Basketball points

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Originally Posted by JayWalker

Then you're not accepting reality.

Three trips overseas. Three championships. That isn't a coincidence. All three of those trips helped with bonding and chemistry. The players themselves said as much in interviews last night.

Do the trips mean some kind of magic happens to win a tournament? Of course not. But to say it has nothing to do with it is simply wrong.

Now, if you want to say we should do it without those trips, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it.

So, now I'll ask you this question. And, anyone else can chime in.

For the cost of the Puerto Rico trip, what quality of opponent (assuming we had raised that money each year) do you think we could bring to the Dome?

Whatever your answer is, it won't do nearly as much as those trips did. And, you'll probably be wrong about the quality of opponent.

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So can we win a SBC championship without going overseas?

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Originally Posted by KajunKrazy

So you want to bring in
2013-14
2017-18
2022-23?

The question was what quality team would you spend that money on that is willing to come here for that price? How do you know its all about a money thing and not about a willingness to play on the road against a quality mid major? Name those quality teams that he should be bringing in?

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Misunderstood your question I thought you meant define quality teams Marlin has had.

I read further back and see you were responding to my saying BRING IN a quality team.

I can't answer your question today.

No one has undermined last night's accomplishment.

I think it is important to know how you got to a certain point (so you can repeat) and Puerto Rico is not why they won last night.

Just to touch on the at large chances. For any SBC program to get an at large, OOC scheduling has to improve and the results have to be good.

But, an at large berth earns a NCAA unit. Just like winning a game in the tournament. So, now you know why the mediocre programs in High Major leagues get the at large spots. Follow the money.

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Originally Posted by Cajunsmike

Why do THEY say it contributed to success then. The extra 10 days of practice and experience of 3 games in 3 days were also positives of trip

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I think many here are miscategorizing what chemistry is. Playing with chemistry can be anything from generating bonds between the players and you always play better and harder for guys you like. It can be having a feel for what each player can do and you make decisions on the court quicker because you know what to expect from each player. Ultimately, it can mean you playing better as a group and that leads to consistency. I'd say we were pretty consistent this year. I've never seen a Cajun bench as intense during games as I saw this year and it was noticeable if you are watching in person. That includes the managers, bench players, coaches, support staff standing and talking and when we were on defense you could hear them from the benches. That is chemistry and its not just a player issue. It doesn't guarantee you wins but I think it helps in tough games and I'd say this team had chemistry and I'd say it was beneficial this year.

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Originally Posted by zephyr

I think many here are miscategorizing what chemistry is. Playing with chemistry can be anything from generating bonds between the players and you always play better and harder for guys you like. It can be having a fell for what each player can do and you make decisions on the court quicker because you know what to expect from each player. Ultimately, it can mean you playing better as a group and that leads to consistency. I'd say we were pretty consistent this year. I've never seen a Cajun bench as intense during games as I saw this year and it was noticeable if you are watching in person. That includes the managers, bench players, coaches, support staff standing and talking and when we were on defense you could hear them from the benches. That is chemistry and its not just a player issue. It doesn't guarantee you wins but I think it helps in tough games and I'd say this team had chemistry and I'd say it was beneficial this year.

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Agree

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Originally Posted by cajun4life

Just to touch on the at large chances. For any SBC program to get an at large, OOC scheduling has to improve and the results have to be good.

But, an at large berth earns a NCAA unit. Just like winning a game in the tournament. So, now you know why the mediocre programs in High Major leagues get the at large spots. Follow the money.

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Correct. Having the conference improved with the new arrivals will help but it won't turn the dial in regards to getting at large bids. UNC will miss the tournament with a SOS in the 20's and Net ranking somewhere in the 40's and they are a blue blood in a power conference. The SBC had 4 teams with NET rankings under 100 which has never happened but all were in the 70"s and up. Our OOC SOS would absolutely have to get much better along with adding some neutral site stuff so we're not always playing on someone's court an Oh, we would have to start winning some of those games also.

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Originally Posted by billbeck451

I'm not the biggest basketball fan in the world, but there are three things that this team did this year that I didn't see as much in the past

1 they shot free throws and made those points, it drives me nuts to see teams that aren't good free throw shooters since to me that shows a team that doesn't pay attention to the small details

2 they rebounded and had multiples around the board which enabled them to have rebound points

and 3 they were very good from the 3 point range which would open up the inside game when needed.

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I would argue one thing and that's FT's. We were near the bottom in the league in that regard and our best player struggled from the FT line and that may be a big issue moving forward in the tournament if we get in a close game.

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Originally Posted by Cajunsmike

One more point. The hunger and energy of the young assistants contributed to success. They also had come from winning programs. Donovan Kates came from Alabama and Casey Perrin from
Texas Tech/Texas. 2nd year coach Derrick Zimmerman became lead assistant and was up to task. Moving Neil Hardin to Director of Scouting was a great move as he excels in that aspect. Team gave him a great birthday present last night as he turns 50 today. Our guys were rarely not prepared properly this season. People who have ties to coaching world know assistants do most of work and I just wanted to give shout out to those guys.

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Happy Birthday Neil.

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Originally Posted by sportsfanatic21

Thanks cajunsmike for the original post.

The rest of this thread is stupid. The team had a great regular season. And last night won the conference tournament, which is the ONLY way for a Sun Belt Conference team to make the NCAA tournament in the current landscape of college basketball.

The money spent in PR would be nowhere near what it would cost to bring in a team that, if (and a BIG if) the Cajuns had beaten, wouldn’t have made any difference in making the NCAA tournament without winning last night.

Is it so difficult to enjoy the moment and celebrate this team accomplishing what they’ve accomplished?? My God.

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Ha!! Do you know where you are??

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Originally Posted by Million$Mullet

Ha!! Do you know where you are??

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Lol. I forgot for a bit

I’m think there are 32 conferences. At most, eight will get more than one bid. Follow the money is a correct way to analyze this. As far as home schedule goes, consider more major schools are doing what LSU did this year which is play ZERO non conference road games. One reason is NET considers margin of victory. Some schools use that reasoning to schedule even weaker teams for home games. That does not mean we should not increase our efforts with other quality mid majors to get home and home deals. Going back to my original points, focus of thread should be more on the contributions of the assistants vs the Puerto Rico trip

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Originally Posted by Cajunsmike

... focus of thread should be more on the contributions of the assistants vs the Puerto Rico trip

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I'm coming around, I forgot how no one knew each other before this year.

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Originally Posted by CajunNation

Wow.

So, how do you get your Net ranking up?

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Be in a power conference and don’t venture away from home except for the power conference challenges arranged for tv or tournaments like Maui. There’s not a thing the “mid majors can do unless you’re a private school and can afford to go all in for MBB. I think it was the GAST board pointed out the Zags hoop budget was bigger than GAST’s football budget. And that said, I expect the Zags to get squeezed out eventually.

That’s the game plan. Basketball will be the next chip to fall after P5 football’s move is completed.

To clarify, overseas trips restricted to once every four years? Puerto Rico is part of the USA. What about a tourney in Hawaii or Alaska, do they count? What about Canada? Just seems like a weird restriction for no reason.

I really want to tip my hat to the students. We had more student support this year probably since the Elfrid days. The Marshall game is the one that stood out to me the most. Haven’t seen the student section like that in nearly a decade. The players 100% fed off of them and the rest of the crowd every game. Just look at the videos from the post game mosh pits between the players and students. They might have just started a new tradition!

While y’all are content letting this dude talk down to y’all, I’ll just say, we were 5 points away from that “overseas” trip meaning absolutely nothing.

People want things to be true. Especially when they get vacations out of it.

The team was good because they were good. Nothing else. Stop the foolishness.

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Originally Posted by ManAboutTown

While y’all are content letting this dude talk down to y’all, I’ll just say, we were 5 points away from that “overseas” trip meaning absolutely nothing.

People want things to be true. Especially when they get vacations out of it.

The team was good because they were good. Nothing else. Stop the foolishness.

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Devil’s advocate, what if that vacation was only good for an extra five points during the season. Worth it?

There’s a reason a lot of companies have a team building budget.

What if the promise of a trip tipped the scales to get Fulks to come to Lafayette?

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Originally Posted by RedTails

Devil’s advocate, what if that vacation was only good for an extra five points during the season. Worth it?

There’s a reason a lot of companies have a team building budget.

What if the promise of a trip tipped the scales to get Fulks to come to Lafayette?

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I was referring to a vacation for the guy here advocating for vacations.

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Originally Posted by Turbine

Not my point.

Bob times it perfectly, with his best teams so I know he believes in the positive effects.

He needs to figure out a way to teach without the benefit of an early start.

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This is the one point you have made that I agree with.

For whatever reason, when our bball teams do these pre-season trips, very good to excellent seasons happen.

If Marlin believes they create a great team chemistry, then in the years they cannot go, it is incumbent on him to find creative ways to get to the same answer.

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Originally Posted by Rainman66

This is the one point you have made that I agree with.

For whatever reason, when our bball teams do these pre-season trips, very good to excellent seasons happen.

If Marlin believes they create a great team chemistry, then in the years they cannot go, it is incumbent on him to find creative ways to get to the same answer.

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Unfortunately they can only do it every 4 years

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Originally Posted by Duckster

To clarify, overseas trips restricted to once every four years? Puerto Rico is part of the USA. What about a tourney in Hawaii or Alaska, do they count? What about Canada? Just seems like a weird restriction for no reason.

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Puerto Rico is considered international for these purposes. Probably due to the fact it is not a state. Alaska and Hawaii are not considered international destinations. Canada is considered an international spot. I think it would be cool for the team to go to an area in Canada where they can learn something about the Cajun heritage.

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Originally Posted by Turbine

Agree

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I agree too, but I saw the same intensity with our opponents this season.

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Originally Posted by LouisianaB

So can we win a SBC championship without going overseas?

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Doesn't sound like it...

“Inside every silver lining is a cloud”. Anon

Goes well with RPDS.