LSU has been one of the most talked about teams this season mostly because they have the likely first overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Ben Simmons has been truly great as a freshman this season but the issue is that his team has underperformed big time after being ranked in the preseason polls.
Much has been made of the fact that LSU is unlikely to make the NCAA tournament this year because Simmons would be only the second player ever to miss the tournament and then go first overall in the NBA Draft that season. The other was Michael Olawokandi back in 1999. While that may be an ominous sign for Simmons considering Olowokandi was a bust, this is a huge indictment on an LSU team that has a lot of talent.
There has been some talk that if LSU was even close to deserving of an NCAA tournament bid they would get in because of Simmons' star power but they have shown that they are nowhere near worthy. That was never more evident than on Saturday afternoon when LSU was blown out by Texas A&M in the SEC tournament semifinals and only put up a measly 38 points.
Simmons put up a double-double in this one (10 points, 12 rebounds) but he did not have a very good game as he shot 4-11 from the field and 2-7 from the free throw line. As a team the Tigers shot just 21 percent from the field and while Texas A&M is a very good team and there is no shame in losing to them, it's the fact that they didn't even put up a fight that is mind boggling.
Teams will have games where they just don't shoot well, that's how basketball, and all sports work. The worst thing you can say about a team though, is that they are not playing hard and that has been the case with LSU too many times. As mentioned before LSU's talent is good enough to compete with anyone but their will to win just didn't seem to be there all season long and it culminated with an embarrassing loss on national TV.
It's easy to blame the players for the way this season went and they deserve it because they are the ones on the floor, but at some point the finger has to be pointed at the head coach. Johnny Jones did a great job of bringing in one of the top recruiting classes this season but he obviously did not do a good job of motivating them. At halfime of Saturday's loss Jones somehow thought that his team had good energy in the first half despite being down 22 points, which is laughable.
It is a shame that we will not get to see Simmons play in the NCAA tournament in what is likely his only college season but he and his team are clearly not deserving. Jones' job may be on the line now and rightfully so considering he couldn't get his team to compete when they knew their season was on the line. Who knows what the future holds for the Tigers basketball program but you can't help but wonder where it all went wrong for them this season.
