re: Reality of LSU Basketball

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Tonight was frustrating. This stretch has been frustrating. It’s ok to question Wade.

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We have nearly 5 years of data now. What it shows is Wade has been capable of putting together teams that are elite on one end of the floor, buy wholly deficient on the other. This year the strengths were flipped. For the first time in the Wade era his defense is elite while the offense has been terrible.

What that results in is an unbalanced team that is almost totally reliant on their strength showing up each and every game. On nights where they struggle with their strength they have nothing to fall back on. That has been the case in 3 of the last 4 games (vs. Tennessee, TCU and Ole Miss). For the first time all season the defense has been shredded. As a result, LSU's offensive deficiencies have been too much to overcome. For years it was the other way around. If LSU wasn't lights out offensively every night they just couldn't win because they struggled to stop opponents from scoring.

Unfortunately, that imbalance kind of puts LSU in that perpetual 6-9 seed range. Good enough to beat anyone. But flawed enough to where there is a ceiling on their success once they run into balanced teams in the NCAAT.

If you want to say Wade has a "flaw" it appears he is not necessarily adaptable with respect to his approach. For years LSU's personnel just didn't fit with Wade's preferred defensive approach. Yet, he appeared content to live with the terrible defensive performances that capped LSU's success. This year it is the opposite. Even with a healthy Pinson, LSU simply does not have the level of guard play they had in Wade's first 4 seasons. When your offensive approach puts a ton on the shoulders of the guards and you don't have the guards to efficiently execute it you can only do so much. For the previous 4 years relying almost exclusively on ball screens to free up the guards to create produced great results...because you had the guards who could do it. This year it has led to inefficiency and a ton of turnovers because LSU's guards (perhaps because of youth) just haven't been able to execute at that level.

All that said, I absolutely do not want to lose Wade. I don't want to go back to having years where LSU was just completely uncompetitive. I'd much rather watch a coach who is competitive each year try to search for the right combination than live with a great season followed up by 2 terrible seasons.

I have a friend who is a big Louisville fan. Word over there is WW is headed there.

LINK

The reality is that we have a bunch of guys that have played all of their lives and still can't shoot for shite!

So you’re a troll and a coward. Why am I not surprised?

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That being said

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Earned your downvote right there.