\My end of season Basketball report

[MiamiCajun32]

With Lee as coach, no chance of NIT. Talented enough to get hot and win the sunbelt tourney and go to NCAA, but no chance at 20 win type season that could get NIT. Will always be very inconsistent under Lee.

Team should be much improved next year, but wins and losses will not get much better in my opinion. I predict about 16-12 next season, with it being more likely to lose in first round of sunbelt tourney than win the thing.

Talented enough and experienced enough next year to be 23-7 type team and be on verge of NCAA at-large even (at least bubble), but no chance of that happening under Lee in my opinion. There will be about 7 or 8 losses next year that will make no sense, just like the Troy loss makes no sense.

[CajunCanaille]

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Good breakdown but I am going to disagree on a few.....

I think our MVP should either be Gradnigo or Daigle. Both improved down the stretch while Millsap developed bad ball controll and turned the ball over a lot. Sure Millsap had one game where he scored 26 but also notice he wasn't in our top shooting percentage. Gradnigo was tremednous down the stretch and showed much improvement in attitude, hustle and overall play. Daigle would more than likely miss b/c he too turned the ball over a little bit.

I also disagree w/ your Defensive player. I would have to give that award to Dison. With the exception of last night, he would shut down whatever player he was guarding....including Bo McCalub. Second, I would give it to Millsap. He also did a good job in guarding the top opposing player.

I would have to say the worse game would have to be last night vs. Troy. We beat them by 20 in their house and they came here and beat us in ours. The second game would be UAB. We had a chance to beat a good team at home and blew it in the end. That would have been a great win. I understand McNeese b/c they are an in state school and it sucks to lose to them.

I couldn't agree with your more that I apreciate Dees and all he did but at the same time, he is also the teams biggest disappointment this season. I also think Millsap is a big disappointment b/c I was expecting him to get 20 a game.

I want to give another award. I want to give Gary the Hustle Award! This guy is a non stop hustler. He goes balls out for any and all plays. I like him and expect him to contribute a lot.

[raginben06]

One of my biggest concerns for next season is Gradnigo. Although he may have the best offensive output I find him to be extremely lazy on the defensive end. He's just way to lazy of a player for me.

I know he's young, but he needs to get rid of that attitude and grow up. This isn't high school anymore!!

Gary and Daigle are the MVPs of years to come!!

[CajunKahouna]

_ Just got back from the Troy game and we just got flat out coached. Troy ran a basic high school type offense (spread) and we stayed in man and was unable to stay in front of the dribble and he either had a lay up or dished it out to an open man. Gradnigo, Daigle, and Gary played a very good game but Lee and the defense lost this one.

As for as next season my expectations is anything less than a NIT would be a disappointment and I say this because with the returning players and the influx of transfers. We should be able to play with anyone and I am not being a homer. This team will be very deep and with any kind of coaching, disipline, and players learning their roles (such as Millisap being a role player "6th man") this team will be very good. I expect at least 20 wins with a similar scheldule. Even without any transfers this team is good for 18 or more wins but with the addition of some big men and one very talented wing player I don't see many weaknesses other than coaching adjustments and planning.

I see La'Ryan Gary becoming a really good player and Tyren Johnson to continue to improve. Courtney Wallace will most likely redshirt. To be successful Daigle and Gradnigo will need to shoot the 3 again like they did the second half of the season.

Next season prediction: Some where between NIT and Sweet 16 _

I was also wondering throughout most of the second half why we didn't go to a zone defense. Is it something we just haven't practiced?

I would also add under "worst" that IMHO Coach tends to substitute too quickly when a player makes a mistake. He was better in the last two games of the season, but sometimes I thought he was subsituting out of pure frustration and not allowing enough transition time.

[raginben06]

As far as substitutions go.....the coaches frustrations come from players not getting "it" like shot selection, poor defense, etc. All of this is gone over practice after practice..some players just don't get and need to be benched until they do.

[CajunCanaille]

_ I was also wondering throughout most of the second half why we didn't go to a zone defense. Is it something we just haven't practiced?

I would also add under "worst" that IMHO Coach tends to substitute too quickly when a player makes a mistake. He was better in the last two games of the season, but sometimes I thought he was subsituting out of pure frustration and not allowing enough transition time. _

I would guess the reasoning behind us not going to the zone would be the fact that they are so good at shooting the 3. They would have just shot 3 after 3 and killed us that way. I don't think they are a team you can guard w/ a zone.

[zephyr]

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Great post and I agree with most except the "logical" choice of MVP being Millsap. I don't think there is anything logical about that award. he may have been a leader in scoring but that was due to one great game and a couple of other decent games. However, his inconsistent play was less impressive and he seemed to get two stupid out of control charge fouls in the lane per game. I think he has tons of promise but needs to develop the savy to become a really good player.

I'd have to give the MVP to either Gradnigo or Daigle with Dees being in the mix as well. I liked the leadership Dees brought after his benching when he could have gone home and I think the team was playing their best when he was putting in about 10-14 a game off the bench. Also, I think the "surprising" award for me would go to Gary. He hustled a lot more than I expected from him hearing of his reputation. He played within the team and played hard and I became a big admirer of his. Don't forget, he was also playing a bit out of position this year. He is more of a 3 man than a 4.

I see that I am in the minority on Dees since most saw him as a disappointment. While it is true in his stats, since he was supposed to be an all-conference player with more points, I think that he helped lead the team after his benching when he could have gone away. He seemed to really fire up the guys when they needed it and helped control some of the younger guys at times.

[J-Town Cajun]

_ Great post and I agree with most except the "logical" choice of MVP being Millsap. I don't think there is anything logical about that award. he may have been a leader in scoring but that was due to one great game and a couple of other decent games. However, his inconsistent play was less impressive and he seemed to get two stupid out of control charge fouls in the lane per game. I think he has tons of promise but needs to develop the savy to become a really good player.

I'd have to give the MVP to either Gradnigo or Daigle with Dees being in the mix as well. I liked the leadership Dees brought after his benching when he could have gone home and I think the team was playing their best when he was putting in about 10-14 a game off the bench. Also, I think the "surprising" award for me would go to Gary. He hustled a lot more than I expected from him hearing of his reputation. He played within the team and played hard and I became a big admirer of his. Don't forget, he was also playing a bit out of position this year. He is more of a 3 man than a 4.

I see that I am in the minority on Dees since most saw him as a disappointment. While it is true in his stats, since he was supposed to be an all-conference player with more points, I think that he helped lead the team after his benching when he could have gone away. He seemed to really fire up the guys when they needed it and helped control some of the younger guys at times. _

Good response Zepher. Although I said the logical choice would be Millsap because of stats but read a little further my choice was Daigle. The reason Bureau was my surprise player because he came out of nowhere and played really well at times. I do Gary think is a good choice just not mine. He played very well I just had expectations already because he was local and many people had high expectations.

[Clutch0364]

_ One of my biggest concerns for next season is Gradnigo. Although he may have the best offensive output I find him to be extremely lazy on the defensive end. He's just way to lazy of a player for me.

I know he's young, but he needs to get rid of that attitude and grow up. This isn't high school anymore!!

Gary and Daigle are the MVPs of years to come!! _

Their was a player of the year candidate 2 years ago who was lazy on defense...Adam Morrison. Not saying your wrong just saying some players just excel at different things. Best quote was hearing Rick Majerus say "Adam Morrison couldn't guard anyone even if he had a gun and a badge" lol To a point I feel you can have one guy who can't hold his own on defense if he can do great things on the other end of the court, just like you can have a great defender in even though he could be a liability on the offensive end of the court.

[zephyr]

_ Good response Zepher. Although I said the logical choice would be Millsap because of stats but read a little further my choice was Daigle. The reason Bureau was my surprise player because he came out of nowhere and played really well at times. I do Gary think is a good choice just not mine. He played very well I just had expectations already because he was local and many people had high expectations. _

I agree with you, especially about Bureau but honestly, I kind of expected that from him. He is the most talented player we have on the entire roster and the only reason he is here is due to fortunate circumstances. I actually thought he'd sure a tad better from behind the arc this season but he still shot 35% which aint shabby.

As far as the seniors go, I appreciate what they've done but its time they go. The nucleus of this team is its youth and these guys were basically taking up roster space. I'm happy to see Barksdale go. I was very disappointed in his play this year as a senior. He had no ball control and isn't a particularly good shooter which makes him a liability at the 1 spot. Milson is steady and plays hard but just doesn't have the tools of the others and Dees is not a good fit on this type of team. He had to play out of position for much of the year.