LSU Basketball in a "Much Better Place" As Regular Season Winds Down

After an 8-0 start to conference play followed by a 2-5 stretch, the road has been a rocky one for LSU in conference play as the 2019-20 regular season draws to a close this week. For some teams, a downward spiral like the one the Tigers have been on for the better part of a month would be a enough to destroy the psyche of a team but not this one.

On Monday, coach Will Wade said he feels the camaraderie within the locker room is as strong as it's been at any point this season.

"I think our team's in a much better place as a group holistically," Wade said. "We're on the right path right now and we just gotta stay on the path.

"I feel as good about our team as I have in about six weeks. I really feel like we're in a good place and starting to play better. You can feel it within our group when you're talking to them you can feel the energy. I'm hopeful that I'm not feeling indigestion or something like that but I feel like we're going to finish strong here."

That's a pretty quick turnaround for a team that just five days ago played possibly its worst game of the season in an 81-66 loss to Florida.

"I'm not really making excuses but when we went to Florida we weren't really in the championship race anymore and we were just off for whatever reason," Wade said. "If you're off just 3-5% you're going to get beat. The margins are so thin when playing good teams that if you're off by just a little bit, you're not going to win. The bottom line is we responded well and have most of the year and got the win [against Texas A&M]. Now we've got to build on that."

There's a few reasons behind the team's improved mindset and Wade thinks part of it has to do with the fact that there's an end in sight. Not a literal end as the goals of earning a double bye in the SEC tournament and a birth in the NCAA tournament remain the same.

When Wade said there's an end in sight it means the team is reaching the part of the season where it can actually see, reach and accomplish its goals.

"You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak and the conference tournament gives you some new life," Wade said.

The third year LSU hoops coach believes his team hasn't been able to put together consecutive good performances in about a month. As a result, Wade said it's important for the team to put a couple of back-to-back dominant performances together in order to give the team the confidence it needs heading into the SEC tournament.

It's important because when the team gets into an SEC tournament setting or if the cards play out, an NCAA tournament bid, there is no tomorrow after a bad showing.

"Our challenge is to play good games back-to-back because guess what, we're gonna have to start playing games back-to-back when we get to tournament play or we're gonna be done real quick," Wade said. We just need to stay consistent and be detail oriented."

With two games remaining in the regular season, that light at the end of the tunnel may be getting brighter and brighter, but that doesn't mean it's slowing down. Wade is hoping LSU will use these next two outings to springboard consistent play in the postseason but that's easier said than done.