Re: Worst Display I Can Recall In Years Well he's done good things for the Program the last 5 years. He's helped bring this team back to some national prominence after almost 7 years of obscurity. There is no way that this loss was all his fault. Again there is only so much a coach can do. He cant help that Mitch and Hud go 1-17. He cant break the press for the Tigers. They just bought into the fact that they were a 6 seed and they thought they could beat anyone. They just played like ****. The coach was some of the problem, def not all the problem.
Re: Worst Display I Can Recall In Years This loss really hurts. I pull for LSU in every single sport. However, I must admit that my passion is for football. I don't have the time to put the same passion into the other sports. While I follow the others closely through this forum and elsewhere, I devote a good deal of time in the late summer and fall to LSU football. This year I let myself get passionate about our basketball team. I liked the character of the players, especially Brandon Bass, what a great story. This loss is difficult to take, much worse than when we loss to UAB in football. Maybe the silver lining is that Bass will return to try and make it back to the tourney alghough I doubt it. Sad, sad, sad.
That was a terrible, sad display of effort and coaching. LSU played into their hands exactly. The real question I have is did Brady tell them to slow down our offensive possessions and the team ignored him, or did he not tell them? It looked like all Brady could do the whole game was chew on his hand and mutter obscenities. I know we did not intentionally throw the game. But if intentionally throwing a game is fraud, then we are least guilty of gross negligence. Our guard play was the worst I have seen in college basketball this year. I won't say I hate Brady. I think LSU can have a better basketball coach than John Brady. I really, really do not think that will happen. But after ending the season on such a dud, next year's attendance will continue to suffer. How can you have so much momentum and then just crater? That's about all I have to say about that.
The players read the USA Today paper a few days ago that had them as one of the "Hottest" teams entering the Tourney. They showed up with half a heart and got their asses handed to em.
I said it yesterday that the Tigers' fate would rest in the hands of the guards. Bass & Davis would get their share, but Minor, Mitchell and Hudson would determine the outcome. The NCAA tournament is all about great guard play and last night the Tiger guards were awful. Minor was a perpetual turnover machine and Mitchell and Hudson couldn't throw it in the ocean the shooting was so bad. But I don't put all the blame on them. I blame Brady and the staff for this one. LSU looked totally unprepared for the pressure that UAB delivered and not just the pressure but even the half court offense UAB ran the Tigers were just chasing them and fouling, defense was horrible. The Tigers literally looked lost and like a team that prepared for a Math test but instead had to take a History test. It got so embarrassing I had to turn it off midway through the second half because I was literally getting ill. While most of the other higher seeds, with the exception of Bama, having close games but ultimately winning, LSU goes out and gets blown out by UAB, a team most pundits believed didn't belong in the tournament. Nice job!
Stuff like what happened last night is why it is called March Madness. I know many of you pine for the "good ole days" when Dale Brown was coach. Well, in 1985 #4 seed LSU lost to #13 seed Navy by 23 points by all of your Brady-Bashing logic this must have happened because whoever the hell was coaching Navy was a better coach. For another example in 1997 #2 seed South Carolina lost to the #15 seed Copin St. by 13. In 1995 the 4 seed lost by 10 to the 13 seed, or in 1993 the 4 seed lost by 15 to the 13 seed. In fact in the past 19 years a seed 13 or lower has won 34 times. Clearly, this can't be true because everyone knows that only inferior coaching leads to losses in the tournament, it couldn't have been the fact that LSU only shot 35.9% or that horrible play led to 20 turnovers. Moreover LSU only shot 19% from the 3 pt, that's 6-31 6 of effin 31. Our three guards combined to make only 8-31, for 21.6%. That isn't coaching that is just playing horribly. In contrast UAB shot 45.8% total, 43.8% 3pt and their starting guards finished 15-25, which is 60 effin percent. All of that has nothing to do with coaching, it has to do with our players just phoning in the game. UAB had more points off of turnovers, more fast break points, and more bench points. I can understand that everyone is upset about last nights game but the only ones to blame for the game are the players, more specifically the play of Minor, Hudson, and Mitchell, who didn't show up to play and thought they could just coast through. Look at it this way, say I am taking a nuclear physics class and I thought it was going to be a breeze but I end up failing. Is it because the professor didn't teach well enough? or would it be that even though I thought it was going to be a breeze, it is still a difficult class that I can't take lightly.
It's one thing to lose...it's another to get embarrassed and blown out by a lower seed. LSU was never, ever in this game and got hammered by a UAB team that most said and believed didn't belong in the tournament. Now, I'm not upset that LSU lost, it's the way the ballclub looked TOTALLY unprepared for what UAB was doing and that is a direct reflection back to coaching, or the lack thereof, that pissed me off. How many times did Mitchell or others had to foul in order not to give up an easy layup in UAB's half-court sets? Too many. How do you not know UAB is going to press constantly? LSU's players looked lost from the tip and that is Brady's fault for not having them prepared. And, if the players weren't doing what they were coached and prepared to do, then yank their butt out of the game. Yes, piss poor guard play in all facets killed the Tigers, but Brady has to shoulder the blame for getting blown out by a lower seeded team in the opening round of the tournament.
Whipple played 23 minutes had 0 shots, 0 points, 1 steal, 2 assists, 3 rebs, 2 fouls, and 1 TO, he obivously didn't contribute much, Neltner played 11 minutes was 0-1, 1 assist, and 4 fouls so he didn't contribute much either, other than fouling UAB. If our 2 best bench players can't contribute anything to the game why wouldn't you play your best players, even though they are playing horribly, it is more likely that your best players will be able to correct themselves and give LSU a better chance of winning than the bench players, who had nothing to contribute. Do you also blame the alabama coach for alabama getting beat by 10? It is not always the coaches fault for players not playing well. Most of the LSU players were probably hearing that UAB didn't deserve to be in the tournament and the players figured that they wouldn't have to play very hard to win the game. While the UAB players were feeling slighted and they were out to prove that they did belong in the tournament so they played over their ability. I do think that Brady should shoulder some of the blame but the blowout was not his fault it was more a lack of good guard play and players looking past the UAB game.
It's Brady's responsibility to get and keep his players focused on the game no matter who the opponent is. LSU didn't just get beat - they got frickin BLOWN OUT by an 11 seed. The Tigers were never in it and didn't make seem to make any adjustments either. Even the color man kept reiterating that LSU was not playing with a sense of urgency - that comes from the head coach. And, yes I do blame Mark Gottfried, the Bama coach for Bama's loss. How could you not get the best effort out one of the most athletic teams in the country. Even Tim Brando said that Bama was one of the most athletic teams in the tournament. The difference is, is that Alabama was competitive and was in their game, whereas LSU was completely LOST and NEVER in the game. LSU looked as though they had NO clue what UAB was going to do and didn't seem to ever make an adjustment, even at halftime, when the Blazers were imposing their will upon the Tigers.
