A month ago, it seemed LSU junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III’s decision to spurn a potential pro career for another year in Baton Rouge may have been a miscalculation.
A month ago, O’Bryant suffered through a slump in the early part of Southeastern Conference play. He appeared lackadaisical in his approach, and his once-dominant post game turned soft and uninspired.
But that was before a collapse at Ole Miss turned into 29 points against the No. 11 team in the country.
That was a month ago.
“This year, I think with having [freshman forward] Jordan Mickey and all the freshmen and all the talent we have, I kind of fell victim to kind of just thinking I didn’t have to take on a big load,” O’Bryant said.
O’Bryant is the first to admit games like Tennessee and Ole Miss weren’t up to par.
In the first three SEC games, O’Bryant barely averaged 10 points and 6.3 rebounds per game — both well below his 2013 averages. LSU went 1-2 in those games with the lone victory coming against 8-13 South Carolina by just three points.
O’Bryant hit a low after traveling to Oxford, Miss., to play Ole Miss in his home state. Scoring just six points in the contest, the 6-foot-9-inch big man was nowhere to be found as the Tigers fell to the Rebels in overtime.
LSU had a team meeting after a crushing defeat to Tennessee at home, but it took the collapse at Ole Miss for something to finally click for O’Bryant.
“I just feel like I have to be more aggressive,” O’Bryant said. “I have to be more assertive. I have to grab more rebounds. I have to produce more. If they need a bucket, I’ve got to score. I just feel like so much of this team’s success is on me.”
O’Bryant prefaced his words by saying he doesn’t want to take anything away from the hard work of his teammates, but his statement about the source of his team’s success holds up under analysis.
LSU has won four out of its last five games since Ole Miss, with O’Bryant averaging 21.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
The pinnacle of O’Bryant’s return to dominance came in the Tigers’ takedown of then-No. 11 Kentucky. O’Bryant threw up 29 points against the Wildcats and was unquestionably the most dominant force on the court.
“I went into that slump at the beginning of the year for whatever reason, but I think I’ve gotten a lot of confidence back with the shots I take,” O’Bryant said after his most recent outing against Arkansas where he posted 23 points and nine rebounds.
O’Bryant is playing with a swagger that wasn’t there earlier in the season. He commands the paint with an authority that draws in a second defender on almost every possession — something LSU coach Johnny Jones said the rest of the team is feeding off of.
“He returned, and for him to be impactful on the floor and for him to make a difference out there, our guys feed off that,” Jones said. “Johnny’s one of those guys, he doesn’t have the ego or whatever that drives guys away. He gets along with his teammates.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari cited the lack of a double team on O’Bryant in the first few minutes of the matchup as a primary reason why O’Bryant scored 10 points in the first six minutes — eventually leading LSU to victory.
Arkansas consistently double-teamed O’Bryant when he didn’t have the ball in his hands and sent a third man after him when he did.
If he could go back a month and give himself advice to get out of the slump, O’Bryant said he would go faster on the double teams. It’s been one of the biggest changes he’s made in his game the past few weeks and it’s helped to avoid any potential road blocks from the double team and allowed him to find the outlet to Mickey or along the perimeter.
“When he draws the double team, that of course draws the guys on the wings wide open for threes,” Mickey said. “Then he might also draw my guy on the double team and that leaves a lane to the basket, and I just have to be ready and wait for the ball.”
O’Bryant’s play sparks players like Mickey, who acts as the Tigers’ No. 2 guy down low.
In the past two outings, Mickey posted 36 points, 17 rebounds and 11 blocks. But possibly just as important for the young Tiger, Mickey seems to be breaking out of his quiet demeanor in favor of more emotional and electrifying performances now that O’Bryant is taking more of the load.
“That’s great leadership on his part to be able to take on a load like that and be able to put his team on his back and take us to wins,” Mickey said. “That’s something great to hear from him. He’s been the guy so far. No ones really been able to stop him.”
O’Bryant has at least 10 games left in a Tiger uniform before making another decision about his future. He could stay for his senior season, but it doesn’t seem likely after the first time around — although, O’Bryant said he always knew staying was the right call.
That means there are at least 10 games for O’Bryant to improve his stock and maintain the momentum he gained the past few weeks.
When asked if he has a few games like Kentucky left in him for this season, O’Bryant didn’t want to make any promises — except for one.
“I can’t predict the future, but I can say I’m going to go out and give the same effort each game.”