Another loss last night for the men's basketball team on ESPN to a bubble team in Ole Miss. It was actually a close game for 35 minutes and Ole Miss pulled away at home. But, for Tiger fans looking for a silver lining, Bo Spencer again led the Tigers scoring with 20, Eddie Ludwig and Aaron Dotson both had games that you can say, "hey" they look like decent freshmen who Trent signed, and all of this with Tasmin Mitchell not scoring his best and shooting well. With Tas' gone next year, but Malcolm White coming in, plus 5 more talented freshman (add to that an offseason where LSU can finally be healthy and the younger players know what to expect of themselves?), LSU fans have to say that these closer games will turn the other way next year! :thumb: But, the reason I posted was with the last home game this season against Georgia, and one more game after that in the SEC tournament, LSU fans have to give their props to TASMIN MITCHELL. We are truly seeing a significant "era" end at LSU with Tasmin graduating and leaving. He has been a warrior. He has been a champion. He has also had to deal with adversity. He will also go down in LSU history as one of the very few players to be in the top 10 in ever statistic and all-time minutes leader. He will be chasing the points to break the 2,000 point barrier. When I look back at this "era" it's an era of turbulence, euphoria and transition. Afterall, how many players experience 2 SEC championships, a final four, and also two pretty bad losing seasons. It's a time where LSU goes from the Brady era to the Johnson era. As Tasmin leaves, I think we can truly say that the Brady influences are largely over, and the Trent Johnson era is completely his. But above all else, Tasmin has been a lover of the game, a diplomat for LSU, and what athletic scholarship should be. A 5th year senior who has done things the right way and played his heart out for his school and his teammates. I hope LSU fans will honor him on Saturday, with as big a turnout as humanly possible. Even if folks don't think this team deserves it, Tas' certainly does. Here is another summary of Tas's impressions his final year. Some pretty nice things about LSU and the current coach. http://lsu.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1059151
Great post. 100% agreed, Taz is a local guy that UK and Tubby Smith highly coveted. He chose to stay local and play for :lsup: Class act, worked his way through tough times to prove he is a warrior. Thank you Tasmin Mitchell. We WILL miss you.
If LSU has a much better season next year, a lot of that will be because Taz Mitchell stayed this season, provided leadership on and off the court, and helped keep the season at least competitive. Without Taz, I'm not sure this team doesn't give up (which they never did). And that would have significantly delayed their transition to success next season.
things are certainly looking better than halfway into the SEC season. harris has really improved. bass is efficient with the ball and sufficient on D (although getting a PG that can avg 10 will likely have more value). bo may be getting consistent. (20, 23, 10, 6, 18 pts in last 4). ludwig and dotson have a pulse. so it looks like there will be three good options in the post with green and incoming freshmen helping but going to have to get consistent 20 from Bo or big help from another guard. there's a chance theyll be competitive next season but i think itll be two yrs from now unless stringer comes in and is solid right off the bat.
This. Tas could have easily taken off to the pros after seeing the writing on the wall for this season. Instead, he did the right thing for this team and provided much-needed leadership and experience. He deserves all Tiger fans' praise and support.
I'll also say this after having rewatched the Ole Miss game on ESPN. When Tasmin says he's improved, I agree he has improved. You watch this game against games earlier in the season and you'll see that, despite a poor shooting game, Tasmin's perimeter skill and speed have improved. He showed a few nifty drives to the basket, up and under moves, and spin and drives that show perimeter dexterity and quickness that he's going to have to show if he's a 3 in the NBA. He also hit some outside shots on the move, passing, moving, catching and shooting. I don't know if it's just his hard work over this past year and past summer, or whether Trent has imparted some wisdom and PT at the perimeter spots, but I do hope that Scouts will look at some of this year's tape to see the progression.
Agreed. Here is my quick takeaway from the Ole Miss game. First, I kind of wish Trent had gone to the zone a little earlier in the season. It was clear that the zone, while breaking down at times, slowed the tempo and caused issues for Ole Miss. There were times when guys broke down either overrotating or not rotating enough, and not boxing out men, but overall the hustle to the ball, cutting off penetration in the first 30 minutes of the game and getting hands on loose balls was encouraging. Spencer is definitely an enigma. While there were definitely shots he shouldn't have launched, his three point shooting % was ok, AND, quite frankly, he's a pretty quick SG. I forgot how easily he seems to penetrate and get by his man. It's really unfortunate for LSU that he hurt his wrist and ankle this year, but he is an all-SEC caliber guard, if he can play within himself. I look forward to a full offseason of practice, maybe for him putting on about 3-5 more pounds of muscle, and more time with new teammates. Apparently, watch out for the Malcolm White Bo Spencer pick and roll next year. Ludwig and Dotson. First let's say that Ludwig continues to improve. He hustles but more important he knows where to be and where to pass. He has some issues finishing with strength down low on offense, but he hit the glass hard, made some nice passes and when Ole Miss went zone, he was critical to getting in the right place and making the right passes. You add another 10 pounds of muscle over the off season, have him develop more post up moves and continue for him to get confidence in that 15-17 footer (to go with his 90%+ FT percentage), and you've got a solid contributor at that 3-4 spot. Dotson also started to look more like his athletic self. He hit a three and was active defensively on the perimeter--I don't think he was great in the zone on the baseline trying to block out folks, but on the perimeter he was active in the first half and showed the ability to drive past folks. He just needs more practice, better health and more confidence. Chris Bass and Dennis Harris. Both showed some athleticism and bounce. Bass is just a solid defender. He got a few steals and really played good defense in the zone. As I said last year, he should be in the gym hours every day shooting. No reason why he shouldn't be a 70% FT shooter and be able to take a 15 foot jumper--he just has to become a bigger offensive threat if he wants more PT. Harris really has some potential... I've been underestimating the kid's athleticism, but man, he does have some bounce and quickness. The issue is just can the guy gain weight? Like CJ before him, Dennis just gets pushed out of the box too easily. When he has some space, he can shoot, block shots with his length, and tip rebounds---BUT, he's a liability if he has to take it down low, defend or box out down low, or getting rebounds over big space eaters. I'm not sure if ultimately, I like him at a 4 or 3. I think if he can gain 10 pounds this offseason and keep it on, he'll be about 200-205lb and at least be able to survivie the pounding a little bit better. If he can't gain that weight, then, you may have to use him at 3 where honestly, he's going to have to compete against the likes of Ludwig, Turner, Derenbecker for PT. I think I'd like to see him more at 4 backing up Warren and being a complement to White, but perhaps he's interchangeable with Ludwig because the kid has some better quickness and a decent outside shot. In any case, the kid has a bright future if he can work on the physical side of things. Overall, this team didn't look like a team that wasn't playing hard or well. In the loss, I thnk it exposed the general weakness on the team--not enough overall precision (largely due to experience), poor shooting, not enough athletic talent overall, and not enough depth. We saw good minutes from guys like Chris Bass, Kinsley and Populist, but are they going to be able to match up with guys like Chris Warren, Terrico White (who is definitely an interest prospect at a big guard position.... LSU guards could not stop him from getting to the hoop or off the glass)? Tough. I think even being able to add one or two more dependable outside players, who can create their own shots or consistently hit an open three and athletically capable to guard the SEC 2s, will really benefit Bo Spencer, and if White turns out to be as advertised, that will continue to make the development of Warren, Ludwig and Harris down low easier. BTW, Alex Farrer is going to start on Saturday. He's been practicing the last couple of weeks and we'll see what he can do.
