One thing is for sure – the LSU basketball team can expect to see a healthy dose of zone defense when it faces Ole Miss (8-6, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) tonight at 7 p.m. in the Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Miss.
Even though the Tigers (12-2, 2-1 SEC) improved offensively against the zone in the second half in last Saturday’s 64-54 loss to Mississippi State, LSU’s first half performance will probably persuade teams to zone up on the Tigers all year.
LSU shot 26-percent from the field in the first half in falling behind 27-15 at intermission, and trailed by as many as 19 points before coming back to take the lead before losing.
The Tigers did shoot 58.6 percent from the field in the second half, and junior guard Antonio Hudson saw a lot of positive in the comeback.
“In the second half, we executed better against the zone,” Hudson said. “We had a lot of movement. The zone was compact. So we worked on a new offense to kind of open it up where we could out number the defense on the weak side.”
Hudson said penetrating the zone by dribbling is key. He said passing around the perimeter will not get the job done.
“We have to get some dribble penetration and make open shots,” Hudson said. “We need to spread the zone. The thing most are people doing against us are compacting the zone and making us shoot shots over it. But what we need to do is get a lot of penetration so people can get open shots and good looks at the goal.”
After losing a game at home to the Bulldogs, LSU coach John Brady feels tonight’s tilt against the Rebels is a prime opportunity to pick up a victory on the road.
“Ole Miss has had problems scoring a little bit,” Brady said. “And they haven’t defended as well as they have in the past and they don’t have a lot of depth. But you know, up there it’s tough. They’re going to be tough at home and they need a win badly. They’re going to put they’re whole emphasis on us. They’ll have a good crowd there. We’ve got some young players who have won on the road and who have come from behind at home. And hopefully we’re prepared for what we’re going to see.”
Brady said consistency is key. Stretches of offensive ineptness like the Tigers experienced in the first half against MSU will make it hard for LSU to be competitive.
“We can’t have lapses of poor offensive play against the zone,” Brady said. “I’m sure Ole Miss is going to play zone against us. If we can keep from having some lapses of play against zone and make a few timely shots, then I think we’ll be ok.”
Ole Miss is led by two senior veterans in guard Aaron Harper and forward Justin Reed who are averaging 14.4 and 18.1 points per game, respectively. Individually, either Reed or Harper have led the team in scoring every game of the season. They are the obvious focal points of the offense.
“Reed and Harper are their best two players,” Brady said. “They’ve led them in scoring every game. So obviously, we’ve got to guard those guys.”
LSU junior point guard Xavier Whipple, who led the comeback against MSU with eight points, said the key for the Tigers is to be aggressive.
“We just need to be aggressive,” Whipple said. “We need to set ball screens and have more space to create. If we make shots and play with confidence we’ll be ok.”