re: LSU BBALL #19 in ESPN BBALL Index

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Uh are we not easily defeating teams that we should be defeating? As opposed to last year? That alone is showing more than last year.

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We beat a ranked Marquette, Big East Rutgers (a shitty BE team albeit) on the road, a ranked Alabama and a ranked MSU last year, and gave a lot of good teams a handful last year.

Don't let your hatred of Trent's recruiting methods or personality (which left a lot to be desired) or ignorance of the college basketball landscape (and I'm not saying *you're* ignorant, just that many people refuse to accept that talent is spread so far through D-1 that any team in the top 100-150 in the RPI can beat any other team that's not a Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse level) cloud what last year's team was, or this year's team is.

Last year's team was not an abomination to the sport of basketball. It was a young team that got TO the hump, but couldn't get OVER it.

I imagine this year's team will be much of the same. Maybe at a faster tempo, and more pleasing to the eye, but the results *may* be the same.

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EASILY worse than Brady.

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Yet he took the same team Brady had in 07-08 that didn't win 5 conference games and in 08-09 won the SEC and won an NCAA tournament game, and gave the eventual national champion the toughest game in the NCAA Tournament.

But you're right he wasn't as good as Brady.

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lost to coastal carolina
lost to south alabama
lost to 15-16 Auburn
beat GT 59-50
beat Rutgers 55-50
beat Auburn 65-58....in overtime

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It's easy to cherry pick games to prove a point. Watch:

Beat #10 Marquette 67-59
Beat Alabama
Beat Mississippi State
Beat Arkansas in the SEC tournament
Beat Georgia Tech at a neutral site
Won at Rutgers
Won at Houston
Won at North Texas(guess who the opposing coach was)

Lost to #23 Virginia
Lost at #17 Florida
Lost at #18 Mississippi State

See how easy that was? It's even easier when the team you are arguing for has only played 6 games, all at home, only 1 of which has even the slightest chance to make the NIT, much less the tournament.

And fwiw, that neutral site Georgia Tech game that you to last year will more than likely end up looking very similar to that Seton Hall win this year that has everyone so pumped right now.

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And the fact that Johnson took the same team, minus a lottery pick plus Tasmin Mitchell to the second round of the NCAA tournament that didn't even make the NIT the year before.

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If I'm trying to get to the tourney give me veteran leader Taz over "freshman trying to get to the league" Randolph every day of the week.

Trent deserves anything criticism given out. It may not be necessary as you point out but its certainly deserved and i really dont get upset when people do it.

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If I'm trying to get to the tourney give me veteran leader Taz over "freshman trying to get to the league" Randolph every day of the week.

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Their numbers from the respective seasons are close enough that an argument could be made either way for the better player. And I'll buy an argument that Tasmin's leadership and experience made him more valuable and probably won a few games, moreso than Randolph's talent.

But is it a big enough difference for the team to be +14 in the win column from one year to the next, including +7 in conference? Nah. Especially since most of the wins from Randolph's year came after Brady was fired.

Is that a serious post? I just have a lot of trouble believing anyone might be this stupid.

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Trent was no doubt, wayyy worse than Brady and JJ already.

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Give me anything to support that Brady was a better coach than Johnson. Why is it that Johnson took essentially the same team Brady had from the year before and had almost an immeasurably more amount of success with it?

I want to believe and sincerely hope that Jones is a better coach. I think it's safe to say at this point that he's obviously a better recruiter than both of his predecessors, even after just 1 year. But the fact of the matter is his team has played 6 games, all at home, and only 1 against a competitive opponent. The fact of the matter is, nobody knows how good of a coach Jones will be here yet because there just is not enough evidence.

You would think LSU fans would've learned from the previous staff to temper their expectations before anointing the next John Wooden. And that staff had an entire season under its belt when people were praising it,and a very successful one at that.

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The simple fact that players HATED playing for him is enough.

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That fact applies to Brady as well. And the players actually QUIT on him. They never quit on Johnson.

I'll also say there was no talk of players HATING to play for him after his first season either.

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One example: This "tuba" guy that everyone is so excited about, guess what? HE PLAYED 2 YEARS FOR TRENT! He was a band member who proved how bad Trent and his staff were at LSU, showed absolutely no improvement. Now looks like a potential NBA draft pick. Anyway, as always,

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This is really the example you use to support your stance? Well like I said in the beginning of this post, I just have a really hard time believing anyone could be this stupid, do I'll chalk this up to a really shitty toll attempt.

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One example: This "tuba" guy that everyone is so excited about, guess what? HE PLAYED 2 YEARS FOR TRENT! He was a band member who proved how bad Trent and his staff were at LSU, showed absolutely no improvement. Now looks like a potential NBA draft pick.

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Slow ya roll on that one

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Now looks like a potential NBA draft pick

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Key word there, "potential".. He's shown outstanding improvement, and if he continues to improve, he has a great shot at going pro. He is freaking 7 foot 3!! Very rare size there.