To stop LSU, Kentucky must stop Tremont Waters

In an alternate reality, Tremont Waters could be playing for Kentucky this season, but instead, the Cats will be tasked with shutting him down in Baton Rouge tomorrow night. 

At one time, Waters was Kentucky’s backup option if they missed on both Trae Young and Quade Green, but he ended up at LSU after decommitting from Georgetown. In his first year in Baton Rouge, Waters has been fantastic, averaging 17.1 points and 6.4 assists. Calipari knows better than anyone that Quade Green and/or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will have their hands full with Waters tomorrow night.

“Dangerous,” Calipari said of Waters today. “Great with the ball. Finds people. Has a green light to shoot to the NBA line so he’ll go back there and shoot NBA threes. Gets to the rim and when he gets to the rim, he’ll find you. He’s tough. He’s good. A good foul shooter. He’s a handful.”

Waters fits perfectly in LSU head coach Will Wade’s system, which is a far cry from the LSU Basketball we got used to under Johnny Jones.

“They’re playing more of an open game,” Cal said when asked how LSU’s style has changed under Wade. “They post it but they’re more pick and roll and open the court. They’re making over ten threes a game the last five games, or over ten threes a game. So they’re playing wide open, they play fast. They score probably 90 [points] a game. I say they play fast, they don’t play as fast as you’d think. They’ll throw it ahead but if they don’t get it there, they’re more, let’s get this in some kind of pick and roll and get them out of position.”

“He’s done a good job,” Cal said of Wade. “Watching their tape, I’ve watched probably five of their games, he’s done a good job. They’re defending, playing some zone. They play a 1-3-1 at times. They’re man-to-man, they get their hands on a lot of balls. He’s done a really good job.”

Shai’s got this.

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