re: Other Blue Blood Men's Basketball teams.

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LSU fans bashing McMahon at every opportunity demanding his head today have an agenda and were never onboard to begin with. It’s like the Orgeron fans.

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I think the only "agenda" is the fans want to see winning basketball and what was put on the court was FAR from that.

It was very disappointing when Wade was fired. Say what you want about the guy, but his five years were the most consistent period of winning the program had experienced in 3 decades and was the best five year start of any coach in modern LSU basketball history. That's simply a fact.

When LSU was looking for a new HC I was NEVER under any delusion LSU was going to be able to poach an established major conf. coach away from a top program like the hires in football, baseball, and WBB. LSU basketball simply doesn't have that kind of program cache and there wasn't a HOF coach in the marketplace that also happened to be from Louisiana. A mid-major coach or a major conf. re-tread was always likely to be the hire.

I wasn't thrilled about the McMahon hire. The reason? Murray St. has a long history of success spanning several HCs. Which begged the question, was Murray St. good because of McMahon? Or was McMahon "good" because of Murray St? Outside of Mick Cronin, the track record of MSU coaches at major conf jobs (Billy Kennedy - A&M; Steve Prohm - Iowa St.) isn't good. Then a poster reminded me the same could have been said about Wade coming from VCU. That made me more open to the hire.

McMahon then has his opening press conference. He looked completely overwhelmed, nervous, and uninspiring. A stark contrast to Wade's that was brimming with energy, desire, and passion. But NO coach gets a W in the record books for "winning" the press conference.

My optimism in McMahon only grew as he put together his roster. I figured he would bring over some Murray St. players. One of whom was the OVC POY. He was able to get some LSU players to stay. Two of whom (Miller and Williams) had NO connection to LSU/BR/LA other than Wade. That was encouraging because those guys seemingly had no reason to stay, but it was clear they were willing to buy into a new HC they didn't know. Then, with virtually no prior relationship, he was able to sign some relatively highly regarded/ranked HS players. Ward (#20), Reed (#50); Phillips (#109). That gave me a huge sense of confidence he may be able to recruit at this level.

Without McMahon having coached a single game at LSU, and his roster never playing a game together, LSU was picked to finish 8th in what was expected to be a very strong SEC. They were projected to be a postseason team. Likely NIT, but maybe an outside shot at the NCAA Tournament. That wasn't the projections of unreasonably optimistic LSU fans. That was the projections of many who follow/analyze college basketball for a living. So anyone saying they knew this roster was "garbage" from the start is COMPLETELY full of shite, and is doing nothing more than spouting off erroneous revisionist history.

The non-conference scheduled looked bad on paper and ultimately that proved to be the case in fact as LSU had the lowest non-conf. SOS in the SEC (and across most of college basketball). LSU didn't look great against that weak non-conf. schedule. But they were at least winning, and I was willing to attribute the relatively weak performance to a new HC and a completely new team learning how to work together. SEC play started with Arkansas in late December. At a time I figured the PMAC crowd would be marginal, it wasn't. It was a great atmosphere. LSU won a tough game over (then) top 10 Arkansas. LSU then went on the road to Rupp Arena and played an excellent offensive game vs. Kentucky only to fall just short at a tough place to win. There was a ton of reason to still be optimistic. Then....

LSU went to A&M and the bottom started to fall out. The couldn't do anything well that they did vs. Arkansas and Kentucky. That was only the beginning and things started to get far worse. Many chalked it up to a really tough opening 8 games of SEC play. That certainly had some merit. But LSU was not only losing, they were getting blown off the floor. I think there was a point following the Florida game where LSU played 6 or 7 SEC games and had a lead in those games for a COMBINED ~8:00 (most of that in one game).

The "easier" second half of the schedule came around and LSU kept losing...by double digits. The (then) worst team in the SEC, South Carolina, came to Baton Rouge. To put into perspective just how bad South Carolina was, LSU, despite being in the midst of a 10+ game losing streak, was nearly an 8 point FAVORITE. LSU lost that game having never held a lead for a single second.

McMahon's offensive efficiency numbers were the worst seen here in over a decade. And that side of the ball was the BETTER side for LSU, as they were even worse defensively. All year long, except for a few exceptions here and there against average to well below average teams, McMahon and LSU looked overmatched in their approach and execution. This, en route to tying the worst SEC regular season record in school history.

No one expected LSU to compete for any sort of championship this year. Not even close. In fact, McMahon came in to his first season with the lowest preseason expectations in 6 years. The bar for what would be considered a "successful" season was incredibly low. Yet McMahon fell woefully short of approaching even those low expectations.

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Maybe it’s that uneducated, insecure and overall sense of inferiority that some of those folks have going on.

I’m inclined to think it’s just internet trolls

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You say this about the few who actually still care enough to be frustrated. That's because in ONE season the fanbase has been taken to a level beyond and far worse than anger, apathy. But it shows the lack of substance in your position to attack the people upset as "uneducated" rather than acknowledging they may have a rational basis to be VERY skeptical in the ability of the coach.

Perhaps this season would be a bit more digestible IF there was any basis for optimism going forward. Jones and Wade improved the program in their first seasons. More importantly, they each signed top 10 recruiting classes going into year two that gave a sense things were on the upswing. As it stands now, McMahon is going to have a WORSE recruiting class than the one he cobbled together in just a few months on the job. Of course, HS recruiting is far less important in roster building today than it once was. So I guess the last remaining glimmer of "hope" is that McMahon can completely remake the roster through the transfer portal. Perhaps. But is there any confidence he can actually produce results on the court with that revamped roster even if he could get it? Maybe some were watching a different game than me (judging by the dwindling attendance at the PMAC you probably weren't watching a all), but I saw nothing in McMahon's offensive and defensive approach that gives any confidence there will be significant improvement even with a "better" roster.

I want him to succeed because I want LSU to succeed. From a personal side, as a human being, husband and father, it's tough to watch his wife and daughter in tears as KJ Williams' dejectedly walks off the court in his final game...LSU's 19th loss. Constant losing is tougher on the players and coaches than ANYONE on this board. But the fact of the matter is I (and I would be others) feel a bleak about the future of LSU basketball as I have in quite a while.

I think you misunderstood who I was talking about. I too am disappointed in the season. I was simply referring to those who have been vocally against the coach since before the season bc he’s not Wade. They’d rather be right about their stance than see the program win and be proven wrong.

As far as people being critical about the product on the court who have given him a fair chance this year, yea I agree it’s fair to be disappointed and feel apathy as a result.

I was only speaking about those who will never be satisfied with anything he does because their coach got fired.

Same with Kelly.

Same with Johnson.

It’s just weird to me.

I think there are very few people who fit what you are explaining.

People who criticized McMahon this year, got yelled at by absolute morons on this board who replied “Wade isn’t coming back” or something similar.

Many people loved Wade. But just because he is gone, doesn’t mean they have to be happy about finishing in last place.

You’re right there are a few trolls I’m speaking to.

Personally, I don’t think Wade was anywhere near a championship coach. He was Dale Brown 2.0. Great salesman and got the fans excited but game coaching was not great. And I was a Wade fan so no I’m not saying that as a criticism but rather trying to be objective.

McMahon I thought would’ve shown more as a coach than we saw. I’m disappointed as well and hope he can grow next year. If not, I don’t see him getting a 3rd year.

Hopefully that clarifies my stance. I’m not married to a coach. I’ll support LSU regardless and hope for the best. I’m not gonna pound my chest bc I’m right about a coach not being a good fit as some are eager to do.

id like to see LSU have a great team in every sport. We have an AD who will not hesitate to make a change if one is needed

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Four of these things are not like the other

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Please explain. All of these teams are perineal Top 25 teams, and tournament teams, not just the Tar Heels

Yep that was a great year. The last 3 years it seemed like a downward trajectory a bit but maybe that’s because things were never quite the same after the wire tap shite came out

I just never saw him in the class as of truly elite tactical coaches. Maybe he would grow into that. I think by our standards for basketball he was great but we are not a blue blood basketball program by any means either.

So we blue blood? I don’t think so

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Maybe it’s that uneducated, insecure and overall sense of inferiority that some of those folks have going on.

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I believe you are referring to the mcmen right now.

He’s a good coach. Not great and not one who had us playing like a championship team for the most part.

One great year. Beyond that we were what a 6-7 seed in the tourney ?


Again, great by our historical standards but not exactly blue blood level success

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With an 8 year contract,

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McMahon has 6 years left on his contract

It was originally a 7 year contract