The Book: 2006-2007 Ragin' Cajuns Basketball

[LARaginCajun]

Doing a little surfing has led me to discover that LaGrange High School has a 17 and 2 record to date this season. LaGrange is the school Cajun signee Chris Gradigno plays for. I have not been able to find any individual stats for Gradigno however. If anyone has access to the box scores of LaGrange games, I would appreciate they would let me know how to acquire that access. I only point this out to indicate help may be on the way.

I hope fans do not expect him to be the savour of the Cajuns basketball program. That is unfair to put that kind of pressure on him. College basketball is a big step upward from high school basketball.

[Just1More]

I hope fans do not expect him to be the savour of the Cajuns basketball program. That is unfair to put that kind of pressure on him. College basketball is a big step upward from high school basketball.

You are right, but I don't think (I hope) anyone is looking for a single player, especially a freshman to come in and save the team. Right now this team is going to have to self-generate some confidence, overcome their blues, and play lights out for 40 minutes. They can do it if they want to.

[rhineaux]

That is the answer that I just couldn't come up with....absolutely! The Cajuns have more than enough talent to beat any team they faced this year! If people disagree...obviously they haven't watched this team play. I still believe that this teams future is bright...after dismissing some of the starters from last years team...I feared that this would be the type of season we would have to witness...on the other hand...the upswing for the Cajuns is gonna be tremendous! Mark my word...If people can't see that the future for this team is bright....take a second look at these guy's accomplishments coming out of high school...they all literally dominated their peers...the playing field is gonna balance out & look out...the band wagon jumpers will be standing in line to jump back on again! My advice to Coach Lee...Don't lose sight on what your plans are...avoid the "nay-sayers" and keep this young group of players together by any means necessary!

Go Cajuns!

Last year at around this time, Coach Lee changed some things that the team was doing, such as practicee routines. I think in his words, he tried to make it fun again. It worked pretty well, at least got the guys to go back to the basics and such. They still couldn't shoot the ball, but they started playing some really good D. I am not sure if he is hesitant to do that with this group because he doesn't want to effect their heads long term (for example to make them think that things are different from now on and they lose some tenacity in the future, just a thought), but something along those lines should be done now. Winning is just as contagious as losing. One game may equal a couple more, then give them the confidence to make a late game run at someone and win it that way, then who knows. I live out of town and haven't seen one game (was at most of the TEch game, but after all that tailgating, my head wasn't really doing much focusing), but from what i hear you guys say and all, this really young group of guys has no idea how to win right now on this level, nor do they have the confidence in themselves to give it a shot.

[Just1More]

Last year at around this time, Coach Lee changed some things that the team was doing, such as practicee routines. I think in his words, he tried to make it fun again. It worked pretty well, at least got the guys to go back to the basics and such. They still couldn't shoot the ball, but they started playing some really good D. I am not sure if he is hesitant to do that with this group because he doesn't want to effect their heads long term (for example to make them think that things are different from now on and they lose some tenacity in the future, just a thought), but something along those lines should be done now. Winning is just as contagious as losing. One game may equal a couple more, then give them the confidence to make a late game run at someone and win it that way, then who knows. I live out of town and haven't seen one game (was at most of the TEch game, but after all that tailgating, my head wasn't really doing much focusing), but from what i hear you guys say and all, this really young group of guys has no idea how to win right now on this level, nor do they have the confidence in themselves to give it a shot.

That may be the right thing to try. I could imagine Lee being so stressed he may be over-analyzing and putting a lot of pressure on this group. It may be required with young players, but with losses piling up, it may be time to loosen it up. They may need to be given the green light to just play ball. That generally works on offense, but not on defense. There are ways to make players understand that you can start having fun on offense, not get slammed for every mistake, but only if you hussle your arse off on defense. It is a "deal" that many can figure out... or else bench them and put players in that can.

[RaginEsquire06]

That may be the right thing to try. I could imagine Lee being so stressed he may be over-analyzing and putting a lot of pressure on this group. It may be required with young players, but with losses piling up, it may be time to loosen it up. They may need to be given the green light to just play ball. That generally works on offense, but not on defense. There are ways to make players understand that you can start having fun on offense, not get slammed for every mistake, but only if you hussle your arse off on defense. It is a "deal" that many can figure out... or else bench them and put players in that can.

Just curious....Do you guys think that it would be wise for Coach Lee to go out and find a seasoned, high caliber player who needs a second chance...maybe another Orien Greene, Dwayne "Dunk you very much" Mitchell...or even a...Hummmm....Mike Southall to generate a little excitement with this team? Someone capable of complimenting or even just taking some attention off of Dees as a scoring threat? With all the youngsters on our team, it won't create a situation where there will be a need for total rebuilding. Regarding the transfers in the aforementioned...they all where a risk...more so Mr. Southall...But they all eventually paned out! IMO I think this may be something to consider regarding coach Lee's next signing class...If the right type of play-maker...with good character is out there lurking...why not snatch him up?

[Clutch0364]

Just curious....Do you guys think that it would be wise for Coach Lee to go out and find a seasoned, high caliber player who needs a second chance...maybe another Orien Greene, Dwayne "Dunk you very much" Mitchell...or even a...Hummmm....Mike Southall to generate a little excitement with this team? Someone capable of complimenting or even just taking some attention off of Dees as a scoring threat? With all the youngsters on our team, it won't create a situation where there will be a need for total rebuilding. Regarding the transfers in the aforementioned...they all where a risk...more so Mr. Southall...But they all eventually paned out! IMO I think this may be something to consider regarding coach Lee's next signing class...If the right type of play-maker...with good character is out there lurking...why not snatch him up?

By the time that transfer would be eligible Dees would be gone and the freshmen would be seasoned.

[Just1More]

By the time that transfer would be eligible Dees would be gone and the freshmen would be seasoned.

I think that is a good answer to the posed question. But, I would not, nor would I think Lee, overlook a transfer addition. It isn't that we will not compliment the team with a transfer. It is that Lee is not going to build a program around them.

As for spreading around the scoring, and taking pressure off of Dees and Mouton, that can be done now. I think Lee needs to put a couple of the big (taller) guys thru some one on one with each other and figure out which ones have the heart and nads to mix it up.

[Tripple Threat]

I think that is a good answer to the posed question. But, I would not, nor would I think Lee, overlook a transfer addition. It isn't that we will not compliment the team with a transfer. It is that Lee is not going to build a program around them.

As for spreading around the scoring, and taking pressure off of Dees and Mouton, that can be done now. I think Lee needs to put a couple of the big (taller) guys thru some one on one with each other and figure out which ones have the heart and nads to mix it up.

I really think that Wallace, Hart, or Milson could be good for 8 to 10 pts if they were isolated. I noticed that they fight for position, but don't get the pass when they're open. As everyone has been saying, a lack of confidence will make a player think twice before making a play. The bigs are getting frustrated, because they aren't getting looks.

[Oldman]

you are now seeing the surge of what jesse evens left.........think about this at the end of jesse's stay here he was not recruiting any young players for the future of the program they were either transfers, non-qualifers, and trouble makers no one else wanted and now we are paying for it and coach lee is getting the brunt of it, please stop and think about this and look back and ask yourself what did coach jesse left here to build on, turbine, do your research? coach lee is doing it right building a foundation give the coaches a break (good coaches) and stick with them.
i spoke to a player last night at the girls game and they want to win as bad as anything so lets all get behind these guys. GEAUX CAJUNS

[MiamiCajun32]

you are now seeing the surge of what jesse evens left.........think about this at the end of jesse's stay here he was not recruiting any young players for the future of the program they were either transfers, non-qualifers, and trouble makers no one else wanted and now we are paying for it and coach lee is getting the brunt of it, please stop and think about this and look back and ask yourself what did coach jesse left here to build on, turbine, do your research? coach lee is doing it right building a foundation give the coaches a break (good coaches) and stick with them.
i spoke to a player last night at the girls game and they want to win as bad as anything so lets all get behind these guys. GEAUX CAJUNS

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.

[CajunKahouna]

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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.

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Thanks for the post. I could not agree more.

I would add that the last time this university was 2-12 in men's basketball was 1931!

And to think we may have two or three more years left of this misery!
:o

[campo118]

I'm sorry to inform you, but if you think coach Evan's was a good coach then you must have missed everything that went on behind the scenes. If winning is all that matters, then you have your priorities wrong. Evans got wins, and thats about it. He made UL look like a home for those that needed to be in rehab somewhere other than the basketball court. Evan's recruits for the most part were thugs. I don't know how well coach Lee will turn out to be, but it can't be much worse than Evans. But of course, all of you will disagree with me because you are all blinded by the wins. From what I've seen, coach Lee has his players in the system now. Critique him 3 years down the road. There is one thing I can promise. I bet Lee has a much higher graduating rate than Evans did. But once again, the final record at the end of the season is all that matters, because we are spoiled fans that only care about winning... certainly reminds me of a school 50 miles away.