GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU guard/forward Max Mackinnon put the absence of junior point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. in the best perspective on Saturday after the Tigers lost their eighth of 10 Southeastern Conference games to Georgia – seven of which Thomas did not play because of a foot injury.
“D.J. brings so much gravity,” Mackinnon, a senior from Brisbane, Australia, said.
Gravity, by definition, is “the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical body having mass.”
Without Thomas, LSU has little force to make opponents move. His replacement at point guard against Georgia – senior Rashad King – missed all six of his shots and drew no fouls in 22 minutes of an 83-71 loss.
“D.J. gets in the paint and brings in three or four guys collapsing into the paint,” said Mackinnon, who benefits from that as a deft outside shooter. “So, that’s something we definitely miss.”
And LSU (14-9, 2-8 SEC) will be without Thomas again Tuesday night when it hosts No. 21 Arkansas (17-6, 7-3 SEC) in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (8 p.m., SEC Network).
LSU was 12-1 with Thomas before he injured his foot two days before LSU opened SEC play. He missed five games as LSU went 1-4 with two close losses he likely could have altered. He returned for two games, and LSU lost both. But the Tigers played one of their best games of the season in the second one – a 75-71 loss at then-No. 20 Arkansas.
Thomas scored 18 points with five assists to lead five Tigers in double figures for the only time in the SEC in regulation this season against Arkansas. Then he aggravated the foot injury early in the next game against Mississippi State, got it re-taped and still managed to score 14 points in an 80-66 loss. After enduring a lot of pain the day after the game, Thomas has not practiced while missing LSU’s next two games coming into this one.
“But we have other guys stepping up,” Mackinnon said.
Not really. King and freshman point guard Jalen Reece have been hit and miss.
Without Thomas and his gravity, LSU tends to suck air. And here comes Arkansas, having won four of its last five.
“We can’t worry about the future,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said on his weekly radio show Monday night after giving the news about Thomas not being available again. “We have to focus on the now. Staying together is the only pathway forward.”
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