Pinson?

Would love him too but how Gaines is playing there is no need to rush him

Last night on the radio Wade said he’s listed as a “game time decision”.

I would like to rest him one more game. His long term health is more important to this season that risking it for this one game on Saturday.

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Would love him too but how Gaines is playing there is no need to rush him

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Gaines had some big plays late to seal the victory vs. Florida, but he still had 4 turnovers (and was close to a few more). LSU's biggest weakness right now is turnovers. It's killing them offensively. With the way they are defending, just cutting down on the turnovers by 30%-40% could turn these 5-6 point wins over good teams to 10-12 point wins. Wins where LSU isn't sweating out the last 2:00 of the game. That is how good the defense has been. Pinson hasn't been that much better on the turnover front, but you trust his experience more and he is a much better offensive threat if/when the half-court offense gets stagnant.

If Pinson feels good, then you play him. Arkansas is a bit more guard oriented team. So having your most experienced guard in the line up helps. Even though they are struggling relative to preseason expectations, Arkansas is still a solid team very capable of beating LSU. In the SEC this year there are very few games even the good teams can "take for granted"

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Pinson hasn't been that much better on the turnover front,

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I agree here, for a veteran of the SEC with as much experience as he has - he has some turnover issues himself. There was stretch against Kentucky I think where he turned the ball over 3 straight possessions and they were all 3 careless - in other words they weren't forced by tremendous defense.

We need both to get better there. We had turnover issues with our guards last year around this time and it got better at the end of the season. I expect the same here.

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The hate Gaines gets on here is ridiculous. He brings A LOT to this team. You can bet your arse off though that whenever he has a turnover that there will be 10 threads about it. He's the player the idiots on here have all jumped in to hate on.

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Pointing out objective facts doesn't equal "hate." I don't think you will find a single post where I've ever said Gaines wasn't a big part of this team. In fact, you'll find many more posts where I've said the guy has the potential to be the most electric player on the team. Which I still believe to be the case.

While I know that ANYTHING perceived a critical equals "hate", the reality is this team's single biggest weakness is turnovers. And if you don't believe me, go ask Will Wade, who made his team participate in a ceremony where they metaphorically burned their "turnovers" in a trashcan before leaving for Florida. LSU is 3rd to last in the SEC in turnover % (245 in the country). Gaines leads the SEC in turnovers and has one of the worst assist to turnover ratios in the league among guards. That's not "hate". Just reality. Many of those turnovers are a result of being unnecessarily lose with the ball or making lazy passes.

The point of the post was not to dump on Gaines, but to opine that if given the two options, you trust Pinson with the ball more. That does not mean Gaines is a bad player. Or that he does not bring other things to the table that make this team great. In fact, he's probably the most impactful defender on the team.

But when the team's biggest weakness is turnovers, it is probably reasonable to suggest, if given the choice, you would prefer to not have the guy with the highest turnover % on the team being the primary ball-handler.