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Men's Hoops vs. Nicholls St. Preview: Saturday 11/16, 3:00 PM CST | SECN+
Posted on 11/14/19 at 8:50 am
Posted on 11/14/19 at 8:50 am
After a frustrating turnover ridden 84-82 loss on the road to a very good VCU squad the 1-1 Tigers are coming into Saturday looking to get back on track against Nicholls State. LSU turned the ball over 26 times and VCU had 37 points (+24 vs. LSU) off turnovers as the deciding factor in a very close game.
Nicholls is 2-1 on the season with an over time loss to Illinois on the road, a 75-70 win @ Pitt and a 15 point win over tiny NAIA Paul Quinn College that (fun fact) only has an enrollment of just 700 students. Those first two contests might surprise you as Nicholls is typically not a very good team, even in the Southland conference. They finished 14-17 last year (including 4 non Division I NCAA wins), 7-11 in the Southland. They were picked 11th out of 13 teams in the Southland conference preseason poll this season. If there's 1 thing Wade has an eye for, it's teams like this, better than people expect.
So how has Nicholls gotten where they are at right now almost beating Illinois and beating Pitt? Making their 3's mostly, they were 19 for 44 from 3 in their 2 games against Illinois and Pitt, so they arent afraid to fire it up and have been making them so far this year. While they also dont have a lot of FT's in those game, they made them going 18 for 22 from the line. They also work in their offense getting guys buckets with 27 assists on 54 made shots so exactly a 50% assist rate. Another notable thing is they turned Pitt and Illinois over a lot with 42 total turnovers (22 Ill, 20 Pitt) with 11 steals in each game. If you think VCU was the last team we'd see extreme pressure from, buckle up for this one...Also to note while in the Illinois game they had just 3 offensive boards, in the Pitt game they had SIXTEEN offensive boards despite being a shorter team.
Nicholls St. projected starters
C (6'7, 200) SO. Warith Alatishe
PF (6'8, 220) SR. Elvis Harvey Jr.
SF (6'7, 200) rSR. D'Angelo Hunter
SG (6'4, 185) rSR. Dexter McClanahan
PG (6'0, 160) JR. Kevin Johnson
Warith Alatishe was a lightly used player last season who saw action in just 13 games and struggled quite a bit. this year he's averaging 7 points and 9 boards in the 2 Division I games Nicholls has played, he seems to have improved a lot from last season thus far. He will not shoot any 3's, so offensively he is easier to defend than their other big man.
Elvis Harvey Jr. is a part-time returning starter from last year's Nicholls team. While he's the biggest guy out there for Nicholls he's more dynamic than Alatishe as he can shoot 3's where as Alatishe does not. Last season he averaged about 21 minutes a game with 6.5 points, 5 boards and was a below average offensive player with a 10.9 PER.
D'Angelo Hunter is a transfer from West Virginia who sat out last season for Nicholls. So far this year he is averaging 8.5 points a couple steals and has hit 3 of his 6 point attempts. A rangey wing man he could cause some matchup issue we need to look out for, especially with Marlon Taylor likely out again this game and Manning not playing an entire game.
Dexter McClanahan is a graduate transfer from Savannah State who averaged 15-16 points the final 2 seasons at SSU and is off to another good start at Nicholls averaging 15 points, 3 boards and 4 assists through 2 Division I games. He has fired up 13 3 pointers in those 2 games but he takes a lot of shots all over the floor with 30 shots in his first 2 games with the Colonels. This is the guy you want to slow down for Nicholls because he can score in bunches. McClanhan's last year at SSU he had a decent 16.0 PER.
Kevin Johnson is a returning starter from last year's Colonel's team who runs the point for them. He averaged 11 points, 5 assists last year as well as 2.1 steals. His PER from last season was 14.3. Through 2 games this year he averages 10 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 steals. He does struggle some from the floor overall but he knows to pressure and how to run the Colonel's offense.
Nicholls St. top bench players
G (6'4, 200) rJR. Andre Jones
SG (6'5, 185) JR. Jeremiah Buford
C (6'10, 240) JR. Ryghe Lyons
SF (6'5, 210) SR. Brandon Moore JR.
Nicholls has an experienced bench they bring to the table starting with Jones, who is a transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock and averages 12.5 pts in 22.5 minutes as a combo guard so far this season. Buford has literally only take 9 3 point shots in his first 2 games this year, and made 5 of them, so he's the shooter you want to watch closely off the bench. Lyons is the real big man for Nicholls but dont expect to see him much as his minutes were limited the first 2 games. Moore also has seen limited action and limited minutes this season but note he average 8.6 pts and 7 boards last season as a starter so not sure if he's hobbled a bit with injury right now or what's going on there.
This isn't your typical bad Nicholls team if you haven't already figured that out, almost beaitng Illinois and beating Pitt on their home floors is nothing to sneeze at. Once again our ball handling will be very tested with pressure but I suspect Wade beats into practice the next couple days taking care of the ball and finding his guys to beat the pressure and we dont come near the 26 turnovers we had vs. VCU. I think we come back strong in this game and win comfortably despite Nicholls giving Illinois and Pitt all they wanted to handle, I think they take a step back this game.
Projected LSU Starting 5
PF (6'9, 235) FR. Trendon Watford - #2
PF (6'6, 240) SO. Darius Days - #0
SF (6'5, 200) JR Charles Manning Jr. - #11
SG (6'4, 205) SR. Skylar Mays - #4
PG (6'4, 205) SO. Javonte Smart - #1
Main rotational players
PF (6'6, 230) SO. Emmitt Williams - #5
SF (6'5, 210) SR. Marlon Taylor - #14 (Unlikely to be available)
SF (6'5, 225) rFR. Aundre Hyatt - #15
PG (6'2, 190) FR. James Bishop - #10
Instead of giving my own prediction, I will give Kenpom's predictions for our games moving forward:
Kenpom Prediction: LSU 86 NSU 65
Nicholls is 2-1 on the season with an over time loss to Illinois on the road, a 75-70 win @ Pitt and a 15 point win over tiny NAIA Paul Quinn College that (fun fact) only has an enrollment of just 700 students. Those first two contests might surprise you as Nicholls is typically not a very good team, even in the Southland conference. They finished 14-17 last year (including 4 non Division I NCAA wins), 7-11 in the Southland. They were picked 11th out of 13 teams in the Southland conference preseason poll this season. If there's 1 thing Wade has an eye for, it's teams like this, better than people expect.
So how has Nicholls gotten where they are at right now almost beating Illinois and beating Pitt? Making their 3's mostly, they were 19 for 44 from 3 in their 2 games against Illinois and Pitt, so they arent afraid to fire it up and have been making them so far this year. While they also dont have a lot of FT's in those game, they made them going 18 for 22 from the line. They also work in their offense getting guys buckets with 27 assists on 54 made shots so exactly a 50% assist rate. Another notable thing is they turned Pitt and Illinois over a lot with 42 total turnovers (22 Ill, 20 Pitt) with 11 steals in each game. If you think VCU was the last team we'd see extreme pressure from, buckle up for this one...Also to note while in the Illinois game they had just 3 offensive boards, in the Pitt game they had SIXTEEN offensive boards despite being a shorter team.
Nicholls St. projected starters
C (6'7, 200) SO. Warith Alatishe
PF (6'8, 220) SR. Elvis Harvey Jr.
SF (6'7, 200) rSR. D'Angelo Hunter
SG (6'4, 185) rSR. Dexter McClanahan
PG (6'0, 160) JR. Kevin Johnson
Warith Alatishe was a lightly used player last season who saw action in just 13 games and struggled quite a bit. this year he's averaging 7 points and 9 boards in the 2 Division I games Nicholls has played, he seems to have improved a lot from last season thus far. He will not shoot any 3's, so offensively he is easier to defend than their other big man.
Elvis Harvey Jr. is a part-time returning starter from last year's Nicholls team. While he's the biggest guy out there for Nicholls he's more dynamic than Alatishe as he can shoot 3's where as Alatishe does not. Last season he averaged about 21 minutes a game with 6.5 points, 5 boards and was a below average offensive player with a 10.9 PER.
D'Angelo Hunter is a transfer from West Virginia who sat out last season for Nicholls. So far this year he is averaging 8.5 points a couple steals and has hit 3 of his 6 point attempts. A rangey wing man he could cause some matchup issue we need to look out for, especially with Marlon Taylor likely out again this game and Manning not playing an entire game.
Dexter McClanahan is a graduate transfer from Savannah State who averaged 15-16 points the final 2 seasons at SSU and is off to another good start at Nicholls averaging 15 points, 3 boards and 4 assists through 2 Division I games. He has fired up 13 3 pointers in those 2 games but he takes a lot of shots all over the floor with 30 shots in his first 2 games with the Colonels. This is the guy you want to slow down for Nicholls because he can score in bunches. McClanhan's last year at SSU he had a decent 16.0 PER.
Kevin Johnson is a returning starter from last year's Colonel's team who runs the point for them. He averaged 11 points, 5 assists last year as well as 2.1 steals. His PER from last season was 14.3. Through 2 games this year he averages 10 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 steals. He does struggle some from the floor overall but he knows to pressure and how to run the Colonel's offense.
Nicholls St. top bench players
G (6'4, 200) rJR. Andre Jones
SG (6'5, 185) JR. Jeremiah Buford
C (6'10, 240) JR. Ryghe Lyons
SF (6'5, 210) SR. Brandon Moore JR.
Nicholls has an experienced bench they bring to the table starting with Jones, who is a transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock and averages 12.5 pts in 22.5 minutes as a combo guard so far this season. Buford has literally only take 9 3 point shots in his first 2 games this year, and made 5 of them, so he's the shooter you want to watch closely off the bench. Lyons is the real big man for Nicholls but dont expect to see him much as his minutes were limited the first 2 games. Moore also has seen limited action and limited minutes this season but note he average 8.6 pts and 7 boards last season as a starter so not sure if he's hobbled a bit with injury right now or what's going on there.
This isn't your typical bad Nicholls team if you haven't already figured that out, almost beaitng Illinois and beating Pitt on their home floors is nothing to sneeze at. Once again our ball handling will be very tested with pressure but I suspect Wade beats into practice the next couple days taking care of the ball and finding his guys to beat the pressure and we dont come near the 26 turnovers we had vs. VCU. I think we come back strong in this game and win comfortably despite Nicholls giving Illinois and Pitt all they wanted to handle, I think they take a step back this game.
Projected LSU Starting 5
PF (6'9, 235) FR. Trendon Watford - #2
PF (6'6, 240) SO. Darius Days - #0
SF (6'5, 200) JR Charles Manning Jr. - #11
SG (6'4, 205) SR. Skylar Mays - #4
PG (6'4, 205) SO. Javonte Smart - #1
Main rotational players
PF (6'6, 230) SO. Emmitt Williams - #5
SF (6'5, 210) SR. Marlon Taylor - #14 (Unlikely to be available)
SF (6'5, 225) rFR. Aundre Hyatt - #15
PG (6'2, 190) FR. James Bishop - #10
Instead of giving my own prediction, I will give Kenpom's predictions for our games moving forward:
Kenpom Prediction: LSU 86 NSU 65
This post was edited on 11/14/19 at 8:52 am
3
Posted on 11/14/19 at 9:08 am to thunderbird1100
I actually was pretty content/happy with the performance on Wednesday. Lots to gain from the experience and I feel like this year, unlike past seasons, we can afford to lose games like that in OOC. There is a lot to learn, both for the players and the coaches, from that very difficult game at VCU.
I'm extremely excited for Saturday because it's going to be my sons first ever basketball game... My love for LSU came from going to games with my dad so it's going to be a very special feeling to start doing the same with my child.
I'm sure LSU will come out ready to play, especially because Nicholls has shown some pretty good basketball so far this year.
I'm extremely excited for Saturday because it's going to be my sons first ever basketball game... My love for LSU came from going to games with my dad so it's going to be a very special feeling to start doing the same with my child.
I'm sure LSU will come out ready to play, especially because Nicholls has shown some pretty good basketball so far this year.
Posted on 11/14/19 at 9:14 am to thunderbird1100
quote:Great. In the PMAC Nicholls will shoot 21-34 from three.
So how has Nicholls gotten where they are at right now almost beating Illinois and beating Pitt? Making their 3's mostly, they were 19 for 44 from 3 in their 2 games against Illinois and Pitt, so they arent afraid to fire it up and have been making them so far this year.
Posted on 11/14/19 at 9:22 am to SouthOfSouth
Agree mostly SoS, it's frustrating to watch your team turn it over so many times, but to be in it to win on the road vs. a very good team despite that shows a lot about this team. They could have laid down at halftime down 50-38 and lost by 20+, but they fought back in the 2nd half and gave themselves a chance to win the game.
Simply need to get better handling the basketball. We easily out-talented VCU but their pressure made the difference in the win for them because we didn't handle it well.
We out shot them (52% vs. 41% FG; 41% vs. 32 % 3pt)
We out rebounded them (Grabbed 15 of our 29 misses, they grabbed 14 of their 37 misses)
We destroyed them in the paint (46 points vs. 30)
However, we lost the turnover battle 26-16 and more importantly they scored 37 points off turnovers to out 13. They did an incredible job not just turning us over but a MUCH better job getting points off those turnovers. When their 6'7, 250 pound center got credit for 4 steals, you know you had a terrible night keeping the ball.
Simply need to get better handling the basketball. We easily out-talented VCU but their pressure made the difference in the win for them because we didn't handle it well.
We out shot them (52% vs. 41% FG; 41% vs. 32 % 3pt)
We out rebounded them (Grabbed 15 of our 29 misses, they grabbed 14 of their 37 misses)
We destroyed them in the paint (46 points vs. 30)
However, we lost the turnover battle 26-16 and more importantly they scored 37 points off turnovers to out 13. They did an incredible job not just turning us over but a MUCH better job getting points off those turnovers. When their 6'7, 250 pound center got credit for 4 steals, you know you had a terrible night keeping the ball.
Posted on 11/14/19 at 9:26 am to thunderbird1100
Looking at the box score from last night, Days at a Ortg of like 250 lol, he has got to stay on the floor for us to reach our full potential.
Posted on 11/14/19 at 9:29 am to Pnels08
quote:
Looking at the box score from last night, Days at a Ortg of like 250 lol, he has got to stay on the floor for us to reach our full potential.
He's been picking and choosing great times to shoot the ball. 4 for 4 from the floor and 2 for 2 from 3 last night, but that was in 23 minutes of play. ?He just is very smart offensively. What we need him to do is not continue to get dumb fouls like last night and he was known to do last season too. If you cant get to your guy who stole the ball, dont just trip him up in his own backcourt with our guys still in front of him. Really bad, dumb foul. Especially considering that came right after he picked up his 3rd foul, so with a quick 4th he had to come off the floor when we were mounting a big comeback at that point in time. We had just cut it to 69-67 and he commits his 4th foul in VCU's back court and they make 2 FTs.
This post was edited on 11/14/19 at 9:31 am
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