First of all, huge kudos to the unranked LSU basketball team on their almost-upset of very very good, #1 OU team.
I applaud the energy and effort LSU gave until the very last, should've been a foul on Quartermann play. (Don't get me started on how I feel college refs absolutely stink..)
When focused and fired up, LSU showed it has the talent to compete with anyone.
But this was a game LSU deserved to win, and didn't for very apparent reasons.
And when I pointed out these reasons, I was literally mocked (lol, actually called ignorant!) on Twitter by very experienced, nationally know sports people for this post-game tweet:
OU patience, experience, well-coached offense trump LSU's sloppiness, effort and continued YMCA offense. Heartbreaker.
Notice I didn't call out players, I didn't demean or degrade a coach. I simply point out glaring facts:
- LSU guards = 8 turnovers
- Simmons - ZERO points in last 10 minutes, ONE - repeat ONE - shot in last 5 minutes
- in last 15 minutes, OU executed and got wide open jumpers all over the floor, especially the perfectly-run game winner with 3.8 seconds.
And the biggest culprit of LSU's double-digit 2nd half lead but eventual loss:
Johnny Jones offense: Miles 1.0
JJ is beyond a phenomal recruiter (and by all accounts, a great overall person).
But in year 4 of his tenure, why can't JJ implement any semblance of an offense?
I have said for years, JJ's offense resembles a YMCA pickup game or an AAU run-n-gun game, pick your poison.
There were several instances in OU game, where a high pick-and-roll was set, guard passed back to picker, and picker was totally unprepared for the pick and pop. (cue the YMCA theme music...)
Also, LSU ran the same high double-screen play for Blakeney almost every time down court late and/ or swing ball and try futile (awful lob entry passes..) passes to Simmons posting up. OU sniffed out the former, and Blakeney rarely was open.
And the latter, if LSU knew how to execute a simply bounce pass, Simmons would have actually scored in last 10 minutes.
And to that point, how does JJ/LSU NOT somehow get Simmons the ball down the stretch?
I strongly disagree with JJ's claim OU was doing a good job on Simmons. I watched every second of the game: and they didn't front him nor double team him almost entirety of the game. ESPN analysts at halftime, and then even Dick Vitale was screeching how Simmons needed to get the ball down the stretch in the post.
Heild is a relentless and incredible shooter, no doubt,
But for 3/4 of game LSU played over every screen and also doubled Heild off screens, frustrating and checking him.
Then inexplicably in last 10 minutes, they stopped this defensive strategy. Why?
Lastly, I'd have LSU guards for hours, literally do nothing but drill on how to execute simple passes, especially bounce passes. I swear I don't know if I saw an LSU guard throw a bounce pass in the game! It is maddening how sloppy our guards are with basic passes. Against OU, LSU guards had 8 TOs, and I'd guess half were just lazy and poor angle passes into the post.
Again, major props to LSU for putting OU on the ropes. But this bout never should have come to the KO by OU with right under 4 seconds, if only JJ could implement a college-level offense and recognize they have a guy, #1 to-be NBA pick, Ben Simmons.
