by Will Stafford
LSU Sports Information
Sophomore forward Brandon Bass scored 30 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the LSU men’s basketball team to an 83-69 victory over the University of Louisiana-Lafayette in the title game of the LSU Louisiana Classic on Nov. 21.
But it was another Tiger whom ULL head coach Robert Lee said was the key to LSU’s victory.
“We knew we would have a difficult time being able to guard Brandon Bass, but we could not let Antonio Hudson do what he did,” said Lee. “We didn’t get back in transition and he hits a wide-open three. That got his confidence going. They are a difficult team to beat if he does what he did.”
Hudson, a Grambling, La. native who scored 22 points and was six-of-six from three-point range against the Ragin’ Cajuns, earned such a reputation as a freshman by being named to the 2002 SEC All-Tournament team, averaging 21.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in three games in Atlanta.
This achievement was the highlight of a rookie season that saw Hudson average 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in leading LSU to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
“That year I was a freshman — a kid right out of Grambling — and it was my first time really playing on a big stage,” said Hudson. “I really didn’t have a lot of pressure on me to perform.”
Instead, that pressure was placed on the shoulders of the veteran players on the team.
“We had veteran guys on our team like Ronald Dupree, Torris Bright, Brad Bridgewater and Jermaine Williams who sheltered me,” said Hudson. “If I played and had big numbers it was a plus to the team.”
Hudson believes that his performance as a freshman may have created unrealistic expectations in his development as a sophomore, a season in which he averaged 7.5 points per game.
“Any person can feel the pressure to come in and perform, because everybody expected me to perform every game like I performed in the SEC Tournament,” said Hudson. “There is a pressure, but that is the type of pressure that an athlete should want.”
Hudson also believes that the talent level and depth of the 2002-2003 team, which advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, caused his point production to drop.
“With the situation of the team — we had four seniors and we signed Jaime Lloreda, who was national player of the year in junior college — I didn’t want to go out and play selfish looking for my shot.
“I didn’t want to be a selfish type player, and I kind of got in a shell within myself. Instead of steady being aggressive, I was being passive and trying not to be selfish.”
Hudson has since come out of his shell and is currently second on the team with 14.0 points and 4.3 assists per game, including a 47.6 shooting percentage from three-point range.
He attributes much his early-season success to the fast-paced offense that head coach John Brady has installed this season.
“It helped boost my confidence as a player,” said Hudson. “The offense in itself is showing that the coaches have more confidence in their perimeter players and more confidence in them to make plays.
“Coming out of high school, that’s what we did and that’s how I played. I was used to it, and to get back to that style of play can help my game out a lot.”
Hudson will not measure the success of his senior season in Baton Rouge in terms of the number of points he scores or how many rebounds he grabs. Instead, he said that his success will be determined by his consistency as a player and winning.
“I really don’t want to look at the numbers,” said Hudson. “I want to be more consistent and have a consistent year. I want to do whatever it takes for the team to win. As long as we win then I feel like I’m doing my job.”
Hudson acknowledges that part of his job is to provide the team with senior leadership in the same way that Dupree, Bright, Bridgewater and Williams did for him early in his career.
“I feel like that if I come in here and practice everyday and show my teammates that I’m practicing hard everyday, that should give them incentive to want to practice hard,” said Hudson. “I just try to lead by example.”
He believes that all of the pieces are in place for the 2004-2005 edition of LSU men’s basketball to do something special for the University and the city of Baton Rouge.
“I feel like that if everything stays together, we continue to play as a team and everything keeps going right, we really could do something big,” said Hudson.