UL vs McNeese

[zephyr]

Just as we think the basketball program is turning things around, this crap happens. Yes we lost Elfrid, but this year we were supposed to be deeper and more athletic at every position. Definitely not seeing it. It's a long season but if things don't turn around quick it'll be a REALLY long season.

You are right, we are deeper and more athletic at every position. The problem is that we are playing like ____. Our upperclassmen are being outplayed by the younger guys and we are inconsistent shooting the ball

[GeauxCajuns]

Did you notice our women's basketball coach took over a dead program, and has totally turned things around in just his third season? The program he inherited was in much worse shape than Marlin took over. Zero quality players, ran some off to make room for freshman. That sir is what I hope and expect from Marlin.

thats exactly what marlin did, and he caught alot of heat for doing so.

btw, i love brodhead and think he is great. and since the death penalty, we havent had a coach bring us to the tournament on a 25% clip. Im not saying thats good enough, but you make it sound like we have regressed from the evans/lee days. i dont think we have. with that said, we better get back there this year.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Brodhead did not run off problems, he ran off people who could not help him. Marlin ran off people who could help and not problems. Then he proceeded to keep problems, and recruit problems, and make a bad assistant hire. An assistant who has no bad anywhere else.

Lastly on a personal level. Listening to Marlin is like watching paint dry. I cannot see him selling a damn thing.

[MetryCajun]

Comparing players from eras is tough, but it is pretty obvious we had better talent in the Fletcher/Evans years. Long and the OKST transfer are the types of players who would have thrived at any time in our history. The rest of the guys would be hard pressed to play any meaningful minutes on our good teams from the past.
There are reasons for hope:
1) The competition(SBC) is so much easier than 10-20 years ago. We should be able to win some games in conference.
2) The two Freshmen look like they can play. The future is bright is we can find a point guard.

[SlappyCajun]

Marlin ran off people who could help and not problems. Then he proceeded to keep problems, and recruit problems, and make a bad assistant hire. An assistant who has no bad anywhere else.

Who are you talking about?

[zephyr]

Comparing players from eras is tough, but it is pretty obvious we had better talent in the Fletcher/Evans years. Long and the OKST transfer are the types of players who would have thrived at any time in our history. The rest of the guys would be hard pressed to play any meaningful minutes on our good teams from the past.
There are reasons for hope:
1) The competition(SBC) is so much easier than 10-20 years ago. We should be able to win some games in conference.
2) The two Freshmen look like they can play. The future is bright is we can find a point guard.

This is the first year under Marlin that I can honestly say he has brought in good talent. If you have not seen the freshmen play, they have shown that they will be good players for us sooner rather than later. As I mentioned earlier, I think where we have struggled are some of the older guys are just not playing very well. I think the answer is chemistry and you typically play your best basketball as the season goes on.

Its still very demoralizing to lose to chumps like McNeese and even when we aren't playing very well, we should be able to find ways to beat teams like that. Errors can be corrected and roles can be defined. Talent cannot just be produced but guys like Stove and Washington and Wright are talented players and they could have contributed on just about any team from the Evans and Fletcher eras for sure.

[CajunEXPRESS]

I agree he brought in a talented class this year. Plaisance. Saving him, or mistake? I hope we are letting him practice and putting on some weight so he can step in next year after Long is long gone.

[zephyr]

I agree he brought in a talented class this year. Plaisance. Saving him, or mistake? I hope we are letting him practice and putting on some weight so he can step in next year after Long is long gone.

Because you redshirt him doesn't mean he doesn't practice. I'm sure he's seeing plenty of time as well as spending some time in the weightroom. Probably could have helped us this year but our front line is doing OK as long as they get the ball out of Walker's hands when he's 15 feet from the basket. Its the team wide turnovers and inconsistent shooting that is killing us.

[CharlieK]

Tired of losing to McNeese in basketball AND football.

LSU lost to McNeese in those sports? WOW!

[Boomer]

Because you redshirt him doesn't mean he doesn't practice. I'm sure he's seeing plenty of time as well as spending some time in the weightroom. Probably could have helped us this year but our front line is doing OK as long as they get the ball out of Walker's hands when he's 15 feet from the basket. Its the team wide turnovers and inconsistent shooting that is killing us.

----Thanks for posting the obvious---Why wouldn't he practice or be in the weight room???? You are very correct---and the coaches say that he can be a European pro if he does get R-shirted and has that last extra year to mature!!!

[Cajunsmike]

I agree he brought in a talented class this year. Plaisance. Saving him, or mistake? I hope we are letting him practice and putting on some weight so he can step in next year after Long is long gone.

When they decided to redshirt Plaisance, they did not anticipate JJ Davenport to miss two weeks with a bum ankle. They did not expect Long to miss games with injury either. Still, all those guys should be healthy by the time conference play starts. That means there won't be any minutes for Plaisance, so it was a good decision. At this point, it would be a mistake to go back on that approach. I do agree with Zephyr in that the new guys have encouraged me more than what I am seeing from the returnees. Xavian Rimmer is really a guy we need to get going. Injury set him back somewhat as well but it is now time for him and others to play to their potential.

[MetryCajun]

I'm sure they didn't expect JJ to be even heavier than he was last year.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Because you redshirt him doesn't mean he doesn't practice. I'm sure he's seeing plenty of time as well as spending some time in the weightroom. Probably could have helped us this year but our front line is doing OK as long as they get the ball out of Walker's hands when he's 15 feet from the basket. Its the team wide turnovers and inconsistent shooting that is killing us.

Yea, I worded that poorly, I know he practices as a valid team member. What I really was wondering is are we saving him trying to red shirt him, or did we make a mistake. I am pretty sure he is not a mistake as I saw him play in several games last season and was totally impressed.

Regardless of the reasons right now we are not doing much by the bigs.

[ZoomZoom]

Gosh, let's keep pulling the scab off the wound.

[DieHard1280]

I'm sure they didn't expect JJ to be even heavier than he was last year.

I was telling someone a couple of weeks ago that I feel sorry for the kid when his playing days are over. I imagine he's gonna have a really hard time keeping the weight off.