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

I 'm surprised we are ahead of Arkansas. I thought they returned a lot of people from last year even though they were'nt very good.

 

That's right. If you look at my earlier post, I actually think the media is overhyping Ole Miss and underhyping Arkansas. They're penalizing Arkansas for their slide at the end of last year, and they overinflating the return of certain Ole Miss players like Chris Warren and others. Arkansas had a pretty talented team last year that beat UT and Oklahoma with sophomores and freshman, and I've got to think that them mostly being back will help. Likewise, I always think that players coming back from injury are a little bit of hit or miss, so despite Ole Miss having a few of their talented guards back, there are going to be rustiness/chemistry issues. I also think that it's underrated with them missing Malcolm White who is now at LSU. Ole Miss is trying to replace White with a 6'7-6'8" talented freshman on the interior, but they are generally small. If Pelphrey can actually coach, I see Arkansas being a team to watch out for, but if the media calls it right and Arkansas sort of underperforms, they could slide. I just think they create some tough match up problems for teams, b/c they're fairly balanced.

 

Miss. State should be the best in the west and depending on the development of their prize recruit the big kid frim california they may challange Kentucky for the sec.

 

i saw john wall made 2nd team all sec (along with Tas) without ever playing.

 

I'm a huge LSU basketball fan

but how do you recruit against this...

YouTube - Big Blue Madness 2009 Kentucky Player Introductions

there coming out of the roof!!!!

 

Ironically, the players at Ole Blue, now that J-Cal is there, may not even be able to play.... can you say dirty players? dirty coach?

2theadvocate.com | Sports | John Wall: Raves, questions — Baton Rouge, LA

The news from SEC media day seems to be now that John Wall is having his eligibility investigated by the NCAA.

I agree that UK's fan atmosphere would do wonders here, but let's take it one step at a time. It's not who wins the sprint, but the race. Trent is quietly building a legit, clean program.

 

he'll get to play. in short the issue is like that of bryce brown (ut fr rb)---his aau coach was also an agent.

sidney is a different story and his status will have a bigger impact on the tigers.

 

Ha. Cal is slick. I don't know if I'm watching a pep rally or an election speech. Hopefully, though, this is something that the LSU administration is aspiring to in a "Trent" signature way. I hope for 2010 they try to do their own little midnight madness. Seems like all the big programs do it.

That said, it's a lowkey year for us in 2009, and it's better for this team to probably stay under the radar and sneak up on people.

More from SEC Media Day, and a little tidbit on Tas Mitchell. Can't wait to see the new Tas.

In Focus: Unquestioned Leader - LSUsports.net - The Official Web Site of LSU Tigers Athletics

Johnson, Mitchell Represent Tigers at Media Day - LSUsports.net - The Official Web Site of LSU Tigers Athletics

 

Personally I think with Cal at Kentucky & Sabin at Alabama LSU is facing a uphill battle in both Basketball & Football as far as winning championships go. I do think TJ is a far above average coach but to win in the SEC he is gonna have to recruit a lot better than he has shown so far. Four year program players are great for stability but they won't win many championships going against the glamor boys of the SEC. He is still new down here so maybe recuiting will pick up shortly. Miles is apparently a very good recruiter but seems to lose something when it comes to using that talent on the field. How is it possible for LSU to be rated in the bottom area of the Division 1 football offensive stats at the halfway point of the season? One would think we could play without a quarterback and still be in the top 50 nationally:nope:. Who knows, maybe we will shut everyone out for the rest of the season!! Geaux Tigers, Please win them all!!:tigerhead

 

For sake of hoops discussion, and as we look forward to the annual Purple-Gold game this Wednesday night, I'll take this up.

I have the same sort of concerns that you do. But, that's in part due to the warped sense of perspective that LSU fans have, against the backdrop of LSU's national championships in football and baseball. Let's just remember, that until Florida recently, the only two SEC teams to ever win the men's national championship in hoops were Arkansas and Kentucky (for sake of discussion, we should note that SEC owns tons of women's national championships). Only a few more SEC teams ever made it to the final four.

I'm posting this recent article from Rivals on Duke's "woes" recently. The perception obviously is that recruiting is everything. To some degree, this is true. UNC has won recently 2 NCs and overtaken Duke as ACC's most winning team... largely b/c of recruiting. Now, Duke seems poised to make a return largely b/c of high profile prospects picking Duke again.

Coach K, Duke matter again - College Basketball - Rivals.com

Which leads to the discussion of where does this put the SEC in basketball? The SEC has always been known as a very good basketball conference, but perhaps not to the level of the ACC, Big East, Big 10 (somewhat slipping) even. Probably comparable though with the Pac 10, as sort of that 4th best conference. That should change though this year, largely because of fresh recruiting (i.e., Cal and Kentucky) and returning talent. I guess my view is that you need a little bit of both to truly be successful. The good news is that the SEC's recruiting profile will increase, and is increasing...

Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting - Meyer's Mailbag: Duke class could be great

The truth is that you really can't build a consistent program unless you have good kids commiting to stay 3-4 years. Saying that a kid like Matt Derenbecker is a "4 year" player vs. calling someone like Patrick Patterson a "one and done" is a very fine line, b/c the number of true "one and dones" is somewhat a hit or miss thing. Case in point, Tasmin Mitchell was a McD AA and top 20 recruit, but he's also a 4-5 year player at LSU. Tyrus Thomas was case in point that a 2* player can turn into a NBA lottery pick. Recruiting is cyclical as well, so you can't rely on recruiting alone. If your measuring stick is winning the SEC with what Trent is doing, I guess I'd argue that I believe he can. Largely b/c if he's signing top 20 type classes (which this year he did), I think he's bringing good enough talent to compete for the SEC championship. I do think that J-Cal is going to be dominant in the SEC, but teams like LSU, Florida, Tennessee, maybe Miss St and Alabama, are going to be very competitive. Cal's coaching is still in many respects a mixed bag to me, b/c truthfully, he relies on very talented players in an open, but simple, offensive system. I will be interested to see if he can still consistently win 30 games a season in the SEC vs. ConfUSA. Folks will figure his teams out and have the athletes to slow him down.

You have to also consider what our expectations are over what time. Kentucky fans wanted to win NCs NOW, so they went out and decided to pay Cal $4M a year. I don't think that LSU can make that investment right now, nor does the fan base necessarily want that. Trent's view is to first build a foundation, get his kinds of players in here, get his APR situation on good ground, and then, the overall success of the program will attract better players. Now, I don't think he'll ever land a class with 4 or 5 McD All Americans like J-Cal. But, could he sign a class of 2 or 3 top 100 kids, and then maybe one or two top 50 kids? Absolutely. We may see that beginning in 2012. You also have to remember that while teams of late have won with multiple draft picks, look at what teams at Michigan State (2000) and Syracuse (2003) were able to do with just a few dominant players and a bunch of role players. I think in a year like 2009, it'll be an interesting debate b/c of experienced teams like Purdue, Mich St, Butler, who have had "less talented" kids but in the system a while, vs. the "reloaded" teams like UNC, Kentucky. Kansas may be best positioned as a team with a little bit of both.

So, let's be patient and give CTJ 4-5 years to build his program and establish his brand of ball at the PMAC. I like where things are headed, and let's not underestimate the importance of coaching also in the equation. The recruiting will come gradually, and 2009-10 is a very good start.