Cajuns’ Mbamalu edging closer to 1,000-point mark

[NewsCopy]

It seems almost inconceivable to Bryant Mbamalu that he has arrived at the threshold of a 1,000-point career after such an inconspicuous introduction to college basketball.

The senior guard for the University of Louisiana over the past four years has developed from a defensive-skilled player with an accurate midrange jump shot to an offensive threat who knocks down 3-point attempts from deep corners.

The rest of the story ...

[Turbine]

3 crossing the threshold in one year would be epic.

[FeelDaRage]

How much are tickets to tonight's game?

[CajunEXPRESS]

Mbamalu is a perfect example of a program that struggles from year to year and needs freshman who are not quite ready. His freshman year his offensive numbers were 5.8 points a game, 3.3 rebounds, and a very healthy .792 free throw percentage. He played in all 28 games, and started 18. He had a nice run of five games between late December, and late January of double digit scoring games.

These are not bad for a true freshman, but for a guy who is not NBA bound, maybe it would be nice to see them mature and get a red shirt year out of high school. Another guy I think right now wasting his freshman season is Register. He has indeed helped us win games, but I just think we are seeing the tip of the iceberg and he will be much stronger in his next three seasons. Wronkoski? Not as much growth in his second year as I had hoped. Viex Kande? Unless he shows a lot more I wonder if he stays all four years, but for sure he needed a red shirt year.

I hope Coach Marlin is successful here, in spite of my misgivings, and in that success we get to develop five year players who contribute a lot more by being red shirted.

I was not a go and watch basketball fan when I first started college, and missed some great games with Winkler and Ivory, and Lamar's freshman season. I remember coming to the fall games looking for something to do and talking to a friend saying yea, they were good, but Winkler, and Ivory are gone. How good can they be? He said we have a promising sophomore named Lamar who scored around fourteen as a true freshman. Ok I said, and his first games he blew away the competition with around 32 points a game. That started a life long love affair with Louisiana basketball.

No doubt Turbine, I think we will move three into the thousand point club this season.

Last thoughts on freshman. EP did not blow the doors away, but you could see talent, not NBA talent but now we might not even get four years out of him now. I guess you never know who to red shirt and not red shirt.

[Cajunsmike]

I think general admission tickets are $8.

[Cajunsmike]

Without the injuries to Mbamalu and Shepherd, Register may have been redshirted. However, we likely don't win the UTA game without him and he also contributed in the Texas State win as well as the UALR win. If those three wins are losses we are not feeling good about the program right now. Some coaches say just one victory is worth burning a redshirt as you never know what will happen down the road. An injury may occur and the redshirt could be needed then. I don't have an answer to the question of how many wins does it take to justify a missed redshirt opportunity. What do you guys think? I agree that Kande could have used a redshirt year but he helped against Houston as they are a team with more big men than we usually see in our league.

[Just1More]

Without the injuries to Mbamalu and Shepherd, Register may have been redshirted. However, we likely don't win the UTA game without him and he also contributed in the Texas State win as well as the UALR win. If those three wins are losses we are not feeling good about the program right now. Some coaches say just one victory is worth burning a redshirt as you never know what will happen down the road. An injury may occur and the redshirt could be needed then. I don't have an answer to the question of how many wins does it take to justify a missed redshirt opportunity. What do you guys think? I agree that Kande could have used a redshirt year but he helped against Houston as they are a team with more big men than we usually see in our league.

It's always subjective... both regarding the redshirt and the program situation. Just taking the athlete into consideration... we see what we see from the outside... but the coaching staff sees a person we don't see. He also sees a team from a perspective we don't see. The other issue that makes it an inexact science is the fact that you don't guarantee yourself a win just by taking off a redshirt. When do you know it will be the "difference-maker"? After you've done it and the game in question is over. Hindsight justifies some decisions, but it isn't available when making the decision. So... IMO... the rational a coach uses to make that decision is largely out of any of our line of vision. He says, "we wouldn't have won that game without him... and even one win is worth the pull"... all coach-speak to justify what's already taken place.

[Cajunsmike]

In the case of Register, prior to the season starting the staff predicted that there would be at least one game in which his shooting would be the difference in the outcome. They concluded one win would be worth giving up the redshirt. Coach Marlin talked about this at Rebounders meetings. He mentioned it before the UTA game in which Heyward had a big night and at a meeting this past week. I don't think coach speak applies in this situation as they actually talked about this with fans before the big game occurred.

[cajunfan337]

IMO, we don't have the luxury of redshirting kids right now IF we know they can put in a solid 5-10 minutes off the bench. We need to win now and we need all the help we can get.