my understanding is that the NCAA has agreed to not enforce the rule for the rest of the season, the court thing was just for 14 days. I also admit that you are correct that's the NCAA is nothing if not opaque and contradictory. but I am fairly sure he is good for the year.
now I am mildy concerned that @mctiger was right about the 14 days thing. since I read it days ago, I have not seen confirmation of the NCAA not enforcing for the rest of the year like I said, the NCAA refuses to do anything with clarity and fairness. they hate that more than anything
nvermind, as of today, friday, the NCAA says no enforcement on this. cook is clear and a go for all season
I will continue my policy of endless optimism and call today's loss a moral victory. the return of cook was as big as I thought it would be. he flings fastball assists like nobody else can. before, no one on the team is at all talented at assists. they just have no vision. he does. and he can shoot and create. I think he improves everytone and makes a massive difference. the following players should start cook wright Wilkinson and ward should split time reed and Collins should split time baker and dean should split time. Williams should back up both guards, stewart and Hannibal are shit. Hannibal should only play perhaps vs suffocating press, as he is quick and can handle ball ok. he is a net negative otherwise.
lsu is borderline respectable with the two starting guards of cook and Williams. one guy who is a wizard with the ball and another who is almost decent.
modern basketball is a high pick and roll spacing game. everyone runs basically a variant of the same offense. PG brings ball up, big man sets a pick, two wings out in the corners, then depending on who switches what on defense, the PG either drives or dishes to the roll man of the secondary pick man who was picking off the center's man, or if the help defense comes from the corners, they find the open corner three mann. not every play of course, but lots of them works like that. McMahon likes ot score ASAP on breakaways to the extent he has the athletes to do so, but then he runs this offense. sometimes called the spanish pick and roll because Europeans always run it, they pick off the center's defender for him to cut to the hoop. jalen cook is an ace at this offense. hugely good at it. without him they are 5 guys who are pretty athletic with no real plan. maybe Hannibal will try to take it to the rack and throw up an idiotic circus shot, where the other players have made no effort to clear the lane properly. aimless and stupid that's the offense without cook. Carlos Stewart is a drive and score or 3 point type player. jordan wright is a big guy and solid defender, he doesn't pass well. Hannibal cannot throw it in the ocean. all of those guys can be useful when paired with cook. LSU without cook is like fla State without their QB in that bowl game where they got massacred. before cook, only 40 percent of their points had an assist. that is comically bad. it means everyone is doing their own thing. now its back to 60%. that's respectable. everyone was so shit at running offense they had to force Mike Williams to do it, and had to learn it first. he was ok. but I think it helped his long term development quite a bit and now I think he is a real SEC player. might beat TAMU 2morow, have a decent change to beat vandy next week. or things could go bad fast.
didn’t want to jinx them by commenting too early but what a good win tonight! ags had won 12 straight at home and lsu had lost 13 straight on the road… good way to open sec play….
