By Kent Lowe
Sr. Associate Sports Information Director
(1/6/00)
The preliminaries are now over. It is time to get down to business. The time has come to see who has the goods and who is putting up a good front. It’s time to start playing conference games in the SEC.
How good is LSU? How will this season turn out? Are we all going to be surprised, one way or another?
The answers are all on the who really knows list. But I think we are all very pleased with what we have seen so far.
Here’s what we know so far about the LSU men’s basketball team:
This team plays hard, very hard, all the time. So far, the team has thrown no clunker. Even against Arizona when the Tigers fell behind, the team continued to try to work within the system as they had been taught.
We’ve seen people step up and accept the roles given to them. Ronald Dupree knew that with Stromile Swift and Jabari Smith both gone, there was a need inside to step up the scoring and rebounding. Dupree has done that and much more, not only being able to score inside, but also he has also shown the ability to drop down about 15 feet from the goal and bury the jumper. He has five double-doubles this season in 10 games. Need we say anything more.
Collis Temple is making his Dad proud and the LSU coaching staff and fans happy with his play. The man public address announcer Dan Borne’ loves to call CT III has stepped up big time as well and has worked hard on his game to make nights like his SEC Tournament game last year against Vanderbilt more than a once-a-year occurrence.
That brings us to the three returning starters: Brian Beshara, Lamont Roland and Torris Bright. They have provided LSU with a strong base upon which to build. They have also accepted the new LSU offense this season and realize the potential it provides for all of them if they continually pass the ball guard-to-guard and move the ball around for the open shot. LSU is making more threes a game this year by getting, taking and making the open shots.
One must not forget Jermaine Williams, who has played rock steady minutes in every game and gotten two starts along the way. You need players like Williams to be successful. Then there are walk-ons like Charlie Thompson and Jason Wilson. The two first-year players have helped with what little depth there is on the team and played roles that many would find difficult to accept with great satisfaction.
In other words, LSU is playing as a team. A short, undersized, under stocked team, but a team at that and, above all, that is good. The record in non-conference games has been strong. People took notice when they played Arizona for 30 minutes before depth and size finally caught up with them. More people took notice when they took down Oregon State from the Pac-10 in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic.
But what will they do in the SEC? That my friends, is the question.
Those of you who were in the Assembly Center got a good idea about what some SEC games will be like. LSU didn’t shoot but 28.6 percent in the second half, got pounded on the boards, didn’t make a lot of free throws, but found a way to beat Wyoming, 73-69. Expect games like that all the time over the next eight weeks.
There are going to be nights when LSU will not be able to compete because teams will be bigger, more talented and deeper.
But in saying that, let me also say that this may just be the LSU team that does know how to win. The Wyoming victory was another game in which the Tigers could have rolled over and gone home and watched the national championship game.
But not this group. When John Brady says he likes this team that is high praise. You see in it in the practices. The players respond to what the coaches are trying to get across and when it works it is a thing of beauty. Even when things aren’t going exactly right as in the second half of the Wyoming game, the Tigers are smart enough to get the job done.
Alabama and Vanderbilt are next to open SEC play and then later in the month a non-conference game with Centenary. Now you may ask, how many games are the Tigers going to win in the league?
The answer is: I don’t know. But let me say, that my original call of 14 wins heading into the SEC Tournament seems a little low doesn’t it. But remember, I’m the guy who called the over under a year ago at 17 wins.
Until next time, welcome to the SEC and enjoy the games!!!!