With the LSU basketball season looming, players and coach Wade talked about the areas the team needs to improve to make sure a 10-21 season isn’t duplicated.
Since Wade’s arrival, the first year coach has enforced a defense first mentality to his players, but the area the Tigers have excelled in has been the offensive end of the floor.  
Freshman forward Brandon Rachal said every player on the team has the ability to shoot the three ball and that points should come in bunches.
“We have a lot of snipers on the team,” Rachal said. “A whole team full of snipers.College three, NBA three it doesn’t matter.”
Wade said the team needs to focus on making the defense the main identity of this team.
Last week, an SEC prediction had LSU finishing at the 14th spot in the conference. Wade said the focus in the locker room is not on what the media thinks but what each player believes can be accomplished this season.
“I understand why we were picked 14th,” Wade said. “It’s where we came in last year, we lost our leading scorer.  That would be a solid conclusion to come too.”
Junior forward Brandon Sampson said projections is not something the team will dwell on.
“We control our own destiny,” Sampson said. “We won’t be thinking about where somebody else thinks we are.”
With four new freshmen coming to the team this season one name that continues to be a talking point is four star recruit Tremont Waters.  Waters has impressed Wade with his passing ability and his hard work.
“The last week to ten days he’s really picked it up,” Wade said. “There’s a learning curve and there will be some ups and downs.  He sees guys, it’s like he has five eyes.  You may not think you’re open but he thinks you’re open so it will be high risk high reward.”
Waters said Wade’s coaching style is what pushed him towards signing with the Tigers after decommitting from Georgetown.  
“He reminds me of my father a lot,” Waters said. “He knows his P’s and Q’s and I liked how he studied the game.”
In addition to four new freshmen, the Tigers have added four new transfer players in an attempt to add a veteran presence. Graduate transfer Jeremy Combs transferred from North Texas and is itching to get back on the court after a ligament tear in his ankle.
Combs has been doing some non-contact basketball drills with a return projected in a few weeks.
“I have a lot of experience,” Combs said. “I’ve been focusing on treatment and I believe in the doctors and everything we have going on here.”
Wade also provided an injury update with senior forward Aaron Epps being added to the list. Epps is expected to be out a week or two with a foot injury that has lingered for a little while.
“I didn’t think it was anything serious,” Epps said. “I almost fractured it so they just wanted me to rest it. It’s been tough but I trust coach and all the work me and my teammates have put in.”