One year has made a big difference for the LSU men’s basketball program.
 
Former LSU players Tasmin Mitchell, Bo Spencer and Dennis Harris have left the program. Mitchell is currently with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, while Spencer and Harris left LSU on more rocky terms.
 
The Tigers welcomed four freshmen to the squad without any seniors going into this season.
 
Even though the team has a 3-11 Southeastern Conference record with two games to play — only one more conference victory than the team from a year ago — positive changes have come off the court.
 
Sophomore forward Eddie Ludwig said the harmony on the team has been the greatest improvement in the past year.
 
“The biggest difference from this year’s team and last year’s team is the team chemistry,” Ludwig said. “It’s a lot better this year. That was one of the hardest things to deal with last year.”
 
The Tigers moved into the brand new basketball practice facility behind the PMAC before this season, and sophomore guard Aaron Dotson said the atmosphere inside the locker room changed as well.
 
“There’s more team unity,” Dotson said. “We’re more of a team this year as far as guys being unselfish and sharing the ball around.”
 
The 2010-11 team features an even distribution of freshmen, sophomores and juniors.
 
“There was some rough times with different individuals not mixing well,” Ludwig said. “The combination of guys in the locker room this year and the blend of players, we are becoming a team.”
 
Everything hasn’t been smooth sailing for the struggling Tigers, however.
Not many statistical improvements have been made from last year’s historically poor team. The two teams’ numbers in rebounding, steals and assists per game are nearly identical.
 
One difference can be found in the number of 3-pointers made. This year’s team averages 5.8 treys per contest, while last season’s squad only recorded 4.5 per night.
 
“We have [freshman point guard] Andre [Stringer] who can shoot threes, [freshman guard] Ralston [Turner] can shoot threes and [freshman guard] Matt [Derenbecker] can shoot threes,” Ludwig said. “That’s our starting guards right there.”
 
The 2010-11 team is getting only 1.8 more points from a year ago, but the contributions are coming from a slew of players.
 
Mitchell averaged 16.8 points per game, and Spencer added 14.5 points per game on the 2009-10 team.
 
Turner, who currently leads LSU in scoring, is only putting up 12.9 a game. Four other players average at least seven points a night.
 
“It’s good for your team to not have to have that one guy to depend on every night,” Dotson said.
 
Entering the season, LSU coach Trent Johnson expressed wanting his team to gain respect after finishing last in the SEC West the previous season.
 
“We’re in a situation right now where these guys and us as a coaching staff feel really good about fighting our way back to respectability,” Johnson said at the team’s media day.
 
But Johnson said Monday his team hasn’t made the strides he expected going into the year.
 
“Anytime you’re in the bottom half of your league, that’s not respectable,” Johnson said. “We digressed in certain areas.”
 
Follow Michael Lambert on
Twitter @TDR_Lambert.
 
__
Contact Michael Lambert at
[email protected]