2012 NIT Gameday: LSU

Buzz Breeden, the editor of FanSided’s LSU blog Death Valley Voice, answered a couple of questions and gives us a better perspective on the upcoming NIT game featuring LSU and Oregon. So enjoy his unique LSU perspective and interesting notes about Justin Hamilton, especially since he picked us to win this game.

1. I was looking at those defensive efficiency numbers for LSU, and they were pretty impressive. While the team’s overall record is nothing to write home about- and neither is their offense- their defense is nasty with Justin Hamilton. Just how important is Hamilton to your team? I can tell he is vital from a stats standpoint, but I’d like to hear from someone who is covering the Tigers.

Hamilton is a force, but over the last month of the season Storm Warren and Johnny O’Bryant have been the dominate bigs. Hamilton is not your prototypical big man, he has a little European style. Can constantly make 15-18 ft baseline jumpers and rarely dunks the ball, biggest concern is he struggles on defense. He is big only because he is the only Tiger capable to taking over a game and dominating, but those performances have been few and far between.

2. What is your opinion of the Oregon Ducks? Do you think that our team can go all the way and win the NIT?

They look like they can score the ball well, but struggles to stop opponents from the same. Devoe Joseph and the rest if the guards can shoot the ball extremely well. Other than that did not watch a single Ducks game all year, so it is tough to evaluate how deep they can go. One thing I know about this tournament is any of the 32-teams can make a run.

3. Alright, who wins this game and by how much? What are the keys to victory for LSU and things they need to avoid doing? Any match-ups they can exploit?

LSU struggles on the road, have a feeling the trend will continue with the short cross country flight. For LSU to make it competitive the tigers will have to out right dominate Oregon on the glass and interior. The Tigers will keep Oregon under it’s 72-point average, but don’t see LSU scoring enough to win. 68-61, Oregon.

You can check out Buzz’s work at Death Valley Voice for more LSU stuff, including his preview of the game.

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