Men's Basketball

I may be wrong, but I don't think Ced is healthy. He's had health issues his most of his career here.

We're not very talented overall and especially the bigs. We've also got a short point guard who isn't nearly good enough to overcome his lack of size on either end of the court

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Originally Posted by ManAboutTown

Speaking of recruiting.. When we landed Ced Russell, it was touted as one of the best signings of the Marlin era. And I agreed. (I still think he's one of the best shooters we've had here in my lifetime).

For the life of me, I can not understand this staff's fixation on making Ced a combo guard. WHY WHY WHY do they not put him at the 2, and run plays for him to shoot the ball?? He is not a POINT GUARD. No knock on his ability at all, but his strength is shooting the ball. He also has a very good mid-range game that he is not allowed to showcase. I understand analytics and understand their strategy, but at some point, you have to go away from a plan that isn't working.

Cedric will be a SR next year. If something doesn't change dramatically, he will be the most underutilized talent in the last 15 years of this program. He is conference player of the year material being used incorrectly (IMHO) to plug recruiting gaps left by the staff. We don't space the floor, we don't run pick & pop motions for him, and we make him possess the ball way too much.

Somebody change my mind.

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I'm with MAT let Ced play the 2 and let Mylik play the point.
Mylik is a beast but he is way too tentative on offense, let the man run the offense like elfrid did. Mylik has the ability to be a 15 point, 6 assist, 6 rebound type player but often I find he is just sitting behind the 3 point line. That is a complete waste of his ability as a player

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Originally Posted by Hudsheen#Fired

I'm with MAT let Ced play the 2 and let Mylik play the point.
Mylik is a beast but he is way too tentative on offense, let the man run the offense like elfrid did. Mylik has the ability to be a 15 point, 6 assist, 6 rebound type player but often I find he is just sitting behind the 3 point line. That is a complete waste of his ability as a player

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Wilson needs to be getting 34-36 minutes a game. In fact, all freshmen/sophomores need to be playing the bulk of the minutes, except for Cedric. Find out if Chrisitian Lafayette can play. Find out if all these bench guys can log real minutes in conference play. We all know we're not contending for a title this year.

You guys realize, all of the same "reasons" that are being given this year for the disappointing results (pre-injury bug) will be the same "reasons" for next year, right? "Young, inexperienced."

Still haven't addressed the size issue (when the trend in the SBC is getting bigger).

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Originally Posted by CajunEXPRESS

I may be wrong, but I don’t think Ced is healthy. He’s had health issues his most of his career here.

We’re not very talented overall and especially the Bigs. We’ve also got a shot point guard who isn’t nearly good enough to overcome his lack of size on either end of the court

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When I suggested this earlier in the year, I was told that I didn't know what I was talking about...

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Originally Posted by ManAboutTown

When I suggested this earlier in the year, I was told that I didn't know what I was talking about...

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I don’t think I was one who did that but if so I apologize. I agree he is likely not 100 percent. He had foot surgeries before both his freshman and sophomore years. This year he definitely had a hip issue in Las Vegas. Not sure if he is completely recovered from that. He may go his entire career without being healthy. Foot issues are something that is always a struggle for basketball players to recover from.

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Originally Posted by ManAboutTown

When I suggested this earlier in the year, I was told that I didn't know what I was talking about...

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Naw, no one would tell you that.

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Originally Posted by Cajunsmike

Good points in this post. I agree that playing point impacts his effectiveness at the 2 guard spot at times. I was disappointed he did not knock more shots down in the second half as he had plenty of open looks which simply did not go down. He himself has said he prefers playing point but that should not be a factor in how they use him. Also agree that he should shoot more mid range shots. I have been advocating that aspect for years but most basketball folks don't agree. Maybe one day some will see the advantage of taking that shot as it is open, you don't get charges, shots blocked by the big guys as you drive, or injured on getting hit by the big guys. Addressing a couple of other points, I never saw where it was said LR was down three starters. Being at the game, they seemed to have a full roster and used them in a normal fashion. They did have guys in foul trouble and their leading scorer did miss much of the second half. That was due to him having four fouls. Wesley was doing a very good job defensively on him. However, that worked to the Trojans advantage as he was having a poor game and it caused Little Rock to focus on their inside game. They had an advantage there and they exploited it. Of course the leading scorer (five eight guard) came back in and hit a tough corner three to put them in the lead late in the game. Before he even let the ball go I turned to my buddy and said that will go in. That is the way things go when you are struggling and I knew it. Regardless of all that it is Christmas time and all those guys need to enjoy the holidays with their families. May do them good to get away from the game for awhile.

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They had 3 in sweats, and one of which i know for sure was their second best player, as he dominated us last year.

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Originally Posted by Turbine

I'm having one now.

I'm just upset that basketball cleaned house last offseason.

Knowingly leaving the team with no depth.

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We brought in more depth than what we had.

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Originally Posted by Cajunsmike

I see little value in commenting about the basketball coaching staff situation. People have formed strong opinions and little I can say will change them one way or the other. I have no idea if what is said here will influence Dr. Maggard on any decisions he has to make and he is the main decision maker. I do know that posting here allows people to vent their concerns with the current situation and what we see now is definitely frustrating. Unfortunately, the roster limitations of the current squad make it unlikely they will be able to accomplish enough to change the view of people this season. The injury to Julien put them in a huge bind. There is no one of the roster capable of duplicating his 11 points and almost 6 boards a game. He brought more than that to the court with a strong overall floor game most nights. He was on his way to being freshman of the year. He may not have been a great player but we have no one else close to his ability. When games are called like last night, things really become a challenge. We simply don't have capable bodies to overcome our depth issues when everyone is in foul trouble. Tirus Smith was having a strong game with 15 points and 8 rebounds. However foul trouble limited him to 18 minutes. Had he played a normal amount of minutes, the Cajuns may have had a shot to pull it out. He likely will continue to have foul problems as players get reputations and that may become his. I have few suggestions on how to improve things this year and will simply wait to see what the AD does about the coaching situation at the end of the year.

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Mike, I don't think anybody here wants or expects these changes to be made at this exact time. It would not be helpful for us to do that. I think people want our administration to know this is just not acceptable at this time and they should at least take a hard look at the staff at the end of season. Hopefully they take the input into consideration. I think we all want to finally be heard rather than told that mens basketball is the one sport he is NOT concerned about.

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Originally Posted by ManAboutTown

NOT. THE. TIME.

Y’all are ____ing this up for us.

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How is this even possible?

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Originally Posted by cajun55

Does the band still go to basketball games? At least give us some atmosphere. Assuming they don’t start going until football ends. The student section was empty by the way. I get it school is out, but its not like every damn restaurant in Lafayette is not jam packed tonight.

I noticed there’s still plenty of Marlin signed 400 win posters when you enter the Cajundome. Get em now because 500 won’t happen and 410 is not looking good.

Basketball used to be so much fun. Hopefully things turn around.

Something positive I saw was the play of the Freshman Wilson. I think he will be a real good player in the coming years as he gets more confident. Nailed a big 3 near the end to keep us in it.

Make Cajun Basketball Great Again!

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they used to but I haven't been to a game in 2 years so I'm not sure at this point.

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Originally Posted by zephyr

We brought in more depth than what we had.

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Post graduation, one can make this statement every single season.

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Originally Posted by CajunEXPRESS

I may be wrong, but I don't think Ced is healthy. He's had health issues his most of his career here.

We're not very talented overall and especially the bigs. We've also got a short point guard who isn't nearly good enough to overcome his lack of size on either end of the court

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Wesley has been a catalyst for us. He distributes the ball well enough and is a pretty good defender. I don't give a ____ if he's 4 foot tall, if he does these things he can play and run the offense.

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Originally Posted by Turbine

Post graduation, one can make this statement every single season.

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No you can't. If you have a heavy senior laden class and can't fill those spots with recruits or transfers you will deplete your depth. We overturned 70%+ of our roster.

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Originally Posted by zephyr

Wesley has been a catalyst for us. He distributes the ball well enough and is a pretty good defender. I don't give a ____ if he's 4 foot tall, if he does these things he can play and run the offense.

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He was on he last,segment of the coaches show last week.

I like that kid. He understands people.

A coaches son.

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Originally Posted by Turbine

He was on he last,segment of the coaches show last week.

I like that kid. He understands people.

A coaches son.

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And to be honest, I think he's our toughest player. I wish more of them had his grit.

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Originally Posted by zephyr

No you can't. If you have a heavy senior laden class and can't fill those spots with recruits or transfers you will deplete your depth. We overturned 70%+ of our roster.

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The event you replied to occurred post graduation.

No one claimed that last years team had depth.

What you are left with (post graduation) IS your depth.

Recruiting improves depth.

It's not like anyone can claim <i>wish we had that graduate back, his known departure really hurts our depth </i>

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Originally Posted by Turbine

The event you replied to occurred post graduation.

No one claimed that last years team had depth.

What you are left with (post graduation) IS your depth.

Recruiting improves depth.

It's not like anyone can claim <i>wish we had that graduate back, his known departure really hurts our depth </i>

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How did we knowingly clear house? We brought in more depth than we would have had if those two players we cleared out would have provided. Smith, Guye and Johnson are all better than Miller and Davis. We didn't deplete our depth. If anything, we brought in better players.

Put better talent on the floor. From the Sydney Grider to Dwayne Mitchell eras....we had better year in and year out talent. Why do we land only Southland talent every year?

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Originally Posted by jumboragncajun

Put better talent on the floor. From the Sydney Grider to Dwayne Mitchell eras....we had better year in and year out talent. Why do we land only Southland talent every year?

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Because we nave a Southland level coach?

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Originally Posted by jumboragncajun

Put better talent on the floor. From the Sydney Grider to Dwayne Mitchell eras....we had better year in and year out talent. Why do we land only Southland talent every year?

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Because we have a SLC coach.

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Originally Posted by zephyr

How did we knowingly clear house? We brought in more depth than we would have had if those two players we cleared out would have provided. Smith, Guye and Johnson are all better than Miller and Davis. We didn't deplete our depth. If anything, we brought in better players.

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Just noticed that Little Rock had 6 guys play over 20 minutes to our 5 who did the same. Also, Little Rock had 8 guys with play time to our 10.

We are going to have to spread playtime across our roster. Guys like Lafayette need the experience.

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Originally Posted by ULvictory

Just noticed that Little Rock had 6 guys play over 20 minutes to our 5 who did the same. Also, Little Rock had 8 guys with play time to our 10.

We are going to have to spread playtime across our roster. Guys like Lafayette need the experience.

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That and foul trouble will do that to you.

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Originally Posted by zephyr

How did we knowingly clear house? We brought in more depth than we would have had if those two players we cleared out would have provided. Smith, Guye and Johnson are all better than Miller and Davis. We didn't deplete our depth. If anything, we brought in better players.

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No doubt about Jalen, he was a good add.

And I'm not knocking any add, I'm knocking change for change sake and not letting players mature in the system.

Dou Gueye is averaging 8.5 points PPG. Jerekius Davis averaged right at 10 PPG last year, scoring in the double digits in 14 games.

Smith is averaging 7.6 PPG. Justin Miller averaged 9 with Louisiana.

Another year of continuity in the system and I believe Miller and Jerekius Davis would have been even better than we saw.

Also, UL could use Jeremy Hayes 31 minutes and 15.4 PPG he is getting this year.

ps UL has one player less than last year. Somebody could have been kept.

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Originally Posted by Turbine

No doubt about Jalen, he was a good add.

And I'm not knocking any add, I'm knocking change for change sake and not letting players mature in the system.

Dou Gueye is averaging 8.5 points PPG. Jerekius Davis averaged right at 10 PPG last year, scoring in the double digits in 14 games.

Smith is averaging 7.6 PPG. Justin Miller averaged 9 with Louisiana.

Another year of continuity in the system and I believe Miller and Jerekius Davis would have been even better than we saw.

Also, UL could use Jeremy Hayes 31 minutes and 15.4 PPG he is getting this year.

ps UL has one player less than last year. Somebody could have been kept.

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Gladney was the fourth school player who left and that was also for non basketball reasons. We do have 13 scholarship players which is the limit. We did have two walk ons last year. Eli Mouton is the other who moved on. I understand he has given up the game now after suffering an injury at LSU-EUNICE. Turbine may be right in that continuity from keeping Davis and Miller may have contributed to a better record at this stage. However those decisions were made partially by the administration.