wade says strategy and personnel changes are coming. the only thinki can guess this means is a bit more motion offense around the perimeter and maybe starting eason and maybe even o'neal. justice williams looks a like a very good players who is unsure of what to do with the ball next. which makes sense because he is hugely inexperienced and hasnt been with the team very long. reid also looks hesitant and unsure. when he catches the ball i am desperate for him to take it to the rack and/or shoot, but he dropsteps and fakes and makes 8 moves and by then he is double teamed and he airballs a lefty shot. this man needs to be assertive. get ball, score ball.
tonight on the will wade show live from TJ ribs he touched on something i have been talking about. the difference between skill players and athletes. they lost 3 skill players from last year, none of which could dunk hard for shit. now basically every player on the team can dunk the fuck out of the rock, but they lack for ball handling and shot creation and shotmaking. he says when he recruits he looks for a mix. he wants some have some great athletes like wilkinson to play shutdown energy D, and gaines as well, but also needs skill players to make things happen, and his primary skill man was meant to be adam miller. miller was scheduled to be the starting combo guard, the 2, and back up the poing guard. so the first string PG was pinson, and his backup was miller. gaines and murray were both meant to backup the off-guard, or "combo guard" position. so without miller and now pinson, gaines running the point was something they didnt want or anticipate of prepare for. third stringer is running the offense, when his role is supposed to be high energy defensive stopper. gaines is meant to play 20 mins a game at 100% effort. now he has to totally change his game and slow down and its not what he is trained to do. murray is the most all-around complete player they have. he is athletic, dunks hard, and can handle the ball, plays intense defense and shoots. i wish he would be more selfish and do more, take more shots. he is very unselfish. so i make my point again about the rarity of the truly elite skill player that combines athleticism with skill. emmit williams was a maniac athlete, cant shoot. trendon watford and javonte are both hugely skilled, cant jump. tremont waters is massively skilled and magically athletic, unfortunately is also the same height as me. ben simmons is both incredibly athletic and hugely skilled, unfortunately he is a an insane dickhead nobody can stand and a weird headcase that needs 5 psychiatrists. naz reid is the most well rounded player of the wade era. he is huge, can shoot, dunks incredibly hard. thats why he about to get PAID.
Someone elsewhere said it might be another week. These excuses for WW don’t invalidate criticism for 50 points. We haven’t seen improved offense yet, I’d be shocked if we see it in the next few games. 4-4 feels much better than 3-5 to start conference play, but I think it’s another L (at home, which hurts even worse for the momentum that was building for getting people to the games). Then a game with TCU SAT which will probably be another L. Not a lot of quality P5 wins on the resume. Per https://bracketresearch.com/team-quadrant-wins-and-losses-tracker/: 8-0 in q3/q4 games. 3-1 in Q2 games. 4-3 in Q1 games. aTm is 0-4 in Q1 and undefeated in Q2-4. TCU is 2-2, 2-1, and 9-0 in Q1, Q2, and Q3-4, respectively. But I think both are kinda finding their footing while LSU has taken a step back.
from the athletic bubble watch column: SEC Did we lock LSU too early? The Tigers were 15-2 when we put them up next to Auburn in the enviable lock category. Since then, they’re 0-2, with one close, hard-fought loss at Alabama and one horrendously ugly, massively frustrating defeat at Tennessee. For a team so gifted at defending, and one that creates so many good scoring opportunities from turnovers and blocks, it is truly incredible how many bad shots LSU takes. It’s small wonder the Tigers are the 14th-best offensive team in the SEC per-possession, and small wonder watching their games makes even a neutral want to throw sharp objects at the wall. Wh – what is that shot?! That said, LSU has played a brutal swath of the SEC schedule thus far: at Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee, at Florida, Arkansas, at Alabama, at Tennessee. Scoring against that slate was always going to be tough. LSU went 3-4 in those games anyway, with maybe the home loss to Arkansas the one result they’d really like to have back. This is the 10th-ranked team in the NET with the No. 12-ranked schedule, one with four quality Quad 1 wins, a 7-1 record against the top two quadrants, and no bad losses. It is also the best defensive team in the country. Are we slightly concerned? If the offense stays in this crater, maybe slightly. But LSU is still a projected No. 2 seed after three straight defeats; it would take nothing short of a second-half apocalypse to put this at-large situation at risk. It’ll be totally fine! Nothing to worry about. Ha. Ahhh … Locks: Auburn, LSU Should be in: Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama Work to do: Florida, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Texas A&M
