Andy Katz of ESPN.com and has released his end of season rankings for the 2004-05 season and the LSU men’s basketball team has certainly been given a good placing.
Katz has LSU at No. 17 nationally, citing the front court of Brandon Bass and Glen Davis, incoming playing Tasmin Mitchell and guard Tack Minor. “As it stands now, the Tigers have the most talent returning in the West,” said Katz.
Connecticut is his number one team, followed by Duke, North Carolina, Villanova, Texas, Gonzaga, Oklahoma, Wake Forest, Boston College and Michigan State in the 10th spot. SEC teams Florida (12) and Kentucky (13) are in front of LSU’s No. 17 ranking with Alabama at No. 21.
Joe Lunardi has also posted his first Bracketology for the 2005-06 season and has put LSU high in the field as a No. 4 seed for the NCAA Tournament. Lunardi sees five SEC teams (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU) with South Carolina and Vanderbilt also considered.
Bass On Rolls-Royce Team
Long time ESPN announcer Dick Vitale has announced his early All-Rolls-Royce All-America teams for the 2005-06 campaign and LSU’s Brandon Bass, the 2004 SEC Freshman of the Year and the 2005 SEC Player of the Year, is on the first team at a forward position.
Bass, who averaged 17.3 points per game and 9.1 rebounds a game, is joined on the first team by Chris Paul of Wake Forest, J. J. Redick of Duke, Sean May of North Carolina and Adam Morrison of Gonzaga.
On the second team are Jarrett Jack of Georgia Tech, Anthony Roberson of Florida, Shelden Williams of Duke, Craig Smith of Boston College and Taj Gray of Oklahoma. The third team chosen by Vitale has Daniel Gibson and P. J. Tucker of Texas, Gerry McNamara of Syracuse, Eric Williams of Wake Forest, Maurice Ager of Michigan State.
Final SEC Statistics Out
With the conclusion of all play in the Southeastern Conference, the final league stats have been released by the league office and Brandon Bass was the leading field goal percentage shooter in the SEC at 56.7 percent (181-of-319). Bass became the first LSU player to lead the league in field goal percentage since Stromile Swift in the 2000 season.
Bass also was third in the league in scoring (17.3 ppg) and second in rebounding (9.1 rpg). Bass also was ninth in the league in free throw percentage (77.7 percent, 146-of-188) and tied for fourth in blocked shots at 1.60 blocks per game.
The Tigers had three other players in the top 20 scorers in the league — Glen Davis (15th — 13.5 ppg); Darrel Mitchell (19th — 13.1 ppg); and, Antonio Hudson (20th — 13.1 ppg). Davis was also ranked fourth in the league in rebounding at 8.8 boards per game.
Tack Minor was fourth in the league in assists at 4.37 a game, while Darrel Mitchell was third in the league in free throw percentage (84.6 percent — 77-of-91), sixth in steals (1.80 spg) and ninth in three-pointers per game at 2.23 a game. Antonio Hudson finished his senior season sixth in the league in three-point percentage at 39.5 percent (64-of-162).
Bass ranked 28th nationally in rebounding in the final NCAA statistics, while Davis was 41st in the final standings. The number 28 was good for Bass as that was the position his field goal percentage ended up ranked nationally.