Ragin' Cajuns face challenge

<blockquote><p align=justify><i>Lee wary of tough Kansas, N.C. State road trips ahead</i>

LOUISIANA La. — Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

So is enjoyment.

Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun basketball coach Robert Lee was asked on Monday whether it was going to be fun to take his team on the road for games at No. 2 Kansas this Saturday and No. 16 North Carolina State next Wednesday, and his answer was revealing.

“I think that (fun) can be overrated,” said Lee, whose team is 3-3 on the season after last Saturday’s 79-63 victory over St. Mary’s of Texas.

The Kansas game, coming at the end of final exams week, is arguably the highest-profile regular-season non-conference game in the school’s history. N.C. State bested the Cajuns 61-52 in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Both programs have won national titles and both enjoy a pronounced homecourt advantage.

“We haven’t talked yet about the atmosphere,” Lee said. “We’ve played in these kind of places before. I’m more concerned with putting us in a position to win the game.

“We’ll need to control the tempo. I said Saturday night that if we didn’t play with more effort, we could get beat (by) 80 (points). I don’t think that’s going to happen, but it could.”

That, of course, would not be remotely fun.

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Bruce Brown
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While the Cajuns did win by double digits on Saturday, there was still much in their game that Lee wants to improve if his team is to return to postseason play in 2005.

“We’re not a good enough shooting team right now to take minutes off, and that’s something we’re doing,” Lee said. “We can’t be bailed out by our shooting, so we can’t take any possessions off. They’re starting to think maybe their athletic ability will carry over, and that’s not the case.

“We need a better defensive effort, and better execution on offense. There are times when we’re standing around (on offense), watching the ball. If we can do those things at Kansas and N.C. State, I’ve got to believe we can go anywhere else and execute.

“Playing those two teams will be taxing on us, mentally and physically. Nowhere on the rest of our schedule will we see a team as good as Kansas.”

Asked what the Jayhawks do well, Lee said, “everything. That’s why they’re predicted to win a national championship. I watched a couple of tapes on them, and they’ve got three guys coming off the bench who are 6-10. I didn’t see any weaknesses.”

Lee’s Cajuns lost at Georgia State (85-78) and Charlotte (84-68) before the St. Mary’s win, with both victors effective shooting from the outside.

“The thing that surprised me is that we didn’t have the effort at Georgia State,” Lee said. “We had effort at Charlotte. Charlotte is a very good team and we didn’t do a good enough job defending the perimeter. We needed to try to stop them from catching the ball.”

The unsuccessful trip convinced Lee to renew his search for team leaders.

“We had two captains, and I took that honor away from them,” Lee said. “We definitely need a leader, and no one has stepped forward. There’s only one captain right now, and he’s standing here.”

The Cajuns are quickly finding that Lee will level with them on such points.

“The guys know I’m going to be very, very honest with them,” Lee said. “But it also catches them by surprise. They know I expect a lot out of them, but they’re going to play the way I want them to play or not at all.

“We’re building to try to win a championship, and you have to give effort every night.”

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