The LSU basketball team finally will go head-to-head with people other than fellow Tigers when it faces the Global Sports All-Stars in an exhibition game tonight at 7 p.m. in the PMAC.
John Brady, who is entering his sixth year as head coach of the Tigers, is excited to see how his team responds to some different competition for the first time since a 75-65 loss to Ball State in the National Invitational Tournament on March 19.
“I am anxious and I think they are,” Brady said of his players. “I think their concentration level in practice today (yesterday) was thinking about the game, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and we will see if they are ready to play.”
LSU, which has a full complement of scholarship players for the first time under the Brady regime, has as many as thirteen players that could see playing time tomorrow. Minutes could be hard to come by.
“We are going to try to play a number of guys to see who can and who can’t play,” Brady said. “There will be some guys who probably think they ought to play more and get their feelings hurt, but that is just the way it is.
“Sometimes when your opportunity comes, you only have two, three or four minutes to show it. You need to be ready to go, and if you’re not, and you come in and make a mistake or two and get taken out, you may not get another chance for a while.”
Brady has not decided on a starting lineup for tonight, but it will come from a combination of five of six players.
Senior point guard Torris Bright, senior off guard Collis Temple III, sophomore off guard Antonio Hudson, senior forward Brad Bridgewater, senior forward Ronald Dupree and junior forward Jaime Lloreda will be the pool of players from which Brady selects his five starters.
A player that has been turning heads in practice and that will definitely come off the bench for some playing time tomorrow will be true freshman Darrel Mitchell of St. Martinville High School, who was named the 2002 Louisiana Mr. Basketball.
“I like Darrel Mitchell,” Brady said of the first-year guard. ” He will play in that game tomorrow. He is not a redshirt candidate at all.”
On the other side of the court, the Tigers will face a tough test in the Global Sports All-Stars, who possess some very familiar faces to Brady’s crew.
Point guard Jason Harrison is listed as 5-foot-7 by Global Sports, but he is closer to 5-foot-5 according to last year’s Ole Miss media guide. He graduated from Ole Miss in 2002.
Rahim Lockhart, a 6-foot-8 forward for the All Stars, was also a Rebel as recently as 2001.
Also on Global Sports’ roster is Antwan Jones, a 6-foot-7 shooting guard from Cincinnati, who visited LSU as a recruit and was hosted by Temple.
The All-Stars have played two games early on in the exhibition season, falling to Auburn on Halloween Night, 90-70, before defeating Middle Tennessee State, 80-73.
Jones led the All-Stars versus Auburn, scoring 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Against MTSU, guard Terrell Taylor led the way with 20 points, including four three-pointers.
Global Sports gave LSU a run for their money last year, falling short in a 78-71 defeat.
“I’m not expecting them to give us anything,” Temple said. “We only beat them by seven last year, and these are some guys to be dealt with.”
Temple said no matter who the competition is, the main goal is to walk away with a victory.
“Winning is definitely the goal,” Temple said. “Coach Brady told us that we are out there to win the game. Even though it is an exhibition game and it does not count against our schedule, we want to win the game tomorrow.”
Injuries
Bridgewater sprained his right thumb is practice Tuesday, but will play tonight. Also, freshman walk-on Mildon Ambres sprained his right ankle on Tuesday, and is doubtful for tonight.