Long scores 24, pulls Louisiana past La. Tech

[NewsCopy]

Shawn Long was a thorn in the Bulldogs' paw once again.The University of Louisiana men's basketball team's junior postman, despite foul trouble that limited him for much of the game, had 14 points and 12 rebounds in the second half Wednesday.

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THE Advocate
Dan McDonald

[CajunEXPRESS]

Shepard was a great get, a diamond in the rough so to speak. I recall Josh gave an evaluation on our CRZ about him being very good on defense, and not so much on offense, a project.

Coach Marlin has done a great job of developing that offensive project.

[zephyr]

Shepard was a great get, a diamond in the rough so to speak. I recall Josh gave an evaluation on our CRZ about him being very good on defense, and not so much on offense, a project.

Coach Marlin has done a great job of developing that offensive project.

Yes he has. However, Shepherd is a better combo guard than true PG. He is better off the ball and getting his shot through the offense rather than trying to create it with the ball in his hands. He is tremendous on defense and has great hands and now that he seems to have gotten that confidence back, I feel he will have a great year as long as he is healthy.

[cajun4life]

If Shawn Long can play with the intensity he showed last night for the entire season he will be POY. I don't care what the Hucksters kid does at GaSt, it won't compare to Shawn's stat line.

[CrazyCajun]

If Shawn Long can play with the intensity he showed last night for the entire season he will be POY. I don't care what the Hucksters kid does at GaSt, it won't compare to Shawn's stat line.

If he can stay healthy, shawn wants to have a monster year more than any of us want him too I can promise you that.

[scotto_25]

Tech Alum/Fans are saying that politics played a big role in playing La-Laffy again in all sports. They are saying that this was a terrible decision (even though they are better than us in all sports - still hurts recruiting). Delusional bunch.

I still don't get how they can look down their nose at us and honestly say they are BETTER than us.If anything, their football team has been a tad better, but they would get crushed in EVERY other sport. Football is extremely close and we should overtake that soon.

It was funny overhearing some conversations at the beer line last night.

[campo118]

The irony is, we are the better football team but got whooped by them… They are the better basketball team but got whooped by us… Moral of the story, in rivalry games you just never know what's gonna happen

[BuddyRoeaux]

Williams & walker stepped up last night to help Long have such an excellent night. Shepard was a little careless at times but is definately a diamond in the rough. Wonk hitting the 3's last night was critical and overall besides the turnovers, we looked like we played the game to our tempo instead of playing our opponents. Now where's my whiskey.

[MelRock]

The team is trying to find a leader since Elfrid is gone. I do not think anyone can imagine the void he has left on the team. You could see it in practice and off the court. If Elfrid wants to, he will be one helluva coach. I like Shawn and he is a great kid to be around, but he is not a natural leader, he is trying.

Jay Wright is only an sophomore and was out for the brokeback u game and it showed how much we missed him. I felt Kasey could step in to Elfrid's shoes but now it looks like it is best if he stays off the point and sticks to shooting. We are probably not done seeing the up and downs from this team, but hopefully last night showed them the team they can be. I am looking forward to watching them play more.

Geaux Cajuns

[Zeebart21]

The irony is, we are the better football team but got whooped by them… They are the better basketball team but got whooped by us… Moral of the story, in rivalry games you just never know what's gonna happen

Are they the better basketball team? Talent wise I believe we are every bit as good. As was mentioned earlier we are trying to find ourselves.

[campo118]

The same could be said for us… Are we the better football team? I believe so, just like I believe (although talent may be pretty even) that they are the better basketball TEAM as evidenced by their record over the past 3 years and the competition they have played. I am a realist and although I fuel as much hate towards them as most of you all here, I feel like looking at the whole picture objectively will tell you they are a better basketball team, even if only slightly better. You could argue, but what about head to head results? Would you say McNeese is better than we are? Tulsa? I didn't watch the Auburn game, so I can't comment on that, but Tulsa certainly wasn't as talented as we were. They sucked just as bad as we did that night, and the refs aided them to an ugly victory. McNeese simply outplayed us without our top PG, but neither are better than we are IMO…

[CrazyCajun]

Are they the better basketball team? Talent wise I believe we are every bit as good. As was mentioned earlier we are trying to find ourselves.

They returned 4 starters off of a 29 win basketball team, on paper they are the better team.

[campo118]

And FWIW, I know a few of you on here argued with me about the officiating in the Tulsa game, and said there's no such thing as getting beat by refs… having had the chance to watch a few more games, and let the anger wallow, I still stand by my original thoughts. I've watched probably 10-15 more basketball games (Cajuns and others) since that game, and still can honestly say I don't think I've seen a worse officiated game in a long, long time.

[CrazyCajun]

And FWIW, I know a few of you on here argued with me about the officiating in the Tulsa game, and said there's no such thing as getting beat by refs… having had the chance to watch a few more games, and let the anger wallow, I still stand by my original thoughts. I've watched probably 10-15 more basketball games (Cajuns and others) since that game, and still can honestly say I don't think I've seen a worse officiated game in a long, long time.

For a minute there, early in the game, I thought we were gonna see one last night but they settled in. The refs and us

[BirdofParadise]

The game was played at a tempo both teams wanted to play. Tech uses pressure to force you to play faster than you want to. We were able to play fast and not hurt ourselves, except for the five straight possessions with a turnover early in the game and then in the last 90 seconds.

Tech is very talented. But we are a tough matchup for them because of Long. They don't have the inside presence on either side of the court to handle our big guy.

As a combo guard, Kasey is incredibly valuable to this team. Wright played 31 minutes last night and Kasey didn't have to play the point the whole time Wright was out (Rimmer played it as well.) You may or may not have noticed Kasey drew the defensive assignment on Smith. Smith was out of sync a good part of the night and that forced Tech to play a lot of one on one basketball. They had six assists in the game. Smith averages that all by himself.

Anyone who doesn't think we beat a quality team last night is entitled to have that opinion. I am entitled to look at that person like he has a nail growing out of his forehead.