Ward has 13 points with 3 treys, Wright 7 ... LSU shooting 15-of-22 from the field through 16 minutes of play and is 7-of-9 from the arc. Tigers lead Puerto Rico with 3:31 to go in the half, 40-23
Stats: Ward 15 pts, Wright 7, Wilkinson, Collins Baker all 5 each, Dean 4, Hannibal, Stewart 3 each, Williams 2, Chest 1. LSU shooting 64%18-28; 7-12 58% from 3; 7-11 FTs. 22-14 advantage on glass over PR. They are 11-32 FG 34% 4-16 3FG 25%. Halftime LSU up 50-30.
LSU led in scoring by Tyrell Ward with 19 pts, Jordan Wright and Daimion Collins with 13 each, Will Baker and Mwani Wilkinson 11 each. i really could not be more excited about daimion collins. this guy can leap to jupiter and has arms that look alien. he can use 10% of his jumping effort and his arm is already way over the hoop. "i want guys who are long, not necessarily tall, you dont dunk the ball with your face" - frank W wade. collins is one of the longest players i have ever seen that wasnt a gawky freak like manute. he started along with will baker. lets hope will baker has spent the offseason watching jokic highllights and wants to make the league as a passing center, which is an awesome type of player to be. if he can take entry passes and find his pal collins, they could really generate some O. 19 for ward. i like it. he showed some potential last year.
today in bermuda they played some sort of club team. my understanding is the club team had at least one player that had heard of basketball and could almost dribble. LSU beat them by 61. notably, tyrell ward is on fire. remember, he was a high level recruit, struggled to get PT last season but is making buckets in bermuda.
LSU smashed an argentine team today by 40 or so. worth noting here how incredibly old LSU is. hunter dean and will baker and jordan wright all played 4 years already and are on a free virus year. wilkinson has been here forever. cook has been playing college ball so long he played with wilkinson at lsu years ago. hannibal has been playing forever, fountain has 2 years at MS state and one at LSU. they can put out a starting lineup with nearly 20 years experience!
great interview with coach here interview is at 1:02 i can summarize team had a great time in bahamas, many players had never left the country before. they went on a sailing trip and rode jetskis and shit, sounds very fun. you can only do this once every 4 years and its a massive advantage. its 10 free practices and 3 games and a bunch of team bonding. coach says he expects a breakout from tyrell ward, not just shooting, but taking it to the rack. "he has all the tools" coach says will baker is crazy versatile on offense, he makes skyhooks, he shoots 3's and, in my opinion, most importantly, he is an excellent passer. daimion collens has a 7'5 wingspan and has been a force at the rim on both sides of the floor. let me editorialize here a bit, coach didnt say this: i think collins is amazing but ...let me say this politely... not the most cerebral of players. if he can pair up simple pass plays with baker, or pick and roll dunks, that would work. he did a good bit of this at kentucky with tyty washington, who is an excellent PG an is now with the OKC thunder. i think if cook or stewart could find a rhythm with collins, it would be a dunktacular. like a poor mans tj pugh and shaq. you guys are old enough to get that reference. coach said the ballhandling of hannibal is excellent and his assist to turnover ratio is great. i dont care. he cant shoot and want him on the pine. smart teams know he cant shoot and stay way off him and clog the lane, destroying the offense. he said mwani is healthy. mwani is an interesting player. he is way better than some might think. he is INCREDIBLY efficient. he does not take bad shots, period. never. he doesnt shoot much but when he does, they are open and he buries them. he is also a spectacular athlete and effort defender and deserves all the minutes he gets, which i hope is plenty. coach says jalen cook is expected to play but cannot confirm because the assfucking fuckbrains at the NCAA havent approved his transfer waiver yet. the NCAA is just unbelievable. i hope their whole operation burns to the ground. i think coach mcmahon was used to having top level athletes relative to his conference. and he would play fast, scoring a ton in transition. i think he wants to run the ball on all defensive boards. last year he had a bunch of slowbums and idiotic non-finishers, so it was a disaster. this year there should be more ability to run and dunk.
country of 1.3 billion basketball fans still cant handle tremont waters https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/game/3008/China-Puerto-Rico#tab=boxscore its really too bad LSU had to face the second team of PR in the bahamas, because the 1st team with waters was on FIBA duty. puerto rico is a good squad.
mcmahon got a commit from a fairly big time big man from texas. 6'10 robert miller. word on this guy is he is all talent and no hustle. he tends to space out at times. but when he pays attention he can handle and shoot the rock. like a lot of modern big men, enjoys prancing around the perimeter. lets hope for a poor man's naz reid. its a good start, a couple huge recruits in town for the game, to see how big we do it. if i was a recruit i would be pretty impressed by 100k+ on campus. even for a different sport. the mcmahon era is looking up a bit.
not a huge amount of info at the first presser of the regular season. I will summarize: 1. freshman guard Mike Williams extended his knee the first day in the bahamas and was just cleared to play again 2. Damion Collins can jump so high they had to recalibrate the vertical leap measuring machine because he can get his hand over the backboard. 3. Tyrell ward is great, needs to be stronger, has been working on it. 4. mwani was playing with a terribly painful shoulder last year until he gave up and got it fixed. he is looking for a strong season as a quick and athletic 3 and D player. this sort of player gets paid in the NBA 5. the team is very old with many from LA. chest, cook, dean, wright, Stewart. 6. coach seemed beyond relieved to be done with the will wade NCAA sanctions. now he feels its fair, he can recruit for real. imagine how powerful it was for opposing coaches to say "you cant go to LSU, they might get banned from the postseason and you miss the biggest stage in the game!' if I was a player I would care about that. 7. last year coach said he didn't have a chance to do real recruiting he was so late to the game, he only was looking to fill the roster and have an actual team. this is true he had a couple players like Kendal Coleman and Cornelius Williams that were not div 1 level. 8. reed has a bad knee and foot. Stewart has been out with tendonitis. both are soon to be ok. cook is back full speed from a hammy. 9. cook is still undetermined to be eligible look forward to my first projected starting five soon
informative article about first practice https://www.si.com/college/lsu/bask...-jalen-cook-newcomers-steal-the-show-on-day-1
