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May 17, 2017
Prep sports are officially over until next fall, so I finally got to catch up on a little sleep this past week.
Or was that because of the mono and/or the sinus headaches from all that pollen in the air?
I can never tell.
Either way, it was a little bit of a slow week in the world of local sports, which allowed me to do one of the favorite parts of my job: interact with our readers!
In this month’s mailbag, you guys were curious about LSU football, the next prep football season and a bunch of other things.
Want to participate in next month’s mailbag? It’s simple. Either send me a question to casey@rushing-media.com or tweet me @casey_gisclair.
Let’s roll!
Q: What are your thoughts on the LSU football team’s chances next fall? (Asked by Paul Foster)
A: Paul gets credit for the question, but I received at least three or four questions similar to this one. I honestly think LSU is due for a quality football season, and no, I’m not just saying that because Coach Ed Orgeron is from South Lafourche. The Tigers played with good energy throughout Orgeron’s interim run, and I think the team has skilled playmakers back throughout the depth chart – enough to make the offense better than its been in years past. Defensively, I think LSU will make strides in its second year under Dave Aranda, and that’s saying a lot because the unit was already dominant last year. But now, let’s put it all into perspective. Even if LSU does all of the things mentioned above, they’ll still likely not contend for the National Championship because their schedule is brutal. They travel to Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and Tennessee in Southeastern Conference play. That won’t be easy – even if LSU is an improved team next fall.
Q: Tell me about Blake Forsythe at South Lafourche. I don’t know much about him! (Asked by BigBlue)
A: Good timing. I went to one of their practices this past week. Coach Forsythe is young, but he’s passionate and knowledgeable. I think he’s going to be a nice fit for the Tarpons – both in the locker room and also in the halls of the school from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Offensively, he likes to run the football out of spread formations, and defensively, I think the philosophy will be about the same as before – limiting big plays. Much like I just said about LSU, I think South Lafourche’s problem will be its schedule. Their non-district slate is brutally tough and their already-good district just added E.D. White into the mix. My guess is the Tarpons will be somewhere around 6-4 or so. To me, that’d be an excellent first road for Coach Forsythe.
Q: Hey Case, why do you think colleges sleep on so many kids locally? (Asked by EastsidePride)
A: You know, I get this question a lot from people, and I don’t know exactly how to answer it because I don’t agree with it. I attend scholarship signings throughout the year, and I believe that locals get more than their fair share of attention from schools around the country. I think the more adequate question is why don’t kids do more to help make themselves more attractive to schools? A lot of the kids that people think should be recruited can’t be recruited because they don’t have the grades and/or they’ve made themselves poisonous with careless use of social media. It’s easy to blame the colleges, but the kids and coaches involved sometimes don’t do as much as they need to in order to make themselves appealing.
Q: Is LeBron James getting close to Michael Jordan on the scale of all-time greatness? (Asked by Lou)
A: How close are we talking? Do I think he’s on the doorstep of passing him up as the best player of all-time? No, I don’t. But do I think he’s solidifying himself as basketball’s best Plan B? Sure, I think that’s about right. Here’s the thing about LeBron. All of the stats add up, but it’s not an apples to apples comparison when lining those numbers up directly against Michael Jordan’s. In the 1980s and 1990s, fouls were called differently and the game was a much more defensive-heavy game. So to say LeBron is better purely because of shooting percentages and efficiency stats isn’t fair, because no one in that era focused on any of those things. My knock against James is that he feels a little bit like Gonzaga Basketball to me. He’s won all these games and has achieved all of these things, yes. But outside of last year’s Finals win over the Warriors, how many truly great teams has he beaten? For all LeBron’s Finals appearances, Jordan still has double the playoff series wins over 50+ win teams that James has. To me, that matters a lot.
Q: How far do you think LSU Baseball will take it this season? What about Nicholls, too? (Asked by Paul Guidroz)
A: People are going to criticize me for saying this, but I think this is one of the weaker LSU baseball teams in recent memory. I really believe that. The Tigers struggle in all facets of the game, and their inconsistency proves it. I think they can maybe make a Super Regional, but probably nothing more. For Nicholls, the path is less clear. The Colonels are in a battle to make it to the Southland Conference Tournament – one of a handful of teams fighting for the last few spots in the field. Should they make the Tournament, who knows what might happen.
Q: I’m a Vandebilt grad, but Give me a scouting report on the Robison kid. Is he really that good? (Asked by Roy Smith)
A: I think he is worth the hype. Robison has a big, accurate arm, and he has good command of his team in the huddle. I think what’s most impressive to me is his awareness in the pocket. He feels the rush so well, and he knows when to bail and when to evade the rush to look down the field. In 2017, I’d like to see Robison be a little less greedy. What I mean by that is there were plenty plays last season where he eluded the rush, looked down the field, then launched a bomb on plays where he could have easily scampered for six or seven yards – if not more. Once Robison learns that balancing act of when to roll the dice and when to play it safe, the Terriers offense will be awfully hard to stop.
Q: Who’s going to win the NBA Title? (Asked by HoumaBaller)
A: The Warriors. They’re playing too well right now. I think they’ll beat the Cavs in 5 or 6.
Follow Casey on Twitter for more.
https://twitter.com/casey_gisclair
