MBB: Louisiana (70) vs Jackson State (73)

[ZoomZoom]

Look at who Jackson State played and there record. They just beat a Missouri Vallet conference school on the road

JSU is a team from a conference who's champion tends to be in the NCAA play in game or a 16th seed. Basically, at one time the SWAC was rent-a-win for the Cajuns. Yes, we have a nice record, but at the end of the season, JSU's rpi, and losing to them may come to haunt us.

[duggie85]

JSU is a team from a conference who's champion tends to be in the NCAA play in game or a 16th seed. Basically, at one time the SWAC was rent-a-win for the Cajuns. Yes, we have a nice record, but at the end of the season, JSU's rpi, and losing to them may come to haunt us.

Our rpi doesn't matter. If we don't win the conf tourney, we are staying home.

[CajunRage]

8/16 from the stripe for our "star" guard. Embarrassing....

[RaginScotsman]

That one stung. I know we have made strides, but losing to SWAC team? All you've heard all week was that the SWAC always bites someone on the road. I can respect that, but it's still a downer after putting ourselves in a great position to go into conference play with 10 wins. Learn from this, beat whatever team we are playing on the 30th, and dominate monroe. I think we will all feel better if that scenario plays out.

Side note-We really need to hit our free throws.

[SlappyCajun]

8/16 from the stripe for our "star" guard. Embarrassing....

Elfird will likely struggle with FT's for awhile, simply because he is not a great "shooter." We've had a lot of guys with similar struggles. (see Dwayne Mitchell most recently). For the first half of Dwayne's Junior year I think his FT% was in the mid 40s.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that he is such a good penetrator and gets fouled frequently. With that being said, he definitely needs to improve. But, I don't think his FT struggles diminishes from the fact that he is one the top 5 players we've had in the last 20 years.

[CajunRage]

Elfird will likely struggle with FT's for awhile, simply because he is not a great "shooter." We've had a lot of guys with similar struggles. (see Dwayne Mitchell most recently). For the first half of Dwayne's Junior year I think his FT% was in the mid 40s.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that he is such a good penetrator and gets fouled frequently. With that being said, he definitely needs to improve. But, I don't think his FT struggles diminishes from the fact that he is one the top 5 players we've had in the last 20 years.

I equate this to the Chuck Knoblauch situation. He could chase down any ground ball but couldn't make the throw to first. He was useless. Free throws are an integral part of the game. If it gets around that you can just hack the _____ out of him because he can't shoot free throws, we are in big trouble. He shot at least half of our free throws last night. Don't think scouting reports aren't out there. He needs to get his butt in the gym and learn to shoot or he will never be anything more than a mid-major PG who extended his playing career 4 years. I am very afraid that the team USA and other accolades have made him complacent and that is not good for us or him as an individual.

[CajunRed]

I would not insult our 19 year old quality-of-a-young-man by referring to him negatively as our "star" point guard.

[CAJUNTODD44]

I hear that Payton is a hard worker, free throw shooting is more about touch and confidence more than anything

[SlappyCajun]

I equate this to the Chuck Knoblauch situation. He could chase down any ground ball but couldn't make the throw to first. He was useless. Free throws are an integral part of the game. If it gets around that you can just hack the _____ out of him because he can't shoot free throws, we are in big trouble. He shot at least half of our free throws last night. Don't think scouting reports aren't out there. He needs to get his butt in the gym and learn to shoot or he will never be anything more than a mid-major PG who extended his playing career 4 years. I am very afraid that the team USA and other accolades have made him complacent and that is not good for us or him as an individual.

I don't know about him becoming complacent. I've never seen any evidence of that.

[GeauxCajuns]

I thought he forced it a little too much last night, a couple of blocked perimeter shots and he put up a lot of outside jumpers which isn't his strong suit we'll be better

[duggie85]

I equate this to the Chuck Knoblauch situation. He could chase down any ground ball but couldn't make the throw to first. He was useless. Free throws are an integral part of the game. If it gets around that you can just hack the _____ out of him because he can't shoot free throws, we are in big trouble. He shot at least half of our free throws last night. Don't think scouting reports aren't out there. He needs to get his butt in the gym and learn to shoot or he will never be anything more than a mid-major PG who extended his playing career 4 years. I am very afraid that the team USA and other accolades have made him complacent and that is not good for us or him as an individual.

Hell, I'm more than capable of being a useless major leaguer. I cant hit or throw for sheet. Where do I sign up for a 11 year career in the bigs??

[CajunRage]

I would not insult our 19 year old quality-of-a-young-man by referring to him negatively as our "star" point guard.

That was probably a little over the top, but I am tired of watching these athletes not being able to perform the fundamentals of the game. I was not blessed with an athletic build so I had to be flawless in the fundamentals of the game to even make the team. It kills me that athletes with the God given gifts don't stress the fundamentals because they were always better than everyone. The Houston game was a perfect example. Free throws down the stretch would have kept us out of overtime. Or it never fails that your all-conference baseball player gets up with runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs and can't get the bunt down to move the go ahead run to 3rd with 1 out. It is overlooked because he hits .400. Fundamentals are something that ANYONE can improve on.

With the end of the football season, you would think that we would learn not to rationalize shortcomings of our teams. His shooting is a big problem and something that needs to be addressed or we will be watching everyone else come March.