re: Josh Gray's importance to this team

There were also 3 times Patterson shouldn't have pulled up for a mid range contested jumpshot early in the shot clock. Is a block in which the ball goes out of bounds worse than a contested mid range pull-up in which the other team gets the ball?

Jalyn Patterson impresses me the most amongst our guards. Smart, does not force things and cool under pressure...all the things Gray is not.

It bounced literally straight in the air about 15 feet high. Do you understand the physics of why that happened? It hit the point of the back iron and bounced up. And his 3 off the dribble, Harrison was a good 5-6 feet away

Gray was better in this game but still not great. Outside of the 3 he didn't do much positive. When quarterman penetrated he was looking to pass for dunks, but gray was looking to put up shots against the cats that had no chance. I'd much prefer Patterson who's a good shooter taking midrange jumpers than what we got from gray.

I love his ball handling which will be critical in the tournament but he makes so many bad decisions...I think he is the reason the offense gets out of sync...shoots too quickly, ill-advised drives to the basket, just standing there dribbling when he should be initiating the offense...
He could be very good but he needs to play within the system and he freelances without success way too much.

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However, it did seem last night, at times, like when JG had the ball, the other four just stood around like they're about to watch a wreck with no movement back to him to set picks or to the goal. Vitale even noticed this. Maybe he needs to call a play and not just do his own thing at times.

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I thought Gray had one of his better games last night. That said, I completely agree with the above. There are far too many times where he absolutely refuses to give the ball up. The offense gets stagnant because the ball isn't moving fast enough. Gray is a score-first PG; Patterson lets the game come to him much more (though he did take some rushed shots in the 1st half) The offense seems to have better flow when he and TQ are in the game.

Gray can still be an important player for this team though. He went against one of the better defensive teams in the country (maybe the best) and still no one could consistently stay in front of him. I think LSU just has to play two separate games depending on who is at PG at the time. When Gray is in they have got to really spread the floor and create space. Many times Gray beats his man off the dribble and drives the lane only to find a mass of humanity waiting for him. Mickey and Martin can both hit 15 ft jumpers, so get them of of the block a bit when Gray is in and pull those defenders away with them. When Patterson is in LSU can go a little bit more traditional. It's a shame it doesn't happen more, but with Patterson/Mickey/Martin the pick and roll should be deadly for LSU.

But what I'm saying is Tim and JP also forced things last night. To call him a liability and not the other 2 just doesn't seem right IMO. I know he shouldnt have went in there but it worked twice and who knows if he would have gotten one more over them mickey or martjng could have gotten a offensive rebound.

This is exact post is why I take up for Gray. So we are blaming Gray for Jones calling a pick and roll from mid court with 5 seconds? We spread the floor, inbounded the ball and Mickey stood there, he then motioned to Mickey to screen...so boom 1 second already gone. Mickey sets the screen about 6 feet beyond the 3-point line and lazily fades to about 3 feet beyond the line and stares at Gray. Now there is 3 seconds left, Gray has Harrison coming back over to cover off the screen, and stein or towns (can't remember which) is sagging into the lane making sure mickey doesn't roll. In the meantime, every other player is literally standing beyond the 3 watching. By now there is 2 seconds left, gray is basically forced to dribble into the lane, at which point he can attempt a floater or basically nothing else. He chose a pass mid air because he was stuck and the clock ran out. But to simply put that on gray is mind boggling.

Gray scored twice in the paint. I get people don't like him and I understand he has been a liability most of the season but last night he was just as decent as the other two.