My Marlin Defense

[Cajunsmike]

With Mbamulu, Long, and Payton coming back next year this team will be even better. I am an optimist, but there really is no other way to see it. All these guys are averaging about 15 points a game. And if Payton improves half as much as he did in between Freshman and Sophomore years......Wow! Hearing Marlin talk about Payton the other night on Nothing but Cajuns got me fired up.

http://www.ragincajuns.com/cumestats...ball&year=2012

Those guys are doing well but we lose AMT. Someone said the two freshman may not make up for the loss of him. However, if you throw in Kevin Brown we have made up for more than his loss. Of course it is critical more help be brought in come April.

[BrockMeaux]

Don't take it the wrong way, because I like AMT...but you're not exactly losing a nightly impact player. When he was on, he was ON. But just as often, he couldn't buy a bucket. He improved steadily over his two years here, but I don't think he's going to be irreplaceable either. Next year Mbambalu steps into his role of senior guard leader, and I think Mbambalu gives you more than AMT, both in productivity at both ends and in consistency. It'll be up to our JUCO guys, returning sophomores, and possible freshmen signees (Hayward Register if he retains his accuracy?) to fill the void left by the graduation of Alan Michael Thompson.

[Bandwagon King]

With Mbamulu, Long, and Payton coming back next year this team will be even better. I am an optimist, but there really is no other way to see it. All these guys are averaging about 15 points a game. And if Payton improves half as much as he did in between Freshman and Sophomore years......Wow! Hearing Marlin talk about Payton the other night on Nothing but Cajuns got me fired up.

http://www.ragincajuns.com/cumestats...ball&year=2012

I would like having your enthusiasm, because I think one could make a good case to see it the way you are seeing it. The BIG problem I have & I think most folks have is seeing all the crap that occured last season & wondering when the wheels are going to come off the wagon again & if this staff can actually go out & get those missing pieces that would take them from 10-20 to 20-10. I know Mike has an inside track & is very mater of fact & IMO is one of the most credible sources of info for all of Cajun sports. So from what I'm hearing I want to have a reason to get into this team, but I have to wait & see. FWIW it is really good to hear the positive reports on Payton.

[MelRock]

As the basketball team is doing better than expected (at least what some people expected) it was good to go back and read this thread and see that some people had confidence in Coach Marlin and the team. I know the season is young but this is what I was talking about in the thread when I thought they would win 20 games and compete for the Sun Belt Conference title.

Get out the Cajundome tonight and support our team!!!! Geaux Cajuns!!!

[CajunAlum10]

As the basketball team is doing better than expected (at least what some people expected) it was good to go back and read this thread and see that some people had confidence in Coach Marlin and the team. I know the season is young but this is what I was talking about in the thread when I thought they would win 20 games and compete for the Sun Belt Conference title.

Get out the Cajundome tonight and support our team!!!! Geaux Cajuns!!!

+1... I'll be there for sure.

[douglas]

paging "not raymone's mom, will not raymone's mom" please pick up the white courtesy phone

[CajunEXPRESS]

You base your great opinion on watching a team play twice? You are the great one and no one can argue with you.
My definition of special is a 20 win season and a Sun Belt West Championship and will compete for the Sun Belt conference crown. I am not sure they will have enough to take the championship next year but will the following year. If anyone cannot see the improvement of this team over last year then 1. they have been to many games or 2. they just do not care to see what is in front of them.

Special? What is the crowd like?

Special is to be an at large quality team with a seed of 8 or better. Good, fun, exciting are terms I would use for UL teams until they rerun to actually being special.

What is the crowd like? Again the great basketball tradition started and built by Shipley had great crowds when Lafayette and USL was about half the current size. Even in those days the crowds did not really become serious until after the spring semester took in. We had a few crowds in the dome that were Shipley like under Marty when we were playing some really good UNO teams, LTU @ RusTon teams. I recall a really blow out championship crowd against South and a handful of others in the dome. I was not in the area during the Toney era so I cannot speak to the teams, crowds, or seeding.

Those Shipley teams were special teams for too many reasons to list. YES this team or next years have a chance to be special, but in the early season we gotta beat mediocre AQ programs like Arkansas.

[Cajunsmike]

"Special" may be an overhyped term for this team but drastically improved is probably appropriate. The basketball program has not had a winning season since 2004-2005. The 2005-2006 team was good with Dwayne Mitchell and Michael Southall but a killer non conference schedule prevented that team from being a winner. What we have the possibility of now is reversing that trend as we are 8 and 3 at this stage. We will either be 9 and 4 or 10 and 3 entering conference play depending on the Jackson State game. Point is it looks like we will finally return to being a winner. That should translate into improved attendance next season. It takes a little time to rebuild a fan base in a sport like basketball which is no longer well attended in the deep south other than at truly major programs. Back to the point of this thread, some folks had faith in Coach Marlin a year ago while others were skeptical. I was slightly optimistic as I saw how players improved under this staff. That had to continue and help had to be brought in. Both have occurred. Major factor in the better record in my view is the improvement of Kasey Shepherd. His progress has exceeded all my expectations as he is proving to be a consistent third scorer. Long being in better shape, Wronkowski playing smarter, and the new guys providing support are all factors. Even though they are not scoring much, the minutes Davenport and Kande are playing are helping us stay competitive when Long is on the bench. Rimmer has been in a slump the last couple of games but he was key in a couple of earlier victories. After all this time, I can simplify it by saying Coach started over last year due to the internal problems of the previous year. You could say this is really only his 2nd year. I wonder if Bandwagon King will get on board. He usually does when things are headed in the right direction and it sure looks like the basketball program is going that way.

[zephyr]

I know lots of you on this board are not high on Marlin, especially after getting extension. But after this game tonight I want to take up for the man. I have never seen him so passionate on and off the court before. Several times after big shots made by Elfrid, he ran out to court to congratulate him. He was in the officials face all night long yelling and taking up for his team(a couple times I thought he was gonna be tossed) Yes I know some players have left team for reasons we may not know, but I believe in this coach and this particular group of players he has. They are a fun group of young men to watch and I really believe next year at this time we will be at a very good place.

Happy New Year

To date, I've never seen anybody question Marlin's ability to coach a basketball game. His X and O knowledge is greater than the last 3 coaches we've had here combined. He has a track record of taking teams with a little talent and getting the most out of them back to his days at Sam Houston. The knock on Marlin has been his ability and perceived willingness to truly get out there and recruit as well as his player retention which you touched on. I'm still a bit skeptical on those last two points and over time he can surely change people's minds but I don't think I've ever seen anybody question his ability to coach the game itself

[Cajunsmike]

I understand the skepticism about the recruiting and retention. However I can tell you that Coach spent a great deal of time on the road last spring. We will see how much guys like Kande, Davenport, and Rimmer improve as the season goes along but they were brought in during the spring period and all are making a contribution. Rimmer especially has helped. Recruiting ratings don't tell you how guys will do at the next level but it is encouraging that all three of our November early signees were rated in the top 13 in the state by NOLA.com. As far as player retention goes, that was an issue two years ago. However the guys who did not return from last years' team left mostly because the staff thought their potential was limited and helped them move on.

[barisaxman]

I thnk we are finally seeing the results of having Coach Marlin here. Very hard-working team, and exciting to watch. I heard Jay make the comment that if they win their next two games, which he said they will be favored to do, they will be the FIRST team in Cajun history to win 10 games by New Year's Day! This has never been done by teams even in the Bo Lamar and Andrew Toney eras. Now, I realize that it's going to be conference play that gets us into post-season play or not, but it DOES seem like Marlin has his team going where we want them to.

[Boomer]

OK --this is my goal for one game this year-----sell out/pack the Cajun Dome---It just seems that it is very doable---we pick a game and start with the students and have a special give away or something to get them there like a concert after or half priced beer but really make a push around campus, in the dorms, all the SORTs and FRATs---Student council-----Then have Acadiana HS night with a huge promotion of some type----I have pushed for years to have a UL faculty board at all Acadiana area HSs maybe this will be the start--- Then we get all season ticket holders to show up and hell if everybody in the lower section brings a buddy we fill the bottom----Maybe the band/guest could be that Ray Boudreax dude!!!! ----------------now what else could we do??? When to do it?????