The Book: Lady Cajuns 2007-08 basketball

[Zeebart21]

Wow, in one year our new coach has ruined what Coach Hall built.

I know some guys who coached against him back in middle school and they said he actually quit during a game and refused to finish the game.

I certainly am not excited about the womens record, but how about we give the man more than 1 year before we start hacking him?

Z

[CajunProud]

_ I certainly am not excited about the womens record, but how about we give the man more than 1 year before we start hacking him?

Z _

You may be right Z, and I surely don't follow the women's program as closely as the men's, but didn't Coach Hall have a very good recruiting class? It just seems to me that we should be more competative than what we are this year. We have really been blown out in some games.

[Zeebart21]

You may be right Z, and I surely don't follow the women's program as closely as the men's, but didn't Coach Hall have a very good recruiting class? It just seems to me that we should be more competative than what we are this year. We have really been blown out in some games.

??? Who knows? Apparently we are learning a new system. We have given Coach Lee a few years to get it together after taking over from a relativley successful Jessie Evans, maybe we need to cut the new man a little more slack?

JMO... doesnt mean I am right.

Z

[CajunProud]

_ ??? Who knows? Apparently we are learning a new system. We have given Coach Lee a few years to get it together after taking over from a relativley successful Jessie Evans, maybe we need to cut the new man a little more slack?

JMO... doesnt mean I am right.

Z _

Ok, ok. I just hadn't bi$%hed in awhile

[NewsCopy]

MOBILE, Ala. - About 30 minutes prior to Thursday's game against UL, South Alabama's DeAndrae Ross grabbed the basketball, squared up and fired a 30-footer with the ease of a free throw. Swish. The game itself was more of a struggle for both sides. UL squandered a double-digit lead for the third time in its last five games as South Alabama extended its winning streak to 12 with a 66-60 win in a heated Sun Belt Conference contest. "We gave away a golden opportunity today," said UL's David Dees, whose Cajuns (8-11 overall, 4-4 SBC) dropped their fourth straight conference game. "It was the same mistakes over and over again." The rest of the story jparrott@theadvertiser.com

[CajunFun]

UL made 9 of 12 free throws (75%).

USA made 21 of 34 free throws (62%). USA attempted 3 ft's for every 1 we were awarded, and the 12 pt difference more than makes up for UL's deficit at the end.

It's rare to see that sort of free throw disparity outside of games at a BCS school, or the NCAA tournament.

[Rebel02]

UL made 9 of 12 free throws (75%).

USA made 21 of 34 free throws (62%). USA attempted 3 ft's for every 1 we were awarded, and the 12 pt difference more than makes up for UL's deficit at the end.

It's rare to see that sort of free throw disparity outside of games at a BCS school, or the NCAA tournament.

Please please do not blame this loss on the refs. It's the worst excuse I've ever heard. Do you hear the coaches and players blaming this loss on the refs?

I wonder if some UL fans can ever accept the fact that we lost. Someone always has to come up with some sort of rationalization for the loss. For football, it was the fact that the team was "young." (BTW, did anyone notice how "young" FAU was? Look what they accomplished with that "young" team!) For basketball, the general consensus is that Team A shot more free throws than UL, therefore, the refs obviously cost us the game. Perhaps if our guys didn't foul every time someone was in a shooting motion, then the other team wouldn't be at the free throw line more than us.

[Turbine]

UL has been averaging 21 fouls a game, opponents 19 fouls a game. So 26 seems like a lot (and it is) but its only 5 more than the average.

Just to show how 2 team fouls can make a huge difference, UL has had 10 guys foul out, while the opponents had only 3.

[OLF82]

We also lost Elaine McCants when she walked off the team and Kina Miller who isn't playing for an unknown reason. Despite these facts, the team is playing with a lot of intensity and heart. Whitney Dunlop is truly a wing player playing point to fill McCant's loss, in my opinion.
Sonora Edwards is playing almost 40 minutes because of Miller's being out. Also, I've never seen someone play as hard as Alicia McDaniel. The team never give up regardless of the deficit. This says a lot about the team and the coaches.

[CajunApostle]

34 free throws to only 12 is way too much of a gap for a college basketball game. Every time Lee from Western Kentucky or McCaleb from UNO would fall down it was a foul. And we were at home. I think Bo tripped on the way to the bench one time and they called a foul. Nobody is using the refs as an excuse, but when the Cajuns continually lose these close games and get outshot at the line by twenty or thirty any fan would scratch their head. It is hard to win games when the other team is getting 15 to 20 free points from the line.

[Sonsissymia]

_ Please please do not blame this loss on the refs. It's the worst excuse I've ever heard. Do you hear the coaches and players blaming this loss on the refs?

I wonder if some UL fans can ever accept the fact that we lost. Someone always has to come up with some sort of rationalization for the loss. For football, it was the fact that the team was "young." (BTW, did anyone notice how "young" FAU was? Look what they accomplished with that "young" team!) For basketball, the general consensus is that Team A shot more free throws than UL, therefore, the refs obviously cost us the game. Perhaps if our guys didn't foul every time someone was in a shooting motion, then the other team wouldn't be at the free throw line more than us. _

the other day after the w ky loss, the wind blew in the excuse that the refs stopped the game 5 minutes to review a clock problem for the purpose of killing the cajuns momentum and in turn "protect" the league's marquee team from taking a loss. i swear i read it.

[Zeebart21]

the other day after the w ky loss, the wind blew in the excuse that the refs stopped the game 5 minutes to review a clock problem for the purpose of killing the cajuns momentum and in turn "protect" the league's marquee team from taking a loss. i swear i read it.

Dont you know you are suppose to believe everything you read on the interent? Just asking, not being accusatory...Have you been to any Cajun games recently?

Z

not being judgmental, either...

[Just1More]

_ Please please do not blame this loss on the refs. It's the worst excuse I've ever heard. Do you hear the coaches and players blaming this loss on the refs?

I wonder if some UL fans can ever accept the fact that we lost. Someone always has to come up with some sort of rationalization for the loss. For football, it was the fact that the team was "young." (BTW, did anyone notice how "young" FAU was? Look what they accomplished with that "young" team!) For basketball, the general consensus is that Team A shot more free throws than UL, therefore, the refs obviously cost us the game. Perhaps if our guys didn't foul every time someone was in a shooting motion, then the other team wouldn't be at the free throw line more than us. _

Everyone, everywhere rationalizes everything. It in no way is endemic of UL alone to rationalize losses or anything else pegged as a cause or partial cause of things gone wrong. The SBC basketball refs are inconsistent and that lends itself to deserved criticism. Whether UL is always going to be on the short end of that stick is arguable. The ref argument is probably the weakest of all for a legitimate excuse, but it really sucks for them to decide the outcome of games. They definitely need to be more consistent... and make-up calls when you blow a call are perfectly acceptable.

As for youth and inexperience... it can and very often does become one of the largest separators in team sports. Until it is truly not a legitimate issue, it is a legitimate issue. Youth and inexperience is a monumental handicap on almost every team. An occasional "Fab Five" does not make the rule. It is about like the moron who said that WKU isn't a good team. They are not as athletic as UL, but they are a damn good "team". Some of those WKU "lesser athletic players" know more about where to be on that floor and when than most teams in the country.

Granted, eventually the youth become not-so-young, and then they either succeed with experience... or we all have to start choosing other causes (excuses) and rationalizing "them".

But most of all... you should not be asking anyone to "accept the fact that we lost". I hope we never accept the fact that we lost... anything, anywhere, anytime.

[CajunFun]

Please please do not blame this loss on the refs. It's the worst excuse I've ever heard. Do you hear the coaches and players blaming this loss on the refs?

I implied that FT disparities happen more frequently at BCS schools and in the NCAAs. If you have data to the contrary, please share.

And I openly stated that it was rare that those disparities happened, except in those two situations. If you have any info on that, please share that as well.

I only talked numbers. I never mentioned the refs.

Oh, and BTW, the amount and frequency of the disparities have apparently increased as the game has become more popular. Check out the disparities in bold:

UL in the NCAA's
Year: Opponent FTs by UL - FTs by opponent (W/L, Score)
1972: Marshall 41 - 30
(W 112-101)

1972: Louisville 20 - 33
(L 84-88)

1972: Texas 16 - 26
(W 100-70)

1973: Houston 27 - 20
(W 102-89)

1973: KSU 14 - 20
(L 66-63)

1973: So Car 14 - 27
(L 85-90)

1982: Tenn 15 - 16
(L 57-61)

1983: Rutgers 9 - 20
(L 53-60)

1992: OU 25 - 25
(W 87-83)

1992: NMSU 5 - 35
(L 73-81)

1994: Marquette 9 - 19
(L 59-81)

2000: Tenn 8 - 29
(L 58-63)

2004: NCSU 23 - 24
(L 62-68)

2005: Lville 18 - 27
(L 62-68)

It would be interesting to know if this is a national trend, as well.

[NewsCopy]

Even first-year UL coach Errol Rogers, generally regarded as an eternal optimist, struggled to sugar coat the play of his Ragin' Cajun women's basketball team this season on the road. "We're just not playing well on the road," said Rogers, whose Cajuns are 1-10 away from home this season. "Other (Sun Belt Conference) teams are winning on the road. We have to start winning on the road." The next chance for UL (5-13 overall, 1-6 SBC) comes at 3 p.m. today at Troy (9-10, 2-6) at Trojan Center in Troy, Ala. The Cajuns enter the game having lost four straight and eight of their last nine. The rest of the story Joshua Parrott jparrott@theadvertiser.com