re: Impressions of LSU's new BB coach so far?

WE ARE PLAYING ANYONE!!!

Even great teams have an off night and stumble sometimes, it happens. Considering what he walked into, I would say we should feel pretty good about being 8-1 at this point.

I like his half court sets. Of course, it helps when you have a traditional PG running the offense and a big man who can pick and pop for 3. Still, there is a more off the ball movement than you saw in Wade's offense. Defensively they have been sound, but not great on shot defense. What has really helped on the defensive end is they have been very good at getting steals. And it hasn't been a result of a lot of individual on ball steals. It's guys finding their way into passing lanes.

I think McMahon really wants to play a more uptempo game that will be enticing to blue chip recruits. That time may come, but I think this particular team is probably better in a half-court game. They aren't terrible explosive athletically (besides Hannibal).

I'm a bit disappointed the true freshmen are not bigger impact players at this point. Reed has a lot of potential, but it clearly trying to adjust to CBB. Ward not playing at all is a bit surprising. As for McMahon himself, he is much more reserved than Wade. That is not necessarily a good or bad thing except in the aspect of promoting the program. Wade was a tireless promoter who generated more energy in that last 5 years that LSU basketball had done in the previous 20. McMahon seems to be a guy trying to navigate his way through his first major conf job. As a result, he's a bit more reserved in his demeanor. I think if he has success you would see that change somewhat as becomes more comfortable.

Overall, LSU probably sits right now at about the baseline level to be expected. Nearly 1/3rd of the way into the season it appears evident this team is not on the same level of the top 1/3rd of the SEC (Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn). They are in the teams 6-12 group all fighting for position.

I think McMahon has a plan as to what he wants to do. I think he knows how the team needs to play to accomplish it. I like that he recognizes "balance" is the key to success. For as much as I liked Wade, his teams were incredibly imbalanced. Most years they were elite offensively and bad defensively. Last year was just the opposite. But you can't win big being great on only one side of the ball. There has to be a balance. To that end, LSU has somewhat had that balance thus far. Unfortunately, it is balance in that they have been very average on both ends of the floor.

In short, he hasn't done anything to make anyone think this is a bad hire. But the season hasn't been remarkable to date either. They have kind of hit all of their reasonable milestones to date. Assuming they can win the final three Non-conf games before SEC play starts, they will have put themselves in a position to earn their way into the NCAAT with their performance in conf. However, their opening 8 SEC games look incredibly tough.