Inside Matt McMahon's Quick Rebuild of LSU Basketball

I thought Wade's flip of the roster post JJ was impressive....but this trumped the hell out of that all things considered.

Great hire. I'm looking forward to the teams and culture he brings to LSU. Curious to see how year 1 plays out considering most people semi wrote it off considering the circumstances. Seems like a great time to be a tiger sports fan.

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McMahon knows how to actually use a bank account.

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There is no evidence of that.

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I don't know how this is any different than any other season in college basketball for the higher level teams. Roster turnover is yearly due to 1 and done and transfer portal.

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There is always some degree of turnover in college sports. But there are very few instances of THIS much turnover in one season (absent a few places like UK and others that fully bought in to the one-and-done players of years past) when compared to the era before the one-free-transfer rule. LSU has six (6) transfers joining the roster. That is among the highest number in the country. LSU also has a completely new staff. So it is not as if there is a well-entrenched system in place where new guys are coming into (like you had last year when LSU took 3 transfers). Virtually everything is new in the program. It's new for the transfers (completely new school and level of competition). It's new for the returning players (completely new staff and program demands). It's new for the incoming Freshmen (new to college basketball).

Now, LSU is far from the only school having to deal with those circumstances this year. Hell, they are far from from the only school in the SEC dealing with it (Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, all have new HC's and significantly different rosters from last season. Same, but to a bit lesser extent, for Florida and Mississippi St.). But offseason team building is more important than ever. Wade talked about that a lot last summer...and there wasn't as much turnover in the program as this season. It is a different world from just two seasons ago

I'm immune to fancy proclamations from new coaches.
I well remember the inspirational speeches given by Orgeron's new OC and DC prior to last season.
I was pumped.
Show me! Don't tell me how its going to be.

It's tough when you put together a good team but can't play them all. Wade really didn't like more than a 7 man rotation toward the end of the season. I think McMahon is going to have to go 8 or 9 deep to keep players happy. The other factor is can certain players separate themselves from the others so that there is no doubt as to who the starters should be.

Are the freshmen willing to wait a year until they make their mark? Are players who started last year going to be satisfied if they sink to the third guy off the bench? What kind of system McMahon tries to play on offense and defense will also determine who fits in the best. There are always question marks at this time of the year but never so many as now.

Coach Mac has done an absolutely incredible job. I do think the fanbase is ahead of itself a little with expectations with such a newly formed “mixed bag” roster. I have gone from being completely blindsided with Wade’s exit to very hopeful of the future of LSU basketball

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It's tough when you put together a good team but can't play them all. Wade really didn't like more than a 7 man rotation toward the end of the season. I think McMahon is going to have to go 8 or 9 deep to keep players happy. The other factor is can certain players separate themselves from the others so that there is no doubt as to who the starters should be.

Are the freshmen willing to wait a year until they make their mark? Are players who started last year going to be satisfied if they sink to the third guy off the bench? What kind of system McMahon tries to play on offense and defense will also determine who fits in the best. There are always question marks at this time of the year but never so many as now.

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Correct. The three players that came with him from Murray St were all starters or guys getting significant PT. They likely would have remained such had they stayed at Murray St. And they are all three upperclassmen. They came to LSU because they want to compete at a higher level of competition. But I doubt they came to LSU looking to watch others compete at that level from the bench. They want to play big roles (if not start)

Then you have the 3 LSU players that stayed. All were very highly recruited out of HS. All looked to have solid transfer options while in the portal. Wilkinson was a starter last season. Miller, had he not been injured, would have been a starter. Williams is likely looking for more PT. I doubt any of those guys stayed to play reduced minutes in reduced roles. LSU was not their only options for next season.

You also have two upperclassmen transfers from other power conf. schools (Fountain and Hanyes). Both have played significant minutes in their careers but seemed to have fallen out of favor a bit with their old teams last year. I'm sure they transferred for an opportunity at a new start. An opportunity that likely doesn't have them playin 5 mpg or so. They want to play.

Finally, you have 3 highly recruited freshman. While we would love to think those guys would accept they may not get as much PT as they want this season while they develop into college players, the reality is many players don't see it that way. They likely want significant roles next season. If not, the transfer portal is always open.

While EVERY coach has to deal with the individual wants of 11, 12, 13 players each year, that task may be a bit more difficult for McMahon with everything being so new. 10 of the 13 players will just being enrolling at LSU for the first time this summer. The 3 returning players probably only met McMahon for the first time two months ago. He's going to have to get all of these individuals with individual wants and goals to come together as a TEAM and buy into a team concept, even if that concept does not quite mesh with the individual desires of each player when they chose to come to/stay at LSU.

Or to put it succinctly (something I'm often incapable of doing) these guys are going to have to learn to like each other first before they can become a good basketball TEAM

He has accumulated a lot of experienced talent. Yet three of the freshmen have a lot of talent

The backcourt is overall a little bit short while the front court has an abundance of really long guys. Seems like a lot of full court press and fast rotations might be the plan.