The Tigers’ last two losses can be summed up in basically the same description: They played horribly in the first half, going down by over 20 points, before steadily working their way to the brink of claiming victory and eventually fumbling the bag in crunch time.
A great second half performance means next to nothing if the first half does not come close to replicating it. A 20-point comeback is not impossible, especially considering LSU has almost done it in two straight games. But clawing your way back like that takes far too much effort, and as we’ve seen, leads to players using up all of their energy.
While this recent slump can be partially attributed to the team being riddled with injuries, it has also given us an overview of the team’s flaws.
For one, the team has had a ton of trouble covering the three in the past few games. According to Head Coach Will Wade, their defensive game plan revolved around limiting threes, but even with it being at the top of their list of things to focus on, the Commodores more than exploited the flaw on Saturday night.
“We had poor closeouts, we over helped, we helped when we didn’t need to,” Wade said. “[Myles] Stute is shooting 41% on the season and we just leave him wide open. Chatman, a known three-point shooter, just leave him wide open.”
“You are not beating many teams doing that.”
Vanderbilt scored a total of 39 points on three’s on 42% shooting and as Wade mentioned, these threes were not particularly contested. They also allowed Ole Miss to shoot 43%, which just so happens to be the same percentage that South Dakota State, the current best three-point shooting team in the country, is shooting.
Another huge problem, specifically in the first half, was the team’s overall effort. They trailed Vanderbilt in rebounding by double digits, giving the Commodores plenty of chances for points while also not getting any of their own.
In the last few minutes of the first half, the team looked defeated, lost and unconfident. It seemed like instead of making the most of the remaining time they had and perhaps putting a dent in Vanderbilt’s lead, they were just ready for the half to be over.
This team has had slow starts in the past, but it has never felt like a lack of effort was the cause until now. They may be without a key contributor and leader in Xavier Pinson, but Wade made it clear that this is no longer just a health issue.
“Some of its health, but we can’t blame it all on that,” Wade said. “We didn’t get an offensive rebound in the first half, that’s an effort issue. We don’t follow the details on the scouting report and give up 11 threes to their two best shooters. That’s a detail issue.”
“We need better play from a lot of folks. What we are doing is not good enough on a lot of fronts, so we need a lot of guys to step up and certainly play better.”
Their next game comes on the road against Texas A&M on Tuesday. The team’s next two games are tougher than these past two, and with the team in a five-way tie for seventh in the SEC, changes need to be made before the season completely falls apart.
