as they did without the adjustments they made to deal with that adversity.
That was probably LSU's most inspiring BB team ever.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:14 pm to Lsupimp
Some of y’all have an incredible memory 
I don’t even remember what I ate for lunch yesterday
I don’t even remember what I ate for lunch yesterday
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:14 pm to AlaTiger
Deleted
This post was edited on 6/24/24 at 3:41 pm
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:18 pm to TheRouxGuru
You can find all of the NCAA tournament games on Youtube. They are fun to watch.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:21 pm to Manswers
quote:
That was probably LSU's most inspiring BB team ever.
I was a kid and that team and that tournament run was the stuff of dreams.
It could have been that Horford and Wilson would have made the team more athletic and talented, but maybe they wouldn't have had the chemistry and fire to make it to the Final Four.
I thought about this when I saw Tito Horford in the NBA Playoffs and Finals cheering on Al and remembered he was with LSU for awhile back then before he got kicked off the team.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:25 pm to AlaTiger
You never know how a team would mesh. LSU was very good in 1985. They were ranked in the top 15 to start the 86 season and rolled through a weak non-conf. schedule. Kind of a typical Brown team. They could get up for big games, but also not show up for games they should win.
It's not like LSU was great down the stretch. They were 5-5 in their final 10 games. Of course, they were dealing with chicken pox and other issues. There is ZERO doubt getting two home games (as an 11 seed) spring boarded them to the Sweet 16, and you could argue Kentucky was the best #1 they could have faced because it was the fourth time LSU played them that year...each game being relatively close. LSU knew how to play UK.
It's likely that if LSU didn't have the issues/lost players they would have done like many Brown teams did and failed to meet expectations. He thrived in an underdog role. Not so much as a favorite.
It's not like LSU was great down the stretch. They were 5-5 in their final 10 games. Of course, they were dealing with chicken pox and other issues. There is ZERO doubt getting two home games (as an 11 seed) spring boarded them to the Sweet 16, and you could argue Kentucky was the best #1 they could have faced because it was the fourth time LSU played them that year...each game being relatively close. LSU knew how to play UK.
It's likely that if LSU didn't have the issues/lost players they would have done like many Brown teams did and failed to meet expectations. He thrived in an underdog role. Not so much as a favorite.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:32 pm to AlaTiger
One question I've never seen anyone ask is "does the 1987 team with the title if John Williams hadn't left for the NBA after his sophomore year?"
It was very rare for players to leave for the NBA before their junior year. That would have been an incredible team in the tournament and too much for IU to handle in the Elite 8. LSU gets to the Final Four (in New Orleans that year) and wins it all.
It was very rare for players to leave for the NBA before their junior year. That would have been an incredible team in the tournament and too much for IU to handle in the Elite 8. LSU gets to the Final Four (in New Orleans that year) and wins it all.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:36 pm to ChestRockwell
" Don't shoot the ball, Jose ".
"Make your free throws, Fess".
"Make your free throws, Fess".
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:52 pm to Alt26
quote:
It's not like LSU was great down the stretch. They were 5-5 in their final 10 games.
That's true. However, there was a loss to Georgetown in DC in John Williams' first game back from chicken pox where he just took over the game. LSU lost, but they were still working through adversity and you could see, for the first time, what Williams could really do. He could be close to Lebron James.
I have never been able to find that game on Youtube. I just remember Williams when he put the team on his back and Billy Packer saying "he is playing like a man among boys out there."
Posted on 6/24/24 at 3:56 pm to Alt26
quote:
There is ZERO doubt getting two home games (as an 11 seed) spring boarded them to the Sweet 16,
Purdue and MSU griped about that and said "just wait until LSU plays Ga Tech in Atlanta in the Sweet 16" and then LSU proceeded to beat Ga Tech. Yes, it helped LSU to be at home but they also won "on the road" against a superior team the next game.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 4:11 pm to TigerBR1111
That was a great team that inspired one another. Fighters till the end. Remember watching all games.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 4:19 pm to AlaTiger
Daddy still the coach, so that would be a resounding no.
Posted on 6/24/24 at 4:21 pm to AlaTiger
Who gives a shite. 38 years ago
Posted on 6/24/24 at 4:37 pm to AlaTiger
Impossible to say. Without all the controversy and drama does that team develop such incredible chemistry?
Posted on 6/24/24 at 4:48 pm to AlaTiger
What could have been !
Posted on 6/24/24 at 4:56 pm to AlaTiger
There should be a 30/30 on that team. It is a great story of “Team”.
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