![]() ![]() They'll still go to the NCAA tournament with a 23-10 record (KenPom has them at No. They also advanced to the semifinals of their conference tournament, but were ousted in overtime by Utah. It hasn't been perfect for Jaylen Brown or the Golden Bears as a whole. That's because the Golden Bears also unusually landed a top-flight freshman who spurned the traditional powers. The most obvious comparison to Simmons' situation is Cal. He was only a 33.1 percent jump-shooter, according to, and about the same from the three-point line at 33.3 percent. They were simply not enough to maximize what Simmons-who still isn't a great outside shooter-brings to the floor at this stage in his career. It's not that Simmons didn't have decent parts around him. He shot 48.9 percent from the field and 41.5 from three-point range. 13 at Houston, averaging 13.1 points and 2.9 rebounds in an average of 30.4 minutes per game. Hornsby played in 20 games with 19 starts this year after returning to the court on Dec. The senior wing required hernia surgery that forced him to miss a big chunk of the season's start, and then another aggravation forced him to miss the end run. Fellow freshman Antonio Blakeney is a nice part, but he's not totally ready for prime time (he missed 12 of 13 shots against A&M). Whoever drew Ben Simmons to LSU, rather than a powerhouse where he'd be coached well, deserves some blame, right?Ĭraig Victor also was used in a similar capacity. ![]() Maybe it was Jones who didn't have the energy. Jones couldn't convince his team to care more, to play to their strengths and to be more of a unit. The saddest thing wasn't losing-it was not caring. It allowed opponents to hit 51.8 percent of their shots (effective field-goal percentage) and really didn't seem to care where teams worked on the floor. 17-23 that basically put this team in a position where it had to go on a huge run (especially at the conference tournament) to have a chance of salvaging its season.ĭuring the three-game skid, LSU made just 48 of 80 free-throw attempts, was outscored in the second halves by a cumulative 40 points and gave up more open layups than the first half of an NBA All-Star Game. LSU had a brutal three-game losing streak from Feb. Jones was either sticking up for his guys or just plain clueless. LSU handled a short-handed Tennessee on Friday night and turned around and did nothing against a very good Aggie team. No assists and trailing by 22 points is great energy? How on this green earth, and any of the grass that perhaps LSU football coach Les Miles eats, could Jones say his team was playing with " great energy" at halftime? We'll obviously get to the coach, but here are a few reasons Simmons wasn't more successful. We certainly aren't here to say, gosh, LSU should have made it to the Final Four.īut was an NCAA bid too much to ask? We don't think so.Īnd whenever a team underperforms, that blame naturally lays on two people: the coach and his best player. What we're saying is, this wasn't really the year for Simmons to be the country's best player as we've expected freshmen of many recent years to turn into by March. The same could even be said for Grayson Allen at Duke-and the rest of the Blue Devils' cohorts in the ACC-who are typically aged more fine than usual, with the likes of North Carolina's Brice Johnson and Virginia's Malcolm Brogdon. Even the Pac-12 is led by a sophomore, Utah's Jakob Poeltl, who had first-round potential after last season but developed immensely as a sophomore. ![]() Virtually all of the key stars in the Big 12. 86, stuck right between Akron and William & Mary. ![]() We know the NCAA tournament doesn't technically take the 68 best teams-considering those smaller conference at-large bids and other upsets-but even by KenPom standards, LSU fell short: No. ![]()
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