i hate to be so negative, but LSU gave AU its first conference win in an 84-80 "upset," if you will. i know this is a rebuilding year and all, but wow! storm was 0-fer from the FT line. at least the team's not getting blown out, but you would think that at home, against AU, LSU could have had its first conf. victory. close, but no cigar... mind the pun.
Gonna be a long year... Our Tigers fell apart toward the end, some poor officiating helped (offensive foul on Tasmin -- really?). I don't think we'll go 0 for the SEC; nevertheless the wins will be hard to come by. Keep fighting! :geauxtige
i didn't think so, and i thought that this game was VERY winnable, but i guess that's how the ball bounces sometimes. it's just very apparent that CTJ wants to mold this program to his exact specifications. i think that, with time, this program will be a very, very good one. we have the coach, and we have the AD for a very good basketball program, it's just a matter of CTJ getting the appropriate players to fit what he wants. he was successful last season, IMO, because he had an exorbitant amount of talent -- any coach could have won the SEC with what LSU had. however, CTJ wants a certain type of player for LSU, and i think that ultimately, he will get the players he wants. my only question is if his mid-major/west-coast style of coaching/playing work in the extremely physical SEC? open question to everyone.....
Jay correct the refs gave Auburn that win. We totally suck though. I dont know if we can win a conference game.
whether the refs gave AU the game or not is up to debate, but if you knock down some of those FTs, who knows? of course that back-breaker three ptr. by AU down the stretch was too much to overcome.
Look, I agree with you, this was a winnable game, and I'm quite frankly disappointed with this loss. BUT, some of your statements I'd take issue with. Yes, I think that Trent is a good coach, and yes, I think that "his philosophy" is ultimately going to be successful. If by that you mean, his philosophy of defense, rebounding, playing sound ball, not turning it over, and having an efficient offense. It's less to me about Trent having "exorbitant amount of talent" and NO WAY does "any coach" just win the SEC last year with those players. You could argue that last year, Florida, Kentucky or Tennessee had "more talent" than LSU. It's just that last year, Trent had 5 seniors, Tas' as a Junior, and a Bo Spencer who was able to play effectively as a role player. To me it's not talent or "type of player" that Trent is seeking to recruit as much as it's depth of talent and inexperience of talent. Tonight though is still a mystery to me. LSU scores 80 points, and that should be enough to me for a win. But, we let Auburn (granted, a quicker more aggressive guard driven team which causes match up problems for this team) score 84. That says to me our defense wasn't as good, and I've said before LSU relies too much on the "big 3" to do the lionshare of the work. Tas' goes off for 38 points, so he was on fire, but Bo doesn't have a good shooting night (again, 0-6 from 3 land). Storm does ok, but our depth and lack of consistent guard play is killing us. We did fight back and build a second half lead, only to lose it in a close game. I suppose the effort is there, but the ball's not bouncing our way, the team's confidence is a little down, and other teams will jump on that. Getting the kids to believe in themselves and come together to play hard, despite the W-L record is the main thing for Trent this season. I don't think you'll see that it's Trent "style of play" or "West-coast" coaching that's at play. It's just a matter of personnel he was dealt, chemistry on this year's team, and inexperience. It's a perfect storm for this season. I think again, and we're harping on this a lot, next year, you add a pretty physical banger down low in Malcolm White, and a lot more perimeter depth (and good shooters), to this team. It's less the style of coaching and more the player depth and talent, IMO.
i was mostly disappointed in the offense, which is weird to say since they scored 80, but it was mostly a bunch of jump shots off of dribbles.
I'm with Tiger'n'hornland. To me last years team was very similar to the team Bady coached in 2002-2003. In that it had some really experienced players and one star. Brady went 8-8 in the league and got blown out by Purdue in the NCAA first round. Trent did a remarkable job with that team last year. Remember they were picked to finish fourth in the west. I also would dispute that his teams don't play physical basketball. In fact the complete opposite is true. Trent Johnson basketball is tough defense, hard rebounding, boxing out, and contesting every shot. Give the dude time. Next year we add 5 guys who will come in ready to play, one with a proven SEC track record.
that was depressing. id say two stars, dupree and lloreda. purdue had one guy go off in the 2nd half and the tigers couldnt hit a 3. and man that team could shoot--dmitch, ct3, dupree, hudson, bright. brady losing trask and johnson really sealed the mediocre fate of the team. no doubt.
lol. It does seem like that right now. Imagine if both Georgia and us are 0-15 in the SEC when we meet for the last game of the season in the PMAC. That would be epic. But, seriously there is no way this team is this horrible. We will wake up soon and start competing and will beat at least one or two ranked teams. Like in 2001 when we went on an 0-9 losing streak in SEC play and then beat both #14 Ole Miss and #18 Georgia. And in 2003 when we started out 0-5 in the SEC and then beat #7 Florida.
