By Hunt Palmer
Basketball is a complex game with 10 pieces constantly moving all over the floor.
But at its core is shot making. Teams work tirelessly to create good shots on offense, but ultimately a made bad shot is better than a missed good shot. It’s an obvious point, but one that must be reinforced as we get into LSU’s shooting numbers.
They’re awful, and it’s one of the reasons the Tigers are struggling so mightily to win games.
Entering the season, LSU figured to be a reasonably good three-point shooting team. As of November 1, LSU had five proven shooters at the college level and a couple of promising freshman to ease into the mix.
Tyrell Ward could be considered a sharp shooter. He shot 41 percent from deep as a sophomore, and 58 percent of his shots came from three. He left the team before the opener.
Jalen Reed shot 39 percent from three last season. He made two of his first four this year. Then he tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
Jordan Sears was lethal from beyond the arc last season at Tennessee-Martin. He shot a sizzling 43 percent from downtown and finished sixth in the OVC in threes made. He’s 9-for-36 from three in SEC play (25 percent).
Cam Carter made 94 threes over two seasons as a starter at Kansas State. He came out of the gate knocking them down at an incredible rate of 43.4 percent in the non-conference. He’s at 32 percent after month of league games.
Mike Willams is shooting 19 percent from deep. That’s 20 percentage points lower than his SEC output of a season ago as a freshman.
Vyctorius Miller and Curtis Givens are 9-for-32 on threes in SEC games. That’s a paltry 28 percent.
Five promising shooters and two freshmen guards. Seven disappointing results. That would have been difficult to forecast before the season started.
As of January 28, LSU is the fourth-worst three-point shooting team in the Power Five conferences. Only St. John’s, Wake Forest and Michigan State have been worse.
Wildly enough, those three have more than overcome their shooting shortcomings.
Wake Forest is 15-5 overall and 7-2 in ACC play. They’ve held opponents to the 13th lowest shooting percentage and boast the No. 33 scoring defense in the country. And they don’t take many threes, ranking No. 244 nationally in attempts.
Michigan State is 17-2 and unbeaten in eight league games. They simply don’t shoot threes, ranking No. 321 in attempts. Meanwhile, the Spartans are sixth in the nation in rebounding and free throw attempts. They’re third in free throw percentage, and they play defense, ranking No. 19 in defensive efficiency.
St. John’s plays at a frantic pace, taking more shots than anyone in the country and making the 10th most field goals per game. They also play great defense, No. 9 in two-point defense and No. 12 in steals per game.
LSU hasn’t found a strength to offset the abysmal shooting.
LSU does rank No. 34 in defensive efficiency and a respectable No. 85 in offensive rebounding percentage, but those aren’t the elite metrics that the other three have produced in various areas. Plus, LSU turns the ball over way too much at No. 323 in the country which is crippling to a team that struggles to make shots.
Without Reed’s ability to score around the rim, LSU was always going to need to bury outside shots to create points and loosen the defense for the guards to drive.
There are 79 teams in the Power Five. LSU has shot it better than three of them.
