Men's Hoops vs Bowling Green Preview: Friday 11/8, 7:00 PM SECN+

These are just my personal opinions on our players below, things can very much change as the season goes along. This is just based on what I've seen/know.

LSU Starters
#2 PF (6'9, 235) FR. Trendon Watford is basically the replacement for Naz from last year. He's just a tad shorter but will fill a somewhat similar role. He can shoot the 3, he can play down low (better than Naz I would say), he can even handle the ball some. You'll see why he was a 5-star early on, and he gets a big test in game 1 against Mattos who definitely has the size advantage on him. I would expect him to make Mattos guard him all over the court and not just the low block, Wade will spread the floor. In the end I expect a pretty big season from Watford, maybe even bigger than Naz from last year, but that's the bar I'm setting.

#0 PF (6'6, 240) SO. Darius Days will be a stretch 4 and fire up way more of his 3's this season. He led the team in 3 point % last year at 38.2% and he could do it again this year. He's an underrated rebounder but at 6'6 240, sometimes he will get matched up someone that may either be too quick or a little too big for him so that will be the challenge defensively.

#14 SF (6'5, 210) SR. Marlon Taylor we all know as the alley-oop guy from last year taking lobs from Waters. He's a returning starter known for being more a raw athlete playing basketball than a basketball player with high athleticism. Wade looks to change the narrative this year and wants to see Taylor increase his 3 point shot a lot which was a paltry 25.4% last year. He shot the ball well in JUCO so Wade has faith in him to get that turned around. They trust him to guard pretty much any position on the floor at any time and that's why they love that versatility from him.

#4 SG (6'4, 205) SR. Skylar Mays there's not much to say about Mays most dont already know. A Starter from the last few years is a do it all bigger guard. They trust him to handle the ball, shoot the ball and make all the right decisions. He's an underrated athlete as we saw a few times last year with some thunderous dunks. The 1 thing I know Wade wants to see is that 31.3% 3 point shot form last year rise dramatically. If there was a hole in his game last year, that was it and he knows for the NBA to really notice him, he needs to do better there.

#1 PG (6'4, 205) SO. Javonte Smart will not be the PG Waters was, but he will be an NBA like scoring PG for sure. Again another guy who Wade wants to see get better from 3 but Smart will live more around the rim and almost recklessly sometimes will try and get there. I think we potentially see him the 2nd biggest leap of any of the freshmen from last year to this year and be a more efficient player getting that 36.8% FG way up from last year.

LSU Bench
#5 PF (6'6, 230) SO. Emmitt Williams is a guy who could be a starter very easily and may be. He will play the most off the bench of anyone IMO and probably average 25-30 minutes a game. Dont think of him as a bench guy but a 6th starter really. I expect him to take the biggest leap of any play from last year to this year. Wade did not trust him to shoot the 3 last year and that limited Emmitt a lot as often times he got overmatched inside and more lived on offensive rebounding and put backs. Emmitt is a very good rebounder for a guy his size and dont expect that to change as his minutes go up. He has added a 3 point shot to his arsenal going into this season that Wade expects will really open his game up offensively, we'll see why he was a 5-star this year IMO.

#11 SF (6'5, 200) JR. Charles Manning Jr. is a bigger addition from JUCO to this team than people will realize and he will show that very early on. Think of him very similar to Taylor, very athletic long guy (not to Taylor's level, but he's known for that type of athletic play) but more basketball savvy overall than Taylor. He is going to get a lot of minutes this year, I would expect in the 20-25 range at least off the bench. He will shoot a couple 3's, but he likes to get to the rim a lot as well. He can also handle the ball for you when he's on the floor.

#10 PG (6'2, 190) FR. James Bishop will backup Smart the PG spot mostly but he's a flat out scorer. He averaged 23 points a game last year in high school, he is not going to be a big assist guy but expect to see him a good deal, I'd say around 15-20 minutes a game on average.

#15 SF (6'5, 225) rFR. Aundre Hyatt redshirted mostly for medical reasons last year but he will be the one to fire up countless 3's for us this year. He wasn't necessarily a very high % 3 point shooter in high school but that's where he liked to do a lot of damage from and he will continue that role here I imagine. He also has enough size to bang with some bigger forwards defensively and not give up too much ground. I expect to see around 15 minutes a game from Hyatt this year.

#21 PF (6'9, 220) rSO. Courtese Cooper redshirted last year to better develop his game overall before being thrown into the mix this year. Cooper is a highly athletic long forward whose primary role will be to matchup on bigger guys outside of Watford and provide defense and rebounding. He is probably the best rim protector we have on the team averaging 3 blocks a game in JUCO 2 seasons ago but dont expect a KBW here. Cooper wont provide much offense but can shoot it from beyond the arc at least, I expect to see Cooper average around 5-10 minutes a game.

#12 SG (6'4, 195) SR. Marshall Graves got Wayde Sims' scholarship last season after his passing (R.I.P) and Wade thought highly enough of Graves to continue to keep him on scholarship this year. Best known as a 3 point shooter Graves will provide depth at the guard spot and able to spell some of the guys above him in situations of foul trouble and whatnot. I expect Graves to contribute 5-10 minutes a game on average.

#24 C (6'9, 250) JR. Deshawn Thomas I'm not sure what role will be carved out for him yet this year or if they potentially play to redshirt him. He did not play against Louisiana Tech and I dont know if I've heard Wade mention him in any recent talks. Thomas is obviously a big body but a bit of a project, he was the teammate of Charles Manning JR. at Florida Southwestern last 2 years where he provide a little offense and little rebounding. IF the plan is to not redshirt him expect to only see him in blowout situations and average less than 5 minutes a game. Update - Wade said on Thursday he has been hurt and they trying to get him cleared to play

#3 SG (6'3, 190) SO. Parker Edwards is a walk on transfer from Southeastern Louisiana who was on scholarship there I believe. Because he walked on here he can play immediately I think. He is best known for lighting us up from 3 in our first game from last year against Southeastern Louisiana, if Edwards is allowed to play, dont expect to see him in anything but blowout situations.

#20 G (6'3, 205) JR. Caleb Starks is a walk on from LSU-Eunice. He started his career at Northwestern State then transferred to LSU-Eunice and their first basketball season last year. He averaged 13 points and 4 boards a game there. Expect to see Caleb in blowout situations only similar to Parker this year.

These reports need a coaching comparison to paint the full picture of LSUs advantage over the opposition. IMO

Surely, we'll be using a big besides Watford

I didn't realize LSU was that small this year. Hope it doesn't hurt

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I didn't realize LSU was that small this year. Hope it doesn't hurt

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We are going to struggle with size this year, just something we'll have to overcome. Louisiana Tech had 20 offensive rebounds on us and they didn't even a notable size advantage.

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Just for clarification, this is one ESPN+ or SECN+? One of them requires an additional streaming subscription and one of them is included with your cable package.

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Looks like it is the included in your cable package version. ESPN says the "ESPN SEC Network"

My favorite threads

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Surely, we'll be using a big besides Watford

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I'm not sure Watford is really 6'9". I think he's probably about 6'7". That said, LSU really doesn't have any "bigs" similar to guys like Reid and KBW this season. Just a different team. The only "bigs" they have are Cooper and Thomas listed at 6'9", neither of whom seem to be likely members of the regular rotation (Thomas may have been injured, not sure, but Cooper only played 1 minute vs. Tech). Long story short, this is a VERY different style of team from last year. Might as well accept that now

Bowling Green is just one of several teams LSU will play this year that don't necessarily carry a "name brand", but who are projected to be very good. Looking across many early Bracket Projections will find: BG, UNO, VCU, Utah St., Missouri St., ETSU, Liberty, Texas and (some) USC all listed therein.

La Tech was a good preseason game, on the road, to help get this team's feet wet. They'll need to improve from that game to beat Bowling Green and get themselves locked in to play what could be a mirror image of themselves in VCU next week. A game that VCU fans have desperately been waiting on for over two years.

LSU has a chance to REALLY set themselves up well entering conf. play in January. It starts Friday.

People forget how awful LSU was rebounding the ball at the beginning of the year last year. Will Wade will use all these OOC games to figure out his rotation and figure out who the players are. We might be smaller in terms of big men, but we have some of the biggest guards in the country.

Guys like Marlon Taylor and Charles Manning are exceptional athletes that are 6'5-6'6 but they can go up and get a ball with anyone in the country. I think it will just take time for the team to gel and figure out how to play.

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I didn't realize LSU was that small this year. Hope it doesn't hurt

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The backcourt is big. We just don't have a rim protector.

I wouldn't say that Williams or Days is undersized at PF. They're thick enough.