re: Specifics of McMahon hate

LSU is 3-11 in conference play this season...in YEAR 3! None of his teams have even sniffed a 25% win percentage in conference games. Us being in 15th place (out of 16 teams) speaks for itself.

As for specific problems:
1. Momentum-killing substitutions: in nearly every game, I see LSU competing well and either leading or staying competitive until a substitution halfway through the first half. The new lineup proceeds to go ice-cold shooting, and LSU immediately ends up down by 10+ and almost never recovers. I've watched the team do this 30-40 times over the past 3 seasons. He does not understand when to sub, who to sub, and how to ensure that there is always a somewhat-competitive lineup on the floor. One could argue that the issue is a talent one, but HE IS IN CHARGE OF TALENT, AND THIS IS YEAR 3!

2. Bad rebounding: this team gets out-rebounded (particularly on the offensive boards) nearly every game, and it's usually not even close.

3. Zero penetration to the goal: the team just passes around the perimeter, and outside of drawn up plays late in games, rarely seems capable of blocking out or setting picks to set up drives to the basket. This leads to the next problem:

4. Poor shot selection: the team takes far too many shots from outside the paint/inside the 3 point line. They neither have the penetration ability to get closer to the basket nor the ice cold distance shooting skills to make teams pay from beyond the arc. They're settling for low percentage shots rather than creating them.

5. Lack of lane discipline on defense: I've watched the following scenario play out countless times the past three seasons: LSU is trying to come back late in a game. Out of timeouts, the offense is managing to actually score off of set plays. However, on the other end of the field, rather than fouling to send the opposing team to the line, or slamming the lanes shut to force their opponents to make contested threes, the other team just...walks right up to the basket and shoots a nearly uncontested layup while wasting zero time to do so.

Did I support the University in firing Will Wade? ABSOLUTELY F&%KING NOT! Why? Because Will Wade won basketball games.

Did I have a chip against McMahon when he started? Yes. I had a chip against the entire athletic department who hired him because of whom he was tasked with replacing.

Did I give McMahon a chance? I didn't really have a choice, but yes. The reality is that I only supported Will Wade because he won games. I would have supported McMahon had he...WON GAMES! He didn't win conference games his first season, or his second, or his third...

I simply do not understand how the Athletic Department cannot see what I see, when I don't even watch every game. It was evident in the first season that there were major lapses in preparedness and coaching on this team, problems which were consistent across dozens of games. NONE of those issues have improved since. Many coaches at LSU have been fired after showing significantly more success than McMahon.

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Did I give McMahon a chance? I didn't really have a choice, but yes. The reality is that I only supported Will Wade because he won games. I would have supported McMahon had he...WON GAMES! He didn't win conference games his first season, or his second, or his third...

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Excellent, thoughtful post. The above paragraph sums it up concisely. It is exactly how I feel as a true LSU BB fan for 40 years. I can’t believe the whole athletic department and fan base don’t see it this clearly. It’s all about winning and MM doesn’t win. The blind support for him is mind blowing.

Kingbob hit the nail on the head,take everything he said and who have the reasons to why Mcloser can't win! The bottom line is wins and losses, you can say all you want about his practices but when they play like they do in games, he flat out doesn't know what he's doing. Because if you go by the old school philosophy of you play like you practice, then he's not getting it done in practice.

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Not really. I will admit, losing Reed was much worse than I thought, but you do realize many people are saying this is the toughest conference top to bottom in the history of college basketball right? We also have the youngest team in the SEC..there's no excuse for losing some of these games, but context does matter.

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At what point do the constant excuses end? No other coach in my lifetime has been given so much grace despite having such dismal results. Your "young team in really tough conference" excuse may be acceptable if this were a one year aberration. It's not. We are on year three of poor results...with 3 significantly different rosters. LSU will end the season with the fewest wins in SEC play and lowest winning % among league team over the course of the 3 years he's been a HC. Every single season he's been here there are those searching under every rock for every excuse as to why MM is not wining other than the most obvious....he's not a good major-conf. coach! Coaches like O, Maineri, Fargas, had FAR more success at LSU in their careers, yet were fired immediately with 1-2 years after that success dipped. Here, we have a guy whose never had success at LSU...yet many seem to be completely on board with just rolling it over based upon nothing but (at best) misguided optimism or (more likely) a refusal accept firing the last coach was a huge mistake in hindsight.

It's just not working and there is no reason to believe it will anytime soon. It's nothing personal against McMahon. No one has accused him (or should have) of being a bad person. He's just not the guy to elevate LSU to a spot where they could easily be with Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, etc. That means anymore time spent with him leading the program is just wasted time towards, potentially, one day having a great program.

I've said it a million times on here. It was NOT a sin to hire McMahon in 2022. It will be a sin to keep him as HC once it is clear it isn't going to work. That's what LSU is doing now and it is going to be reflected next season with even lower levels of apathy (if that is possible)

We don’t have the youngest team in the SEC. The other points you made are opinions, we can discuss them if you like.

He's not a good bench coach.
He doesn't know how to recognize a hot hand.
He doesn't know when to substitute guys in and out or when to keep guys that are hot in.
His offensive sets are not effective.

I always have classic LSU games on my YouTube scroll and the other day I watched 2005 LSU vs Tennessee with McMahon’s coach and mentor Buzz Peterson coaching Tennessee. Tennessee looked just like we do now, Buzz was barely over .500 overall and under .500 in SEC play, never winning more than 17 games in a season at Tennessee. Pearl took over the next season and went 22-8, won the East and was a 2 seed in the NCAA tourney.

Arkansas is younger than us and that’s just off the top of my head.

Even if we were the youngest BK, Kim and JJ absolutely would t get that excuse if they were busy being the second worst team in the conference and two of those coaches have earned the right to have a down year.

Bottom line MM not winning is the biggest issue. My second biggest issue is his butt pirate fans making lame excuses for him.

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You don't see any issues because he doesn't have any X's and Os

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he certainly does and I have seen him call some pretty good plays off time outs, like the one that led to a dunk for v Miller in I think the FGCU game. I believe he called another play, it didn't work, and he instantly called a time out for one that worked well and they won.

one gripe I can see is late in the shot clock they seem content to let one player dribble and throw up a long 3 every time in a frantic way that doesn't work.

but generally I think the issue is more about the jimmys and Joes than the Xs and O's. and certainly that is still his responsibilty