LSU Men's Basketball is off to a rough start to the 2023-24 season. They won their season opener against Mississippi Valley State convincingly, but since then, they're just 1-2 in their last three games against Nicholls, Dayton and North Texas.

Against Nicholls, the Colonels got out to a 24 point lead in the first half, using a full court press early to disrupt the Tigers offense. LSU came back and eventually took the lead late in the game, but the Tigers couldn't buy a basket in the final two minutes and eventually lost on a last second three.

Against Dayton, it seemed like the Tigers came out with a lot more energy then they did against Nicholls. They led by 15 points at the nine-minute mark, but Dayton switched to a full court press and it completely rattled LSU who could hardly inbound a pass. The Flyers found their rhythm on offense from the four minute to the two minute mark, but once again, LSU couldn't buy a bucket in the final two minutes and lost on another last second three.

The North Texas game went better for LSU. They were able to eek out a 66-62 win over the Mean Green to get back to .500. They fixed a lot of their mistakes and made some buckets down the stretch, but their offense was still missing a little bit of juice.

In their two losses, there's been a few common themes. The Tigers have struggled to break pressure, score points late in the game and move the ball around on the offensive end. Those are three things that Jalen Cook would instantly bring to this team if he was eligible to play.

In case you didn't know, Jalen Cook is a two-time transfer who began his career at LSU, transferred to Tulane for two seasons, and tried to return to Baton Rouge this offseason. Unfortunately, the NCAA denied his two-time transfer waiver and he was declared ineligible to play. Matt McMahon and Jalen Cook sent more information to the NCAA in hopes of getting the decision reversed, but they're still waiting on a response.

Right now, the Tigers have 19 points and five assists per game sitting on their bench. They're missing a true point guard who can score and facilitate the offense at a high level, and that's exactly what Jalen Cooks is.

When you watch the Tigers' offense with Mike Williams III, Trae Hannibal or any of their other guards running the point, the offense just looks flat. They don't move the ball around well and they've struggled getting the ball in the paint to their big guys in big moments.

This is a Tigers team who has a pretty solid defense, so if they could just get their offense going, they have potential to pull of some upsets. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening without Cook on the floor.

Matt McMahon and LSU desperately need the NCAA to overturn Cook's waiver, but the NCAA has been very strict with the two-time transfers, and I don't see them changing their stance on Cook.