The Book: 2006-2007 Ragin' Cajuns Basketball

[cajunlove]

Unfortunately, it seems that the Cajuns will not be able to compete with major teams in the south / southeast for high school talent. They were just starting to be able to a few years ago, based soley on Jesse Evans' success with wins and losses (came close with Ryan Francis and the , along with the national attention that brought. Recruiting a solid sunbelt high school class and hoping that they stay eligible and together for a few years (so there can be one good year out of 4) is a HUGE drop off in quality for the Cajuns basketball program.

What about signee Chris Gradingo, seen by some as the best player coming out of Louisiana, and ranked nationally as a top 20 high school small forwawrd (or power forward)? Also, what about this past recruiting class, all of which were rated among the top 25 prospects coming out of Louisiana high schools?

This year's freshman have loads of talent. They make freshman mistakes though, freshman mistakes that will only be corrected with game experience. They all signed on to the program knowing coach Lee's expectations. They also know that if those expectations are not met, they get sent packing, just like Marquie Cookie (sp?). Again, with the change in recruiting philosophy, I think Lee should be given a couple of years before he is judged. Let's allow these high school recruits to mature and then see if the Cajuns are ranked at the bottom of the SBC.

[El Sidonio]

What about signee Chris Gradingo, seen by some as the best player coming out of Louisiana, and ranked nationally as a top 20 high school small forwawrd (or power forward)? Also, what about this past recruiting class, all of which were rated among the top 25 prospects coming out of Louisiana high schools?

This year's freshman have loads of talent. They make freshman mistakes though, freshman mistakes that will only be corrected with game experience. They all signed on to the program knowing coach Lee's expectations. They also know that if those expectations are not met, they get sent packing, just like Marquie Cookie (sp?). Again, with the change in recruiting philosophy, I think Lee should be given a couple of years before he is judged. Let's allow these high school recruits to mature and then see if the Cajuns are ranked at the bottom of the SBC.

I agree. But at the same time, it's hard to sit here and wait for these supposed improvements that will happen while our team plays so badly. As much talent as we have on the court, shouldn't we be winning more? Whatever the case is, I say RL is gone if we don't win the conference next season.

God Bless

GEAUX UL RAGIN CAJUNS!!!!!!!!

[cajunlove]

I agree. But at the same time, it's hard to sit here and wait for these supposed improvements that will happen while our team plays so badly. As much talent as we have on the court, shouldn't we be winning more? Whatever the case is, I say RL is gone if we don't win the conference next season.

God Bless

GEAUX UL RAGIN CAJUNS!!!!!!!!

I believe that many would agree with you. But, I still stand by giving Lee 2 more years to win the conference. My post was in reply to the previous poster's suggestion that UL's recruiting has deteriorated since Evans's departure. Hopefully Lee can get these freshmen to "gel" and win some games this season.

[SlappyCajun]

You may disagree with all of these points or none. I know you are a fan, because I went through the same feelings with other coaches in the UL program at some point. Here are some things that I think Robert is doing right.

1) Signing top local talent. Robert and staff have gone out and signed some of the best local talent in the state. Is some of it ineligible, yes. If the players were eligible out of high school would they have gone to Louisiana Lafayette, probably not. Recruiting is hard. Recruiting top high school players is even harder. Many times the transfers that we signed had no other options left, so they were easier to get. Will Willie Lago be the next Orien Greene, proably not. Will Elijah Millsap be the next Brian Hamilton, possibly. Whats the difference, we have these guys for four years. For those who went to the A-State game Lago, played extremely well. He is slowly coming into his own. He will be an excellent point guard for three more years. I think we can all see the benefits of having Millsap for three more years. Tyren Johnson will continue to figure things out and be an athletic specimen before it is all over. Another thing that may pain us to think about. If Rick Majerus keeps the USC job, Ryan Francis is a Ragin' Cajun right now. Tim Floyd is good at what he does. Think we should have been able to keep Francis even with Floyd, ask the other general Bobby Knight about Jeremy Barr.

2 Home schedule. When Jesse was winning one of the complaints was the home schedule. We played Mobile, Bethune Cookman, Birmingham Southern (who we lost to by the way). This season the Cajun fans have gotten to see two All-Americans play in the Cajundome and two top 25 teams. I think high school recruits would rather play somebodies than beat DII's. It helps your recruiting.

3. Building the progam to last. Players are going into the community. The team GPA this fall was the highest it has been in 20 years. We have young talented players. We are rebuilding recruiting ties with Louisiana players that we did not have since we didn't recruit Louisiana players for the last four years. If Robert Lee was the coach four years ago, Bo Macaleb would be a Ragin' Cajun. Instead, our point guard, Kevin Bell, never made it to campus and now plays at Fresno State.

4. The transfers were nice. Orien, Tiras, Brian, Dwayne, Mike, were great. But then there were the ones who never made it, Carlos Hurt, Jimmy Inglis, a player who left then started at Oregon, a player from Chicago who got kicked out. Jesse did a great job while he was here. We got to the tournament twice. And a third time with his players. But, Robert coached them.

We will get back. I don't think it is a program collapse. I thnk the only thing Robert did wrong is not take high school kids after his first year. We tried to strike it big with some JUCO guys and it didn't work out. You must also remember that Robert did not sign, Fobbs, Pesoli, Mouton, James, they were here already. Maybe I am wrong and I have too much faith. Maybe my rose colored glasses fit just right. We are a mid major program that stopped relying on transfers there will be some growing pains. I think we will pull through, but I respect your opinion.

[Cajunsmike]

When will UL give up on Lee? My prediction is that a few of these new 4 year players will grow tired of him and the high discipline program that does not turn out wins. Kind of like those alleged bad apple guys that transfered last year (something tells me another coach would have been able to coach those guys) Hard work that is inefficient does not automatically equal success.

I believe Coach Lee has two years remaining on his contract after this one. I imagine the administration will have him return next year no matter the result this year due to all the guys recruited last year. Some may not agree with that approach. However, unless someone is willing to put up the 300 grand it will take to replace him, calling for his firing after this season is pointless. If the record at this time next year is similar to what it is now, a lot more folks will be in agreement that a change may be needed. That is a long way away however. It is still possible a turnaround will occur this year. I predict it will but it won't happen until late January. That is when it turned around last year.

[cajunlove]

You may disagree with all of these points or none. I know you are a fan, because I went through the same feelings with other coaches in the UL program at some point. Here are some things that I think Robert is doing right.

1) Signing top local talent. Robert and staff have gone out and signed some of the best local talent in the state. Is some of it ineligible, yes. If the players were eligible out of high school would they have gone to University of Louisiana, probably not. Recruiting is hard. Recruiting top high school players is even harder. Many times the transfers that we signed had no other options left, so they were easier to get. Will Willie Lago be the next Orien Greene, proably not. Will Elijah Millsap be the next Brian Hamilton, possibly. Whats the difference, we have these guys for four years. For those who went to the A-State game Lago, played extremely well. He is slowly coming into his own. He will be an excellent point guard for three more years. I think we can all see the benefits of having Millsap for three more years. Tyren Johnson will continue to figure things out and be an athletic specimen before it is all over. Another thing that may pain us to think about. If Rick Majerus keeps the USC job, Ryan Francis is a Ragin' Cajun right now. Tim Floyd is good at what he does. Think we should have been able to keep Francis even with Floyd, ask the other general Bobby Knight about Jeremy Barr.

2 Home schedule. When Jesse was winning one of the complaints was the home schedule. We played Mobile, Bethune Cookman, Birmingham Southern (who we lost to by the way). This season the Cajun fans have gotten to see two All-Americans play in the Cajundome and two top 25 teams. I think high school recruits would rather play somebodies than beat DII's. It helps your recruiting.

3. Building the progam to last. Players are going into the community. The team GPA this fall was the highest it has been in 20 years. We have young talented players. We are rebuilding recruiting ties with Louisiana players that we did not have since we didn't recruit Louisiana players for the last four years. If Robert Lee was the coach four years ago, Bo Macaleb would be a Ragin' Cajun. Instead, our point guard, Kevin Bell, never made it to campus and now plays at Fresno State.

4. The transfers were nice. Orien, Tiras, Brian, Dwayne, Mike, were great. But then there were the ones who never made it, Carlos Hurt, Jimmy Inglis, a player who left then started at Oregon, a player from Chicago who got kicked out. Jesse did a great job while he was here. We got to the tournament twice. And a third time with his players. But, Robert coached them.

We will get back. I don't think it is a program collapse. I thnk the only thing Robert did wrong is not take high school kids after his first year. We tried to strike it big with some JUCO guys and it didn't work out. You must also remember that Robert did not sign, Fobbs, Pesoli, Mouton, James, they were here already. Maybe I am wrong and I have too much faith. Maybe my rose colored glasses fit just right. We are a mid major program that stopped relying on transfers there will be some growing pains. I think we will pull through, but I respect your opinion.

Right on!

[Cajunsmike]

When will UL give up on Lee? My prediction is that a few of these new 4 year players will grow tired of him and the high discipline program that does not turn out wins. Kind of like those alleged bad apple guys that transfered last year (something tells me another coach would have been able to coach those guys) Hard work that is inefficient does not automatically equal success.

I went to practice a couple of times last year. The guys that did not return were not very coachable.

[Cajunsmike]

coaches do get fired based on fans demanding it be done. But it takes an actual fan base that cares. Seems like UL will not have a large passionate fan base any time soon.

I hate to bring up the Ron Zook example again, but he was fired quicker than he otherwise would have, in some part, because of fireronzook.com. I certainly don't advocate that kind of bashing website, but take a dose of reality. As long as Cajuns' fans accept mediocrity then that is what we will get. Now it seems that most Cajuns basketball fans have just decided to sit out the Lee regime and wait around for an eventual change in a few years. A small percentage (most of this board for example) seem to be happy with things and don't want to hear any criticism of their program. An even smaller percentage are complaining.

Have fun at the games this year with the other 500 people.

I will get off your precious board.... I am obviously not a true fan....

I appreciate your passion and don't think any of us are happy with what is going on. At this stage, what can be done about it though is what we need to ask. Answer is not much. What I disagree with you on is your opinion that the upside is very limited with this current group. I don't know how that opinion can be formed when you have little opportunity to watch the kids play. I don't disagree that this is a down year. That does not mean this coach and this team cannot improve. I also don't know the rationale behind your prediction that many of the new guys will leave. What is the basis of that prediction. I would not be surprised if one or two left because that occurs everywhere. To have several leave would surprise me and we have seen nothing to indicate that is a concern. I know many freshman do well. However that is usually when they have upperclassmen to fit in with. Here, we are asking four of them to be immediate significant contributors. I know that happened at Michigan in the 90's. I don't know of a case where a mid major had four freshman be very successful in their first year.

[Cajunsmike]

I don't mind getting criticized, but I would much rather someone who disagrees with my posts to explain why they support Lee or why I should support him. I know he is a great guy (from all the posts and general knowledge) even though I have never met him. But great guys don't always equal successful coaches. I am very concerned because for the first time since I can remember (I am 35) the Cajuns basketball program is a losing one. Not only that, but it is one of the worst teams in D1. I am concerned that recruiting will suffer greatly and that Lee has already scared away a lot of potential future transfers by blaming a number of transfers last year on the team's failures and cutting their scholarships. The same team under Evans would likely have won 20 games, even if there was glaring holes regarding outside shooting.

I am not saying Evans is the greatest coach around either, but he was getting the job done and deserves credit for that, instead of the comical bashing for how supposedly his system of transfer players was so much worse than the current one of 5 win seasons.

Good coaches find a way to win. Great coaches, such as Tim Floyd for example, find a way to win championships, with no excuses. And they win with a clean program of course.

I know that some of the posters here have been fans for a long time. But for those that have not been following the Cajuns since the Blackham days, I suggest that you take a history lesson regarding how the Cajuns have had a winning season almost every year since becoming D1 in early 70s. There have been a few rough periods, with the death penalty and Marty Fletcher's first and last season (major transition time), but there has never been a total collapse like we are seeing now, with no real light at the end of the tunnel to be seen. If you see a light, then please explain. And explain how maybe competing for the sunbelt after 3 or so terrible years is something that any Cajuns fan should be interested in. I am disgusted by the team's performance. I am also embarassed by it, with my friends in Florida (who all know that I share loyalty between UF and UL) reminding me every day exactly how bad the Cajuns are. The program has become a laughing stock.

SFA, UNO, and ASU are all very very bad teams. But all clearly better than the Cajuns (and this is before the recruiting will take an even worse turn, and before some current players leave).

In any other traditionally winning program, forums like this would be screaming for coaching change, under such dire circumstances!

Recruiting is not a concern right now as eight freshman were brought in last year, four are playing and the other four did well in the just completed semester. Historically, the 1994-95 team went 7 and 22 when Marty brought in a bunch of freshman. They played for the conference tournament title their senior year. If this current group takes that much time to contend, they may have a new coach. However this is their first year. It is too early to tell if that will be the case. You are correct in that the record in each of the years of Coach Lee will have declined. It that occurs next year, everyone will be concerned. However, at this stage most are confident that will not occur.

[MiamiCajun32]

You may disagree with all of these points or none. I know you are a fan, because I went through the same feelings with other coaches in the UL program at some point. Here are some things that I think Robert is doing right.

1) Signing top local talent. Robert and staff have gone out and signed some of the best local talent in the state. Is some of it ineligible, yes. If the players were eligible out of high school would they have gone to University of Louisiana, probably not. Recruiting is hard. Recruiting top high school players is even harder. Many times the transfers that we signed had no other options left, so they were easier to get. Will Willie Lago be the next Orien Greene, proably not. Will Elijah Millsap be the next Brian Hamilton, possibly. Whats the difference, we have these guys for four years. For those who went to the A-State game Lago, played extremely well. He is slowly coming into his own. He will be an excellent point guard for three more years. I think we can all see the benefits of having Millsap for three more years. Tyren Johnson will continue to figure things out and be an athletic specimen before it is all over. Another thing that may pain us to think about. If Rick Majerus keeps the USC job, Ryan Francis is a Ragin' Cajun right now. Tim Floyd is good at what he does. Think we should have been able to keep Francis even with Floyd, ask the other general Bobby Knight about Jeremy Barr.

2 Home schedule. When Jesse was winning one of the complaints was the home schedule. We played Mobile, Bethune Cookman, Birmingham Southern (who we lost to by the way). This season the Cajun fans have gotten to see two All-Americans play in the Cajundome and two top 25 teams. I think high school recruits would rather play somebodies than beat DII's. It helps your recruiting.

3. Building the progam to last. Players are going into the community. The team GPA this fall was the highest it has been in 20 years. We have young talented players. We are rebuilding recruiting ties with Louisiana players that we did not have since we didn't recruit Louisiana players for the last four years. If Robert Lee was the coach four years ago, Bo Macaleb would be a Ragin' Cajun. Instead, our point guard, Kevin Bell, never made it to campus and now plays at Fresno State.

4. The transfers were nice. Orien, Tiras, Brian, Dwayne, Mike, were great. But then there were the ones who never made it, Carlos Hurt, Jimmy Inglis, a player who left then started at Oregon, a player from Chicago who got kicked out. Jesse did a great job while he was here. We got to the tournament twice. And a third time with his players. But, Robert coached them.

We will get back. I don't think it is a program collapse. I thnk the only thing Robert did wrong is not take high school kids after his first year. We tried to strike it big with some JUCO guys and it didn't work out. You must also remember that Robert did not sign, Fobbs, Pesoli, Mouton, James, they were here already. Maybe I am wrong and I have too much faith. Maybe my rose colored glasses fit just right. We are a mid major program that stopped relying on transfers there will be some growing pains. I think we will pull through, but I respect your opinion.

I appreciate all the constructive feedback from all those that have dished it out. I did not intend to post so many times, but was responding to posts calling me a moron, etc. In any event, I certainly appreciate the positive points explained, and I will hold out hope for a turn around. However, I feel that the program is at an all-time low when a rebuilding year equals losses to very low level programs. Going all the way back to the first Marty year, even rebuilding seasons were winning seasons and highly competitive sunbelt / Am South / Southland seasons. The sunbelt is not nearly as good as it has been in year's past. There is no fringe top 25 team, as there used to be most years. A lot of teams, such as ASU and UNO have been playing very poorly in non-conference play. So I don't think it is acceptable for a rebuilding year to include a blow out loss to SFA and consistent losing to the bottom half of the sunbelt, a weakened sunbelt at that. There are veteran players on the court too, not just freshmen.

[Cajunsmike]

I appreciate all the constructive feedback from all those that have dished it out. I did not intend to post so many times, but was responding to posts calling me a moron, etc. In any event, I certainly appreciate the positive points explained, and I will hold out hope for a turn around. However, I feel that the program is at an all-time low when a rebuilding year equals losses to very low level programs. Going all the way back to the first Marty year, even rebuilding seasons were winning seasons and highly competitive sunbelt / Am South / Southland seasons. The sunbelt is not nearly as good as it has been in year's past. There is no fringe top 25 team, as there used to be most years. A lot of teams, such as ASU and UNO have been playing very poorly in non-conference play. So I don't think it is acceptable for a rebuilding year to include a blow out loss to SFA and consistent losing to the bottom half of the sunbelt, a weakened sunbelt at that. There are veteran players on the court too, not just freshmen.

I don't think Coach Lee believes the performances at SFA and against ASU are acceptable either. I surmise that from his post game comments in both instances. However, when we say something is unacceptable, we have no ability to change things in the short term. He does and is desperately trying to do so. Admittedly results to date are not there. As I said earlier, unless you are willing to buy out his contract there is not much to be done in the medium term either. There are older players on the court but not much experience. Only Dees was a regular starter at the college level before this year and it was not here. In fact, from an athletic ability/talent standpoint, the young guys have more of it. Hopefully by the time the team plays in Miami when you will get to watch them they will have improved. Although, I think the struggles will continue for awhile, I predict a turnaround in about a month.

[Turbine]

What I did here was take each players total minutes played and divided that by 40. This gave me ficticious 40 minute block of games played. I then took their total rebounds and divided it by the psuedo-games. So the number to the far right is the number of reounds each player is getting in a 40 minute period.

UL's Best Rebounders per 40 minutes played # Player 40 minutes played Rebounds Every 40 minutes 3 Millsap, Elijah 2.5 12.7 45 Hart, Valentino 6.0 11.2 34 James, Adam 4.2 9.2 1 Johnson, Tyren 3.5 8.6 42 Wallace, Courtney 4.1 8.3 21 Dees, David 10.9 6.6 32 Milson, Abray 3.3 6.4 25 Dees, Stephen 0.7 6.2 22 Mouton, Ross 10.5 5.5 33 Gray, Derek 2.1 3.9 13 Williams, Alphonso 0.8 3.8 12 Lago, Willie 5.8 2.8 31 Hebert, Rhett 6.5 2.5