LSU has now lost three games in a row after a demoralizing 64-50 loss on the road against Tennessee. After the game, Head Coach Will Wade said it was the worst his team had played all season. Fortunately for LSU, the next stretch of games will not be nearly as challenging, and the Tigers will have time to get healthy ahead of the coming months. With all of that said, here are three takeaways following LSU’s third loss in a row.
This team needs Xavier Pinson back.
This game marked the fourth game in a row that point guard Xavier Pinson has missed following a knee injury, and LSU is now 1-3 in those games. When watching this team on offense, it is easy to tell that something is missing when Pinson is not on the floor. LSU’s offense had already had its struggles with Pinson, and now with him out, there is no real facilitator and floor general. Eric Gaines hasn’t done a bad job filling in for Pinson in the starting lineup, but he lacks the offensive instincts and scoring ability that Pinson provided this offense. Having Pinson back will by no means fix all of the problems on offense, but his return would give the offense the calming and steady presence that it needs. Fortunately, it appears that Pinson is not too far from being healthy again, and he will be much needed as LSU goes down the stretch in SEC play.
The turnovers are a serious issue.
This ties back into Pinson being out, but one of the biggest things that has hindered LSU these last three games is the constant live-ball turnovers. LSU turned the ball over 14 times against Tennessee, and for an offense that already struggles to score, this makes it almost impossible to compete on the offensive end. Having live-ball turnovers especially, are killer for any team because they lead to easy baskets on the other end. These turnovers have been a big reason for LSU getting in early holes in games, and not being able to sustain momentum when the offense does heat up. LSU’s defense is very good, but it is hard to constantly play transition defense, and be successful because the ball is constantly being turned over. This will likely show some improvement when Pinson is back healthy, but either way this is an issue that must be fixed heading into the business end of the season.
There is still no need to panic just yet.
The biggest thing that comes to mind with this LSU team, is that this recent stretch of results doesn’t necessarily define who this team is. LSU started conference play with an extremely challenging seven-game stretch, and despite coming out 3-4, there still seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
The Tigers still put together two quality wins against Kentucky and Tennessee earlier in conference play, and have shown plenty of fight and resilience in the losses as well.
Another item to note is that LSU has yet to lose a game this season when everyone was healthy. Pinson has missed the last four games and shooting guard Brandon Murray was out in the loss against Auburn. LSU will get a more favorable stretch of games coming up and this gives the team a perfect chance to get healthy and find a rhythm again heading into March.
