Basketball 20-21

Compete for the SEC regular season title, win a game in the NCAAT, win some marquee games along the way, avoid bad losses, periodically compete for a championship. Same as football, WBB, baseball, and the other sports I marginally care about.

 

certainly done that. they destroyed arkansas. thats a marquee win. Arkansas is #11 in the net which is the only ranking that matters.

and they have fewer bad losses than almost anyone. 12-1 outside quad 1! bama lost two outside of quad 1 including one quad 3 loss.

they also won a tournament game, two in fact in the last chance when there was an actual tournament.

they definitely compete for a championship, finishing no lower than third after wade first year. since wade came LSU has the best overall record in the SEC. no other team but LSU has had a top 4 seed in the SEC the last 3 years. and maybe top 3 if they win this weekend or florida loses.

like i said before, every team has a couple bad games. thats not bad coaching. its basketball. this year the lakers, who are spectacular, have lost to the trailblazers and wizards and pistons, who are terrible. in fact the pistons are in last place. they beat the lakers.

ark lost to bama by 31. they also beat bama by 15. it happens. the wise man takes a wider view and doesnt condemn programs or coaches on single games or weeks.

no other SEC team has been as consistently good as LSU since wade arrived. if not for his NCAA troubles (which i dont care about) wade would be the top coach in the country the administrations of blue bloods like duke and UNC would try to hire if they had an opening.

 

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...ank-best-young-coaches-men-college-basketball

best young coaches ranked:

"In terms of pure on-court coaching and recruiting abilities, Wade would be No. 1 on this list and it wouldn't be particularly close. He won 40 games in two seasons at Chattanooga, went to the NCAA tournament both seasons at VCU and then won the SEC regular-season title his second season at LSU. But there have been issues. He was heard on an FBI....."

 

to be fair, most reasonable people would agree that this team is frustrating at times to watch. smart has turned into a dagger but will have that one or two turnovers due to a a lazy pass that makes you pull your hair out, or watching watford take it the length of the court to go 1 on 5, etc., the silly technicals, etc.....

how to measure success is a different metric.... is it simply W/L, or is it demonstrated improvement over time, or something else?

having said that, it is truly impressive for wade to have 3 straight 10 sec win seasons. Hasn’t happened since daddy dale. what wade has accomplished is great, he’s building a program and I look forward to more.,..

this team is capable of going on a big run in the tournament or could get blown out by 20 in the first round.... will be interesting!

 

I agree. Can’t make a final call until the season is over. Basketball is a game where bumps along the way seems hard to avoid, but it’s still frustrating. All other things equal, the more consistent team is more deserving of praise.

 

There’s that big butt at the end. I don’t really care about it in-so-far as I believe everyone else is doing it, but WW has that publicity blemish we are still dealing with. I respect LSU for choosing WW over Alleva, and Woodward for riding it out thus far.

 

all teams are frustrating to watch. why did the lakers lose to the pistons? lazy? dont care?

you could recruit a team that would be very satisfying to watch in terms of execution. they would move the ball like harvard. backdoor cuts, motion everywhere. they would suck. auburn would tear them to bits on speed and athleticism. talented players dont play like that. when you recruit 5 stars, they are prima donnas. they dont play like MIT grad students. what do you do, not recruit them? nope. you take their selfish unorganized play and like it. because they win. and winning is the goal.

so did every team that isnt in first. most "fell short" even more.

what you call a blemish i call a badge of honor for the american gangster, and i think many recruits see it that way too. they know the NCAA is a bunch of useless fuckwads and anyone who tells them to fuck off gets respect. i hope they publish all kindsa more "damning" stuff, and will wade keeps piling up wins and not giving a fuck

being on the bad side of the NCAA is not bad or wrong or immoral. its laudable and good. the NCAA is corrupt, stupid, and incompetent and does not have the players best interests in mind. will wade does.

 

since wade arrived lsu is the most consistently high level team in the league. even blueblood kentucky is having a bad year

outside of the league, look at duke and UNC. awful.

 

The 1992 Olympic Dream Team was never frustrating to watch.

 

will Wade should recruit some talent at that level. yunno best that ever lived