Coach Bradys opening statements regarding the 1999-00 Tigers:
Our team has progressed to the point where our biggest obstacle is not to let our own selves stop us from being successful. The choices that people make can affect the success and failure of our team. Everything our players do outside of playing basketball will affect the team. The first year of our program, the team established a work ethic and a system of how we were going to approach basketball at LSU. The second year we kind of started all over. Last years team we had nine new players (eight freshman) no off-season program. We started all over again. Last years team was better than the first year team. We lost some heartbreaking games. I noticed two things after the second year, we needed to get stronger and we needed better guard play. We have now had an off-season with seven or eight players who have been in the program for a year. That went through a spring and summer of strength and conditioning. We have recruited well. In spite of some limited scholarships, we have used them wisely. This is our best and most talented team. It is also our most experienced team this year. In comparison to the two previous teams, the third year team has some trust in the coaching staff and believe in what the coaching staff is doing.
Coach Brady talked about three newcomers who will have an impact for the Tigers this year:
Ronald Dupree from Biloxi. He is a 6’6″ swing man who will play 3 and 4. Very athletic. He has been involved in the off-season conditioning program. Torris Bright from Slidell who will be a big time scorer and shooter.
Collis Temple is a redshirt freshman. He has done extremely well in the off-season. He will add much needed depth.
Lamont Roland the national junior college player of the year. He put up some big numbers in junior college.
Coach Brady spoke about the returning players to the program:
Jabari Smith and Brian Beshara are more experienced. They have been in the program and will compliment each other. Stromile Swift will benefit from actually practicing. He will have 35 or 36 practices before he plays the first game. He bulked up to 228 pounds from 207. Brad Brigewater is the best athlete on our team. He will add some depth on the front line. Jermaine Williams who played the most minutes by any freshman on last years team is back. He is going to have good year. He is a good basketball player.
Coach Brady spoke about his three goals for the LSU program:
We are going to recruit well, schedule smart, and coach intelligently in that order.
Coach Brady opened questions to the media:
Who will be the GO-TO man on the team now that Maurice Carter is gone?
We have some players who can shoot the ball as well as Maurice and some of our players are better off the dribble.
Will you talk about your depth at point guard?
The point situation is critical in terms of depth. Torris came to LSU because he saw an opportunity to play immediately. Collis Temple and Lamont Roland might be able to help out and get the ball up the court. We are going to need to find someone who can spell Torris for five or six minutes. We are going to have to be creative as a coaching staff. It is definitely a problem for our team.
Will you talk about your depth on the front line?
I like the front line consisting of Jabari Smith, Brian Beshara, Stromile Swift, and Bridgewater. We have enough guys were we can play big or play small.