BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s basketball team got off to an early start this season with two impressive wins over Grambling and Southeastern Louisiana. Their reward: A trip to Hawaii to compete in the Honolulu Thanksgiving Shootout.
Don’t expect the players to be spending too much time on the sunny beaches of Honolulu. The team is going to Hawaii in an attempt to show everyone that they are a vastly-improved basketball team.
“We want to win”, said head coach John Brady. “A lot of things can happen in Hawaii. You’re in a different time zone, there are lots of distractions, and upset often occur.”
The Tigers will face Oakland (Mich.) in the first round of the tournament Friday at 4 p.m. CST in a game that can be heard right here on LSUsports.net.
“Oakland is a good team,” added Brady. “They played Michigan very tough in their first game. But, they’re a team we can beat.”
Other notable teams the Tigers may face in the tournament include Wyoming, Southwest Missouri State, and Fresno State.
“Wyoming is picked to win their conference. Fresno St. always seems to have some players who can play under (head coach Jerry) Tarkanian”, said Brady. “SW Missouri State has made it to eight tournaments in a row and made it to the Sweet 16 last year. We are going to face some tough opponents”, said Brady.
The Tigers have a better feeling about who they are as a team after the first two games under their belt. The team’s chemistry has developed quicker than most expected. “I have to believe every player is unselfish and wants to help the team win”, said Brady. “We have a lot of scorers, but the only way we will succeed is to be unselfish”, stated Brady.
Junior forward Brian Beshara came off the bench to lead the Tigers with 16 points against Southeastern Louisiana..
“We really are gelling together,” said Beshara. “The key to that success has been the young guys coming off the bench. (Forward) Ronald (Dupree) brings a lot of energy to the court when he gets in the game. Other young guys like (point guard) Torris (Bright), (shooting guard) Lamont (Roland) and (guard) Collis (Temple) have all been the players we hoped they would be so far. We have a better feeling as for as who we are as a team after those two games.”
Jermaine Williams scored 14 points for the Tigers and also added four assists in the victory over Southeastern Louisiana. He is looking forward to his first trip to Hawaii. “I’ve never been there so I can’t wait to go. We have not won a road game in long time, so hopefully we can come back to Baton Rouge with a few wins,” said Williams.
The trip will also give the team a chance to spend time getting to know each other better. This is very important for a young team with many new faces. Better relationships off the court will only lead to better results on the court.
“We will all be away from our families for Thanksgiving, but we will be with each other”, said Beshara. “We are going to be like a big family in Hawaii.”
And a family that will hopefully come back a few more wins. The Tigers have been to Hawaii three times in the 1990s and will look to produce better results this year than in their previous visits this decade. The Tigers have been to the Maui Invitational twice in that stretch, going just 1-2 on each occasion. In 1995, LSU traveled to Honolulu for the Hawaii Tipoff Classic where they dropped matches against St. Louis and Dayton.
A pair, or even three wins this weekend, will go a long way in building this team’s character and identity as the tough Southeastern Conference schedule approaches in early January.