he's been tough on garrett a bit this season. :yelwink2: i was taking up for him (green,) but harris is appearing more, and more, to be the better player.
Everyone said Dotson was going to have to pick up 10 points a game and that Green was going to need to score and defend the post. Neither has shown to be remotely close to being able to do that against any of our opponents, really. It's not Garrett's fault, he's just injured... or at the very least "in pain".
Generally, I would agree with you. I do think more was expected out of Dotson and Green. Both are recovering from injuries, surgeries. So, you don't always know what you're going to get afterwards. But, you have to look at production from the position. Between Dotson and Kinsley, you're getting some production at the 2. Between Green and Harris (who up until NY was a nice surprise) there's also some semblance of production. But, bottomline, when the chips are down and a team has to buy a bucket, LSU doesn't really yet know where to go, like they did with last year and MT and TM. This year, they haven't found that guy yet. Is it Bo, is it TM, or is it Warren. Dotson's either not quite comfortable taking that role or Trent isn't necessarily asking that of him. Whatever the case, this next stretch of teams help the Tigers tune up their game.
I'm not disappointed with the loss to UConn, nor Arizona St (considering Spencer couldn't play), but the way we lost to the Sun Devils did disappoint me. We looked bad in the second half and Johnson wasn't able to get that turned around at all.
Kinsley earned a spot in the starting lineup imo. At least for the time being. Our guards need to get more dribble penetration to test opposing defenses. That will get us a lot more easy outside looks when the ball is pitched back out.
they werent even trying, and probably rightly so since AzSt played a lot of zone and lsu was without spencer. generally i agree though. bass has to penetrate. and with that he has to be able to consistently hit 12 ft jumpers to make the D have to come to him so he can dish it. bo will penetrate but will he be less spastic. id guess so.
My thought is that maybe it wasn't coach Johnson. Maybe its on the players, its not like we have a deep bench. I'm just thinking the only way we will know if it was coach Johnson or not will be in 2 to 3 years. Some may not like me saying this but really this year doesn't amount to anything, a throw away season of sorts or in other words rebuilding. After the first few games against quality teams I'm not expecting much from this team so either I will be spot on or pleasantly surprised.
You're right, I don't like you saying that about the throwaway season. I'm a basketball fan and LSU fan - they don't have to be competing for 1st in the SEC or for a spot in the Final Four for the season to be worthwhile. I certainly wouldn't call Tasmin Mitchell's senior season throwaway. Even if it is more of a rebuilding year, rebuilding years are no less important than the seasons that are built upon them.
I agree with your post actually, I am an LSU fan and a basketball fan as well. I don't like saying it either btw. I'm hoping for a little bit of Magic or luck or both!:wink:
Amen brother. :grin: I prefer to refer to seasons in sports in terms of "low expectations" or "higher expectations". At worst, you can call it a "rebuilding" year, although I know Trent doesn't like that. :lol: Nothing is a "throwaway" because if you think about it, this is absolutely a very important season for Trent. As much as we love to talk about recruiting, the 2010 LSU class is not the "Fab 5" (and when I say that I refer to Michigan's class of many years ago, not the N.O.'s 2012 class). They will be freshman just like to some degree this year's freshman class of Dotson and Ludwig. Potentially better, but still kids that will play 8-15 minutes a game while trying to learn the system. I look for good things from them, no doubt, but I think it is critical for next year for Warren, Bass, Green, Dotson, Ludwig and Harris to improve THIS YEAR. Those are the kids who will continue to get a good bulk of the minutes next year. Along side Malcolm White, and I would predict Turner/Derenbecker. I see Stringer and Courtney coming in for more spot duty and will be brought along slowly. So, while I think it's fair to say we should have "low expectations" for this year's team, to temper unrealistic expectations, I fully plan to follow the team and look for improving play and player development. I also think that struggling in the SEC shouldn't diminish the fact that hopefully we'll be watching competitive basketball. Sure, there are going to be nights where this team just gets stomped, but hopefully Trent will have tinkered enough by SEC play to have some idea of how to match up better with the SEC teams. Oh, and I also would like to see Tasmin play better and get drafted. We as LSU fans should be cheering for him, and building a better recruiting reputation as fans for the program. He will go down likely as one of the top LSU basketball players of all time and we should celebrate that. :thumb:
