February 1, 2018
A HOME FOR YELLOW JACKETS IMMORTALS
The Denham Springs HS Athletics Hall of Fame will be housed shortly at Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill in Denham Springs. More info coming your way in the weeks to come.
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
One of the smartest moves college football has made in the past 10 years is to wait until the middle of the season to release their first College Football Playoff poll.
As we saw with the Saints from their season opening loss at Minnesota to the playoff game that ended the season, the development of a team over the course of a season is significant.
There are many factors that impact the development of a team such as injuries, the maturity of young players, overall cohesion, and everyone learning what works best for that specific team.
It is for these reasons that DeMarcus Cousins’ injury completely blows in every way, shape, and form. Obviously, it is terrible for the player. Cousins dropped 25 pounds in the off season and was having his best season. In respect to the team, we had arrived to the part of the NBA season where teams find themselves, and it appeared the Pelicans had just found the better version of themselves.
Now the Pelicans have to start over again. The coaches have to adjust everything including substitution patterns, offensive and defensive plans. The players will have to adjust their roles on the team, and in many cases those roles could be more than their ability allows. The objective is for the Pelicans to work and see how good they can become no matter who is available. Unfortunately, the best the Pelicans can be the rest of this season is not as good as the best the Pelicans would have been with Cousins.
The LSU basketball team is in the same boat, but not because of injury. The Tigers have made tremendous strides this season, but they were about as good as they could be after the first three weeks of SEC play. Beating A&M twice, winning at Arkansas, and playing close games against Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt.
LSU may win only 5-6 conference games this year, but we must acknowledge that a team who wins six SEC games this year would have equated to 8-10 wins the past 4 years.
The problem is that LSU is very limited inside. Reath, Epps, and Sims have improved greatly from last year, but they are not physical rebounders. The guards don’t help in this area either. To make matters worse, some players have made poor choices and have been suspended as a result.
Due to the lack of physicality inside, LSU has to make a decision each game. Defend the three or defend the post. They are not physically capable of doing both. Therefore, if the opponent is able to do both, LSU is going to have a tough time stopping them. To the Tigers credit, they do a very good job of game planning and taking something away from their opponent. Unfortunately, they can only defend one thing at a time.
As rough as this patch of the schedule may be for LSU, Tiger fans can stay optimistic as they look toward the future. Waters, Mays, Sampson (if he returns), Sims, Rachal, and Edwards provide a solid foundation for next year. Ja’Vonte Smart will be somewhere in the starting lineup and will immediately improve LSU’s defense due to his size, athleticism, and competitiveness.
Every other new player will help LSU defend and rebound inside. Bigby-Williams is a 6’11” transfer from Oregon. Darius Days and Emmitt Williams are two 6’7” recruits that can play inside and outside and are very athletic. Finally, Naz Reid is one of the top inside prospects in the country that will only be at LSU for a year if things go according to plan.
The physical ability of next year’s roster will overcome the weaknesses LSU this year. The challenge will be for Coach Wade to get next year’s players to buy into the effort and commitment this year’s team has demonstrated. Fans don’t have to worry about those details. Tiger fans can simply be excited over the talent and potential of next year’s team, as well as the direction of the program.
HEY REF
And there are but two. Once again what appears to be a super match for all the marbles in sunny Minnesota may wind up to be yet another super bust. Instead of the Super Bowl living up to all the hype and being a game for the ages far too many times just the opposite takes place and we wind up with a super dud!
If you just so happen to be one of those that’ll place a dollar or two on your favorite team just to back up your reasons “WHY” you pick a certain team then all I can say is if you’re following where the “smart” money is going alls sunny in Philly. New England opened up a six and a half point favorite but in just 24 hours slipped to five points. That line has held firm for over a week and it’s a solid money maker for the bookies. If I were a betting man I’d have to give the five since most of these types of games are won/lost by the man lining up behind the center.
It’s not as if I had no confidence in Nick Foles since I’m always rooting for the underdog. I’d love to see the Texas native walk away with all the marbles because he’s been dealt a bad hand so to speak and he doesn’t know how to quit. 2017 is Foles second go around with the Eagles. He first played in Philly from 2012 – 2014. In 2015 he played for the Rams, 2016 was a member of the K. C. Chiefs before coming back to the Eagles in 2017.
Other than my love for the underdogs I just know not to bet against Tom Brady. I don’t need to waste ink, space or your time listing all the things Brady has accomplished and achieved in his Hall of Fame career. Doing so would be like me trying to make a case for the likes of a Babe Ruth or a Michael Jordan. Brady got a raw deal in the deflate gate circus simply because there’s no “i” in team. For whatever he did wrong or what he knew and was guilty of there were 53 players and an entire organization that benefitted. To punish one single player was so wrong on so many levels and I’ll leave it at that.
I’m no expert but I’ll do what everyone does and pick the wining team and the score of Super Bowl LII: N. E. 37 Philly 13. Sorry Eagles but Brady and company haven’t really blown a team out in the playoffs this year. Another thing in the Patriots’ favor is they’ve been to this dance enough times and won’t be surprised or distracted by the circus going on all around them.
I just have a feeling that this Super Bowl will be the one time and place for the Pats to finally start hot and blowout a team for an unbelievable sixth NFL Championship. The Eagles as hard as they’ll try won’t be able to concentrate and more likely will be distracted by all the cameras, the constant requests of players for interviews from sports writers and networks. Professional football today is as much a mental game as it is a physical one and for some strange reason teams not used to the attention just somehow fall apart in Super Bowlsbecause they can’t focus on the job at hand.
Yes, I hope I’m wrong because everybody loves the underdog and that includes me.
Till next week…
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