LSU Basketball Has "A Lot of Work to Do" Ahead of SEC Opener at Auburn

Darius Days didn't exactly know how to answer the question. Following another blowout non-conference win, Days was asked what the Tigers need to do to improve before the SEC opener against Auburn next week.

He looked to his left at teammates Xavier Pinson and Brandon Murray, smiling as if all three were a part of an inside joke that nobody else outside of the program. Then all at once they belted out a variation of the same answer.

"We got a lot of work to do."

That's been kind of the response in recent weeks whenever it's been brought up by reporters on the level the team feels its playing at. From an outsider's perspective, a 12-0 record with one of the truly elite defensive resumes in the country would be a good place to start.

But head coach Will Wade is always looking towards the future and wants to instill that kind of mindset in his players because he knows what's coming.

"I think we're under achieving. I don't think we have anybody on our team playing at their best right now," Wade said. "I think we're getting closer with some of them but to me until we get all eight guys playing at their best, underachieving.

"Comfort is the enemy of progress. We got a lot of comfort. We got guys who are comfortable with just being ok with how they're playing and they're capable of so much more. We're capable of so much more as a team as well when we get those guys playing better. That's what I'm after, that would make me happy."

"Comfort is the enemy of progress."#BootUp pic.twitter.com/9w7Xf65Yhd
— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) December 23, 2021

Days and Pinson are really the only two players on this current roster who know what LSU is walking into next season. Wade was the first to point out that last year during the COVID-19 restrictions was not a true SEC road environment. Starting Dec. 29 with a road game at Auburn, LSU goes on a string of seven straight games facing teams at or near the top 25 to begin conference play.

That's a gauntlet of a schedule for LSU to have to maneuver and if the team plays like it has been, Wade sees the writing on the wall. The fifth year Tigers coach was not pleased with the 10 second half turnovers on Wednesday night against Lipscomb and made sure his players knew that after the fact.

"Everybody gets excited because we did that, that's not working next Wednesday at Auburn in that environment," Wade said. "We go down there and cough the ball up like that, the roof's caving in. There'll be hanging from the rafters up there, it's the toughest environment in our league. I can see down the road, I live for reality and what's fixing to happen. That's the facts."

Starting fast was something Wade and the team were focused on and did exactly that by jumping out to an 18-5 lead early in the game. LSU simply can't afford to dig itself in a double digit hole starting with Auburn next week and expect to come back later.

"Pinson and Days are the only ones who have been through this in a real environment," Wade said. "There was no such thing as road environments in COVID, you had fricken cardboard cutouts and 20 people in the stands. The students are gonna be jumping on our locker room at Auburn next Wednesday night. It's gonna be totally different and that's what I told them."

The team is a little banged up right now so Wade will be giving the players off the next few days to rest before coming back and starting prep work for Auburn on Dec. 26. Forward Tari Eason, who is battling some discomfort in his back, is in wait and see mode according to Wade after the game.

Pinson, who went down with an injury in the second half and didn't return, thought he felt a pop but there is no ligament damage in his ankle so he thinks he'll be fine.

"We need the rest," Wade said. "A bunch of us are getting booster shots but we need a couple of days off. We need a couple of days to get our legs back under us and go from there."