re: LSU signee Ja'Vonte Smart wins Gatorade POTY for La.

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thunder

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Thunder, I agree with you. People actually greatly underestimate what Mays does for this team.

Personally, I think all 3 start. I know it seems crazy, but all 3 start and then you can rotate other guys in.

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Has there ever been a 3x winner before?

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Randy Livingston was national player of the year 2 years in a row, but I'm not sure about Louisiana specifically.

Don't forget about Brandon Rachal, he'll give us minutes next year. Great energy guy who provides defense and rebounding, and shown he can score at the rim.

Yea Rachal will be a defense guy. Someone you bring in late to close games out.

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Rachel is gonna got more minutes than days

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I seriously doubt this IMO.

I think a lot of the minutes next year might come down to who can shoot from the outside the best. We know Waters and Mays can hit 3's consistently, I'm gonna guess Smart too. Bigby Williams will camp inside. Then we've got 3 recruits listed as PF's coming in and who knows how their long ball will be. We will need the spacing for Waters and Smart to drive, we won't be at our best if we let Reid, Bigby, and Williams all play at the same time and none are outside threats. Weird to say but we may miss Epps and Reaths ability to shoot next year.

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Don't forget about Brandon Rachal, he'll give us minutes next year. Great energy guy who provides defense and rebounding, and shown he can score at the rim.

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In all honesty, Rachal might actually benefit from a redshirt year, I know it likely wont happen, already having played, but with everything we'll have next year, if Sampson returned there's really not much playing time there.

Rachal is basically just an energy guy right now, he needs to focus a lot on developing an offensive game. Redshirt year could be big for that. If he cant develop a 3 point shot, he needs to learn how to score around the rim even more effectively and be able to hit free throws if that's what he turns into. Right now he's a little shaky around the rim and really bad from the line. I know he's a primary focus this offseason to get developed offensively because if he's ever to play a good bit, he needs to be a threat on the offensive end some.

Surely he can play next year, but I'd be surprised if it was for more than 10 minutes a game. Fact is we just filled the void big time at the 4 through recruiting which is what he plays now out of necessity.

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Why in the hell do we have to use acronyms for every damn thing????? Poty? Just spell the shite out!

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POTY is a very common acronym and actually saves a lot of text space.

I hate forced acronyms, but that one is pretty old and solid.

I just think Rachel can do alot well, defend, rebound, get out and run. Rn his shooting is almost non existent, but next year's team won't need another guy to put up points they need a grinder which is what he is. Not a knock on days at all, I'm glad we got him but he could possibly take some time to adjust.

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I just think Rachel can do alot well, defend, rebound, get out and run. Rn his shooting is almost non existent, but next year's team won't need another guy to put up points they need a grinder which is what he is. Not a knock on days at all, I'm glad we got him but he could possibly take some time to adjust.

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Keep in mind, a lot of the guys we are bringing in already do what Rachal does, plus bring offense and size.

Days, Reid and Williams are among the top rebounders in the country coming in. Bigby-Williams obviously a top JUCO rebounder. Rebounding simply won't be needed by much of anyone else. Days Reid and Williams also bring in better offensive games than Rachal. Days being the most advanced/smooth with an outside shot. At that point, not sure where Rachal really scratches for minutes, because he's not a wing, and if Sampson and Edwards are around they will play the 3 a lot. Dont forget Sims too who plays a little more than Rachal already, who again isn't much of a wing, but can play the 3 some and 4 more-so.

I like Rachal's energy, just struggling to see where he finds minutes next year unless he does bring some kind offensive game to the table. They have to try and develop a shot with him. It's a shame Rachal isn't a few inches taller, because at his current skillset he still would play a good bit even with all those guys around. But these guys coming in are 6'7, 6'7 and 6'10.