Is it time for a change?

[Clutch0364]

_ We will have to agree to disagree on our "potential".

Out of 302 current Div 1 teams only six teams have made a regional every year over the past ten years (through 2008). Ony thirteen teams in history have made more than ten consecutive regionals.

Since the era of the Super Regional (ten years now) only twenty two teams have made three or more Super Regionals. The Cajuns were within one game of joining that elite group two years ago but came up short.

Not a knock on our program but I just don't think we have the potential to be at a level where we reach a regional every year. Were talking Miami, Florida St., Texas, Clemson.

IF we put some money into our program I think we have the potential to possible reach a regional 2 out of every 3 years but would realistically love to see us in a regional every other year.

Keep in mind I'm not talking about what I wish we would do. I'm talking about what I realistically think this school can expect to do on the topside.

SideNote: MT looks to have gotten a pretty good regional draw and I don't think WKU did too bad either. Good luck to both these teams. _

You make a good point and I might wanting to much but there is no reason that we should not be near the top of the conference every year. As a fan when you see nothing good out of your athletic program except for softball you tend to become pretty angry at the entire program.

I said earlier that I didn't think Robe should be fired but he needs to do some winning next year. I have heard the word rebuilding about this years team and that is all well and good if next year he comes out and wins. I heard the word rebuilding for the last couple of years with the basketball program and guess what they get less fun t watch every year.

[Cajun90]

You make a good point and I might wanting to much but there is no reason that we should not be near the top of the conference every year.

I agree with that with one caviat. We must invest in our baseball program. As we saw with Troy's field this past week even the SBC teams are spending millions on their programs.

As a fan when you see nothing good out of your athletic program except for softball you tend to become pretty angry at the entire program.

I understand that as well. That is why I try and focus on the actual facts and numbers and compare to other programs. That way I can realistically assess the performance.

[Cajunsmike]

There should be NO sacred cows at UL. Not Robe, not anyone. The 2008-2009 athletic teams were abominations. Softball way underachieved, but If anyone should get a pass its the Lotiefs. I feel 100% sure that they will be back in the Top 10 next year. Next to softball, Football was our best sport. It brought us the most excitement this past year.
Softball returns to its lofty perch next year and football surprises all of us. Everything else, remains pretty crappy.

Z

If men's basketball continues to disappoint, I am highly confident a coaching change will be made. I know I said the same thing a year ago. However, we won't have to buy out a contract and the APR issues will be mostly behind us at that point. Regardless of that, I think it is important we name the new assistant coaches soon. We will have 5 seniors on the squad next season. Most signings occur in the early signing period in November these days and any the recruiting occurs in the July AAU tournament period. That is why I think we need to finalize that situation. I know Dixon from UNO is supposedly coming here but I have seen nothing official on that.

Z, what makes you optimistic about football and pessimistic about baseball for next year. Personally, I am unsure about football as I don't know how much the three offensive stars will be missed. I am optimistic about baseball as the bulk of the squad returns and Coach Robe has admitted we need to do some things differently.

[CajunProud]

If we don't win next year, then yes, it is time for a change, but it would be useless as in all of the other sports until we get some real MONEY. I think if Robe had the proper funding, he would be more consistent, although, the recruiting has not been very good over the last couple of seasons, so who knows.

Bottom line is, if you don't have the money to hire better than what you have, you're just swappin spit.

[Cajunsmike]

I don't think a change at the top is needed. BUT if i'm not mistaken, Robe is the pitching coach correct? Maybe we need to try getting a pitching coach. Our pitching seems to be the downfall of our team. Starters and bullpen were inconsistent. We never had a dominent starter all season. Why not try having a pitching coach to come in and spend all of his time with the pitchers. Instead of having a head coach playing double duty. I could be way off base with this but just an idea.

I disagree that pitching was the downfall. We were near the top of the conference in ERA this season. Unfortunately we were near the bottom in batting. What really killed us was being in the lower half in fielding. Many of those errors occurred at crucial times. The hitting did improve in the last week of the season except for the last game. Pitching did fall apart in the 2nd to last game but I don't panic in that regard when I look at the overall season on the mound.

[ULtimateCajun]

_ I disagree that pitching was the downfall. We were near the top of the conference in ERA this season. Unfortunately we were near the bottom in batting. What really killed us was being in the lower half in fielding. Many of those errors occurred at crucial times. The hitting did improve in the last week of the season except for the last game. Pitching did fall apart in the 2nd to last game but I don't panic in that regard when I look at the overall season on the mound. _

I stand corrected. I do agree with our fielding, that seems to have been the problem the past two seasons. too many errors

[TuffGuy84]

_ I stand corrected. I do agree with our fielding, that seems to have been the problem the past two seasons. too many errors _

Mental Toughness, this cannot be stressed enough, is the reason for so many errors. I don't know for sure how many times, but I can guarantee that multiple times this year, one player had more than one error in a single inning. You have to be able to put a bad play behind you and make the next play, and we didn't do that much this year.

[Cajunsmike]

Mental Toughness, this cannot be stressed enough, is the reason for so many errors. I don't know for sure how many times, but I can guarantee that multiple times this year, one player had more than one error in a single inning. You have to be able to put a bad play behind you and make the next play, and we didn't do that much this year.

I agree mental toughness was lacking. Often times a bad play in the field would carry over to the plate and vice versa. It has to be as the coaches repeatedly mentioned throughout the season that we had too many "soft" guys. What I don't understand is how you fix something like that in the off season other than to have team leaders step up. Les Smith could be that kind of guy but it is tough to be respected as a leader when you are a pure freshman.

[LifeTimeCajun]

i have never met les smith, just watched him play this year. But i dont see how he couldnt be respected as a leader...he has produced as a player, he goes at it 110% every time he steps on the field, and seems to be a very intense player. And I dont how u change a soft ballclub, they were soft last year,and again this year. Mental toughness needs to be identified when recruiting players. You either have it or you dont.

[LifeTimeCajun]

_ I disagree that pitching was the downfall. We were near the top of the conference in ERA this season. Unfortunately we were near the bottom in batting. What really killed us was being in the lower half in fielding. Many of those errors occurred at crucial times. The hitting did improve in the last week of the season except for the last game. Pitching did fall apart in the 2nd to last game but I don't panic in that regard when I look at the overall season on the mound. _

Poor defense makes any pitching staff bad. Giving even a bad team extra outs in and inning, makes pitchers throw more pitches, and gives the other team more oppertunities to make something happen. I think that its just a combination of things that did us in this year. we were consistantly inconsistant. there were times when would score 6,7 or 8 runs and lose ballgames. That should be enough runs to win some games. I felt we were close to turning the corner a few times this season, but it just didnt happen. If we add some talent at a few key positions, we might be headed backin the right direction

[jazzpop]

Can't clain to be a Cajun baseball expert or anything, but watching the game on Saturday
it looked like the fielding was attrocious at times and a real lack of sound fundamentals.
They don't look like a well coached or desciplined team.

[HoustonCajun]

_ Can't clain to be a Cajun baseball expert or anything, but watching the game on Saturday
it looked like the fielding was attrocious at times and a real lack of sound fundamentals.
They don't look like a well coached or desciplined team. _

Why doesn't anyone mention poor recruiting over the past few years. Every year, it is either good pitching with no hitting, or good hitting with poor pitching, or a poor fielding team with poor fundamentals and too many errors that costs us games, or a combination of all three. Seems to me, our recruiting has dropped off considerably and that falls on the coaches. Baseball was the one sport that we could always count on for success. We are now a middle to lower tier team of the Sun Belt. That says it all.