Emmitt Williams Recent Move to the Bench a "Win-Win" for LSU Basketball

Williams adjusting to new role as primary bench option

LSU sophomore forward Emmitt Williams went to coach Will Wade with a request before the South Carolina win. Williams, who had started in all but two of the Tigers 26 games asked his coach for something that not many five-star recruits are comfortable with accepting much less asking.

"Emmitt actually came to me and asked to come off the bench," Wade said. 

The reasoning behind Williams' decision ultimately was predicated on the fact that from the bench, he can watch and analyze the starts of games and figure out where he can attack on offense and defense. It was a request that Wade agreed to and it's turned out to be a win-win for not only Williams but the team.

After an eight point performance against the Gamecocks in an 86-80 win, Williams was the lone bright spot in the Tigers 81-66 loss to Florida on Wednesday, scoring 25 points in 33 minutes off the bench.

"It allows him to really kind of hit the ground going when he gets in the game," Wade said. "I do like his energy off the bench. I think it gives us some pop."

Wade said there are multiple in-game improvements he sees with the team when Williams comes off the bench, most importantly a boost in energy on the defensive side of the ball.

"I think it benefits him. I think it benefits our team. I've got to give him a lot of credit for that," Wade said. "I mean, how many people would say that, especially when we were in a losing streak. He played really well at South Carolina defensively and offensively against Florida, he did a tremendous job, had one of his better games. So we just kind of need to keep it going with him."

Wade says it's a move that the Tigers will continue to use as the season draws to a close and it really couldn't be coming at a better time. On Wednesday night before the game in Gainesville, news broke that junior transfer Charles Manning had suffered a broken bone in his left foot.

"I'm no doctor but when we got back from South Carolina and we have a little scan machine in there and I could tell it was broken," Wade said. "You could tell it was a pretty clean break and it happened with 27 seconds left in the game as he was trying to pass out of the press. It's like I told him yesterday that the only good news is now that we have screws in both feet, it's not going to happen again." 

Manning had surgery on Monday and is expected to miss four weeks so Wade didn't completely rule out a return this season for the player he called the team's best defender.

The injury was an exact replica of the broken bone he suffered earlier in the season that held him out for eight games. Manning's absence is a major blow to a team that was already in need of consistent bench production and quality perimeter defense.

Despite the injury to Manning and losers of five of their last seven, Wade said day-by-day his team continues to grow. With three winnable games to close the season, he's excited by how LSU can close what's been an up and down season.

"I'm more excited about the practices and continuing to grow through film and practice," Wade said. "So we've got a lot of great things in front of us here, hopefully. We've just got to continue to improve, continue to get better and try to finish this thing out strong."