After about four or five hours of sleep I returned to the Athletics Department Monday morning after 12 days in Australia with the LSU Basketball team to find … my office was still there!
I think that’s a good thing.
While I’m really not sure what day or time zone I’m really back in after a marathon of flying, and I’m still looking for Wednesday, Aug. 12, which never seemed to happen for me on the flight over, but all-in-all it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit a county I probably would never have had an opportunity to visit.
Here are some of my observations on the trip, first from a basketball perspective, then some trip observations as well:
1. The foreign trip every four years if strategically used can be a big benefit. LSU will head into October practice with 10 days of practices prior to leaving to work on plays, strategy and defensive sets. Five games in Australia gave them 200 minutes of video that will show them what worked and what was exposed by opponents. All useful things that will put this team ahead of other teams when fall work begins. So that was a good thing and to have the ability to travel in a year when you have a young team and replacing two NBA draft picks worked out very well.
2. Having seen the games in person, I have no qualms with LSU’s three-win record in five games. Yea, it could have been four, but the game with the Sydney Kings of the NBL helped LSU win games three and four on the tour. There was too much riding for Melbourne United, and catching LSU for a second time in the Tigers’ fifth game in eight days, made it an almost impossible situation when LSU’s shooting went drastically down, but still overall more positives than negatives especially in games 1-4.
3. I hope I was able to convey, and I’m not sure I did very well, how different the game is played in FIBA rules. The most apparent one is the reset only to 14 when a team gets an offensive rebound. There isn’t a lot of time to reset an offense completely, but it can work if the person rebounds and realizes quickly what his options are. Melbourne United for example, did a great job several times on offensive rebounds swinging the ball out for an open three-pointer, a part of the game they have excelled in the NBL.
4. The All-Star teams that LSU beat were better than I expected them to be. LSU’s win in Brisbane against the Queensland All-Stars when they scored the final three points in a 91-88 win was a good one and showed that they learned from the loss to Sydney. These guys were older, more experienced players and that added to their edge. They also understood how to hand check or make life miserable for LSU and that was something the Tigers had to work through as their efforts got called for many fouls in the game with Sydney and the first game with Melbourne resulting in a great disparity in foul shots.
5. Ben Simmons and Darcy Malone coming home was a great thing, and I saw Simmons play in person for five games as did his legion of fans back home. But he isn’t the only one that made LSU successful for three wins and nearly a fourth on this tour. Tim Quarterman is showing more improvement in his game as he goes from sophomore-to-junior, Keith Hornsby is going to be a solid senior for this team and let’s not sleep on the two other freshmen on this team – Brandon Sampson and Antonio Blakeney. Both can score and score bunches, both outside and inside. With players like Quarterman and Simmons scoring and getting other players the ball in the contest offense as well, the chances to have nights where multiple players score good point totals and those two having lots of assists. We may have also seen some of the play that Aaron Epps and Brian Bridgewater can give to this team as well.
6. Finally, what also makes a trip like this good is that the coaching staff and players are together for a long time. You find out a lot about your team chemistry. While on the court LSU did not have Craig Victor and Josh Gray, this looks like a team that enjoyed its time together but grew together as a team unit and that’s something that will also put LSU ahead of the game as fall practice begins.
Now on to the trip itself. It was exciting to see a part of the world, to see kangaroos and koloas, and to see some differences on that side of the world. I lived for 12 days without CNN or ESPN, but I did grind Fox Footy for those Australian Rules Football games. To see the game live, courtesy of the Hawthorn FC was pretty awesome and the game is even wilder in person.
The trip to the wildlife refuge in Sydney was special as the cruise around the sights in Sydney. To see the team gather for trips to sight see or dinner was nice and did I mention there hasn’t been a more spectacular setting for a press conference when Coach Jones, Simmons and Malone held their session on the roof of the Holiday Inn Sydney with a harbor and the Sydney Opera House in the background. That was pretty spectacular.
I’ll never forget the first night in Newcastle when the PA played the recording of the Australian anthem and the crowd sang the anthem. Together. On Key. Loud. It was one of those goose bump moments.
Then there was the game at Dandenong Stadium, outside Melbourne when LSU defeated United in the first meeting. The place was packed but it was more a neutral site game as the cheers for LSU was just as loud as for Melbourne. Some 2,200 were jammed in but even more amazing was that elsewhere in this big athletic venue adult and youth rec league games were going on. This facility even had indoor sand volleyball courts.
And just think about some of the music and smoke and fire at some NBA games and that was the atmosphere at Hisense Arena Saturday night. I mean there was so much smoke and fire in the pregame I thought they were going to have to open the retractable roof for a few minutes. Amazing to see what they can do with a venue that we as Americans think of as only a venue for Australian Open tennis.
It was a great trip. While I’m glad in many respects to be back with my friends and colleagues in Baton Rouge, I would have hated to miss what Australia had for me to see and enjoy. But most importantly, I saw the first steps in an LSU Basketball journey. It’s still a work in progress. There is much work and a much longer journey lies ahead. But now I really can’t wait to see where the journey leads us in the months ahead.
2015 Australia Tour Schedule of Exhibition Games
Saturday, Aug. 15, 7:30 p.m. (4:30 a.m. CT)
LSU def. Newcastle All-Stars at Newcastle Basketball Stadium in Newcastle, 89-75
Sunday, Aug. 16, 7 p.m. (4 a.m. CT)
LSU lost to Sydney Kings (NBL) at Brydens Stadium at University of Sydney, 97-95
Tuesday, Aug. 18, 7:30 p.m. (4:30 a.m. CT)
LSU def.. Queensland All-Stars at NAB Basketball Stadium in Brisbane, 91-88
Thursday, Aug. 20, 7 p.m. (4:30 a.m. CT)
LSU def. Melbourne United at Dandenong Stadium in Melbourne, 97-89
Saturday, Aug. 22, 7 p.m. (4 a.m. CT)
LSU lost to Melbourne United at Hisense Arena in Melbourne, 82-64