Calipari is not a great game time coach, as much as the rumors from the NBA seems to come for him, he is just not that good. But you are right, he would be 7 and 1 with this team.
Big Thought: LSU is wasting Ben Simmons 1h Freshman Ben Simmons is averaging 19 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, yet his LSU Tigers are just 4-4. What gives? Mike Stobe/Getty Images Eamonn Brennan, ESPN Staff Writer 0Shares Email print comment There was never any doubt about Ben Simmons' talent. He was too good, too skilled, too versatile, too intuitive. He wouldn't fail. The only real question, back before the 2015-16 season commenced, was what Simmons' success would look like. Where would he land on the Can't-Miss Wing Talent Continuum? Was he a once-in-a-decade force of nature? An above-average future pro with blooming left to do? Was he Kevin Durant or Harrison Barnes? And what did either outcome mean for LSU? Through eight games, Simmons is averaging 19 points, 15 rebounds and six assists; he's shooting 50 percent from the field. His game is a walking, breathing best-case scenario, a mix of unstoppable athletic talent and brilliant basketball understanding and almost impossible passing polish. His reputation among NBA people has only grown; if he was already a surefire No. 1 overall pick, he is now a franchise-altering future All-Star. Thus far, Simmons landed far closer to the Durant end of the spectrum than even the most optimistic touts could have predicted. Thus far, one of the most hyped players of the past 10 years is even better than almost anybody thought. That's the good news for LSU. The bad news, unfortunately, is everything else. LSU, as you may have heard, fell in overtime at Houston Sunday, 105-98. Johnny Jones' team is now 4-4 overall. That record has not been the product of a young team adjusting to a challenging nonconference schedule. The two best games on LSU's schedule came in Brooklyn on Nov. 23 and 24, against Marquette and NC State. Neither team is ranked. Both might be headed to the NIT; both beat the Tigers. (Maybe it's worth qualifying that the Wolfpack won in overtime. Then again, when you lose by 11 in overtime, this kind of qualification loses persuasive power.) Then, on Nov. 30, LSU lost at College of Charleston, 70-58. In the interim came a win -- a win in which the Tigers gave up 108 points on their own floor to North Florida (!) and Simmons had to score 43 points on 15-of-20 shooting with 14 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and three blocks (!!!) -- which, perceptually, might as well have been a loss. Nor is the record the fault of injuries. Yes, senior guard Keith Hornsby missed the first seven games of the season, but he returned Sunday and scored 32 points. Simmons, by the way, had 13 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists. And LSU still lost. The problems run far deeper than that. Freshmen Antonio Blakeney andBrandon Sampson have struggled as shooters, and neither has shown much interest on the defensive end of the floor. Tim Quarterman has been much better on offense but not much better on defense. LSU's guards don't challenge perimeter shooters, like, at all: Their opponents are scoring 1.165 points per possession on spot-up plays, per Synergy scouting data. Only Detroit, Iona, Central Arkansas and Alcorn State are worse. The Tigers don't clean up their opponents' misses, either. LSU grabs just 32.8 percent of available defensive rebounds, which ranks 254th in Division I. Normally, that number would be bad in and of itself. For LSU, it's downright criminal, because Simmons happens to be awesome at rebounding the basketball. His individual rebounding rate on the defensive end -- 30.7 percent! -- is the eighth-highest in college basketball. Simmons is grabbing a ton of boards. (He's also blocking shots and creating steals.) And his effort is going completely to waste. That's the theme of the 2015-16 LSU Tigers thus far. With one of the most talented players of the past decade -- one not merely flashing his talent but unleashing it in the service of player-of-the-year level production in his lone opportunity to do so -- LSU's chances of playing in the NCAA tournament are already dwindling in mid-December. And why? Because Simmons' teammates don't defend or rebound. It should be impossible for a player to be this good while his team is this bad. Johnny Jones' Tigers are finding a way.
Daily Word: Is there hope for LSU to improve? play2:06 ESPN college basketball reporter Andy Katz picks Oklahoma as his team of the week and Texas' Javan Felix as player of the week, plus looks at some key wins during last week's action. Each weekday, our college hoops experts discuss the biggest issues, trends and themes in college basketball. 1. Will LSU get better, when the full roster is intact, or is mediocrity a fair expectation? Andy Katz: I'm going to give the Tigers the benefit of getting their whole roster intact before I fully judge. The problem is that LSU is going to need every SEC game to improve its NCAA tournament résumé. The Tigers will have very little, if not zero, room for error. They will need to go on a run in the SEC and likely beat at least two NCAA-bound teams to get in. C.L. Brown: I'll be the Grinch here. LSU will go from being a short-handed, middle-of-the-pack SEC team to being a fully healthy, middle-of-the-pack SEC team. The Tigers' problems won't be solved by simply adding a couple of players. They've made no commitment to defense, and their SEC schedule is one of the toughest, with two games against Kentucky, Texas A&M and Florida. Jeff Goodman: LSU will get better, but its nonconference résumé is not going to impress the committee. The Tigers will need to finish toward the top of the SEC. Keith Hornsby (who returned from injury in Sunday's loss to Houston) showed he can be a difference-maker and a shot-maker. His presence will mean that Antonio Blakeney can spend more time on the bench, but Johnny Jones needs Arizona transfer Craig Victor II to be eligible, and he will be soon. Victor is a rebounder/defender, and that's the primary deficiency for this team right now. Jones also needs to put the ball in Ben Simmons' hands more often rather than running the offense through Tim Quarterman. 2. How good can Texas be this season? Or is it more likely big things will come next year and beyond? Katz: I would buy stock in the Longhorns. This team is only going to get more adjusted to playing coach Shaka Smart's style. The win over North Carolina gives them immense confidence with a road game at Stanford and a home game against UConn coming up. The Longhorns will be a pest in the Big 12 and should be on their way to building an NCAA tournament résumé. Brown: The good thing for Smart is the Longhorns are full of experience, which will bode well once Big 12 play starts. But don't let the win over North Carolina fool you, Texas can be good this season, not great. Invest in the Longhorns like they are a startup company. The big returns won't be coming until the future. Goodman: Smart inherited talent. Isaiah Taylor is one of the top point guards in the Big 12, and he has experienced bigs in Cameron Ridley and Connor Lammert. The key was retaining former coach Rick Barnes' 2015 signees -- Eric Davis Jr. and Kerwin Roach Jr. There's no reason this team shouldn't be in the mix as a Top 25 squad. The key will be if Smart is able to recruit at a high enough level in Austin. 3. Which game this week is the most significant? Katz: UCLA-North Carolina in Brooklyn, New York. If the Bruins were to beat the Tar Heels after winning at Gonzaga and beating Kentucky at home, they can book NCAA-tournament tickets. Only a complete flop in the Pac-12 would derail a bid. Brown: Villanova at Virginia. Yes, it's still early in the season, but the Wildcats have a lot to prove. How will they bounce back after a poor performance against Oklahoma? How they play, more than the actual result, will indicate whether 'Nova belongs in the elite conversation or if it's just another good but flawed team. Goodman: I'm not sure I can pick one. So many on Saturday: Utah-Duke at Madison Square Garden, Villanova-Virginia, UNC-UCLA and Kentucky-Ohio State in Brooklyn, Indiana-Notre Dame and Butler-Purdue in Indy, Baylor-Texas A&M, UNLV-Arizona. But I'm going with the upset of David Walker and Northeastern over No. 1 Michigan State at Matthews Arena.
You know, I'm sure the national media is like... "Yeah, this is more like we'd expect Louisiana to be. Last in education and stupid in sports." FKing A must really be trying to hurt some political football fans, and basketball is just a bonus. Holding athletics for ransom until he gets his education money. Biggest problem with that argument is our football staff is the best paid in the sport, which means support has been given to Alleva, and Alleva has supported Miles, and Miles has shit the bed. Now Jones, who seemed like a pretty good hire for what we could get, has raised our basketball profile w Simmons only to shit the bed on the big stage. I feel like the support from Alleva and up is there, and maybe too much. Not a baseball fan except it's LSU's #3... Hell, even Maineri has been whiffing since his NC (I guess making it to Omaha is a pretty solid year but kinda expect more from a program as supported as LSU is). Women's basketball is 5th, 50k behind 4th and 150k ahead of 6th, and 3rd with solid performance bonuses (maxing out at 1.2 million; seems pretty well supported). Just another way to say I'm disappointed.
