re: LSU hoops observations

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Jalen - stronger, great footwork , nice player. Not an above the rim guy.

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Lol, what? Try to catch him on Sportscenter this morning, made Top 10 plays dunking over a guy.

Sears and Mike Williams will both give and be offensive help most if not every night.

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Try not to look at the stat sheet for Robert miller . I saw a true freshman that deflected a ton of balls , and a guy who always made the right pass . The offense and rebounding will come , he’s got a smooth looking jump shot and is very athletic . He’s gonna be a player

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He did some small things well. When the game slows down more, I expect him and Reed to continue to compliment each other well.

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We have to have bigs that can defend and alter shots

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LSU had 7 blocks last night and many more altered shots...did you even watch the game?

Players are still feeling eachother out and learning their roles. What I do like is they aren't just settling for 3's and will drive it to the basket. They push the ball on offense and move it around crisply. They are hitting the boards more aggressively and I believe only allowed 3-4 second chances for ULM. Granted there was a talent gap but ULM had two 6'11' bigs so a little more competition than Loyola,.Reed may finally be taking that step up we have been waiting for. Haven't seen that stretch where he disappears for minutes at a time. We'll find out where they are when the play KState but they are definitely more athletic and long this year. Sad to see Ward leave but as deep as they are at guard someone was going to get left out. Not sure yet why it was Ward but they will be Ok without him. Going to have to lean on a couple of highly rated freshmen and Williams.

Especially odd when we have exactly one guard who is 5'11" and 3 others all at 6'3".

Kind of a lot of firm conclusions to draw from one game vs an overmatched opponent.

Cam was the good athlete we know he is and played a good game offensively except for the 4 turnovers. He's always been capable of a night like he had last night. Can he consistently play well is the key. Wright was able to take that step last year. Hopefully Cam can as well.

Sears never got a chance to get into any sort of rhythm because of the two early fouls.

Reed was the pleasant surprise of the night. Not simply because he scored 24, but how he did it. Physically he's gotten stronger. But the shots he took are the shots he should be taking. He's very good at finishing around the rim with either hand. Shooting 3's off the dribble and trying to be a 6'10 250lb SG is not his strength. He didn't do that last night. He got to the rim and finished. More than that, he wen 8-8 from the FT line! That's coming off a 4-5 performance in the exhibition game. The quality of opponent doesn't matter with respect to FT shooting. They can't guard you. He was a 52% FT shooter as a Freshman and 62% last year. The fact he's started 12-13 out of the gate is a GREAT sign and credit to him because being a good FT shooter simply requires the desire to put in a ton of work. It looks like he did.

It was nice to see the freshmen all play significant minutes. Not surprisingly, they all had moment of good play, and moments of bad. It's their first college game ever. That should be expected. They are going to be needed this season, so I hope McMahon continues to give them meaningful minutes. It's the only way to gain experience and get better.

The defense was ok. Not great in terms of consistent effort, but ok. Rebounding was fine. LSU has good length inside and the guards (Carter and Williams) will get involved on the glass. 12 is probably about 3 more TOs than you would like, but 4 of those were from true freshmen and another from Chest who was playing in his first game too. LSU was AWFUL about turning the ball over last year. Hopefully they can improve there this year because it killed them last season.

34 three point attempts seems like too many for this team. Particularly when you only shot 29%. But it may be that McMahon is going to give them a bit more freedom there early to either (a) develop some confidence or (b) figure out what kind of shooting team he has in a game situation. If they are jacking up 35 threes and shooting below 30% as they season goes on, that will be a problem. But for at least these first 2 games. Not a big deal.

ULM is not a good team. But, LSU did what good teams are supposed to do to bad teams....control most of the game and end with a comfortable victory. That said, let's not start hanging a banner just yet. LSU won by 46 on opening night last year...then lost to Nicholls St 3 days later. If baseball is like a marathon, basketball is kind of like the 1600M race and LSU just broke from the starting blocks.

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And with Matt MacMahon wearing a suit last night for the first time he does too. Strictly business

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I noticed that too. Different tone. Coach Patrick also brings needed support.

In ENGLISH, please.