We interrupt the end of basketball season to remind you that LSU baseball has just begun its SEC schedule. LSU went to Tennessee and dropped the first game 6-5 and looks like they will wait until Sunday to play again due to weather. A 6-5 loss is actually a perfect indicia of the season so far.
If you're an optimist, you'll see the good things from the game: Matt Clark hit his seventh home run of the season, which is as many as any tiger hit last season. Every starter got on base once, showing some real depth in the lineup. Bradford, our All-American pitcher, threw nine strikeouts in five innings of work. And Aaron Ross threw three innings of scoreless ball from the pen. The team fell behind and rallied back, and had the tying run at second and the go-ahead run at first in the 9the inning. All of these were good things.
If you're a pessimist, you start with the obvious: we lost. Bradford, a guy we need to be awesome, let up six runs in five innings, which isn't good. Sure, everyone got on base, but no one had a multihit game. Hollander drew the team's only walk, and he was hitless. Jared Mitchell kept up his trend of striking out at a truly prodigious rate. LSU rallied, but that means they fell behind: 6-1 after six innings. And LSU never put up a crooked number on the scoreboard, scoring 3 or more runs.
Both groups are right. There are some really encouraging signs from this team. Clark is a masher. Blake Dean is picking up where he left off last season. DJ LeMahieu has been a revelation both in the field and a the plate. The pitching has been solid, though not overwhelming. Even Mike Hollander is hitting .300. And there are quality bats coming off the bench. They are even playing good defense. This team is ten times better than last year's squad.
But that isn't saying much. Last year's squad was terrible. The bullpen is still unreliable. LSU has been getting wins, but they have played a creampuff schedule. Even with the steady diet of patsies, LSU has been unable to get a sweep, seemingly always dropping the third game. That points to the weakness of finding a third starter and the bullpen. Mainieri has been unable to find a starting job for Helenhi, who is one of the team's better hitters. Hollander's hitting .300, but with no power. And while Dean is a stud, finding the other two outfielders has been the biggest problem. Mitchell strikes out way too much. Escobar was awful but coming off injury, Landry is hitting .229, Jones may not be ready, Pontiff lacks speed and power, and Gaudet... well, I can't find a problem with Gaudet other than he can't seem to get the starting gig.
A lot of this is nitpicking. The team looks pretty good, but the SEC is capital "L" loaded, so pretty good may not cut it. And potential around these parts don't make the sun shine. LSU expects wins in baseball. The pieces are there, and hopefully, they are coming together. Because I'm feeling like an optimist today.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Sue Calls Paul Finebaum
I've talked about my love/hate relationship with talk radio before. I find much sports talk radio to be vapid, senseless, and borderline offensive, but I still listen. Well, yesterday, on my way home from work I was listening to Paul Finebaum's show and he got a caller named "Sue".
The call was a long one. Sue did not like the way Finebaum was acting, in particular with regards to Finebaum's famous dust-up with Mark Gottfried's wife at a basketball game about 6 weeks ago. Sue and Finebaum got into a pretty good argument, with Sue making the following points/observations:
Finebaum, of course, resorted to what he's done a whole lot of lately. He dwelled on the fact that Sue was a woman, and that Elizabeth Gottfried was too. He said Gottfried "stuck her breasts in his face." He said he can "never get a woman to stop talking." Finally, Finebaum said, "Sue you obviously just don't understand what the purpose of programs like this are." Then he quizzed her on her sexual ethics, and accused her of having problems with men.
On the contrary, I think Sue knows exactly what the purpose of Finebaum's program is. She just doesn't like it. OK, the comment about the big trucks was way out of line, but honestly we all know people who drive big trucks for no practical purpose.
Of course, when she was done and the program moved on to other topics, Finebaum wasn't done with her. He called her a "stupid bitch" when another caller asked about it. The next caller really struggled to defend Finebaum, saying he wasn't calling for Mal Moore to fire Gottfried but merely "expressing his opinion." Left unsaid is that the "opinion" referenced is that Mal Moore should fire Mark Gottfried.
I say, hats off to Sue. She called him out on his misogyny and he naturally responded by calling her a "stupid bitch" and suggesting that she was a whore. Score one for Finebaum on that one. He clearly proved her wrong.
The call was a long one. Sue did not like the way Finebaum was acting, in particular with regards to Finebaum's famous dust-up with Mark Gottfried's wife at a basketball game about 6 weeks ago. Sue and Finebaum got into a pretty good argument, with Sue making the following points/observations:
- People who call for a coach's firing should be people who somehow contribute in some concrete way to the coach's program. Otherwise, they don't have a stake in it.
- Finebaum has the advantage of being able to continue talking when the caller hangs up.
- People who call his show posture and talk big but never have to actually make a decision.
- His callers are poseurs who act aggressively and drive big trucks to compensate for their insecurities.
- Finebaum himself cries about the fact that Elizabeth Gottfried "accused" him of calling for her husband's firing, which he has in fact done dozens of times.
- Finebaum is a jerk for bringing his beef with Mark Gottfried to Gottfried's wife.
- Finebaum's show encourages the worst kind of bellyaching and ultimately does more harm than good.
- Mal Moore doesn't owe Finebaum or anyone else an explanation for why Gottfried has not been fired.
Finebaum, of course, resorted to what he's done a whole lot of lately. He dwelled on the fact that Sue was a woman, and that Elizabeth Gottfried was too. He said Gottfried "stuck her breasts in his face." He said he can "never get a woman to stop talking." Finally, Finebaum said, "Sue you obviously just don't understand what the purpose of programs like this are." Then he quizzed her on her sexual ethics, and accused her of having problems with men.
On the contrary, I think Sue knows exactly what the purpose of Finebaum's program is. She just doesn't like it. OK, the comment about the big trucks was way out of line, but honestly we all know people who drive big trucks for no practical purpose.
Of course, when she was done and the program moved on to other topics, Finebaum wasn't done with her. He called her a "stupid bitch" when another caller asked about it. The next caller really struggled to defend Finebaum, saying he wasn't calling for Mal Moore to fire Gottfried but merely "expressing his opinion." Left unsaid is that the "opinion" referenced is that Mal Moore should fire Mark Gottfried.
I say, hats off to Sue. She called him out on his misogyny and he naturally responded by calling her a "stupid bitch" and suggesting that she was a whore. Score one for Finebaum on that one. He clearly proved her wrong.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Out With a Whimper
Any positive momentum gained by the men's basketball program in the closing weeks of the season was dampened yesterday by its ignominious and unceremonious ousting from the SEC Tournament, which also ended the team's season. Let's hope it does not end Anthony Randolph's career.
What's worse, because of the early weekday start time, no one with a regular 9-5 job like myself got to actually see it.
Strangely, for the first time in a while, LSU actually had scoring balance. The swing shifters, the college students, and the unemployable all got to see a balanced scoring attack that saw five Tigers score in double figures, but saw no one take over the game for the Tigers. Randolph and Johnson got their points, but also committed turnovers, and couldn't keep the mediocre Gamecock frontcourt off the scoreboard. Thornton hit for 17, but shot well under 50% from the field, and missed a lot of 3-pointers. Garrett Temple wasn't his usual self, as he fouled out in just 26 minutes and was held scoreless. As a result, South Carolina's good guards ran roughshod over us at times.
So now it's time for the basketball team to regroup for next year, probably under a new coach. I like Butch Pierre, but I think his only real chance of keeping the job was if we made a serious run in the tournament. For all the talk of improved play, which is true, this team was still only barely above .500 with Butch as head coach. He'll catch on somewhere though, and we'll probably see him as a head coach somewhere at some point in his career. He did and admirable job, but I think the basketball team needs an experienced head coach who can bring excitement to the program.
Who is that? Well, the three I keep hearing are Tim Floyd, Anthony Grant, and Mike Davis. Tim Floyd is currently coaching USC, and he has major Louisiana ties. He's also reportedly been interested in coaching the Tigers in the past. I don't know if he'd leave USC at this point, as they seem to have something pretty good going on despite a mediocre season this year.
Anthony Grant is currently at Virginia Commonwealth, and you have to think he'd jump at a chance to coach in a major conference. I can think of no real downside to hiring Grant. His teams have had success at VCU, having gone to the second round of the tournament in his first year. He was a long time assistant under Billy Donovan at Florida, and you have to think he'd love to come back to the SEC as a head coach. There are no guarantees he'd be successful, but he's a legitimate candidate who would bring excitement to the program.
Mike Davis is currently at UAB. He has been a head coach somewhere every year since 2000, and he took his Indiana team to the NCAA tournament finals in his second year. He has had success at UAB, and according to many has made that school the best basketball program in the state, which is a pretty substantial compliment considering UAB is a C-USA school and there are two SEC schools in Alabama. Since his trip to the Finals, however, he has only been to the NCAAs twice and has not advanced past the second round. He has not taken UAB to the NCAAs yet, and may not be able to do so this year after losing early in the conference tournament. His team finished second in C-USA, but Memphis pretty much sucked all the air out of that conference this year.
Players love Mike Davis. When Davis was fired from Indiana to hire Kelvin Sampson (that worked out great for them, didn't it?), one of Indiana's best players, Robert Vaden, transferred to UAB to be with Davis and sat out a year. He's been UAB's best player, and has real pro potential. Instead of going to the NBA, he decided to sit out a year and follow Mike Davis. Davis also got a commitment from one of the best players in the 2009 recruiting class in DeMarcus Cousins, who made it clear he'd go wherever Davis was. Davis, then, is a package deal with a 5-star power forward.
Things to think about.
If I was the one making the decision, I don't know which of the three I would ask first. All have their plusses and minuses. Floyd may not want it, and isn't exactly a charismatic guy. Grant is inexperienced as a head man. Davis is pretty close to the dreaded label "retread". I think we need charisma and excitement, but we could also really use a Demarcus Cousins.
What's worse, because of the early weekday start time, no one with a regular 9-5 job like myself got to actually see it.
Strangely, for the first time in a while, LSU actually had scoring balance. The swing shifters, the college students, and the unemployable all got to see a balanced scoring attack that saw five Tigers score in double figures, but saw no one take over the game for the Tigers. Randolph and Johnson got their points, but also committed turnovers, and couldn't keep the mediocre Gamecock frontcourt off the scoreboard. Thornton hit for 17, but shot well under 50% from the field, and missed a lot of 3-pointers. Garrett Temple wasn't his usual self, as he fouled out in just 26 minutes and was held scoreless. As a result, South Carolina's good guards ran roughshod over us at times.
So now it's time for the basketball team to regroup for next year, probably under a new coach. I like Butch Pierre, but I think his only real chance of keeping the job was if we made a serious run in the tournament. For all the talk of improved play, which is true, this team was still only barely above .500 with Butch as head coach. He'll catch on somewhere though, and we'll probably see him as a head coach somewhere at some point in his career. He did and admirable job, but I think the basketball team needs an experienced head coach who can bring excitement to the program.
Who is that? Well, the three I keep hearing are Tim Floyd, Anthony Grant, and Mike Davis. Tim Floyd is currently coaching USC, and he has major Louisiana ties. He's also reportedly been interested in coaching the Tigers in the past. I don't know if he'd leave USC at this point, as they seem to have something pretty good going on despite a mediocre season this year.
Anthony Grant is currently at Virginia Commonwealth, and you have to think he'd jump at a chance to coach in a major conference. I can think of no real downside to hiring Grant. His teams have had success at VCU, having gone to the second round of the tournament in his first year. He was a long time assistant under Billy Donovan at Florida, and you have to think he'd love to come back to the SEC as a head coach. There are no guarantees he'd be successful, but he's a legitimate candidate who would bring excitement to the program.
Mike Davis is currently at UAB. He has been a head coach somewhere every year since 2000, and he took his Indiana team to the NCAA tournament finals in his second year. He has had success at UAB, and according to many has made that school the best basketball program in the state, which is a pretty substantial compliment considering UAB is a C-USA school and there are two SEC schools in Alabama. Since his trip to the Finals, however, he has only been to the NCAAs twice and has not advanced past the second round. He has not taken UAB to the NCAAs yet, and may not be able to do so this year after losing early in the conference tournament. His team finished second in C-USA, but Memphis pretty much sucked all the air out of that conference this year.
Players love Mike Davis. When Davis was fired from Indiana to hire Kelvin Sampson (that worked out great for them, didn't it?), one of Indiana's best players, Robert Vaden, transferred to UAB to be with Davis and sat out a year. He's been UAB's best player, and has real pro potential. Instead of going to the NBA, he decided to sit out a year and follow Mike Davis. Davis also got a commitment from one of the best players in the 2009 recruiting class in DeMarcus Cousins, who made it clear he'd go wherever Davis was. Davis, then, is a package deal with a 5-star power forward.
Things to think about.
If I was the one making the decision, I don't know which of the three I would ask first. All have their plusses and minuses. Floyd may not want it, and isn't exactly a charismatic guy. Grant is inexperienced as a head man. Davis is pretty close to the dreaded label "retread". I think we need charisma and excitement, but we could also really use a Demarcus Cousins.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
It's Tourney Warm-Up Time
One of the immensely regrettable things about college basketball is how the NCAA tournament, the 64-team behemoth, sucks all the air out of the room. It is truly the end-all, be-all of college basketball, to the exclusion of all else. The point of the regular season and the conference tournaments is to set the field of 64. Success in the pre-tourney season is measured by what kind of a draw you get in the tournament.
I wish that was not the case. While I find the NCAA tournament to be very enjoyable, I believe that winning your conference regular is an important accomplishment. Winning your conference tournament is another important accomplishment. Most people believe that it's only important to win your conference tournament if you need to do so in order to make the tournament.
In order to win the SEC tournament, a team has to win 3 or 4 games in quick succession, fighting fatigue and playing against multiple different styles of game. After your first or perhaps your second game, you no longer have any opportunity to actually prepare for any given opponent, because you won't know who it is in time to do anything about it. You just have to go out there and play. May the best team win.
LSU is one of about 6 teams in the SEC whose season is probably over unless they win the conference tournament. Bama is another. Our opponent South Carolina is another. I know here in Alabama, some people are reportedly high on the Tide's prospect of actually winning it, despite the fact that Bama hasn't won two consecutive SEC games since the 2006-2007 season, and has won only one conference game outside of its home gym in the last two years.
LSU has played much better of late, and I believe we are a dangerous team. We are capable of going out there and beating anyone. We get South Carolina first, and I think we match up well against them. Their best player is their point guard Devan Downey, and we have good on-ball guard defensive play with Garrett Temple. They lack size and physicality near the basket, so they won't be able to muscle Randolph and Johnson away from the goal quite as easily as other teams can. We may have a big mismatch near the goal in this game.
Last time these two teams played, Randolph got 20 points, and Johnson was also in double figures. Temple held Devan Downey in check, allowing him only 6 points on the game.
What South Carolina does very well is shoot the 3-pointer. Zam Frederick can go out there and light it up, which he did against us in scoring 21 points. Of course, we have Marcus Thornton, who can do the same thing.
Where LSU finished the season on a relatively strong note, winning 4 of its last 5 games, South Carolina went the other way, losing 5 of its last 6 and 7 of its last 9.
I think we should win this game, but of course you never know. That 4-game winning streak that ended on Saturday could have taken it all out of us. We shall see. Or rather, we will see the highlights, because I will be at work while this game is going on at noon.
Speaking of poor scheduling, the only really good team playing today is scheduled to start up at 2:15pm, when most people are still working. Could this have been more poorly planned.
But hey, that barnburner between Bama and Florida is in prime time. Good show.
I wish that was not the case. While I find the NCAA tournament to be very enjoyable, I believe that winning your conference regular is an important accomplishment. Winning your conference tournament is another important accomplishment. Most people believe that it's only important to win your conference tournament if you need to do so in order to make the tournament.
In order to win the SEC tournament, a team has to win 3 or 4 games in quick succession, fighting fatigue and playing against multiple different styles of game. After your first or perhaps your second game, you no longer have any opportunity to actually prepare for any given opponent, because you won't know who it is in time to do anything about it. You just have to go out there and play. May the best team win.
LSU is one of about 6 teams in the SEC whose season is probably over unless they win the conference tournament. Bama is another. Our opponent South Carolina is another. I know here in Alabama, some people are reportedly high on the Tide's prospect of actually winning it, despite the fact that Bama hasn't won two consecutive SEC games since the 2006-2007 season, and has won only one conference game outside of its home gym in the last two years.
LSU has played much better of late, and I believe we are a dangerous team. We are capable of going out there and beating anyone. We get South Carolina first, and I think we match up well against them. Their best player is their point guard Devan Downey, and we have good on-ball guard defensive play with Garrett Temple. They lack size and physicality near the basket, so they won't be able to muscle Randolph and Johnson away from the goal quite as easily as other teams can. We may have a big mismatch near the goal in this game.
Last time these two teams played, Randolph got 20 points, and Johnson was also in double figures. Temple held Devan Downey in check, allowing him only 6 points on the game.
What South Carolina does very well is shoot the 3-pointer. Zam Frederick can go out there and light it up, which he did against us in scoring 21 points. Of course, we have Marcus Thornton, who can do the same thing.
Where LSU finished the season on a relatively strong note, winning 4 of its last 5 games, South Carolina went the other way, losing 5 of its last 6 and 7 of its last 9.
I think we should win this game, but of course you never know. That 4-game winning streak that ended on Saturday could have taken it all out of us. We shall see. Or rather, we will see the highlights, because I will be at work while this game is going on at noon.
Speaking of poor scheduling, the only really good team playing today is scheduled to start up at 2:15pm, when most people are still working. Could this have been more poorly planned.
But hey, that barnburner between Bama and Florida is in prime time. Good show.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Character Issues
With the commitment of Russell Shepard last week, it seems like as good of a time as any to discuss an aspect of Les Miles' recruiting that has not been much discussed. Les Miles seems to be more-and-more passing on players with character problems in favor of players with real leadership skills, and I think this will pay off for LSU in the long run.
What do I mean by "character issues"? Well, for one, I think he is shying away more and more from kids who are far away academically from qualifying. This year, by all reports, even very good players are getting passed over if their academics aren't in order. We can all point to examples of kids who have not qualified in the past, such as DeAngelo Benton, that Miles has taken. And that's fine. Grades are not the end-all, be-all of character, but bad grades are a risk factor.
This year, we are reportedly turning away quality football players whose grades aren't up to snuff. Well, I think that may be too strong of a term. We aren't "turning them away". We're telling them to go back to the classroom and show that they can do what they need to do to get qualified and THEN they may get an offer if we still need them. This reportedly happened to Russell Shepard's teammate Hasan Lipscomb, in-state offensive linemen Chris Faulk and Carneal Ainsworth, in-state linebacker Tahj Jones, and possibly others. Les Miles is asking these guys to show that they can improve their grades before he will accept a commitment from them.
Miles has gone in the opposite direction from recruiting a bunch of very talented prima donnas who think they can coast through life. He seems to have concentrated on finding guys who can graduate high school early and get with the team as quickly as possible. After dipping his toe into the early-enrollee waters with Joseph Barksdale in 2007, he seems to have jumped into those water enthusiastically now. One member of the 2008 class, linebacker Kellen Theriot, is currently participating in Spring Practice, and many thought that all-everything cornerback Patrick Johnson would be able to as well, but his clearance from the NCAA came too late to enroll early.
For the 2009 class, Miles already has commitments from two players who expect to enroll in January of 2009: quarterback Russell Shepard and athlete Dexter Calhoun (more on him another day). There may well be more than that.
Not every coach likes to get players in early. I remember that Nick Saban allowed it, but at the same time discouraged recruits from enrolling early. I don't remember all the reasons for it, but I respect that opinion, even if I disagree with it.
He's also staying away from players who have gotten into trouble. One very high profile Louisiana kid, who will go nameless here, is apparently getting the cold shoulder from us in part because of an arrest in his recent past.
Miles is concentrating not only on guys with the grades, but also guys with leadership skills. You hear Michael Ford talk and you can just tell this kid oozes leadership. The same is true of Russell Shepard. Reports out of some quarters said that Patrick Johnson was like a magnet for other athletes. Even star athletes, with their understandably enormous egos, looked up to Patrick Johnson and considered him a natural leader.
Why is Miles concentrating so hard on getting leaders and high character guys? Well, I think one explanation is probably fairly obvious to anyone paying attention. I think Ryan Perrilloux has probably added a lot of grey hair to Miles' head since his recruitment in 2005, and because Perrilloux was the only quarterback recruited in a 3-year stretch, he is kind of stuck with him now unless he wants to bite the bullet and play a Jarrett Lee or Andrew Hatch. I think Miles is very good about learning from mistakes, and he doesn't want to get stuck again having to rely on someone who is fundamentally unreliable.
It's not all negative reenforcement, however. I think you only have to look at the 2007 season and see what leaders and high-character guys like Jacob Hester, Kirston Pittman, Ciron Black, Darry Beckwith, and Glenn Dorsey can do for a team. As is becoming evident from the coverage of the NFL draft we're seeing, that team may not have been as talented as many people thought. We may have only two players (Dorsey and Doucet) drafted on the first day, when many people early in the season believed that Ali Highsmith, Craig Steltz, and Chevis Jackson could all be high picks as well, and believed players like Beckwith and Tyson Jackson might be tempted by big dollars to leave early, where now it looks like they may not have been high picks had they come out. That team won with a combination of talent and leadership, and Les Miles is smart enough to learn from that and put his learning into action.
If this continues, this is going to be one of the great classes in LSU history, both on Signing Day and into the future.
What do I mean by "character issues"? Well, for one, I think he is shying away more and more from kids who are far away academically from qualifying. This year, by all reports, even very good players are getting passed over if their academics aren't in order. We can all point to examples of kids who have not qualified in the past, such as DeAngelo Benton, that Miles has taken. And that's fine. Grades are not the end-all, be-all of character, but bad grades are a risk factor.
This year, we are reportedly turning away quality football players whose grades aren't up to snuff. Well, I think that may be too strong of a term. We aren't "turning them away". We're telling them to go back to the classroom and show that they can do what they need to do to get qualified and THEN they may get an offer if we still need them. This reportedly happened to Russell Shepard's teammate Hasan Lipscomb, in-state offensive linemen Chris Faulk and Carneal Ainsworth, in-state linebacker Tahj Jones, and possibly others. Les Miles is asking these guys to show that they can improve their grades before he will accept a commitment from them.
Miles has gone in the opposite direction from recruiting a bunch of very talented prima donnas who think they can coast through life. He seems to have concentrated on finding guys who can graduate high school early and get with the team as quickly as possible. After dipping his toe into the early-enrollee waters with Joseph Barksdale in 2007, he seems to have jumped into those water enthusiastically now. One member of the 2008 class, linebacker Kellen Theriot, is currently participating in Spring Practice, and many thought that all-everything cornerback Patrick Johnson would be able to as well, but his clearance from the NCAA came too late to enroll early.
For the 2009 class, Miles already has commitments from two players who expect to enroll in January of 2009: quarterback Russell Shepard and athlete Dexter Calhoun (more on him another day). There may well be more than that.
Not every coach likes to get players in early. I remember that Nick Saban allowed it, but at the same time discouraged recruits from enrolling early. I don't remember all the reasons for it, but I respect that opinion, even if I disagree with it.
He's also staying away from players who have gotten into trouble. One very high profile Louisiana kid, who will go nameless here, is apparently getting the cold shoulder from us in part because of an arrest in his recent past.
Miles is concentrating not only on guys with the grades, but also guys with leadership skills. You hear Michael Ford talk and you can just tell this kid oozes leadership. The same is true of Russell Shepard. Reports out of some quarters said that Patrick Johnson was like a magnet for other athletes. Even star athletes, with their understandably enormous egos, looked up to Patrick Johnson and considered him a natural leader.
Why is Miles concentrating so hard on getting leaders and high character guys? Well, I think one explanation is probably fairly obvious to anyone paying attention. I think Ryan Perrilloux has probably added a lot of grey hair to Miles' head since his recruitment in 2005, and because Perrilloux was the only quarterback recruited in a 3-year stretch, he is kind of stuck with him now unless he wants to bite the bullet and play a Jarrett Lee or Andrew Hatch. I think Miles is very good about learning from mistakes, and he doesn't want to get stuck again having to rely on someone who is fundamentally unreliable.
It's not all negative reenforcement, however. I think you only have to look at the 2007 season and see what leaders and high-character guys like Jacob Hester, Kirston Pittman, Ciron Black, Darry Beckwith, and Glenn Dorsey can do for a team. As is becoming evident from the coverage of the NFL draft we're seeing, that team may not have been as talented as many people thought. We may have only two players (Dorsey and Doucet) drafted on the first day, when many people early in the season believed that Ali Highsmith, Craig Steltz, and Chevis Jackson could all be high picks as well, and believed players like Beckwith and Tyson Jackson might be tempted by big dollars to leave early, where now it looks like they may not have been high picks had they come out. That team won with a combination of talent and leadership, and Les Miles is smart enough to learn from that and put his learning into action.
If this continues, this is going to be one of the great classes in LSU history, both on Signing Day and into the future.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Look Back to 2006
Following up last week's retrospective on the 2005 signing class, here is an early retrospective on the 2006 class. Obviously, there isn't as much information available about the 2006 recruiting class as there is about the 2005 class, because these guys have played one fewer year. However, I think there's enough information to make the task worthwhile. Of course, all grades are tentative as there is still time for players to break out (or fail to break out).
QB: None
Analysis: Not getting a QB in this class has certainly put us in a bit of a bind. We have Ryan Perrilloux as a junior and no scholarship sophomore or senior QBs other than Hatch, the Harvard transfer. A good QB in this class could have really helped out.
RB: Keiland Williams - *****, Richard Murphy - ****, Charles Scott - ****
Grade: A
Analysis: These guys are now the key runners on the team, and should be one of the team's strengths no matter what happens with the QB situation.
OL: Matt Allen - ****, Steve Singleton - ***, Mark Snyder - ***, Zhamal Thomas - ****
Grade: D-
Analysis: Pewww! Three of these four are no longer on the team, and the fourth appears to not be in the two-deep and to have been passed by younger players on the depth chart. Zhamal Thomas was allegedly involved in a burglary and was dismissed. Singleton left for reasons unknown. Snyder's career ended due to injury problems. You can't blame Snyder for that one, as he endured two catastrophic knee injuries. Matt Allen had a lot of good press at this time next year, but he seems to have gotten lost on the practice field.
WR: Jared Mitchell - ****, Chris Mitchell - ****, Ricky Dixon - ****
Grade: C-
Analysis: This group has a combined 22 catches for their careers, none of them have been particularly memorable, and none of them came in the last 6 games of the season last year. Actually, Jared Mitchell looked like he was getting somewhere early last year. He made 13 catches in the first 7 games, several of them in SEC play. Then he stopped getting the ball once Doucet returned from injury. Of all these players, Jared seems the closest to becoming a productive player, but he's not there yet. For the Mitchells, it's now or never. I think if they don't do something this year, they will get passed on the depth chart by multiple freshmen this year.
TE: Richard Dickson - ****, J.D. Lott - ***
Grade: A
Analysis: One guy who looks to be an All-America candidate next year, and another guy who left the team. That's an A-grade in my opinion. Dickson had a huge breakout year as a receiver last year, and is a 2-year starter at tight end. If we're lucky, he'll stay for his senior year.
DL: Al Woods - *****, Pep Levingston - ***
Grade: B
Analysis: Woods has been a mild disappointment, but he's a solid contributor. He just doesn't dominate like we'd expected. Pe Levingston looks like a solid depth player, but it's not certain he'll ever get starters' time. All-in-all, something of a light defensive line class, made lighter because Charles Deas never made it to campus.
LB: Derrick Odom - ****, Perry Riley - ***, Jacob Cutrera - ***, Kelvin Sheppard - ***
Grade: B
Analysis: The highest rated guy on the board never played a down, while the three-stars have gotten significant playing time as reserves. Riley looks like a stud to me, and Sheppard looks like a solid player. Both have excelled at special teams and it's now their turns to really have a shot at starting. There are probably no All-Americans in this group, but Riley could be an All-SEC type guy.
DB: Jai Eugene - ****, Danny McCray - ***, Troy Giddens - ***
Grade: Incomplete
Analysis: I'm just not prepared to give a grade to Jai Eugene yet. Danny McCray has become a key player as the nickel back, though he sometimes struggles in coverage. Giddens is off the team for the same reason as Zhamal Thomas. The key here is Eugene. He's played well on special teams, but he has struggled when he's gotten into the game at corner, after being one of the most sought-after defensive backs of his class. Fact is, he didn't play defense for the last year-and-a-half he was in high school, and is learning the position from scratch as a Tiger.
You look at this class and you have to think there are some disappointing aspects to it, though it could end up being stronger than it looks right now. Perhaps the coaches would have liked to have redshirted the Mitchells, but didn't have the receiver depth to do it. Perhaps if Thomas and Snyder hadn't had their problems, the offensive line class would look a lot better. Perhaps if Deas had made it to campus the defensive line would look better.
Still, there are also things to like about this class. The running backs and linebackers appear to be strengths, and Richard Dickson might end up being the best player from this class, and maybe our best tight end ever.
QB: None
Analysis: Not getting a QB in this class has certainly put us in a bit of a bind. We have Ryan Perrilloux as a junior and no scholarship sophomore or senior QBs other than Hatch, the Harvard transfer. A good QB in this class could have really helped out.
RB: Keiland Williams - *****, Richard Murphy - ****, Charles Scott - ****
Grade: A
Analysis: These guys are now the key runners on the team, and should be one of the team's strengths no matter what happens with the QB situation.
OL: Matt Allen - ****, Steve Singleton - ***, Mark Snyder - ***, Zhamal Thomas - ****
Grade: D-
Analysis: Pewww! Three of these four are no longer on the team, and the fourth appears to not be in the two-deep and to have been passed by younger players on the depth chart. Zhamal Thomas was allegedly involved in a burglary and was dismissed. Singleton left for reasons unknown. Snyder's career ended due to injury problems. You can't blame Snyder for that one, as he endured two catastrophic knee injuries. Matt Allen had a lot of good press at this time next year, but he seems to have gotten lost on the practice field.
WR: Jared Mitchell - ****, Chris Mitchell - ****, Ricky Dixon - ****
Grade: C-
Analysis: This group has a combined 22 catches for their careers, none of them have been particularly memorable, and none of them came in the last 6 games of the season last year. Actually, Jared Mitchell looked like he was getting somewhere early last year. He made 13 catches in the first 7 games, several of them in SEC play. Then he stopped getting the ball once Doucet returned from injury. Of all these players, Jared seems the closest to becoming a productive player, but he's not there yet. For the Mitchells, it's now or never. I think if they don't do something this year, they will get passed on the depth chart by multiple freshmen this year.
TE: Richard Dickson - ****, J.D. Lott - ***
Grade: A
Analysis: One guy who looks to be an All-America candidate next year, and another guy who left the team. That's an A-grade in my opinion. Dickson had a huge breakout year as a receiver last year, and is a 2-year starter at tight end. If we're lucky, he'll stay for his senior year.
DL: Al Woods - *****, Pep Levingston - ***
Grade: B
Analysis: Woods has been a mild disappointment, but he's a solid contributor. He just doesn't dominate like we'd expected. Pe Levingston looks like a solid depth player, but it's not certain he'll ever get starters' time. All-in-all, something of a light defensive line class, made lighter because Charles Deas never made it to campus.
LB: Derrick Odom - ****, Perry Riley - ***, Jacob Cutrera - ***, Kelvin Sheppard - ***
Grade: B
Analysis: The highest rated guy on the board never played a down, while the three-stars have gotten significant playing time as reserves. Riley looks like a stud to me, and Sheppard looks like a solid player. Both have excelled at special teams and it's now their turns to really have a shot at starting. There are probably no All-Americans in this group, but Riley could be an All-SEC type guy.
DB: Jai Eugene - ****, Danny McCray - ***, Troy Giddens - ***
Grade: Incomplete
Analysis: I'm just not prepared to give a grade to Jai Eugene yet. Danny McCray has become a key player as the nickel back, though he sometimes struggles in coverage. Giddens is off the team for the same reason as Zhamal Thomas. The key here is Eugene. He's played well on special teams, but he has struggled when he's gotten into the game at corner, after being one of the most sought-after defensive backs of his class. Fact is, he didn't play defense for the last year-and-a-half he was in high school, and is learning the position from scratch as a Tiger.
You look at this class and you have to think there are some disappointing aspects to it, though it could end up being stronger than it looks right now. Perhaps the coaches would have liked to have redshirted the Mitchells, but didn't have the receiver depth to do it. Perhaps if Thomas and Snyder hadn't had their problems, the offensive line class would look a lot better. Perhaps if Deas had made it to campus the defensive line would look better.
Still, there are also things to like about this class. The running backs and linebackers appear to be strengths, and Richard Dickson might end up being the best player from this class, and maybe our best tight end ever.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Basketball Woes
I watched much of the women's basketball game last night, the SEC Tournament title game against Tennessee. LSU lost 61-55. The loss was a result of poor offensive execution and poor free throw shooting more than anything. Down the stretch, LSU missed 3 front-ends of one-and-one free throw situations, and went 3 1/2 minutes without scoring a field goal.
It was a very good and very exciting game overall. Except for some brief occasions where Tennessee busted out to a lead of 7 or 8 points, it was a very close game throughout, with many lead changes. We occasionally went through stretches of poor play, and we just happened to go through one right at the end of the game.
On the men's side, we lost our final regular season game against MSU. Mississippi State is a really good team, and it showed. We played well for a while, but once again we had very little diversification of offense, as most of our points were scored by 3 players: Marcus Thornton (38), Chris Johnson (17), and Anthony Randolph (14). The rest of the team combined for 6 points. When Johnson got into foul trouble, the team really fell behind and never recovered.
The SEC Tournament is next for us, beginning at noon on Thursday. I really think we have a shot in this tournament. On the right day, I think we can beat anyone in the conference. Of course, we've also proven we can lose to anyone as well. I guess as long as we don't get Arkansas we have a chance. They seem to be our kryptonite. We would meet them in the semifinals if both teams make it that far.
Honestly though, as long as we win one and stay competitive against Tennessee in round 2, I will be moderately satisfied.
It was a very good and very exciting game overall. Except for some brief occasions where Tennessee busted out to a lead of 7 or 8 points, it was a very close game throughout, with many lead changes. We occasionally went through stretches of poor play, and we just happened to go through one right at the end of the game.
On the men's side, we lost our final regular season game against MSU. Mississippi State is a really good team, and it showed. We played well for a while, but once again we had very little diversification of offense, as most of our points were scored by 3 players: Marcus Thornton (38), Chris Johnson (17), and Anthony Randolph (14). The rest of the team combined for 6 points. When Johnson got into foul trouble, the team really fell behind and never recovered.
The SEC Tournament is next for us, beginning at noon on Thursday. I really think we have a shot in this tournament. On the right day, I think we can beat anyone in the conference. Of course, we've also proven we can lose to anyone as well. I guess as long as we don't get Arkansas we have a chance. They seem to be our kryptonite. We would meet them in the semifinals if both teams make it that far.
Honestly though, as long as we win one and stay competitive against Tennessee in round 2, I will be moderately satisfied.
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