A little early but..Next year's basketball team?

Maybe i shouldn't be looking this far ahead, but one of the guys i go to school with named ralston turner recently committed to LSU's basketball team and i was wondering what the basketball team for next year is looking like.

 

The '09- '10 team is going to be very young. We lost seniors Garrett Temple, Marcus Thornton, Chris Johnson, Quinton Thornton, and Terry Martin. Sophomore Delwan Graham was dismissed from the team.

The incoming freshmen will be expected to play and contribute right away. By the time Turner gets here we should be much improved.

 

c'mon guys, this was posted back a week ago and 2 posts?! I'm embarassed for the fan base... :wink:

Look I understand that it's too early to think seriously about hoops, but perhaps a "down" weekend (not to over look MSU, b/c I do expect it to be a lot tougher than people expect, unless LSU wakes up and plays to its full potential) and lack of national TV for today's game is just what it takes to get talking about hoops.

Well, the bad news is that most prognosticators think LSU goes from First in the SEC and first in the SEC West to probably last in the SEC West. Largely as SupaFan says because of youth, but I'd say largely b/c of lack of recruiting depth and lack of proven players. Beyond Tas' and Bo Spencer, you've got 3 likely starters to come from Storm Warren, Aaron Dotson, Garrett Green, Alex Farrer and Chris Bass who have all averaged 9 minutes a game or less. I think on paper, folks look at LSU and wonder how Garrett Green, a redshirt sophomore recovering from back surgery, a top 100 recruit in Aaron Dotson who is also recovering from knee surgery, and Chris Bass will play. You add to this mix a rail-thin Dennis Harris coming off of a redshirt FR year and Eddie Ludwig, and you say... who knows, but probably going to have a tough time matching up with a deeper, more talented SEC.

In the immortal words of Lee Corso... not so fast. Call me a homer, but I'll give LSU slightly better chances. Largely due to Coach Trent Johnson and his staff, and his ability to bring out the best in his players. I'd say that if Aaron Dotson and Garrett Green are truly healthy (and that's still a big if), I think that LSU can be a middle of the pack SEC West team. Right now, I see Miss St, Arkansas and Alabama at this stage having superior talent in the West, and it'll be hard to unseat those three. I see Anthony Grant having a huge impact at Alabama, and they may have the coaching talent and horses to surprise, much like LSU did last year. Beyond that though, you've got Ole Miss (getting good players back, but still a ways to go), Auburn (lost Barber) and LSU who are unproven. In the topsy turvy SEC West, where talent wise there typically is a pretty consistent grade top to bottom, momentum, coaching and injuries can have a huge play. Right now the only SEC West team that is a clear favorite, is Miss St. So, if LSU catches some breaks, comes together as a team, and the players find their roles, I can see them surprising and striving for that middle of the pack SEC West spot. When you look at a starting 5, you actually can roll out Bo Spencer, Aaron Dotson, Tas' Mitchell, Storm Warren, and take your pick Garrett Green or Dennis Harris. That's not a bad starting line-up. Health and depth will be the keys.

But, I'll take CTJ's wits and ability to get his kids to play hard. Also don't underestimate Tasmin Mitchell, whose mission will be to have this team win every game it can. I can see them overtaking Auburn, maybe Ole Miss, and I wouldn't be surprised if Arkansas slips. We'll see what kind of chance they have after the Preseason NIT. I think fans have reasons to be optimistic, but at a minimum, if you love college basketball, we'll be an underdog and it'll be a very interesting year to see certain players develop--like Chris Bass, who has every athletic talent to be a SEC point, but can he improve under Trent's watch? Garrett Green, who at 6'10", 235, is actually a physically decent PF/Center, but again, can he surprise if he plays fundamentally sound and learns to play within the system? Dotson, who I think, if healthy, could certainly be an SEC-caliber shooting guard.

Just my optimistic view. :grin: But, as most folks agree, 2010 is going to be the year where this team starts to break out with a year under its belt and recruits on the way. Thanks to kids like Ralston Turner, who see what they can become under Trent Johnson!

 

going to be a tough year. i see no realistic shot at ncaa tourn. but it should be ok with fans. for this program its expected to have down years after losing so many seniors.

i too am looking forward to seeing what ctj can do.

 

I wonder why LSU can't bring in the big talent like it use to? Dale Brown was a great recruiter but lacked on the X’s and O’s. I think LSU needs to beef up their recruiting a LOT more. Start looking around the world for talent again. This program doesn’t have a final four anywhere near the radar. It’s sad b/c I use to get jacked up for Tiger hoops when we had guys like Don Redden and Ricky Blanton running down the court swinging their arms like a primate after a big play! I guess you can’t be successful at every sport.

 

I agree, there really is not a big focus on basketball recruiting because LSU dominates in Baseball and football, but it was only four years ago that LSU made a final four

 

Im just glad that Brady is gone he set us back 10 years.

 

First let me say... I told you so. We're lucky to win, and all of the crazy "Miles got to go" business is ridiculous. 'Nuff said about that. Lucky, good or a little bit of both, go back and compare Saban's record to Miles record. Let's see what ole Nick can do against Arkansas, and let's not forget what Ole Miss did Thursday night.

As to the hoops part of this thread, what the last couple of posters may not realize is that the state of college basketball today is a little bit different now than it was when Dale Brown coached. No Shaq staying 3 years, and every decent college program and then some has invested in their hoops programs. And, fans have to ask, what is "winning" that is enough? A national championship, well LSU's never done that in the modern era in hoops, period. It takes hoops tradition, recruiting and coaching--LSU has never quite had all three. Trent's recruiting style and play is recruiting good 4 year players who will stay at LSU, graduate and get better in the process. Every now and then a really good player mixed in and LSU will be consistent and compete for a SEC West crown every year. That will be better than the previous regime and in the process, the program should be measured by getting to the NCAA tourney year in and year out and making the Sweet 16 in most years. Outside of a few programs like UNC, UConn, UCLA, Kentucky, Kansas, the rest of the field won't be able to win it all with a team of one and dones and deep squads of role players. Compare what Trent is doing, however, to what Tom Izzo (Mich St), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Mark Painter (Purdue), Tom Crean (Indiana) or Brad Stevens (Butler) are doing. "Mid-Major" philosophy in a "High-Major" program is what I call it, and I'm willing to give Trent 4-5 years to find out if it works... :grin:

:geauxtige:bball::geauxtige:bball:

 

There's kind of an irony in your post... you say you got excited by guys like Don Redden and Ricky Blanton running down the court, but they were by most accounts not tremendous recruits. Redden I think was a little bit more "acclaimed"--a tremendous shooter and decent guard. Blanton was a 6'6" chubby recruit who played center and eventually grew into a 6'7" SF that was a decent shooter. Neither was a "great" recruit, but were more role players that grew into good players. What's ironic is look at who Trent prioritized and signed recently--Eddie Ludwig, a 6'-8" hard-playing SF/PF (ala Ricky Blanton), and Matt Derenbecker, a 6'7" sharp shooting SG/SF (ala Don Redden). Watch these two kids, they won't be swinging their arms up and down up the court, but they will have a very subtle nice impact on this team going forward!

I do agree with your assessment that I wish LSU did more recruiting internationally like Dale Brown did. I think that given Trent's system, getting a smart big man overseas, or a crafty point or shooter, would be within "his under the radar" recruit smart good players mentality. But, you have to recruit what you know, and I think given Trent and his staff, he's focused on establishing a foothold in the southern states, and then picking off kids from certain areas he and his staff are familiar with (west coast, midwest). You see what a kid like Olgivy has done for Vandy, what international players are doing in the NBA, and you can't deny their impact. The tricky part is that any foreign player that's pretty good is already getting scouted for the NBA or playing in an overseas professional league nowadays. So again, times are very different now than when Dale Brown was offering these kids the only way to get over to the U.S. to play ball and get drafted. I'd personally like to see Trent think about going overseas to EU to mine for a big man in the 2011 class. Looking at the top recruits in 2011 that stand over 6'8'-6'9" and they are few and far between. Trent's already given an offer to Marshall Plumlee, and he's a long shot for LSU. Find a big kid from Argentina, Spain, France, Australia, who's 6'10"+ and has a good knowledge of the game, but isn't ready for pro play and wants a college degree ... :huh: