The Book: 2006-2007 Ragin' Cajuns Basketball

[MiamiCajun32]

Ever hear of the fab 5? Michigan got to the final four their first year and won it all a little later. I think the guys that are coming in with the ones we already have will provide for a very good year, with a lot more upside in the Sun Belt.

Your view seems to be that Coach Lee is not focused, but he was smart enough and focused enough to recognize the junior college players he brought in were not going to work out and cut his loses qucikly. I have a lot of confidence in this coach. I suggest you get a personal one on one with him and you will come away with a lot of respect for his intelligence and knowledge.

As for his assement of players that have not played. I think the questions were put to him and he gave an assement of their basketball skills. It is up to the players to get thier class work done. Unlike Jesse he will not tolerate misbehavior very long.

I remember watching the fab five win it all. Unfortunately, the Cajuns' freshmen class is only serviceable, perhaps good enough to win sunbelt in a few years. Of course, at least one of the best players in that class has almost no chance of ever putting on a Cajun uniform, due to eligibility problems.

I have never met R Lee. From all that I have heard, he seems like a truly great guy and someone that anyone would be lucky to have as a friend. However, that does not make him a great or even good head basketball coach at D-1 level.

Great college basketball coaches would have found a way to win last year, at least not have a losing record. There were holes, but there was also serious talent on that team.

I hope I am way wrong, but I am predicting at least two years of 12-16 type teams and it could be worse. Maybe single digit wins next year, although I don't predict that. Very much gone are the days of dominating sunbelt and having a really good shot to knock off a top 10 team in NCAAs. Those days were only about a year ago, but they are gone in my opinion. At least for a while. What could possibly be good about that?

Next year we don't have one player who is a pro prospect. And it is a very young team. I think this team will be lucky to finish in top half of sunbelt and there will be losses out of conference.

It is too bad there was not a way for Lee to motivate Cooke to get his schoolwork done. He got his school work done at the last two stops. Why not now all of the sudden? Of course I don't blame Lee for that, but mabye a great coach would have done more to influence. Who knows?

[MiamiCajun32]

Ever hear of the fab 5? Michigan got to the final four their first year and won it all a little later. I think the guys that are coming in with the ones we already have will provide for a very good year, with a lot more upside in the Sun Belt.

Your view seems to be that Coach Lee is not focused, but he was smart enough and focused enough to recognize the junior college players he brought in were not going to work out and cut his loses qucikly. I have a lot of confidence in this coach. I suggest you get a personal one on one with him and you will come away with a lot of respect for his intelligence and knowledge.

As for his assement of players that have not played. I think the questions were put to him and he gave an assement of their basketball skills. It is up to the players to get thier class work done. Unlike Jesse he will not tolerate misbehavior very long.

I agree that things seemed to be undisciplined when Jesse Evan's was running the show and that was a bad thing. However, he won games year after year. I like R Lee's disciplined approach, but if he can only aspire to have barely above .500 seasons with his approach, then it is not working, obviously. He won his first year with Jesse's team. It was impressive nonetheless, even though at times that team was really inconsistent. Last year was a bad coaching job. One of the most talented teams in the sunbelt that simply could not compete in Sunbelt until the end of the year, and even then could not really come close to the title.

Ultimately, the wins and losses are facts that do not lie and if over the next few years the Cajuns struggle to play at .500, then it is a terrible situation for the program. Unfortunately, that is my prediction.

This year's roster is far less talented and less experienced than last year's roster. There was also some great senior leadership on last year's team. So why the optimism, practically speaking, for this year's team to be so good? It would take a monumental coaching job for this team to compete for the sunbelt and I don't expect that either. This is a young team that has the potential in a few years to compete for the sunbelt title.

Since when did Cajuns basketball turn into a once every few years will compete for Sunbelt title and in between struggle rebuilding team. Especially when there is no longer a top 25 type team in Sunbelt, as Western Kentucky is no longer a top program.

The reality of the situation is that this team should struggle. On paper it will struggle. I hope that I am wrong to think that.

[Cajun Express]

I remember watching the fab five win it all. Unfortunately, the Cajuns' freshmen class is only serviceable, perhaps good enough to win sunbelt in a few years. Of course, at least one of the best players in that class has almost no chance of ever putting on a Cajun uniform, due to eligibility problems.

I have never met R Lee. From all that I have heard, he seems like a truly great guy and someone that anyone would be lucky to have as a friend. However, that does not make him a great or even good head basketball coach at D-1 level.

Great college basketball coaches would have found a way to win last year, at least not have a losing record. There were holes, but there was also serious talent on that team.

I hope I am way wrong, but I am predicting at least two years of 12-16 type teams and it could be worse. Maybe single digit wins next year, although I don't predict that. Very much gone are the days of dominating sunbelt and having a really good shot to knock off a top 10 team in NCAAs. Those days were only about a year ago, but they are gone in my opinion. At least for a while. What could possibly be good about that?

Next year we don't have one player who is a pro prospect. And it is a very young team. I think this team will be lucky to finish in top half of sunbelt and there will be losses out of conference.

It is too bad there was not a way for Lee to motivate Cooke to get his schoolwork done. He got his school work done at the last two stops. Why not now all of the sudden? Of course I don't blame Lee for that, but mabye a great coach would have done more to influence. Who knows?

Clearly I was not trying to say the class we signed is equal to the fab five, but I do believe they will be equal to the fab 5 vs americas best in the UL vs the Sun Belt best. While we will not get Gary this season, with Dison we have a great off guard.

Great this, great that? A whole lot of greating not going on here. Maybe you need to get positive or follow those who have already gotten to the top. You said you have not met the coach and all that. Great coaches who do the things you want from him have happened about 10 to 15 times in the 20 th century. The old addage from Bear supporters, he can beat you with his or he can beat you with yours is just so much hookum. Bear was getting beat pretty regular with his, as Eddie Robinson when his were not as good as yours. Joe Paterno was getting beat pretty consistantly until his recruiting class got better last season. Bobby Knight for all the thunder is not doing a whole lot better than the guys who coached TT before him. Richardson of Arkansas had a whole lotta not great going on when the talent level dropped. Tubbs is having a whole lot of not great going on now that the Patino class has moved on.

I know, I know Coach Lee has your greatest hopes. You sound like the democrates supporting the troops.

Could you give me those three NBA players Coach had last season, or the season before that? One of those guys went lame, Mitchell just before the Sun Belt Tournament. Neither he nor Southall have a spot of a team. Green never played with Southall, so I am in a fog on the third NBA player he coached.

[Clutch0364]

Coach Lee went after high school guys first tlast year and when he had to he went and got the JC players to fill out the spots he had to. He had Ryan Francis committed and he ended up starting at USC last year. He had a committed from the post player (can't remember his name) that ended up at UALR. We pulled his offer because he waivered on his commitment to us. Booker Woodfox never became eligible.

What I am trying to say is he always tried to go the high school route and last year it went wrong so he had to get the JUCO guys but he realized the error of his ways. This is his first college head coaches job he will had tough times but we need to stick by him because I can't think of anyone who is more loyal to our program than him. He has been here for a while and with his personality and leadership I think the future is bright. Will it be next year probably not but give him time.

[MiamiCajun32]

Clearly I was not trying to say the class we signed is equal to the fab five, but I do believe they will be equal to the fab 5 vs americas best in the UL vs the Sun Belt best. While we will not get Gary this season, with Dison we have a great off guard.

Great this, great that? A whole lot of greating not going on here. Maybe you need to get positive or follow those who have already gotten to the top. You said you have not met the coach and all that. Great coaches who do the things you want from him have happened about 10 to 15 times in the 20 th century. The old addage from Bear supporters, he can beat you with his or he can beat you with yours is just so much hookum. Bear was getting beat pretty regular with his, as Eddie Robinson when his were not as good as yours. Joe Paterno was getting beat pretty consistantly until his recruiting class got better last season. Bobby Knight for all the thunder is not doing a whole lot better than the guys who coached TT before him. Richardson of Arkansas had a whole lotta not great going on when the talent level dropped. Tubbs is having a whole lot of not great going on now that the Patino class has moved on.

I know, I know Coach Lee has your greatest hopes. You sound like the democrates supporting the troops.

Could you give me those three NBA players Coach had last season, or the season before that? One of those guys went lame, Mitchell just before the Sun Belt Tournament. Neither he nor Southall have a spot of a team. Green never played with Southall, so I am in a fog on the third NBA player he coached.

I appreciate your enthusiasm and believe me I sincerely hope that during this next season you can remind me of how wrong I was to be so down on the team's chances.

I never said NBA prospect. I said pro prospect, inlcuding europe. The cajuns have only had 2 players in NBA going back o beginning of Fletcher era, so it is great that OG has made it. Mitchell, Southall, and Cameron all have the ability and can play professionally at least in Europe. Wade is already there. Now when is the last time the cajuns had so much talent on one team? Perhaps in early 80s, before there were so many 6 figure professional options for players not good enough for NBA.

Also, yes I am aware that Mitchell was hurt in tourney but why did it take almost the entire season for the healthy version of the talented team to start winning games in a weak sunbelt?

All I am saying is that I hope Lee has learned from his mistakes in his first 2 years ever being head coach. He certainly has a lot of upside if he can learn at a high curve. I really really never liked the following example of a great coach, but here it is:

Tim Floyd. Remember his first year at UNO when they did not have a player taller than 6'5 and they were predicted to finish last in the Am South? All he did was win the thing. Then when he had some talent, he turned UNO into a top 25 team for several years. He won at each college he was at. He will do the same at USC. Who knows? Maybe he struggled at Idaho for a few years before he won enough to get the UNO job.

I am not saying that we need Lee to be another Tim Floyd, but the best coaches figure out how to win with no talent and good coaches figure out how to win with some talent. I just think Lee had a rough year last year.

If he learns from last year and he figures out how to recruit as a head coach as well as he did for Evans as his assistant, then there is a good future. But that is a lot of ifs and this year I see a second straight losing record, something that is almost unheard of for a very proud Cajuns program.

Unfortunately, in this new era of college sports, traditionally strong and proud smaller programs like the Cajuns can fall completely off the map with a few subpar seasons, unless someone steps up to save the program. (In some ways, even with his many faults, Evans saved the program and brought credibility back). I just hope that we are not heading down a few years of mediocrity again. The sunbelt is weaker than ever and there is no reason to not be able to be in top 2 or 3 in league every year when you have more talent than most of the rest of the league.

[CajunRed]

Anyone who thinks last year's team had a lot of talent must not have seen the same games I saw. Every newcomer on that team was weak. If you don't agree, stop for a moment and ask yourself this question. about which of our newcomers would any other coach in the league have said "wow, I'd really like to have THAT player"?

My thought would have been NONE OF THEM!

[MiamiCajun32]

Anyone who thinks last year's team had a lot of talent must not have seen the same games I saw. Every newcomer on that team was weak. If you don't agree, stop for a moment and ask yourself this question. about which of our newcomers would any other coach in the league have said "wow, I'd really like to have THAT player"?

My thought would have been NONE OF THEM!

There are three professional players from last year's team. Three players that at a minimum can land on a European team and one already has (the third best). Further, we had two "blue chip" newcomer transfers who played horribly, but for whatever reason where rated very highly by the experts at such ratings and they were highly recruited (we out recruited Maryland for the point guard).

The team played very very badly until the end when things finally started coming together. A couple of decent players quit the team early on.

Just seems like coaching was the problem. Eventually the head coach has to take responsibility. And even if the team was not as talented as has been suggested by the experts and also the professional teams that are interested in three of those players, the Cajuns last year were at the very least one of the most talented teams in the sunbelt, a very weak conference.

The team you saw was disorganized and did not have a long range shooter or experienced veteran play maker at the point that could take over and make up for the disorganization on offense.

I hope it was just an anamoly and we don't have more of the same this year, especially with a team that is much less experienced and much less talented.

[Xlettrman]

The great players on last year's team never meshed with the newer players and those new guys from last year were not as good as their juco numbers were advertised.that's why none of them will be here for next year!

[chauncey]

Some basketball history!! The fab five never won a national championship, the lost to UNC. Michigan was national champions in 1989. Remember Glen Rice!!!

[MiamiCajun32]

Some basketball history!! The fab five never won a national championship, the lost to UNC. Michigan was national champions in 1989. Remember Glen Rice!!!

That's right! I forgot. Didn't Weber throw the ball away or something or call time out when there was none left?

[Clutch0364]

That's right! I forgot. Didn't Weber throw the ball away or something or call time out when there was none left?

First he traveled coming down court and they didn't call it, then he got trapped in the corner and called a Timeout which they didn't have.

[Clutch0364]

Trivia who can name all 5 members of the fab 5?

[Cajunsmike]

I remember watching the fab five win it all. Unfortunately, the Cajuns' freshmen class is only serviceable, perhaps good enough to win sunbelt in a few years. Of course, at least one of the best players in that class has almost no chance of ever putting on a Cajun uniform, due to eligibility problems.

I have never met R Lee. From all that I have heard, he seems like a truly great guy and someone that anyone would be lucky to have as a friend. However, that does not make him a great or even good head basketball coach at D-1 level.

Great college basketball coaches would have found a way to win last year, at least not have a losing record. There were holes, but there was also serious talent on that team.

I hope I am way wrong, but I am predicting at least two years of 12-16 type teams and it could be worse. Maybe single digit wins next year, although I don't predict that. Very much gone are the days of dominating sunbelt and having a really good shot to knock off a top 10 team in NCAAs. Those days were only about a year ago, but they are gone in my opinion. At least for a while. What could possibly be good about that?

Next year we don't have one player who is a pro prospect. And it is a very young team. I think this team will be lucky to finish in top half of sunbelt and there will be losses out of conference.

It is too bad there was not a way for Lee to motivate Cooke to get his schoolwork done. He got his school work done at the last two stops. Why not now all of the sudden? Of course I don't blame Lee for that, but mabye a great coach would have done more to influence. Who knows?

Which player do you believe won't be on the court because of eligibility problems. Plenty of players have been props their first year, became eligible, and then had success. That goes for our school and others. Dwayne Wade was a prop his first year at Marquette and look where he is today.

If you are talking about LaRyan Gary, he is in summer school at UL right now in order to get a head start on becoming eligible. He is paying his own way to school. He also did very well in the recent high school All Star Game. Give the guy a chance before you assume he won't cut it academically. I understand the belief that this will be a rebuilding year. It is quite a stretch to say next year will be as well. Key to both years will be David Dees.

[Cajunsmike]

Its is unlikely that Maurice and Valentino will be back, Turner will be a walk on.

Coach Lee said on the radio the other day that Maurice, Valentino, and Turner all had the opportunity to return. Have you heard that they are passing on the opportunity?

[Jason]

Trivia who can name all 5 members of the fab 5?

Ray Jackson, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King