It doesn't take a rocket science to realize that without Lloreda LSU is a vastly different team. The following statistics could lead you to form an opinion one way or the other about LSU and John Brady. I will voice mine after the statistics. With Lloreda in SEC play (7-3) LSU scored 63.9 ppg LSU allowed 60.1 ppg Without Lloreda or not 100% Lloreda in SEC play (1-6) LSU scored 61.9 ppg LSU allowed 73.6 ppg The difference is: 2.0 ppg offensively 13.5 ppg defensively 1 - # times LSU's opponents scored over 70 points with Lloreda in SEC 6 - # times LSU's opponents scored over 60 points without Lloreda in SEC The question to be answered: Did Lloreda mean that much to LSU defensively? After letting the lost yesterday sink in and analyzing the game on a clear mind the answer is YES. Lloreda was the only physical presence inside that LSU had. There were far too many easy and uncontested inside shots opponents were getting when Lloreda did not play. The South Carolina game yesterday was a prime example of that. I can't believe what I'm about to say. I believe we can't hold John Brady totally responsible for what has happen. I think Brady has to shoulder the bulk of the responsibility for the way this team has not made adjustments or adapted defensively after the 7th game without Lloreda. It will be interested to see how this team responses in their next game NCAA or NIT. It quite possibly might be the game that could make or break John Brady's career at LSU. Here an interested observation pointed out by MiketheTiger: But facts are facts, Saban went 2-4 after James left the team and the opponents scoring average went from 11 ppg to 27 ppg game. Sometimes in life, one person or two people DO make a difference. James at that time was the leader of the defense. After Mauck went down, the offense scoring average went down from 32 ppg to 19 ppg. Mauck was definitely the leader of the offense at the time he was injured. With all that being said, if Brady was let go after the end of the season, I would support it. If not, he would definitely be on a 1 year leash. I just don't like the direction that this program is going.
All that having been said, whether you support John Brady or not, what Hawthorne said at the end of yesterday's abortion is right on the mark: what Jaime Lloreda did to his younger teammates by walking out on them at a crucial point in the season is reprehensible and absolutely inexcusable. I really do hope that this guy reaps what he's sown.
I agree. It's one thing to be hurt but not to sit on the bench and root for the success of your team that you been part of for nearly two years is pretty chicken $hit. We don't know the whole story with Lloreda and we might never know.
This is where I'm at on this whole thing, I'm tired of the excuses and Bradys latest quote has me scratching my head. I can't believe he would say something like that because all coaches lose players to injuries and the NBA, at least LSU doens't lose freshman or sophmores like some of the other schools have. i really wish things were different but it really alarms me about the number of players that has left his program. We could've used a Brad Bridgewater type of player inside to help out Brandon when Lloreda went down. What I mean by that is if he could've got a player half as good as Johnson without an attitude he would've at least been able to help us out inside and things might've been a little more positive lately.
He won't succeed because of his attitude. What Jaime did is tantamount in the real world to quitting a job without giving notice. Who, in either the NBA OR the real world wants to deal with somebody like that? Real world aside, we have a guy who has shown an unwillingness to play hurt. All of these things make him a high risk for any NBA team. Ironic, isn't it? Jaime's unwillingness to play with pain because doing so might hurt his NBA prospects might just be the thing that KILLS his NBA prospects. At least if he had been out there hobbling around, the scouts would have noted that he had heart, and a willingness to do what it takes for the betterment of the team.
he showed great heart in the previous games with 2 bum ankles and a foot. What they question will be his character for bailing on his team, hurt or not. Of course we all know how much character really means to an NBA team...if that was the case Tim Duncan would be the most popular player, not Iverson.
I don't think we'll ever know the whole story with Jaime Lloreda, but I am NOT going to slam him like some on the forum have. He was obviously playing with tremendous pain in the latter half of the Florida game and against Auburn and Vandy. That said, I honestly do not think our training staff and team doctors would have cleared him to play if he honestly couldn't go and the injury was that serious. Maybe Lloreda did get overly pre-occupied with the injury, started thinking and acting too selfishly, and abandoned the team. I'll say this, we are definitely a better team with him, and he was a good player and a competitor. But if he bailed on the team in the heat of an SEC race simply because he did not want to play with pain anymore or jeopardize his own future, then that is selfish and it may have hurt him more than it helped. In the NBA, he will have to play with pain or when he doesn't feel like it; all the good players do. I certainly wouldn't draft a player who pulled a stunt like that, if that's what happened. But we'll probably never know the truth. I think the positive and negative results of this season and Brady's past seasons indicate one thing for sure; for John Brady's system to breed success, he must have a dominant post player, preferably two. The Sweet 16 year, we had Stromile Swift and Jabari Smith. This year, when we peaked, Lloreda and Bass were becoming a formidable low-block duo. If this is the case, then help is on the way in the form of Glenn Davis. We had just better hope that Big Baby can come in and make an immediate impact, because if he can't, we will be mediocre next year.
I would guess that every GM in the league would rather have Duncan or Iverson, you confusing the TEAM with the young fans there. Exactly right.
