Yesterday morning, LSU sophomore forward Jordan Mickey announced his decision to forgo his final two seasons of eligibility and enter the NBA draft. The decision came almost one week after fellow sophomore forward Jarell Martin announced he was doing the same.
Losing both players is a big hit to next year’s team, but Mickey’s choice will hurt the Tigers more.
Mickey has been a shutdown defender during his two years in Baton Rouge, totaling more than 100 blocks both years. The only other player to accomplish that feat is Shaquille O’Neal, which puts Mickey in pretty good company if you ask me.
He started as a freshman alongside current Milwaukee Bucks big man Johnny O’Bryant III and was able to play a lurking defender role. While O’Bryant absorbed blows from the strong centers in the Southeastern Conference, Mickey rotated over and got a help-defense block. It was a perfect one-two punch in the paint for the Dallas native.
Mickey isn’t the big bruiser many centers are in the paint. His style was built more on athleticism than brute force, and it showed a little this season.
Instead of starting next to a bigger, stronger center, he lined up as the biggest player on the court most of the time for LSU. I think playing against the bigger players led to some of his injuries and caused him to be more tired toward the end of games. He just didn’t have the frame to last as the lone enforcer in the paint.
Fans — and myself — have criticized Mickey throughout the year for being soft, but reflecting back, it wasn’t a fair assessment. Because of his build, defending centers put him in a bad position causing him to be less effective in most of LSU’s losses, and coach Johnny Jones didn’t have a player he felt comfortable rotating in to help him.
Freshman Elbert Robinson III began the season in that role but quickly became almost invisible after the early portion of the season. Jones tried sophomore Darcy Malone, but he didn’t fit the bill quickly enough to help the Tigers win games and get into the NCAA Tournament.
For LSU to get that far, Mickey had to play out of position and do a great job in most of LSU’s games, earning First Team All-SEC honors.
With Mickey on roster next year, Jones would have options across the lineup.
At guard, he’d have Tim Quarterman, Keith Hornsby, Jalyn Patterson, Josh Gray and incoming five-star freshman shooting guard Antonio Blakeney. Undecided five-star combo guard Malik Newman has also become a real possibility, putting the Tigers among his top choices alongside Kansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State.
In the frontcourt, he could’ve played any combination of No. 1 overall recruit Ben Simmons, Mickey, Robinson, Malone and Brian Bridgewater. Jones could’ve used a presumedly improved Robinson to help keep Mickey off the big bruisers, or play up-tempo with Simmons and Mickey at the same time.
With Mickey gone, LSU looks to be in the same spot up front as last season.
If he’s as good as advertised, Simmons is on another planet compared to the talent the Tigers have had on roster recently. But who’s going to play next to him?
Had Mickey stayed, the worst case scenario for Jones would have featured him playing next to Simmons, and LSU would be the same up-tempo team it was this season if Robinson and Malone didn’t make the necessary strides.
But because Mickey is leaving early, the Tigers need Robinson or Malone to make that jump to have a consistent paint presence.
Believing in two big men who each averaged less than one point and two rebounds per game this season will leave LSU in a vulnerable position heading into next year.
Brian Pellerin is a 21-year-old mass communication junior in Kenner, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Pellerin_TDR.