Ragin' Cajuns prepare for Tech
<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. -The Ragin’ Cajuns only played one exhibition game this fall in men’s basketball, and that was enough for coach Robert Lee.
“I’m glad it ended like it did,” said Lee, whose Cajuns thumped Arkansas Tech 71-48 last Wednesday. “The guys need some confidence. The next night, that same team had a chance to win at UNO.”
Lee counts numerous new faces on this year’s team, so early success is a plus. But now the Cajuns jump into the regular season with a challenging weekend at the LSU Louisiana Classic.
UL faces old rival Louisiana Tech and star center Paul Millsap in Friday’s 5:30 p.m. opener, then will match up with either host LSU or Tulane on Sunday.
“Supposedly, you’re getting the best (in-state) teams together,” Lee said. “I think it’s something that should happen every year.
“Coaches always complain about scheduling and having to travel. It’s time to stop complaining and play, and this is an opportunity to do that.
“But, I think the winner should host it every year. If it was in the Cajundome next year, it would sell out. Or the Thomas Assembly Center (at Tech). At Tulane, same thing. Let’s have some fun with it. But LSU’s holding the cards right now, so we’ll go there.”
UL and Tech have met 160 times in basketball, making it the oldest series in any sport for Cajun athletics.
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The Bulldogs lead 84-76, the last meeting an 83-63 thumping of the Cajuns in Ruston in the 2002 NIT. The last regular-season meetings occured in the 2000-2001 season, when Tech was still a member of the Sun Belt Conference before leaving for the WAC.
“Tech will be a tremendous challenge,” Lee said. “We’ll have to find a way to defend Millsap. They’re talking like this is their best team since the Karl Malone days.”
Any chance of holding Millsap in check revolves around senior center Chris Cameron and backup Adam James. James is still lagging from two weeks on the shelf with an ankle sprain.
“The injury did set him back,” Lee said. “Looking at him in the game last Wednesday, he looked like he did when we first started practice.
“But in the last week he’s starting to improve some. He’s gotten better.”
So has freshman wingman Derek Gray of Jeanerette, who Lee listed as his most improved player since drills began.
“When he first got here, he didn’t understand how to play the game,” Lee said. “Now I think he understands the concepts of offense and defense we’re teaching.”
The easy win over Arkansas Tech did little to allay Lee’s concerns about outside shooting (UL was 3-for-21 on 3-point attempts) or depth and the point guard position. But when his team held Tech to 17 points in the first half of the exhibition, it did please the first-year leader.
“In the first half, we played extremely well defensively,” Lee said. “As always, Brian Hamilton led the charge (15 points, 18 rebounds). He will have to play that way every game.”
Hamilton and the rest of the Cajuns will get that chance for real on Friday.
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