re: LSU vs La Tech- Men's Basketball Exhibition

83-70 Tigers

Smart: Scores in a lot of ways. Set shot from 3, catch and shoot, off the dribble, at the line, drive off the screen. His ability to score off the dribble without having to pull up and go hard vertical is impressive. Ball handling at point is good, but not going to run past anyone in the backcourt. I expect teams will pressure his dribble very hard to slow down the offense.

Mays: very solid. Handles, shoots, passes, defends.

Bishop: solid handle, but didn't look to score in second half. He is important to the team as a ball handler off the bench. Pretty obvious that he wants to score the ball, hope he can develop.

Manning: athlete, defends hard, can finish. Had two blocks from behind, can get on top of people. I don't know about his outside shot as I suspect he just took everybody to the goal at JUCO.

Days: Very confident shooter. A bigger version of CT3. Enjoys rebounding. In the second half, LSU used more dribble penetration on the opposite wing to get him looks at the 3pt line.

Williams: Rebounds with authority. Looks good moving L to R into the lane so he can shoot the RH hook. Can score down low against players his size.

Watford: Good handle for size, has an effective crab dribble but I am doubtful if he can initiate his offense from the 3pt line, opponents will bother his dribble on the perimeter. I don't think he can score with a body on him down low. Shows no low post game. I think he can be effective putting the ball on the floor from the foul line area, he's gonna have to get points from the foul line with the dribble. Rebounded better in second half.

Hyatt: smooth shooter as a reserve.

Takeaway: This team does not show much of a low post game other than Williams flashing into the lane, but he can score. Days and Williams can outrebound players their size. I don't know if anybody on the team can score in traffic down low. Williams needs spacing to go one on one. Defense at the rim will not be the same with Kavell gone. He would be huge for this team. If Taylor has improved his ball handling and outside shot he will be very valuable, gonna need him to show some minutes moving to the 2 guard to spell Mays.

12 up, 6 down in the conference.

Yea...Watford has not been a great FT shooter prior to arriving at LSU.

I saw his summer circuit FT stats and it is an area in need of improvement.

Hopefully he can shoot at least 65% for the year because he is going to get the line a lot.

Would love to see the dunk contest at practice with
Taylor vs Manning

These dudes can jump

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Did Cooper or Deshawn Thomas play?

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Cooper for sure played some towards the end of the game.

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Man, was really hoping to get some quality minutes from these 2.

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I wouldn’t bank on that happening. Barring players getting into early foul trouble, neither of them is likely to see quality minutes, as they will not be a part of main rotation.

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Outside of them LSU has no height, no length, except Watford

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There is a difference in having length and height. While this team doesn’t have much overall height in the main rotation of players, there is plenty of length on the floor at all times.

And y’all have to chill on the height issue. I’m not saying we are going to win the SEC again, or a national championship, but we will be fine. In today’s game, height is mostly important for defensive purposes; but even that can be overcome some. As for offense, it is not as critical as it was 10-15-20 years ago. I mean, they just scored 83 in an exhibition game against a solid team; and they left several points at the line and on some easy shots at the rim. There have been rosters just in the last couple of years that have been very successful (one that did win a natty) that had exactly the same makeup of size LSU does this year.

Does ruston finally have a decent restaurant and bar scene? Haven't been there in years and hear there have been some attempts in this space.

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Or are we a fanbase just happy to make the trny?

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We know CWW isn't 'just happy' to make the tourney. I am certain our coach is taking all variables into account. We're going to go to war with what we've got and we can all agree there's some great talent there. I'm excited for the season to start.

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Don't tell me what I have to do. Wade is entering year 3. Is an elite 8 too much to ask for? Or are we a fanbase just happy to make the trny?

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Making the tourney to Elite 8 is a big jump don’t you think?

In year 3 AT LSU, it’s absolutely too much to ask for. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but expecting it is ridiculous. I knew there would be people like you. Wade did so well in year 2 that he’ll be held to an unrealistic standard going forward. We could get bounced in the round of 32 and that wouldn’t change the fact that the program is on an upward trend.

Wow lol. I guess we found chinoyangs alter.

Coach Wade will have us in several elite 8 matchups. Again, chinoyang, given what the man inherited from a talent standpoint and from a culture standpoint, to even be discussing how far this team can go in the big dance is a credit to just how good Coach Wade is.

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Bishop: solid handle, but didn't look to score in second half. He is important to the team as a ball handler off the bench. Pretty obvious that he wants to score the ball, hope he can develop.

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Not his role. He will average at best 5 ppg.

Solid assessment. Thanks for the review.