Five things to watch for in LSU MBB's season opener vs. ULM

LSU tips off year three under head coach Matt McMahon on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the PMAC against Louisiana Monroe. The Tigers have a handful of returners, but a majority new cast with three transfers and three true freshmen rounding out the roster.

Here are five things I’m watching for in this game and throughout the first few weeks of the season.

1. LSU’s availability

Tyrell Ward is out for this game, but head coach Matt McMahon did not give much context as to why besides saying he was unavailable. He missed the exhibition game last week and throughout the fall has been in and out of practice. It sounded like it was more than just an injury for Ward and we’ll get further clarity tonight after the game.

Senior forward Derek Fountain was upgraded to probable for the game after missing the exhibition contests and adds a fifth-year veteran to the frontcourt. Alongside Jalen Reed, there’s going to be a rotation of players vying for those minutes, but Fountain is someone McMahon trusts early in the year.

2. LSU’s starters

McMahon said he’s rolling out the same starting lineup he had for the exhibition on Wednesday night with Jordan Sears, Cam Carter, Dji Bailey, Robert Miller, and Jalen Reed. That starting lineup has good defensive potential at the 2-4 spots, but I’m interested to see how the 3-point shooting looks from Miller and Bailey.

A lot of offense this year will be based around Jalen Reed in the post and in isolations to get to the rim and I think this lineup is conducive to that with Miller and Sears both at their best offensively as spot up shooters early in the season. Carter and Bailey will have to have some juice in transition or off the bounce, but there’s a ton of experience on the court outside of Miller, a true freshman, so we’ll see how it goes.

3. Rotations and lineups

With Ward out, I think Mike Williams has to be on the court a ton. He’s an excellent two-way player who also is one of the best shooters on the team. I wouldn’t be surprised if he played his way into the starting lineup at some point this year, but for now, he’s a critical bench piece I’m excited to watch. 

Then you have the frontcourt questions with Fountain, Corey Chest, and Daimion Collins all looking to get on the court. Collins is probably in the lead for this group after having a strong exhibition, but Fountain and Chest should still get on the court. My question with Chest is his fit on the court as a non-shooter when the gameplan on offense is to spread the floor around Jalen Reed.

In theory, LSU should be able to roll nine deep through most of the non-conference and try out a ton of different lineups.

4. Offensive efficiency

LSU ended the exhibition win last week with just two points from non-paint twos, illustrating an ultra efficient style of offense that relies on getting to the rim, taking open threes, and getting to the free throw line. McMahon and his staff have clearly embraced today’s era of basketball that has moved away from the mid-range game and is now looking to get a ton of 3-pointers up. It will be interesting to see how easily they can recreate that shot diet against some better DI opponents.

“Offensively, if the floor is spaced properly, we want to put a lot of pressure on the rim. We want to play unselfishly and get the ball kicked out for open threes. We have really good shooters down the line, even Jalen Reed at the five for us now, we want to see him get some looks as well. It was a really nice shot chart for what we would like to do on the offensive side.”

5. Rebounding

This is still my biggest question mark for this team. Losing Trae Hannibal and Hunter Dean from last year is a significant blow to the rebounding for a team that was already mediocre on the glass. Now, we need to see who steps up. Jalen Reed should be strong, but then the rest of the forward rotation has perhaps the most important job when it comes to creating more possessions on offense or cleaning up defensive rebounds. 

Cam Carter and Dji Bailey are two more players who need to be impactful on the defensive glass. Carter averaged five rebounds per game last year, while Bailey averaged 4.4. 

LSU has ranked 199th and 294th in defensive rebounding rate in McMahon’s two seasons in Baton Rouge and that number will have to at least be in the top half of the county this year for LSU to feel comfortable,