Huge game for the real Tigers on Tuesday as they play host to Memphis out of the AAC as the second to last game before LSU heads to Orlando for a bigtime tournament.
LSU
PG T. Waters (SO) 5’11 175 Makes our team go, and is the unquestioned leader. Played much better against UNCG and looks back up to speed.
G J. Smart (FR) 6’4 200 Do it all guard who is best in transition, plays like a 3 or 4 year SEC vet already.
G S. Mays (JR) 6’4 200 The calming presence on the squad, plus shooter and maybe the smartest player in the entire SEC.
F E. Williams (FR) 6’7 225 Best rebounder on the team and uber athletic, also looks to attack the rim everytime.
C N. Reid (FR) 6’10 250 Nothing he cannot do, been most impressed with how good of a ball handler he is. Nice outside shot that he can stretch to beyond the 3pt line, and is a plus rebounder. Physically our biggest presence inside since JOB3.
Bench
Wing Taylor (JR) 6’5 210 Could very well start, been impressed so far he his great in transition, and a plus defender as well as the best athlete on the team.
C K. Bigby-Williams (SR) 6’11 250 Our biggest shot blocker and a force defensively, has shown a consistent jump hook 6 ft and under which is more than I imagined.
G Edwards (SR) 6’3 185 Plus 3pt shooter and a tough defender, has not played much but I think he plays more against Memphis, his experience against their youth gives LSU an advantage.
F Days (Fr) 6’7 225 Has shown a 3pt shot, and has been okay on the glass, at times plays loose and like a freshman but is athletic enough to be a solid 4th SEC big, needs to improve shot selection and defensive rotation but that will come in time.

Memphis
PG #1 T. Harris (FR) 5’9 150 15 PPG, 2.3 APG
PG #2 A. Lomax (FR) 5’10 190 7.6 PPG, 6.0 APG, 4.5 SPG
G #3 J. Martin (SR) 6’3 185 17.7 PPG, 4.0 APG, 3.0 RPG
F #0 K. Davenport (SR) 6’8 214 24.0 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 4 PF a Game (Huge Stat)
C #14 I. Maurice (JR) 6’10 225 9 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.5 BPG
Bench
SF #4 Thornton (SR) 6’6 230 Only threat to score on his own off the bench
F #10 Parks (SR) 6'8 250 Returning big that has been dealing with injuries will play against LSU
G #5 Brewton (SR) 6’3 185
Wing #11 Jones (FR) 6’6 205
F #12 Enoh (SO) 6’7 250
F #50 Wingett (FR) 6’7 200

About Memphis
They are coached by Penny Hardaway who is in his first year at his alma mater. The cupboard was left very bear but he is already a Top-10 recruiter in college basketball and will get talent in there and got some guys late in the last recruiting cycle. There is no doubt they are rebuilding compared to where they are headed. In a lot of ways they will remind you of where LSU was last year at this time. This is their first real test as they struggled to beat a Tennessee Tech team that was only picked to finish 5th in their own conference and they beat up on a couple D-2/NAIA teams that’s why their stats are bit inflated.

The Tigers are primarily a man to man team, with some zone when needed because of their lack of size and they will mix in some token full court man as well as a run and jump press off of made free throws. On offense they run a very basic motion offense but they really went to get out in transition, when things breakdown they typically just feed it to #0 Davenport and let him work. The pace they like to play at is also their Achilles heel, as a team even against bad competition for 3 games they are already averaging 15 TO a game. Martin is the swiss army knife, a great athlete that does a lot for them as well as is the leader of the team in a lot of ways. Davenport is a very skilled inside scorer and can step out all the way to the 3. He is just a tough big man as most JUCO bigs are. He is there rock on the inside but is very prone to fouling, that will be huge. Against Tennessee Tech their only D-1 action they struggled mightily in the half court as Davenport and Martin (the seniors) were the only ones to score in double figures. Lomax and Harris are both small but scrappy typical Memphis street tough true PGs. But they can be exploited from 3 because of this Coach Penny could start Thornton in place of Lomax for size, however in all 3 games it has been the same starting lineup. Memphis is a good frontrunner team, meaning if they are up and can run in transition that’s when they play at their best. They are a very very young team in a lot of ways, and things breakdown on both ends but they play very hard. They are not very deep at all but he will freely play 10 guys in spot minutes and IMO there is a big dropoff after Thornton off the bench.

Keys to the Game
• Rebounding- will be huge, LSU is the much more athletic, deeper, and bigger of the two and the better rebounder by a big margin. Memphis will need to keep LSU off the glass because if LSU is getting offensive rebounds it means Memphis is probably in foul trouble. Another key to this matchup will be guards rebounding down. What I mean by this is, is Taylor for LSU who is uber athletic has already been a force on the boards, and Smart rebounds really well for his size and position as does Mays to a lesser extent. Memphis is very small at guard LSU could look to take advantage of this and send 4 to the glass every time.
• 3 Pt Shooting – LSU struggled against SLU but found their stroke against UNCG. Memphis is an okay 3pt shooting team but they are more of a streaky team from behind the arch where as LSU has 3-4 guys not including Naz Reid and Darius Days on the perimeter that are capable-good shooters. UNCG was red hot against LSU but they also got a lot of easy looks and our young bigs did not do a particularly good job closing out and rotating to UNCG bigs who caught fire. Davenport and Maurice both are capable 3pt shooters with Dav. being the much better of the two. LSU should be able to correct their mistakes against UNCG for Memphis’ bigs.
• Turnovers- this is less a key as it is more of a big advantage for LSU. Memphis is young at guard and they play like it. Also their pace does not do them a lot of favors. LSU is very good off of turnovers and scoring in transition. But what I am looking to see is LSU finish more, it had a lot do with our newcomers trying to always go for the highlight reel play in the first two games and at times it was sloppy, if there is one thing CWW fixed it will be this.
• Out of timeout possessions, inbounding the ball for both teams – Where Wade is very very good is coming out of timeouts dead balls and drawing up quick hitters and getting 8-10 points a game for LSU.

Prediction
Obviously it does not take a rocket scientist to know that in any basketball game rebounding, 3pt shooting, and turnovers are always keys to who wins and loses. But that IMO is the difference between LSU winning by 7 or 8 as opposed to 15-20. I really like LSU in this matchup, Memphis is just not there yet. I actually think Memphis jumps out to an early lead to start but combined with LSU’s depth and just honestly I think we are lot more talented LSU handles Memphis fairly easily. LSU has been in control in both previous games from start to finish. Memphis is a team of runs, if LSU can weather those, I see no problem with a 15 point win. Javonte Smart has his coming out party, as Memphis does not have anyone that can guard him and he takes advantage getting 25 pts and 4-5 assists to go along with 5-6 rebs. Bigby Williams only played 8 mins against UNCG but I think he gets 6-7 blocks as well. Naz Reid gets a double double if he can stay out of foul trouble.

LSU 43 Memphis 37 Half
LSU 87 Memphis 72 Final

Also LSU and Memphis are neck and neck along with Alabama for the services of 5 star F Trendon Watford, just a friendly heads up.

The line is -11 for LSU on qanother site it was -9. Over/Under is 164.5

This post was edited on 11/13/18 at 8:02 pm