John Brady never had a season like this

Even with limited scholarships.

Overall Record: 9-17
SEC Record: 0-12
12 game losing streak.

Is LSU's coaching staff to blame?

Are LSU's fans that called for Brady's head to blame?

 

I was not a big fan of Brady, but it is hard to ignore that LSU basketball is heavily in the tank and Arkansas State, who was in the tank before him in the SunBelt is now in the upper half of their league.

If for nothing else, he recruited and landed more big fish than I see Trent getting. Trent seems to be recruiting some great, high-character, rocket scientist kids, who might all be four-year players, but then again -- that they are not capable of being anything other than 4-year players might be the problem.

We will see. Next year will tell us a lot. But my own personal opinion? Trent needs to get out of "Stanford mode" and recruit some non-Caucasian, non 4.0 students. A lot of these kids he is signing (Ludwig and Derenbecker) are from like Class 1A or Class B and C schools where they are scoring 30 a game in high school, but they are the only kids on the floor with a pulse each night, too and frankly, it's showing when they get to the next level.

That might not be the most "PC" thing to say, but LSU has been the least athletic team on the floor damn near every game they've played this season.

No reason why Shavon Coleman out of Thibodaux shouldn't have gotten an LSU offer. The kid isn't the smartest, but he is qualified academically and is a rivals 100 player. Why is that kid going to UL-Monroe?

 

If you like your teams with no consistent year-to-year success, or a 1 year up, 3 years down pattern, or underperforming in the postseason then Brady's your man. If Trent can get LSU to a point where we're a serious contender for SEC titles and fairly deep tournament runs from year to year, then I don't care if he's recruiting pygmies. If you want to watch superstars play in the SEC, then watch Kentucky. Then again, who knows how long that'll last before the NCAA clamps down on Calipari. Time will tell whether Trent's system will find success in the SEC. I personally think you do need some of those non-4.0 players, bur for the moment I'm inclined to give CTJ the benefit of the doubt.

 

Look at the damn roster for this year, then look at the roster from last year. Then formulate an opinion. Trent went in to this year knowing it would be bad, everybody knew it would be bad. Next year, we should see a dramatic improvement.

 

Patience fellas.

I don't have a problem at all with CTJ recruiting student athletes...at all.

Clair does make a good point about this...and I hope no one thinks it's un PC because it's not a question of PCness at all.

The NCAA's rule about academic eligibility (in football) paid off in the long run, but it took a while for the athletes to realize that they had to work in high school classrooms as well. The players are better off for it.

I'm really not familiar with the APR system...how it works ...how long it's been in effect...has it worked...etc. But the concept of recruiting (or being forced to recruit) better students is better for the college game.

After all, the prevailing sentiment among the fan bases is that college athletes should not get paid to maintain the "amateur status" that everyone seems to think is pure and ideal. At least, unlike the NFL, the NBA does have in place developmental leagues for players that don't make it to college. But forcing non student athletes to wait one year before entering the pro ranks, while maintaining college level academic standards for the college players. is hypocritical, if not immoral. The NBA and the NCAA need to get together and make some rule changes. The NBA has to expand their developmental system to include more players that can't make it in college academically.

Otherwise, the universities will appear to use poor students who don't belong in college in the first place just to rake in millions on top of millions of dollars in sports revenue...and we know that's not true at all don't we...:wink:.

 

dude, i agree 100%.

 

I agree with Clair too. The basketball program isn't there for the 4.0 students, those guys will get scholarships anyways. I want players that have potential to go to the NBA. Those are the guys who will take your team to the big dance and beyond. Just look at all the top schools and compare.

I'm not saying I would compromise in recruiting but there needs to be more balance. Tyrus Thomas, Glen Davis, Brandon Bass, Stromile Swift, Marcus Thornton and throw in some role players. Those were tournament teams.

 

I can't decide. Clair makes great points but maybe this is a one year thing coming off a bad recruiting year and losing a lot of players. Next year will tell the tale. If he has another horrific year, then we've got to change strategies at a minimum. While I knew this wouldn't be a great year for us, our results are pretty shocking. And it's not like we're coming close. We're not even "in" any of these games.

 

It's ironic that we're questioning CTJ's coaching philosophy. I think he's really going to recruit well and turn the program around.

Then I'm worried that he'll leave LSU for one of the glamor positions in the big east or something. I don't think we're enough of a basketball school to retain him in around five or six years.

 

Not a big basketball fan, but I don't see what race and GPA has to do with anything. I find as a general rule the smarter a player is, the better he is regardless of the sport. And what does it matter as to whether or not a player is white. Sounds like reverse discrimination to me. If we had followed Clair's recruiting philosophy, we would have never recruited Pistol Pete. I know Clair is saying we should recruit the best; I just don't think "the best" can be as easily categorized by race and IQ as Clair is suggesting.