Your facts prove the point against smoke.. the guy cant win the big games against the other top teams...
You've got to be kidding me? Turtle has been turned down for numerous coaching jobs. It makes you wonder why a guy whose been at some premier programs keeps getting turned away. Admittedly I'm not a Turtle fan because I think he's one of the reasons LSU is not THE premier program it once was. You and I could recruit the top players in the country, but if they never make it to Baton Rouge because of the draft then where's the benefit to the program? There was an article in the Advocate the other day about how worried Turtle was about the majority of the recruiting class being taken in the draft. Well that's fine you have top recruits, but you've better have a backup and contingency plan when these kids sign a pro contract, and not just have to settle for the leftovers. Someone asked yesterday where Graham the Rice coach continues to get these great pitchers. I'll tell you...he develops them! There's one of the major problems with the program right now...lack of development in all facets of the game. I don't care for Brady Wiederhold and the way the staff is handled. How many pitchers in the last four or five years has LSU lost due to injury? Far too many. The ironic thing about me is that I actually like Smoke and think he's a good coach, but he needs to do some long and hard evaluating of his assistants. LSU was the premier baseball program in the country in the 1990's. Now the rest of the programs have closed the gap and in many aspects surpassed the Tigers.
You make some good points and I don't dispute that Graham has done a remarkable job...but...Savery is a Freshman and Degerman is a sophomore who didn't see much action last year. These guys are just plain good.
I'm not saying Graham doesn't get talented players...of course he does. Rice is a national baseball power. And those guys may be young players but Graham has also had everyday since fall practices to work with, develop and refine their talents.
Anybody else notice the striking resemblence between Wayne Graham and Sparky Anderson? When you factor in those Rice uniforms that look like Detroit Tiger unis, the resemblence is uncanny.
