The future of Robert Lee

[CajunZ1]

_ Away from sports - Two I wish could be lasered out of existence.

"You know" and "awesome" _

Like, totally

[jllanclos]

_ Away from sports - Two I wish could be lasered out of existence.

"You know" and "awesome" _

That would be awesome, you know?

[DestinCajun]

I disagree I think aggressive/physical players don't have the ball taken away from them and get pushed around not athletic players. _

Its the muscle and the strength they possess that gives these guys great physical ability. The best example I have is Dwayne Mitchell.

Go back to my day and take a look at Jerry Flake. A great basketball player but by no means an athlete.

LSUAMCBR has some very athletic players.

[Cajunsmike]

Just what do people mean that we have good athletes? Does that mean they can run and dunk? Our guys have no basketball IQ, all they do is shoot 3 pointers and dunk. They have limited basketball skills, can't make 3 foot shots or simple layups, can't make free throws, can't make inbounds passes, can't run an offense, can't set screens. What can they do? Players with good basic basketball skills and a coach that properly uses those skills will beat us every time. That is why a team like WKU is so successful every year, even though they keep losing coaches to BCS schools. I only wish for a coach who runs a Princeton offense and recruits solid basketball players to play that style of game. Basketball has deteriorated to run & gun, 3 point shots and dunks. It sucks. In some ways, the 3 point shot has ruined the game because that is all players seem to want to take.

I do agree that the three point shot has altered the game. It's not all on the players though. Many coaches like guys taking that shot as 33% from there equals 50% from two point land. Believe me our team is better off having Bureau, Gradnigo, and Daigle take threes as we have no threat inside. Unfortunately the times we have had all three on the court and healthy this year are few. Regardless of that, we need to fix the inside problem regardless of who is coach. The three pointer does prevent you from getting the other team in foul trouble and the two point mid range shot should be taken more. As far as a Princeton offense goes, I am not sure that would be the right scheme for the guys we have. I would like to see more of a motion offense with more passing and less dribbling. That is not the Princeton offense though. That can be stopped if you just constantly remind yourself not to be backdoored. We stopped Denver in the second half of our game and we do have problems. Perhaps Brad or Reggie can comment on what would be a productive offense for our squad. As far as playing up tempo goes, that would be great if we could be more efficient in the half court offense. You have to score before you can press and God knows we have trouble doing that.

[Clutch0364]

_ Its the muscle and the strength they possess that gives these guys great physical ability. The best example I have is Dwayne Mitchell.

Go back to my day and take a look at Jerry Flake. A great basketball player but by no means an athlete.

LSUAMCBR has some very athletic players. _

Deion Sanders was a great athlete but would get people out of bounds before he would hit them. Jumping and running ability make u a good athlete...our athletes aren't turning there athleticism into good basketball play.

[Parrott]

I do agree that the three point shot has altered the game. It's not all on the players though. Many coaches like guys taking that shot as 33% from there equals 50% from two point land. Believe me our team is better off having Bureau, Gradnigo, and Daigle take threes as we have no threat inside. Unfortunately the times we have had all three on the court and healthy this year are few. Regardless of that, we need to fix the inside problem regardless of who is coach. The three pointer does prevent you from getting the other team in foul trouble and the two point mid range shot should be taken more. As far as a Princeton offense goes, I am not sure that would be the right scheme for the guys we have. I would like to see more of a motion offense with more passing and less dribbling. That is not the Princeton offense though. That can be stopped if you just constantly remind yourself not to be backdoored. We stopped Denver in the second half of our game and we do have problems. Perhaps Brad or Reggie can comment on what would be a productive offense for our squad. As far as playing up tempo goes, that would be great if we could be more efficient in the half court offense. You have to score before you can press and God knows we have trouble doing that.

When a basketball team lacks a solid post threat, I always liked going with the five-out motion offense. It allows you to take advantage of your shooters and perimeter players and forces your opponent to match up with you and alter their personnel - not vice versa.

That opens up the lanes for drives to the basket and open 3-pointers off dribble penetration. You could also post up a bigger player if needed in crunch time.

The obvious disadvantage would be on the boards. But if you're running this offense your team is likely unsized anyway, so you're going to have a hard time on the glass as it is.

Troy used that set last season to beat the Cajuns in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Trojans went small and UL had to match them. Changed the flow of the game, and the Cajuns never recovered.

[Cajunsmike]

_ When a basketball team lacks a solid post threat, I always liked going with the five-out motion offense. It allows you to take advantage of your shooters and perimeter players and forces your opponent to match up with you and alter their personnel - not vice versa.

That opens up the lanes for drives to the basket and open 3-pointers off dribble penetration. You could also post up a bigger player if needed in crunch time.

The obvious disadvantage would be on the boards. But if you're running this offense your team is likely unsized anyway, so you're going to have a hard time on the glass as it is.

Troy used that set last season to beat the Cajuns in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Trojans went small and UL had to match them. Changed the flow of the game, and the Cajuns never recovered. _

I like your suggestion of how to run our offense. As far as the boards go, we are getting beat there already so I can't see how it can be worse. Have you made this suggestion to our staff? If we implemented it, which would be our most effective players in running it? One concern I would have is our tendence to dribble too much and the guys would have to understand passing is key except when the defense overplays.

[bballholic]

After watching LSU dismantle their third consecutive SEC team, I'm not buying into the arguement that UL-Lafayette has more or even equal talent to LSU. Coaching can only do so much, and the emergence of Tasmin Mitchell has done wonders for this team. I've also read a lot about the Cajuns athleticism, but LSU's starting five is very athletic. For whatever reason, LSU seemed to play down to their competition on numerous occassions this season (Centenary, Nicholls State, McNeese, etc.) but they are currently playing at a very high level. Now, this isn't to say that the Cajuns don't have talent, because they certainly do. Like I said earlier, I still believe they are very capable of putting together a solid stretch of basketball in order to make a run at the SBC conference tournament.

[Parrott]

No, I haven't made any suggestions to the staff. Don't plan to, either. In my younger days I wanted to be a coach and started studying the game in middle school (and actually went to college with the intention of playing ball, but it didn't work out because of my own impatience). Coach Lee gets paid good money to make those decisions on his own.

On the radio yesterday a few people said they want Daigle to run more of the offense. While that might be the only option with continued inconsistent play from McCoy and Lago (and no Roberson to help during short stretches), I think that would hurt the team.

Daigle is one of your better shooters and plays better off the ball. He's not a traditional playmaker for his teammates, which is one reason he tends to overdribble. He's a shooting guard in a point guard's body.

At his size, I believe the best way for Daigle to get off his shot is playing away from the ball. He is at his best coming off screens and working off pick and rolls. He can also create his own shot by getting separation on a quick stepback. (Bureau and Gradnigo are also skilled enough on the perimeter to do the same.)

The downside is that means he's sometimes taking off-balance shots, which significantly lowers the chance of the shot going in. All that work off the ball can really wear on a guy physically - especially someone that has struggles from time to time with diabetes. Having to handle the ball more would be even more for him to shoulder and might not be a benefit for the team.

I don't think some people realize how draining of a job it is to run a team's offense. It's more than just dribbling the ball up the floor. You've also got to defend the opposing point guard, which involves being in a defensive stance further away from the basket for a longer time than anyone else. There's also the issue of trying to keep your teammates involved and running the set instead of looking for your own shot first. Daigle's skill set is the exact opposite.

McCoy would still be my choice at point, with Daigle getting some spot time. Gradnigo and Bureau have improved off the dribble offensively in the past year but are not good enough, in my mind at least, to be primary ballhandlers.

Lee tried Corey Bloom at the point, which did not work out. Roberson would have been ideal, but he's not in the picture right now.

The only traditional point guard I see on this team is McCoy. But he's been up and down all season and has struggled during crunch time.

Others can make good passes on occasion. The problem is no one has been a consistent ballhandler or playmaker so far, which has made life tough on the offensive end.

[MetryCajun]

_ After watching LSU dismantle their third consecutive SEC team, I'm not buying into the arguement that UL-Lafayette has more or even equal talent to LSU. Coaching can only do so much, and the emergence of Tasmin Mitchell has done wonders for this team. I've also read a lot about the Cajuns athleticism, but LSU's starting five is very athletic. For whatever reason, LSU seemed to play down to their competition on numerous occassions this season (Centenary, Nicholls State, McNeese, etc.) but they are currently playing at a very high level. Now, this isn't to say that the Cajuns don't have talent, because they certainly do. Like I said earlier, I still believe they are very capable of putting together a solid stretch of basketball in order to make a run at the SBC conference tournament. _

By the time the season ends, no one will be saying this. LSU is better than UL in every way. In hindsight, only a super human performance kept us in the game vs. LSU.

As for the SBC tourny...very doubtful. Nothing we have done to this point indicates we can win 3 games in a row in a semi-hostile environment.

[bballholic]

When do the Cajuns play next? I'm working in Lafayette on Wed and Thur every week and would like to catch another game. There is nothing like watching college basketball and sipping on a cold beer.

[Parrott]

Thursday night at Western Kentucky.

Saturday against South Alabama at the Cajundome. The Jaguars are 4-0 on the road in conference play - their best start in the league away from home since 1979-80.