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There are plenty of UK Wildcat fans here, and yes, your basketball program is thirty-seven times better than LSU's. I'm not here to argue with that.
I'm wondering where LSU is going to go this season, the first with new head coach Trent Johnson, who came from Stanford.
LSU lost its best player in Anthony Randolph, a kid with epic upside who could have used a few more years ironing out his kinks, but instead did a one-and-done and went straight to the NBA Draft, where he was selected 14th overall by Golden State.
One bright side is the return of Tasmin Mitchell, who played only a couple of games before his season ended with injury and surgery. He received a redshirt, and he will be back on the court with two years of eligibility remaining.
Marcus Thornton was LSU's top scorer, and he returns as a guard, and a valuable life-line for LSU's offense. Garrett Temple also plays guard, but he's defense-oriented. Temple's greatest moment was shutting down Duke's J. J. Redick in the 2006 NCAA sweet 16, which helped No. 4 seed LSU knock off No. 1 seed Duke. It could be said that Temple is a perfect opposite of Redick- he's a valuable defenseman, but he has very limited shooting ability.
At center is human beanpole Chris Johnson, who looks like Will Smith in Gumby-form stretched out length-wise. CJ is a towering 6' 11", but he weighs 205 and he gets injured a lot. Chris Johnson is a center who should be a power forward.
Alas, LSU was able to recruit a true center named J'Mison Morgan, but UCLA ripped him away from LSU, and Morgan decommitted in April (after he already signed his ****in' LOI with LSU. *sigh*)
LSU lacks a quality point guard. Thornton and Temple are both 2-guards. Bo Spencer played as a true freshman last year, and he has talent, but he's nothing special. Luckily, LSU got a late commitment from Chris Bass, the younger, shorter brother of Mavericks' forward Brandon Bass, an LSU alum.
There are other things to talk about, but I'm going to be brutally honest here: Few teams in college basketball have done less with more than LSU, and if you can name another, let me know. Louisiana is flowing with talent. It's a big-time school, but we have no basketball titles, not with Pete Maravich, not with Bob Pettit, and not with Shaquille O'Neal. John Brady was a terribly inconsistent coach, going from mediocrity to final four back to mediocrity in less time than it takes to say "Big Baby". This decade, LSU has produced two number-two NBA picks in Stromile Swift and Tyrus Thomas and several other big name picks like Glen Davis, Brandon Bass and Anthony Randolph, and LSU has a losing record in the SEC for the decade so far.
Can Trent Johnson turn LSU basketball into the consistent winner it should be?
I'm wondering where LSU is going to go this season, the first with new head coach Trent Johnson, who came from Stanford.
LSU lost its best player in Anthony Randolph, a kid with epic upside who could have used a few more years ironing out his kinks, but instead did a one-and-done and went straight to the NBA Draft, where he was selected 14th overall by Golden State.
One bright side is the return of Tasmin Mitchell, who played only a couple of games before his season ended with injury and surgery. He received a redshirt, and he will be back on the court with two years of eligibility remaining.
Marcus Thornton was LSU's top scorer, and he returns as a guard, and a valuable life-line for LSU's offense. Garrett Temple also plays guard, but he's defense-oriented. Temple's greatest moment was shutting down Duke's J. J. Redick in the 2006 NCAA sweet 16, which helped No. 4 seed LSU knock off No. 1 seed Duke. It could be said that Temple is a perfect opposite of Redick- he's a valuable defenseman, but he has very limited shooting ability.
At center is human beanpole Chris Johnson, who looks like Will Smith in Gumby-form stretched out length-wise. CJ is a towering 6' 11", but he weighs 205 and he gets injured a lot. Chris Johnson is a center who should be a power forward.
Alas, LSU was able to recruit a true center named J'Mison Morgan, but UCLA ripped him away from LSU, and Morgan decommitted in April (after he already signed his ****in' LOI with LSU. *sigh*)
LSU lacks a quality point guard. Thornton and Temple are both 2-guards. Bo Spencer played as a true freshman last year, and he has talent, but he's nothing special. Luckily, LSU got a late commitment from Chris Bass, the younger, shorter brother of Mavericks' forward Brandon Bass, an LSU alum.
There are other things to talk about, but I'm going to be brutally honest here: Few teams in college basketball have done less with more than LSU, and if you can name another, let me know. Louisiana is flowing with talent. It's a big-time school, but we have no basketball titles, not with Pete Maravich, not with Bob Pettit, and not with Shaquille O'Neal. John Brady was a terribly inconsistent coach, going from mediocrity to final four back to mediocrity in less time than it takes to say "Big Baby". This decade, LSU has produced two number-two NBA picks in Stromile Swift and Tyrus Thomas and several other big name picks like Glen Davis, Brandon Bass and Anthony Randolph, and LSU has a losing record in the SEC for the decade so far.
Can Trent Johnson turn LSU basketball into the consistent winner it should be?
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