LSU elects not to participate in men’s basketball postseason tournament

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From the looks of the semifinal game vs. Texas A&M it was obvious they had already decided not to participate.
 


Has there ever been a more average team covered by ESPN than this year's LSU team? Honestly, we get that Ben Simmons is great and all, but I don't remember any other freshman getting this much attention in recent years.

Wiggins and Embidd were covered at Kansas, that team was very good and I still think this LSU team got more pub.

Duke is always covered like crazy and Okafor got a lot of attention, for good reason. I think this LSU team got close to that much coverage.

Am I just way off base on this or did it feel like ESPN was just trying way too hard to cover LSU and Simmons to manufacture a story? I'm fine if I never hear from that team again. They weren't awful, they weren't great. They were just average. Not worth nearly as much coverage as they got.
 

Biggsohnasty said:
Has there ever been a more average team covered by ESPN than this year's LSU team? Honestly, we get that Ben Simmons is great and all, but I don't remember any other freshman getting this much attention in recent years.

Wiggins and Embidd were covered at Kansas, that team was very good and I still think this LSU team got more pub.

Duke is always covered like crazy and Okafor got a lot of attention, for good reason. I think this LSU team got close to that much coverage.

Am I just way off base on this or did it feel like ESPN was just trying way too hard to cover LSU and Simmons to manufacture a story? I'm fine if I never hear from that team again. They weren't awful, they weren't great. They were just average. Not worth nearly as much coverage as they got.
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The top recruit in the land will do that for you, they had another McDonalds American too didn't they?
 



No surprise if LSU elects not to retain Johnny Jones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


bemidjigopher said:
The top recruit in the land will do that for you, they had another McDonalds American too didn't they?
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There's a top recruit in the country every year though, they don't typically get that much coverage.

The reason behind this was ESPN's focus on the nba. They created a new "green room guys" segment focusing on the best players for the draft. (and would talk about those players in games they weren't even playing in) ESPN's college basketball twitter was essentially a Ben Simmons stats tracker. This was their attempt at creating their next lebron, and I for one am quite happy it blew up in their face
 



Ben Simmons seems like LSU's own version of Kris Humphries. You had an NBA focused one and done superstar, a weak and overmatched coach, bad team chemistry, and a terribly disappointing season people associated with the program want over and forgotten.
 

Sports_Realist said:
Ben Simmons seems like LSU's own version of Kris Humphries. You had an NBA focused one and done superstar, a weak and overmatched coach, bad team chemistry, and a terribly disappointing season people associated with the program want over and forgotten.
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Except Simmons averaged more assists per game than Hunphries had in the entire season :)

Otherwise a very good analogy IMO.
 

Biggsohnasty said:
Has there ever been a more average team covered by ESPN than this year's LSU team? Honestly, we get that Ben Simmons is great and all, but I don't remember any other freshman getting this much attention in recent years.

Wiggins and Embidd were covered at Kansas, that team was very good and I still think this LSU team got more pub.

Duke is always covered like crazy and Okafor got a lot of attention, for good reason. I think this LSU team got close to that much coverage.

Am I just way off base on this or did it feel like ESPN was just trying way too hard to cover LSU and Simmons to manufacture a story? I'm fine if I never hear from that team again. They weren't awful, they weren't great. They were just average. Not worth nearly as much coverage as they got.
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Don't forget that ESPN owns the SEC Network, I'm sure that had something to do with it.
 

scher215 said:
Except Simmons averaged more assists per game than Hunphries had in the entire season :)

Otherwise a very good analogy IMO.
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I'm no Humphries backer, but let's at least acknowledge he's had a solid NBA career. Longer than the vanilla gorilla and many other gopher nba hopefuls...
 



scher215 said:
Except Simmons averaged more assists per game than Hunphries had in the entire season :)

Otherwise a very good analogy IMO.
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That and LSU went 11-7 in conference, bad nonconference loses did them in. What did Humpheries gophers do 3-13 in the Big Ten?
 

How much of the new NBA TV deal has already affected college basketball?

It seems like the "Saturday Primetime" games have dipped into good college games - people have talked about how nobody sees the Pac-12 games...well, Saturday nights now go to the 5 NBA teams that matter and that cuts into televised Pac-12 matchups.

One of the posters mentioned above - the "Green Room" bit basically focusing on NBA prospects less than halfway through the season. A really dumb bit, but I get the idea. Is that the NBA TV Deal already basically pushing college bball down in terms of importance?

The conspiracy theorist in me wants to say its because both LA and Boston will likely have top-5 picks and good shots at landing Simmons, so the network wants to build him up even more before he potentially gets to one of those teams. I need a life haha
 

Sparlimb said:
I'm no Humphries backer, but let's at least acknowledge he's had a solid NBA career. Longer than the vanilla gorilla and many other gopher nba hopefuls...
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Absolutely. I actually really like Humphries. His college career just left a lot to be desired as far as team success.
 


Biggsohnasty said:
How much of the new NBA TV deal has already affected college basketball?
The conspiracy theorist in me wants to say its because both LA and Boston will likely have top-5 picks and good shots at landing Simmons, so the network wants to build him up even more before he potentially gets to one of those teams. I need a life haha
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That could be true, but I think it's even simpler than that. Since ESPN controls nearly all of the NBA (other than TNT) and gets to show NBA games Saturday and Sunday on ABC, they're choosing to drive it as their cash cow. It's easier for them to draw viewers to the NBA because it's just a star driven league that doesn't require a lot of effort to pay attention.

Therefore why bother putting any effort into covering college bball other than using it as a billboard for the guys who will be in the NBA soon?

It's reason #2343 why I'm glad ESPN is losing so much money
 

Sparlimb said:
I'm no Humphries backer, but let's at least acknowledge he's had a solid NBA career. Longer than the vanilla gorilla and many other gopher nba hopefuls...
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Przybilla played 13 seasons in the NBA. Humphries is currently in his 12th.
 

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