LSU Basketball Not Letting Undefeated Start Distract from Big Picture

Tigers working hard to get better at starting games fast, ignoring national attention

LSU is 11-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season, continues to soar up the top 25 rankings and is looking like one of the truly elite defensive teams in the country. 

But Will Wade and the Tigers aren't letting a fast start distract them from what's on the horizon and the ultimate goals of this season. This is a team that very much expects to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament and is just about ready to complete phase one of its schedule, the non-conference portion, against Lipscomb on Wednesday. 

Wade said there are many components that go with a long win streak like the Tigers are currently on but that it starts with consistency from all of the players. 

"Anytime you go on an elongated win streak you're gonna have to have some breaks," Wade said. "But you have to have a good team and beat other very good teams. Every night it is hard to win any Division I game. They are extremely challenging so to go on a long win streak just shows your guys are consistent, they put the right things in every day."

Wade is one who doesn't buy into the national hype around his teams because at the end of the day this is still the same group of players who are looking to improve in some key areas before the start of conference play. 

"Even though we're 11-0, coach will make us feel like we're 0-11 sometimes, that's just how coach is, trying to keep us on our toes and not get complacent," Days said. "We have a different identity this year. We've really picked it up on the defensive end and it allows us to come full circle with the offense."

The one area that's concerning for this team are the starts. LSU has not been a very good shooting team to this point at the very beginning of games. In two of the previous three contests, LSU has had to overcome early double digit point deficits and it's been a trend that's been noticeable throughout the season in different spurts.

At times the purple and gold have become too trigger happy from three point range which if not connecting, can create long rebounds and transition opportunities for opponents on the other end. The Tigers have been such a dominant second half team on both ends of the floor that it's been hard to notice at times. But the sluggish starts on offense in particular has been something Wade has worked to correct since the early part of the season.

He's changed pregame walkthroughs, meals and it's yet to have a lasting effect on this team. With the first seven opponents of the SEC schedule all lying in the top 25, slow starts are something that will be hard to come back from in league play and Wade knows it.

"We've gotta be a full game team, we're not going to be able to keep pulling these escape jobs," Wade said. "Getting down 13 or 15 points and relying on coming back, that's not gonna cut it. We've gotta improve in that because when you're walking on a high wire you're eventually going to fall off.

"We have pretty good warmups, I think we have good shots but they're just not falling," Days said. "Sometimes we feel like we're easing into the game a little too slowly for the opposing guys, trying to see their tendencies and just jump on them in the second half. Going into the SEC that should not be the case because if we go to Auburn and get down 12, it's gonna be a fight to get back. Coach has talked to guys about what we can do to get a better start so we're trying to execute that."

The Louisiana Tech game was as physical a matchup as LSU has faced all season. It's a good preview to what this team will face in SEC play, particularly with the brutal start to the conference schedule. 

"It was a physical game on Saturday, our guys were pretty beat up. We went really light yesterday in practice because our bodies were a little banged up," Wade said. "It was a high level game, high level atmosphere."

"We're used to blowing people out, jumping out on people but that game was a different feel," Days said. "From the jump you could just tell. This game going into SEC play is really huge."

Finding some consistency and aggression on offense to begin games is the next step to this team being a complete group. There's talent and most importantly, time to get it corrected and that's the goal before the Tigers' SEC opener at Auburn.