The Book: 2006-2007 Ragin' Cajuns Basketball

[Zeebart21]

Yes, Galindo transferred from Kansas

yes, thank you!

Z.

[NewsCopy]

Maybe it was because UL's men's basketball team hadn't been in that situation . holding onto a lead. After all, the Ragin' Cajuns had only one other double-digit advantage all season. UL had that type of edge several times Saturday night at the Cajundome, and didn't handle prosperity well down the stretch. But some clutch free throw shooting overcame three turnovers in the final minute, and the Cajuns held on for a 74-71 Sun Belt Conference victory over Florida International. The Cajuns (4-12, 2-4 Sun Belt) led by 14 points both late in the first half and early in the second half, and still were in front by nine at 67-58 with 55 seconds left before things started going haywire for the hosts. FIU (6-9, 1-4) got a key three-pointer from Johwen Villegas in between Elvis Lora free throws, those made possible by two Cajun turnovers, but two freebies by Willie Lago and David Dees provided a 72-68 lead with 13.4 seconds left. However, Alex Galindo threw in a high-arching trey over UL's defense with 6.8 ticks left, and Rhett Hebert had to make two more free throws for the eventual winning margin. Galindo had a potential tying three-pointer bound away at the horn. "On the plus side, we'd really never been in that situation, trying to hold onto a lead, and we didn't react well to it," said Cajun coach Robert Lee. "But we had guys that stepped up and made free throws. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Just1More]

I caught the game on the radio over here in the Villa De Refinery. I was very pleased with Dees and Hebert hitting the clutch free throws, but was curious why in the final minutes, FIU got down the floor and launched 3pt shots so fast. Just as Jay would say we missed a shot, or made one, it was only 2-3 seconds and he would say Vegas or Lauri (sp) launches a 3.

Was that just Jay (who does a great job) having a radio delay of his own, or were they getting down the floor that fast every time? I was getting very worried that our guys were going to let this game slip out of their grasp. Maybe it was the radio, but it sure did seem like FIU got off shots extremely fast down the stretch.

All is good, however. congrats to the Cajuns on a critical win. 2 in a row has got to instill some needed confidence. These 2 games should help a great deal in getting their heads into practice (not to say they weren't) and despite some tough games ahead, they know that they can compete.

[JamesTheJeweler]

Obviously I wasnt there, but it sounded like we turned the ball over quite a few times in the last minute. They were also light out with their 3's hitting a couple(I believe) in the last minute.

We cant get too shook if these guys get throttled at WKY or NT. We are extremely young.EXTREMELY YOUNG!.Next year with everyone back, ineligible players ready to go, Corey Bloom ready to play(Transfer from Uof Houston) and Rodney Gradigo from LaGrange here Things will be much better.

Z.

HEY Z, WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE AFOREMENTIONED PLAYERS. I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT 'EM. CAN'T GET MUCH INFO FROM THE DAILY SADVERTISER! ANY INFO IS APPRECIATED. THANKS.

[Zeebart21]

HEY Z, WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE AFOREMENTIONED PLAYERS. I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT 'EM. CAN'T GET MUCH INFO FROM THE DAILY SADVERTISER! ANY INFO IS APPRECIATED. THANKS.

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=345&p=9&cfg=bb&c=8&yr=2007

ROUX: Chris Gradnigo commits/signs with UL
Basketball:
Chris Gradnigo SF Ability to create and big time scorer
Ht: 6-6 Wt: 200
(Has been given an offer) Is not scheduled for a visit.
(LaGrange HS)
National Ranking (29)
Recruited by:Arkansas, Cincinnati, Colorado State, University of Louisiana, Notre Dame, South Florida, LSU, Tulane

Arkansas, Cincinnati, and ND offered.

Gradnigo is bigtime.

Bloom is a transfer from University of Houston, I believe he is Antoine Landry's brother.

http://pelicanpreps.rivals.com/viewp.2&pr_key=25229

Maybe others can give more insight.

These guys, plus the cats we have in the wingsI believe we'll see a serious improvement next year. Wont tell you we'll be a contender yet, because we'll still be young, but over the next few years.look out! IMHO

Z.

[JamesTheJeweler]

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=345&p=9&cfg=bb&c=8&yr=2007

ROUX: Chris Gradnigo commits/signs with UL
Basketball:
Chris Gradnigo SF Ability to create and big time scorer
Ht: 6-6 Wt: 200
(Has been given an offer) Is not scheduled for a visit.
(LaGrange HS)
National Ranking (29)
Recruited by:Arkansas, Cincinnati, Colorado State, University of Louisiana, Notre Dame, South Florida, LSU, Tulane

Arkansas, Cincinnati, and ND offered.

Gradnigo is bigtime.

Bloom is a transfer from University of Houston, I believe he is Antoine Landry's brother.

http://pelicanpreps.rivals.com/viewp.2&pr_key=25229

Maybe others can give more insight.

These guys, plus the cats we have in the wingsI believe we'll see a serious improvement next year. Wont tell you we'll be a contender yet, because we'll still be young, but over the next few years.look out! IMHO

Z.

thanks Z! it says he signed letter of intent with houston? what happenend there?

[RedBug58]

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=345&p=9&cfg=bb&c=8&yr=2007

ROUX: Chris Gradnigo commits/signs with UL
Basketball:
Chris Gradnigo SF Ability to create and big time scorer
Ht: 6-6 Wt: 200
(Has been given an offer) Is not scheduled for a visit.
(LaGrange HS)
National Ranking (29)
Recruited by:Arkansas, Cincinnati, Colorado State, University of Louisiana, Notre Dame, South Florida, LSU, Tulane

Arkansas, Cincinnati, and ND offered.

Gradnigo is bigtime.

Bloom is a transfer from University of Houston, I believe he is Antoine Landry's brother.

http://pelicanpreps.rivals.com/viewp.2&pr_key=25229

Maybe others can give more insight.

These guys, plus the cats we have in the wingsI believe we'll see a serious improvement next year. Wont tell you we'll be a contender yet, because we'll still be young, but over the next few years.look out! IMHO

Z.

I had a chance to talk to coach Lee for a while saturday morning at his daughter's game. He said that he doesn't seem to have a lot of friends these days, but he really is excited about the young players currently playing, the young players waiting in the wings, the recruits that have given verbals, and he also mentioned (not by name) a couple of "post type" players that could be in the mix. I was convinced that Coach Lee is "Getting After it".

[Zeebart21]

thanks Z! it says he signed letter of intent with houston? what happenend there?

Id be lying to you if I even speculated. I believe he signed in 2005, played a year, transferred here, sitting out this year, ready to roll next year.

Z.

[Zeebart21]

I had a chance to talk to coach Lee for a while saturday morning at his daughter's game. He said that he doesn't seem to have a lot of friends these days, but he really is excited about the young players currently playing, the young players waiting in the wings, the recruits that have given verbals, and he also mentioned (not by name) a couple of "post type" players that could be in the mix. I was convinced that Coach Lee is "Getting After it".

Hang in there, Coach Lee.HANG IN THERE!!!

Z.

[rhineaux]

Hang in there, Coach Lee.HANG IN THERE!!!

Z.

Anyone else notice that tank job by ULM last night.

Keep it up boys. 2 wins and counting. Keep getting better, knock teams off, and get into that tourney.

[Zeebart21]

Anyone else notice that tank job by ULM last night.

Keep it up boys. 2 wins and counting. Keep getting better, knock teams off, and get into that tourney.

I noticed that, and believe me I did not shed a tear. Trust me, though.Early is a good coach, and they will have to be reckoned with in the future. They havent had nearly the recruiting class we have had, but with Early as coach they should always be competitive.

Z.

[NewsCopy]

Something you won’t see often on the Division I basketball level . a college head coach on the floor playing pickup ball with a group of kids following a game. But after two wins, UL coach Robert Lee deserves to have some fun. Lee was waiting for a television crew to finish its setup to tape his coaches show, about 30 minutes after his Cajun basketball squad prevailed in a 74-71 decision over Florida International. While waiting, he joined three youths in a quick two-on-two game, pointing out some of the finer offensive and defensive points to his young game-mates. The game came to a quick end when the television crew finished its preparations, and Lee had a chance to talk on his show about two wins, a first since last season. Lee’s Cajuns are now riding a two-game winning streak. Neither win was overly impressive — a 66-64 victory over Denver Thursday and Saturday’s last-second victory over FIU — but no one in the Cajun locker room’s going to throw either one back after a 2-12 start. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Oldman]

If Jesse Evans had stayed the 20+ win seasons would have continued As long as Lee is here, the 20+ loss seasons will happen. There is talent on the team now, certainly enough to win a few sunbelt games and avoid 40 point blow outs to the likes of Stephen F. Austin, but this is what is happening.

It was Lee that tried to bring in the transfers last year en masse, but then realized that he would actually have to figure out a way to mold those very talented but somewhat troubled young men into good students and players. Evans did this year after year and Lee thought he could too, as head coach, just as he helped Evans do while he was an assistant.

Lee proclaimed last year's team to be sweet 16 material going into the season. Then, during the season he proclaimed that Marques Cooke would be the best player in the sunbelt the moment he stepped on the floor for the first time. Lee was just as excited about transfers as Evans ever was, if not more so Then Lee's transfer project failed miserably, then Lee cancelled the scholarships of those guys, then he decided to recruit 4 year players.

The team is arguably the worst in Cajun basketball history, and worst team in sunbelt today, even though the talent level is better than average in sunbelt and better than the the few other Cajuns teams that had a losing record since joining D1 35 or so years ago.

Do you honestly believe that Lee will turn a 3 to 5 win team, in the lowly sunbelt, into a sunbelt championship team (what Evans already provided or came close to providing year in and year out) simply with a couple of years maturation process of the young guys now? These freshmen and the other more experienced players on the team are already good enough to compete in the sunbelt but it is not happening because of poor coaching. The team was good enough to compete with Tennessee, Nevada and Cal State Fullerton at the very beginning of the season (at a time when coaching is not as important as raw talent) but now could not possibly come within 30 points of those teams and cannot possibly get out of the cellar in the sunbelt. So why all the optimism about this team and program next year or the year after? Will the talent level be so high then that the team can continue to underperform and yet still win games and make NCAA tourney run?

Ironicaly, the best player by far on this current team is a transfer, Dees. Even more ironically is that if Cooke had stayed in school, the best two players would be transfers. So much for the 4 year plan.

Please note that the 35 years of consistent winning teams is being run into the ground now by the current program. This is happening almost overnight. This year's team is arguably the worst team in 35 years and arguably the worst team in a very weak conference. The young team is showing so much progress that after losing to CSF by a few points they turn around a month or so later and lose by 40. After being competitve against a few teams that would run all over the sunbelt, the Cajuns can't win a sunbelt game and it is no surprise when they lose to teams like SFA and Monroe by 20 to 40 points.

Cajuns may be the worst team in D1 today. So the future is bright?

Evans had 20+ win seasons year after year and that was terrible?

Whoever gave Lee the 5 year guaranteed contract should be fired on the spot. imho, Lee was not a bad hire, given the circumstances at the time, and he deserved a shot at the time. However, why give 5 year guaranteed deal when Lee had no other head coaching jobs coming to him and there was no great demand for him? It was an experiment, he was getting a shot that he deserved, but why not make it a two or three year deal? Why 5? That was flirting with dissaster, and was a negligent decision, especially for a program that apparently cannot afford to buy out contracts.

THIS IS HOW STUPID YOU ARE.JESSE HAD TO 1ST CHASE THESE GUYS AROUND AND GET THEM TO CLASS AND WHEN HE LEFT THEY LEFT
2ND YOU DIDN'T KNOW IF THEY WERE ELEGIBLE AND MOST OF THE TIME THEY WEREN'T
3RD THEY WERE ALWAYS GETTING INTO SOME SORT OF TROUBLE
BUT AS LONG AS HE PUT UP 20 + WINS AS YOU SAY THAT WAS OKAY BECAUSE YOU SIMPLY DON'T KNOW OR CARE IF THEY GO TO CLASS OR GRADUATED.HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE! AND WHERE ARE THE PLAYERS NOW(THAT WE SHOULD HAVE)DON'T GET ME WRONG THERE WERE A FEW GUYS WHO UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF AN EDUCATION AND TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES TO DO JUST THAT, GAVE ME A BREAK TODAYS BASKETBALLS GPA 2.5-2.8, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEMI KNOW YOU ACTUALLY ARE A lsu guy trying to act a cajun fanGOTTA BE BECAUSE YOU AINT ONE OF US.

[rhineaux]

THIS IS HOW STUPID YOU ARE.JESSE HAD TO 1ST CHASE THESE GUYS AROUND AND GET THEM TO CLASS AND WHEN HE LEFT THEY LEFT
2ND YOU DIDN'T KNOW IF THEY WERE ELEGIBLE AND MOST OF THE TIME THEY WEREN'T
3RD THEY WERE ALWAYS GETTING INTO SOME SORT OF TROUBLE
BUT AS LONG AS HE PUT UP 20 + WINS AS YOU SAY THAT WAS OKAY BECAUSE YOU SIMPLY DON'T KNOW OR CARE IF THEY GO TO CLASS OR GRADUATED.HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE! AND WHERE ARE THE PLAYERS NOW(THAT WE SHOULD HAVE)DON'T GET ME WRONG THERE WERE A FEW GUYS WHO UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF AN EDUCATION AND TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES TO DO JUST THAT, GAVE ME A BREAK TODAYS BASKETBALLS GPA 2.5-2.8, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEMI KNOW YOU ACTUALLY ARE A lsu guy trying to act a cajun fanGOTTA BE BECAUSE YOU AINT ONE OF US.

With the new APR rules, we would have gotten smoked under Evans. Hell, we got smoked for something as small as T.Wade leaving for the pros because it counted as a non-graduate. the way things are nowadays, its much more important to make sure the players are right in the classroom above all else. Wins are nice, but the great kids that have decent grades aren't coming here (are many other places anywhere around here), for that matter.

[ragin2112cajun]

Once again I see on this forum that all these people believing in coach lee,cant answer the question about "the man" being able to COACH all this
talent he is bringing in. Dr.Fidell extending lee's contract is a move only this
cowtown university could make.Lee got a contract extention heading a program off of someone elses players.The talent on those teams all lee had
to do was role the ballout and make sure they were out of the strip joints
and bars before practice started.
As for as bashing Evans moving to San Francisco was not a step down when
you just look at baskeball,the cajuns would have trouble winning out west.
Lets be real the Sunbelt is HORRIBLE as of late.