Football is at the bottom... ________________________________ P&G'S LATEST Hasta La Vista, Jaime... The strange saga of Jaime Lloreda and his on-again, off-again status is finally over, as Lloreda didn't show for practice on Monday and is now apparently through at LSU. The real story behind Lloreda's leaving is still shrouded in some degree of secrecy, but the best we can gather goes something like this: Lloreda was advised by somebody that playing on an injured ankle would hurt his draft stock (apparently, according to that thinking, the fact that a guy will play hurt is not as important as the fact his numbers might go down if he does). And because of that, Lloreda refused to play on Sunday even despite getting a medical clearance. It didn't help that supposedly Lloreda got into an altercation with a teammate in practice late last week and the scuttlebutt on the team has it that the rest of the Tiger squad basically has had it with him. So when Lloreda didn't show up for practice yesterday afternoon, that was it. Unless something very unforeseen happens, you can close the book on his career. Lloreda's absence might not be quite as devastating as one would think. Our Tim Rodrigue filed this report: All of a sudden it's like a scene out of the movie Hoosiers. Okay maybe that's a bit of an overstatement. While the entire student body and PMAC crowd aren't shouting 'We want Jaime! We want Jaime!' LSU coach John Brady is figuratively standing before everyone telling them 'This is your team' and getting everybody used to the fact that Lloreda is not likely to don a uniform ever again as a Tiger. "Once you have closure, in your personal life or on your team or with anything, once you see closure about to occur, you adjust," Brady told the media after Monday's practice. "I think that's what our team is about to do." Lloreda, who leads the team in scoring (16.9) and rebounding (11.6) simply doesn't appear able to go anymore. With bursitis in his left Achilles, a sprained right ankle, and now a heel injury, the senior center showed signs during LSU's blowout loss against Mississippi State he wouldn't be the same player able to mix it up with opponents to pull down rebounds. But following the Tigers' 70-64 loss to Kentucky, there wasn't a feeling of foreboding as the players entered the media room. Quite frankly they looked like a group of guys who were relieved they hadn't been blown out for a fourth consecutive time, as if a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders. One has to wonder if the specter of Lloreda's ability to play at full strength, whether he could be counted on, was what made this team so inept against Auburn, Vanderbilt, and the Bulldogs. "I think in the practice Saturday, you know when Jaime couldn't go, his heel was bothering him, you know we just knew that some players had to step it up regardless of what," said Antonio Hudson following his 10-point performance against the Wildcats. "We can't talk about it, we just got to be about it and get the job done. I know it's in the back of some people's minds, we realize Jaime wasn't playing, we have to get the job done." And players did step up. "You can just look at it different ways," Hudson added. "Like I said, you can look at it like people realize or you can look at it like people started playing harder. But you just still got to play regardless of Jaime playing or not, we still just gotta come out and perform." And players did perform. Every Tiger that placed a shoe on the court came off of it with at least two rebounds when all was said and done. While that wasn't enough to outrebound Kentucky, LSU did take pride in the fact that without Lloreda they hung with one of the most storied programs in college basketball. "A loss is never good, but we proved to ourselves and to everybody that was watching the game and everybody that was at the game that we're capable of pretty good things and the best is yet to come," said freshman Ross Neltner. Neltner played without question his most meaningful minutes of the year against Kentucky, staying on the court for 22 revolutions of the second hand. Maybe it was simply because he was facing a team from his home state, but for the rest of the season duplicate results will be necessary. The former Mr. Kentucky did manage to impress at least one teammate. "I was really proud of Ross," said Darrell Mitchell. "Ross came in and did an excellent job I thought. It just helped me knowing Jaime, you know he's not gonna be there and this is the team we're gonna have next year. And it was just good for the young guys to step up and to step up big for us." Mitchell's above statement also came shortly after the Kentucky game. Although it is a little unsettling that he is already thinking about next year, Mitchell still seems to have his priorities straight. "We have two games left, but we can't look at it as a two-game season," he said. "We just have to play these last two games and get two wins and make sure we get into the N-C-double-A, and go into the SEC Tournament trying to win the whole thing." Ole Miss and Auburn it now appears will be facing an LSU team they've not seen all season. In the Tigers' initial meeting with the Rebels in Oxford this year, LSU lost 53-49 with Lloreda and some very bad shooting. Against Auburn at home not that long ago, the Tigers were getting their feet wet using what has now become their permanent starting lineup without Lloreda. But things are different now. "I think if we come out every night and approach the game like we approached Kentucky, and not say like 'Oh that's a team we know we could beat' right?," Brandon Bass said last Sunday. "Like Kentucky's a high-ranked team, so we need to approach the game like every team is a high ranked team, come out aggressive and just let it all hang out on the court." Bass is now the big man in the paint for LSU. Against Kentucky he played like it before the Wildcats found a way to shut him down after hitting 4-of-5 field goal attempts and 5-of-5 free throws. Just as Brady said following the Kentucky contest make no mistake, LSU lost the game. While moral victories mean nothing on paper, the one the Tigers seem to have earned for themselves versus the Wildcats may actually end up counting for something. Whether the win will go towards the 2003-2004 season or the 2004-2005 season remains to be seen. Sticking With Spencer? We finally found out what happened with LSU signee Spencer Ford, the 6-7 forward who was booted off the Dixie State JC team at the end of January. Apparently, Ford fouled out of a game and didn't take it too well, unleashing a torrent of unseemly language at the offending official and making a statement along the lines of "I'll get you for this." That was enough for him to be sent packing. An ugly incident, to be sure, but one would expect a suspension rather than an explusion for simply losing one's cool at an official - unless this fiasco fell into the "straw that broke the camel's back" category. In any event, our sources indicate that LSU's coaching staff is currently leaning toward bringing Ford into the program rather than releasing him despite what happened. This seems like a risky decision given the recent history of the program in which Lloreda now makes four players who have spit out the bit since November. Better News With Baseball Across the street from the PMAC, the air is a lot less heavy. Smoke Laval's Tigers are feeling pretty good after demolishing a decent Texas State team in a three-game weekend sweep, and confidence is high going into tonight's game with No. 8 (in the Baseball America poll) Tulane. Clay Dirks (1-0, 2.53 ERA) will get his third start of the year tonight against Tulane, who will send sophomore lefty Brian Bogusevic (0-1, 1.80 ERA) against the Tigers. Over the weekend, Tulane (8-1) swept Utah in a three-game set. Wave pitchers recorded shutouts in all three games, winning by scores of 3-0, 7-0 and 9-0. Nate Bumstead, who bounced Dirks from the weekend rotation by getting a start on Sunday, was reportedly feeling good yesterday - which should put the question of his injury to rest. Shortstop Matt Horwath, however, seems to be a different story. Nothing has been set in stone yet, but it appears as though Horwath's arm injury is still bothering him and he is still out of action. Derek Hebert will start again for LSU, and Horwath's availability for the season is still very much in question. Infielder Bryan Harris, whose knee injury has kept him out of action since fall drills, had some good swings in batting practice yesterday. Harris, a sophomore JC transfer third baseman with a big stick, wants to see action this year. But he's still two weeks away from being cleared to run, and more importantly he's four weeks away from being cleared to slide. It would seem the smart move is to redshirt Harris, but if Horwath is out there might be an opportunity to get him in some games. In any event, LSU has solid infield depth with or without Harris and Horwath. The Tigers can use Clay Harris or Ivan Naccarata at third, Hebert, Blake Gill or Bobby Diliberto at shortstop, Gill, Diliberto or Naccarata at second base and Clay or Will Harris, or even Gill, at first base. Diliberto even saw some action at first in Sunday's game, and Nick Stavinoha can play there as well if need be. Doll Goes To Broncos After All Reports had the Denver Broncos promoting from within to fill their vacant special teams coach job, but yesterday an LSU release confirmed that Tiger linebackers coach Kirk Doll has in fact accepted that position. "Part of the reason that I'm getting this opportunity is because of Coach Saban and the success we've had here at LSU," Doll said. "Everything that I've experienced at LSU has been wonderful." Doll, who just completed his second season at LSU, will serve as a defensive assistant/special teams coach for the Broncos. Doll served as LSU's assistant head coach and linebacker coach. "Kirk did a great job for us at LSU," Saban said. "To coach in the NFL is a great opportunity for Kirk and his family. We wish him the best of luck."
Doesn't appear that any of those guys are ready to bail out like some have rumored. "A loss is never good, but we proved to ourselves and to everybody that was watching the game and everybody that was at the game that we're capable of pretty good things and the best is yet to come," said freshman Ross Neltner.
Brady said on his radio show Moday night that they were looking into the allegations. He stated that Ford has been a good person. They want to look into the matter further before they let one bad incident ruin the guys chances.
