SEC Tournament Postseason Primer: LSU
by Christian D'Andrea on Mar 9, 2011 12:53 PM EST
in Vanderbilt Commodores Basketball
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PrintThe Team: The Louisiana State Tigers
2010-2011 Record: 11-20 (3-13 SEC)
Record vs. Vanderbilt: 0-1 (a 69-90 beatdown in Baton Rouge at the end of February).
Why Vanderbilt Should Win: LSU is either awesome or terrible at basketball over the past few years - there is no middle ground. Two years removed from a SEC crown, the Tigers are firmly back in the "terrible" camp. The team kept tradition alive in 2011, posting their second straight season with a losing streak of 10 games or more in league play. Along with Auburn, they make up the SEC's contingent of teams ranked outside the Top 200 in the RPI.
LSU didn't have the defense to stop the Commodores in February, and it's tough to imagine that much has changed since then. The Tigers gave up 70.1 points per game in SEC play this year while only scoring 57.5 of their own, shooting a depressing 38.8% from the field. Vandy, conversely, has a shooting percentage of 46.2% on the season and scores over 76 per game. As long as the 'Dores don't trip themselves up, it looks as though LSU doesn't have the horses to run with Vanderbilt's offense.
Why Vanderbilt Could Lose: The Tigers hung with Vanderbilt in the first half of the teams' February meeting, leading 43-41 at the half before the 'Dores remembered how to defend. They also dug in to one of the team's biggest weaknesses in Baton Rouge, pulling down 12 offensive rebounds and giving their team the second chance opportunities they needed to keep pace with Vandy. If LSU can catch fire again, they might be able to take advantage of a Vanderbilt squad who could be looking ahead to Mississippi State.
Plus, it's the SEC Tournament. Since 2002, the Commodores are 6-9 in the league's playoffs since 2002. That's a record that even Carl Linnaeus would classify as shitty. In the past four years, the team has failed to win a game in the SECT twice. LSU might not have the chops that Arkansas and Alabama had before them, but let's not underestimate Kevin Stallings's ability to back this team into the NCAA Tournament.
Anchor of Gold Ulcer Rating (1-10): 2. Much like driving down I-65, you're going to end up pissed off at some point, but it probably won't last. This should be smooth sailing for the Commodores. Should be.
Player to Watch: Storm Warren. The man whose name is also a tiny sentence hung 24 points on Vandy this year, adding eight rebounds (four offensive). Over the course of the entire season, he only averaged 7.5 points otherwise.
Target of Ridicule: No player, coach, or element of the student body stuck in a 20 loss season deserves our scorn. C'mon guys. There's no need to make PodKATT any more miserable than he already has been this season. Let the man have his college baseball and let's move on.
Worthless Theory: Jeffery Taylor may have a Ross Neltner-esque vendetta working in his favor, as he exploded for 20 points (and four dunks!) playing in front of family members in Baton Rouge. You decide if Neltner-esque is complimentary or degrading as an adjective.
Drink of Choice: 
Not because of Charlie Sheen, but because it's delicious. It also helps aid muscle recovery better than sports drinks, and you're going to need to be healthy if we're going to be watching four games in four days together. We don't need the booze yet - unless you're planning on bringing Wednesdays back. If so, enjoy the ambiance at ATO.
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What?
You mean we have to play ANOTHER game?
Ross Neltner, now there’s a name I had forgotten. talk about horrible timing.
Managing Editor/Chief Lackey-And The Valley Shook THE LSU Tigers Blog of the Week for 52,136 Weeks in a Row and Counting
Cheer up big guy
Fullerton comes to town Friday, and it’s supposed to be 70 and sunny all weekend. Plus, there’s still a significant chance that Vandy just entirely shits the bed Thursday.
by Christian D'Andrea on Mar 9, 2011 1:58 PM EST up reply actions
I've ben mulling this over for a couple days now..
Do you all remember when Peyton Manning broke Marino’s record and was throwing for 12 touchdowns a game? Then the next year, I drafted him first in my fantasy league, only to see my team crumble as Peyton handed it off time and time again. The defense was basically playing 10 guys deep in the secondary with one guy in the box. So Peyton just audibled to a run at the line, and my fantasy season went down the drain. He didn’t care about his stats – he just wanted to win.
This is whats happenning to JJ right now. Whenever he catches it, teams are basically shutting him down, daring someone else to beat us. I’m pretty sure JJ doesn’t quite understand this, so he puts his head down, dribbles 4 times, and loses the ball. He’s gotta think that hes gotta throw down 20+ points a game for us to win, but I don’t think thats true. With the amount of attention he’s getting, he’s gotta put his stats on the backburner and become a decoy. During the UT game, there were three guys blanketing him when he caught the ball. I mean, how was that not completely exploited? He needs to audible from taking so-so 3s and losing the ball off the dribble to becoming a better passer.
Seems obvious right? But heres the thing. Go back and watch what he does when he catches the ball now. He either shoots it immediately or starts dribbling/pump faking/gyrating to try to create his shot, allowing the defense to collapse on him. I’d like to see him catch the ball once in a while and immediately pass it along. We love seeing the Flamethrower, but let’s be honest, the past 5 games when he catches it, the ball movement stalls for 3 or 4 seconds. Because of that, his teammates are standing still when he catches it, anticipating a shot or something. I’d like to see 3 guys cut to the basket when JJ catches it to a) prevent help defense on JJ because their men have to guard against the cut and b) receive the ball on the cut followed by a monster Tinsley slam… I just don’t understand how we aren’t getting layups when 3 guys are surrounding JJ. I’m going to take an unpopular stance and say I think he is too worried about his stat line. His mom texted him and told him to get his 25 points or whatever, so I think in the back of his mind each time down the court he’s gotta do his. The fact is teams are playing him where its extremely difficult to get 20 points, and the fact that hes still doing it is amazing. But I think we can be more efficient if he scores 10, accompanied by layups created off the attention he gets. Score 8 points against LSU but get 15 assists because you’re being triple teamed. It won’t be the end of the world.
I keep waiting to see JJ as the screener
JJ is getting all kinds of attention. All the plays down the stretch, defenses just hover over him. Like the final play in lexington.
I keep waiting for Stallings to exploit this by using JJ as the screener. Use him to free up Festus. Reverse how those two normally the play.
Having JJ set the screen on one of the bigs is going to get someone open near the rim or with a big mismatch. Defenses can’t not stay with JJ. Fes or whomever is going to be in a great position to score.
Come on Stallings. This play is begging to be run.
Plus,
If he’s not worrying about his statline all game, maybe he’ll play some defense on the other end of the court, as well!
by Bob_Loblaw_Law_Blog on Mar 10, 2011 1:35 PM EST up reply actions
well said
Good point. He is the best shooter on the team but he has proven that his shot is much better in transition compared to off his own dribble (which he has very much improved despite the TOs). This team has other shooters and if he moves the rock before the defense collapses, he may open up a good look for others.
No but seriously...
Let Tinz open up the floor first before you get it to JJ. Yes he’s got the sweetest shot you ever done seen, but he’s gotta be open first. He needs to understand that.
I'm from the OC.
The one in OH.
Dang it.
I’ve been living my life as though Wednesdays were back all this time….Pour me a glass of chocolate milk, I suppose.
Um...
No caption on the photo?
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
I have a caption under the photo:
It reads: “Listen, I don’t understand why you’re giving me a technical. At Memorial Gym the coaches’ box extends out to the three point line.”
Clever, as always, Train.
Love it.
For some reason, it’s not showing up for me.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
And, now it is.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
For a minute,
I was thinking it might be a caption contest.
I always go first half - coffee, second half - beer, because In LA, the games start at 10:00 a.m.
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