Scouting Report: LSU Tigers

The last month hasn’t been very kind to the LSU Tigers. Since January 15th, they have lost seven of their last 11 games to fall to 19-8 on the season and 7-7 in SEC play. LSU is still considered safe in terms of the NCAA Tournament, but with games against Kentucky, Arkansas, and Alabama still to play finishing under .500 in the league is a real possibility. That would be a first since Coach Will Wade’s inaugural season in Baton Rouge.

Kentucky faced plenty of adversity when they visited the LSU Tigers back in early January. Sahvir Wheeler played just four minutes after he was forced to leave the game with an injury sustained while running into a screen. Then, TyTy Washington battled cramps down the stretch which limited his minutes in crunch time. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they may have to face the Tigers without their starting backcourt once again. That would make things much more difficult against the nation’s leader in steal percentage. However, Kentucky will have time to prepare to be shorthanded if they are in fact with one, or both of Wheeler and Washington.

As always, we’ve got a full scouting report for you just like the player’s receive in the days leading up to the game. Here you will find a full personnel breakdown, footage of LSU’s offense, and a look at what makes their defense elite. Finally, we will go over the keys to the game. Now sit down, relax, and get to know a little more about the LSU Tigers.

LSU Tigers Personnel

Starters

#1 Xavier Pinson: 6’2″ 154 lbs, Senior Guard

9.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.5 apg

Skilled, thin guard. Very aggressive with the ball in his hands. Will push the tempo. Need to get the ball stopped in transition. Likes to shoot 3’s off of the dribble. Get out and break his rhythm on the perimeter. Don’t let him dribble into a 3. More aggressive as a driver than a shooter. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase him off of downscreens and flares. Be willing to switch to stay in front. Loves to reject ballscreens. No rejects!!! Make him finish over you while driving it. Not a great finisher with someone between him and the basket. He is the one guy we don’t want to help a ton on when he drives it. Good passer. Contest everything. Don’t get smoked going right. Need to cut him off. You can help off of him, but closeout more aggressively. No layups. Stop the ball in transition.

#0 Brandon Murray: 6’5″ 214 lbs, Freshman Guard

10.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.7 apg

Bigger guard. SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! Need to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Chase him off downscreens and flares. Get over ballscreens and handoffs. Switch anytime there is space to take him away from 3. Find him in transition. He is always the next most dangerous guy. Be tight to him and make him dribble it. 44 assists to 44 turnovers. You can pressure him and steal the ball. Not super comfortable dribbling it. Make him put it on the floor. If he isn’t dribbling you aren’t close enough. He will drive it right but we can bring help and try to steal it when he drives. Take him away from 3! No 3’s!

#5 Mwani Wilkinson: 6’5″ 206 lbs, Sophomore Forward

3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.9 apg

Athletic slasher. Right hand driver. No right hand drives!!! Shooting a very good percentage from 3. Just not super aggressive. Have to be there to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Give a hard contest. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. You can bounce back to guard the right hand drive when you take away the initial catch-and-shoot. Very good in transition. If they throw it ahead to him cut off the right hand drive. Get all the way back and get the basket. Loves to finish lobs at the rim. Excellent cutter in the half court. Be aware of him cutting to the rim when the ball goes in the post. No transition dunks! No catch-and-shoot 3’s! Excellent offensive rebounder. Box out!

#4 Darius Days: 6’7″ 245 lbs, Senior Forward

13.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.0 apg

Ultra-skilled, physical 4-man. Very good shooter. No catch-and-shoot 3’s! Need to be tight to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. You must switch when he ballscreens to take away the 3’s! Once you take away the catch-and-shoot he is going to drive it right. Very physical driver taking it to his right. No right hand drives! Need to get over on his right hand and cut him off. Bring help when he puts it on the floor and make him give it up. Not thinking about passing. Make him uncomfortable when he has it. Lots of pressure. 26 assists to 31 turnovers. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Aggressively dig the ball out of the post to make him pass it. Hard contest when he shoots the turnaround. Be physical when the shot goes up. Box out! Don’t help off him unless you are going to steal the ball. Switch!

#15 Efton Reid: 7’0″ 238 lbs, Freshman Center

6.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.6 apg

Big, physical 5-man. Looking for deep post catches. Will duck you in around the basket. Wants to catch it with two feet in the paint so he can just turn and score. Need to be physical with him and get him off of the block. Percentages go down significantly the further off the block he catches it. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Need to be physical on his left shoulder. No drop steps. You can come aggressively dig the ball out of the post when he has it. 15 assists to 40 turnovers. Not very comfortable with the ball. Come take it off of him. Will shoot the face-up 15-footer. Throw a hand up to contest when he shoots. Be physical when the shot goes up. Excellent offensive rebounder. Averages nearly 2 per game. Box out!

Bench

#13 Tari Eason: 6’8″ 216 lbs, Sophomore Forward

16.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.0 apg

Athletic, skilled 4-man. Leading scorer. Very good driver from the perimeter. They will isolate him in space to attack from the perimeter. Right hand driver. No right hand drives!!! You need to get over on his right hand and cut him off. Bring help aggressively when he starts to drive it. 11 assists to 22 turnovers. Come take it off of him. Pressure him and make him uncomfortable. Capable shooter. Throw a hand up to contest when he shoots from 3. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Need to aggressively dig the ball out of the post when he has it inside. Be physical on his left shoulder. Get him off of the block. No drop steps. Make him score over you with a post move. Excellent offensive rebounder. Box out.

#2 Eric Gaines: 6’2″ 150 lbs, Sophomore Guard

9.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.3 apg

Very thing guard. Non-shooter. Closeout short. Shooting 4/31 from 3. We want him to shoot 3’s. Do not let him attack your closeout. That is why you are closing out short. No right hand drives!!! Get your feet away from him on the perimeter. Very athletic. Wants to drive it hard to his right hand. Good playmaker off of the dribble. Cut him off and stay between him and the basket. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Get back and stop the ball in transition. Just contest the pull-up jumper if he shoots it. You can bring some help as he drives and come take it off of him. Team-high 40 turnovers. Absolutely no layups for him.

#11 Justice Williams: 6’3″ 170 lbs, Freshman Guard

2.1 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.8 apg

Saw first action in last game replacing #0 Murray. Good shooter. Need to be there to contest the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Wants to shoot jump shots. Be ready for him to pull-up from mid-range as he drives it, especially going left. More likely to attack the rim going right. No right hand drives. You can pressure him on the perimeter as much as possible without getting blown by to his right. Contest everything. Chase him off of downscreens and flares. Get over ballscreens and handoffs. You can still help off of him, but closeout more aggressively.

#3 Alex Fudge: 6’8″ 185 lbs, Freshman Forward

4.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.3 apg

Athletic backup 4-man. Right hand driver. No right hand drives! When he is on the perimeter he is looking to attack your closeout and drive it right. Closeout short to stay between him and the basket. Non-shooter. Always coming back to his right hand to finish. Very athletic. Need to get your hands up and make him score over you. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. You can bring some help when he drives it. Not thinking about passing. 7 assists to 17 turnovers. Come take it off of him. Very good offensive rebounder. Box out!

#24 Shareef O’Neal: 6’10” 220 lbs, Junior Forward

2.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.0 apg

Tall, thin backup forward. Skilled offensively. Will face-up and shoot out to the 18-foot range. Need to put up a hand to contest when he shoots the jump shot. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical and get him off the block. Make him score with you between him and the basket. No right hand drives. Will crash the offensive glass. Box out!

LSU Tigers Offense

First and foremost, the LSU Tigers want to score in transition. They are looking to play fast, push the ball up the floor, and take the first available shot before the defense is set. A big part of this begins with creating turnovers on the defensive end as well to really get the fast break started. According to KenPom, LSU’s offensive possessions are the 30th fastest in the country at just 16 seconds in average length. That isn’t quite as fast as they played the first time around this season, but clearly playing fast is still a big part of what they do.

When the Tigers are forced to play in the half court, things still operate at a fast pace. There will be a lot of early ball screening action and drives from the perimeter by their forwards. It is pretty much a dribble-drive motion. LSU does like to dump it down into the post to guys like #15 Reid, #13 Eason, or #4 Days, but especially Eason and Days play on the perimeter a lot as well.

Getting back in transition is the name of the game to guarding these guys. Transition defense comes down to protecting the basket, stopping the ball, and then matching up beginning with the next most dangerous guy. You’ll hear it a ton throughout the day: basket, ball, next most dangerous. We will show some clips to give examples of how fast they bring it and show a few half court actions, but transition defense will dictate our level of success tonight.

Transition

The Tigers aren’t playing quite as fast as they did at the time of our first meeting in early January. However, they will still run in transition when the opportunity presents itself. Transition defense will still be very important. Sprint back to protect the basket, stop the ball, and then matchup beginning with the next most dangerous guy. That is your transition defense checklist.

Staggered Drag Ballscreen

We know that the LSU Tigers like to create offense with their defense and score in the fast break. However, they are also very good in the secondary break. This is where they have been very successful of late setting these drag ballscreens. You have to be ready to switch anytime #4 Days sets a ballscreen. We do not want him hitting pick-and-pop 3’s! Take him away by switching.

#13 Eason is very dangerous on the pick-and-pop as well. He just isn’t as aggressive as #4 Days at firing them off from 3-point range. You still should be very willing to switch when Eason ballscreens. More than anything though, once the on-ball defender recovers you have to aggressively close out and tighten back up to Eason. This is good defense by the South Carolina on-ball defender fighting to get back in front of #1 Pinson. However, Eason’s defender stays in the paint way too long and gives up an uncontested 3.

4-Around-1 Motion

LSU likes to spread you out and let their playmakers play in space. This possession starts with a called downscreen to handoff on the right side for #0 Murray with a flare screen for #1 Pinson set on the left side. After that initial action they are into their Motion. Pinson is very quick getting downhill and attracts a lot of attention in this clip. We don’t want to over help when he drives and would rather make him finish a contested to than give up an inside-out 3. Tighten up to #4 Days as the ball is driven towards you.

LSU Tigers Defense

In four years as the Head Coach of the LSU Tigers, Will Wade’s defense has only finished in the Top 100 of KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency. This season, the Tigers rank third nationally on that end of the floor. They have essentially dominated every aspect of the defensive side of the ball which plays right into the hands of their transition-based offense. It all starts with their on-ball pressure.

LSU is third nationally in turnover percentage (25.5%) and first in steal percentage (15.8%). Those live ball turnovers really get the Tigers moving in the fast break. Additionally, they are eighth in the country at the rim in block percentage (15.4%). Teams haven’t found success from beyond the arc either shooting just 28.2% from three which is sixth in all of Division I. It is simply hard for teams to get good looks at the basket because they are able to switch everything. Their position-to-position length, along with always keeping a guy on a guy, is the basis of their excellent defense.

The Tigers continue use a lot of full court pressure where they trap at half court, but primarily it is just man-to-man defense. Their press is a run-and-jump where they can leave their man at anytime to come trap you. They switch ballscreens one through five almost all of the time which lets them stay in front of their man. This keeps them from having to help off the ball because they can always stay between the ball and the basket. Expect a lot of ball pressure and for them to cut off driving lanes.

You cannot jump to pass when they run and jump. They are too long and too athletic. We have to keep help in the back court, behind the level of the ball, so you can pivot and pass to the opposite sideline. If you just dribble it up on one side you will probably turn it over like South Carolina did in that clip.

LSU is very aggressive when trapping at half court. You have to be ready for them to be physical and try to steal the basketball. You will get fouled at times and they won’t call them all. Be strong with the ball, be ready to drive it hard downhill, and know that the pressure is coming. Turnovers like this lead to dunks at the other end and helps their otherwise average offense put up easy points.

Keys to the Game

• Transition defense. Basket, ball, next most dangerous. LSU plays fast and wants to score in transition. We need five guys sprinting back to protect the basket and to try and slow them down.
• Take care of the basketball. The LSU Tigers force 18.2 turnovers per game, including 11.3 steals. We have to keep turnovers to 13 or fewer while limiting the live ball turnovers. No more than 7 steals.
• Pack it in. We need to continue to be in the gaps and help aggressively when they drive the basketball. Create turnovers. Win the turnover battle.
• Contain #13 Eason and #4 Days. Make these guys give it up when they have it. Aggressively help. Take #4 Days away from 3. No right hand drives for either. You can get out to make it hard for them to get a catch too.