That was a lot more fun. Yes, as they mentioned on ESPN too many times, whatever Wojo did worked. They were so much better tonight, so much more in the game, so much smarter. Like everybody else, Wojo is feeling his way a bit. Not only with this team, but with the role of head coach. I am still deciding what I think of him exactly, though I am pretty positive. Unlike some of you coaches and former players, much of the technical coaching stuff is beyond me, but I got a feel for what Buzz was doing recruiting and game coaching. I have not quite got there for Wojo yet. But it seems he has found a way to get through to the team.
We still have way too many turnovers, although LSU was great at creating them. We have to get much better, but other opponents will not be as good.
Free-throws: ARRRGGHH. We shot 58%, which is not good. Added to that, we missed a bunch of the front ends of 1 +1's. If we shot a respectable 70% of what we got, not counting the ones we could have gotten, we score another three points and this game does not go down to the wire.
That Simmons kid is pretty good. That Ellenson kid was not bad either. For the first time, I saw what could be a lottery pick. Yes, NBA teams look at tools and potential and all that, but up to this point, he has not looked like an NBA player to me. Tonight was different. He still did not look like an NBA player, but I can see how he may well by the end of the season. Maybe he doesn't come back next year.
Passing was excellent, and not just from Carter. Some really beautiful passes from the whole team.
Duane: ARRRRGH! Why oh why did he take that three? As someone noted, almost the exact situation as against IUPUI, and almost with identical results. The good point is that if he killed time off the clock and got fouled, he might well have missed the free-throws, and Simmons could have made his last dash down the court to take the lead without leaving any time for JJ's heroics, so it turned out OK. After the IUPUI game, Wojo said that he has a characteristic that all good shooters have to have: amnesia. He does not shoot thinking about how he shot the last one or how he has shot the whole game. OK, but I wish he would think about whether this is a good idea or not. Really, really dumb shot.
Still too many fouls. I think this will get better.
All in all, what many of us expected. A young, green, very talented team. Tonight we were far from perfect and made some mistakes, but we got by on talent and had enough drive to go do it. If we can do that consistently, we are going to be pretty good this year. A big if.
Observations on LSU
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11-24-2015, 12:26 AMunclejohnObservations on LSU
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11-24-2015, 08:27 AMTheSultan
Duane's last shot was dumb, but overall he played very well. Remember he is only four games into his sophomore year.
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11-24-2015, 09:23 AMNukem2Very true.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSultan
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11-24-2015, 10:30 AMunclejohn
Sure, the team is a work in progress, and I will take a win over a ranked team any day in any way. But they do have to learn how to close out games, and especially Duane. It does not accomplish much to play a solid game and then boot it away at the end.
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11-24-2015, 02:02 PMmufan2003Agreed. My favorite play from Duane was the acrobatic, reverse layup.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSultan
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11-24-2015, 02:20 PMCaribouJimA thing of beauty - some major athleticism there.Quote:
Originally Posted by MUFAN2003