LSU Coach Will Wade Continues to be "Frustrated" by Same Defensive Mistakes
As conference play reaches its final five game stretch, LSU finds itself in a precarious spot. The Tigers have dropped four of five and now find themselves on the outside looking in of a second straight SEC title.
That goal at this point seems far out of reach but what's more troubling for coach Will Wade is the fact the Tigers keep making the same mental mistakes over and over again.
"It's the same script," a frustrated Wade said after the game.
All of LSU's problems stem on the defensive side of the ball. The Tigers, particularly in the second half of this recent losing streak, continue to be put out of position on rotations, allowing teams to either move the ball for wide open three-point looks or drive right by their frontcourt players for easy looks at the basket.
On Tuesday against Kentucky it was a little of both as the Wildcats shot 17-for-23 in the final 20 minutes and went 7-of-8 from three-point range. It was a gut punch for LSU as the Wildcats had shot just 31.9% from deep coming into the game, good for No. 243 in the country.
"Keep making the same mistake. Same guy keeps making the same mistake over and over and over again," Wade said. "Same thing happened at Alabama, same thing happened in this game. It's frustrating."
As the onslaught reached it's pinnacle with Kentucky knocking down back-to-back wide open threes to go up 15 points, Wade exploded on the sidelines. His tirade was directed at one player in particular, freshman Trendon Watford, who just kept his head down as his coach laid into him about being smarter on the defensive end.
Wade has a theory as to why LSU's second half defense is so horrid. With the defense being on the LSU side of the court in the first half, it allows the coaching staff to be the eyes and ears for the Tigers to get into the proper rotations.
When the sides flip for the second half and LSU is no longer able to rely on the coaches advice, all hell breaks loose. Kentucky dropped 50 points in the second half against the Tigers after a 29 point first half that saw the Wildcats shoot just 31% from the field.
"I'm not acting like, 'Oh, we've got all this great stuff,' but in the first half, the defense is in front of our bench," Wade said. "As a coaching staff, we can do a lot of the thinking for them. We can call it out, tell what they're doing, get them in the right position, get the matchups. In the second half, the defense is away from our bench. We can't tell them everything that's going on because it's not in front of our bench. So the second half, we usually give up a ton of points. That's where you have to have players step up and be able to do it."
LSU has not had that vocal leader step up on the defensive side of the ball and it's reached the point where the only people that can make the proper adjustments are the players themselves. The Tigers have settled on a seven man rotation that quite simply isn't playing up to the expectations set by Wade and the coaching staff.
Wade said, if he could, he'd be playing other guys but a shallow bench, especially in the frontcourt, prevents him from taking guys out out so they can sit and watch on the floor what they're actually supposed to be doing.
Now all hope is not lost for LSU as the Tigers have five winnable games down the stretch to help improve their NCAA tournament sheet. Wade hopes that these corrections can be made over the next few weeks because if not, a season that just two weeks ago was filled with so much promise, will be a lost opportunity.
"Hopefully, they'll be improved," Wade said. "If not, we'll be playing home games in the NIT."
