Ragin' Cajuns pick up basketball pledge

[Parrott]

The guy still has this season to play. Last season he was a defensive specialist on a very good team and played behind two DI signees. He will score 12-14 points per game this season for a team with three or four DI guys.

Against Miami-Dade last season he help hold Kentucky signee Darnell Dodson to 7-for-22 shooting in a GCCC win. He also played great in pick-up games when he visited a few weeks ago, including a dunk that is still being talks about around campus.

igeaux.mobi

[Tripple Threat]

_ Greg ODEM, no one is talking about greg oden, southall ran the floor, blocked out, rebounded, so did cedrick williams, 6'8" beast, wasnt afraid of nobody... so did LONNIE THOMAS, and REGGIE POOLE, all different types of big men that were pretty fricken good, it was a problem for opposing teams when they had to match up against these guys... They out there you gotta get em... Im not talking about dominate the country just the SUNBELT, you gotta find those players... Transfers, you have to know what guys are not happy at big time schools, are ones that want more playing time... They will come, if you build it. Program needs to be built better,from here on out!!! We got some good inside players on this years team, how many times do the ever touch the ball, not much, we might have a dominant inside player, and we dont know it!!! GO CAJUNS!!! _

I LOVED Cedrick Williams ! He was definitely a tough one out there and I agree with you about working the bigger guys into the play more. It looked like they were starting to do just that last year and then they went away from it...

[zephyr]

I really could care less what a signee's scoring average is. None of us have seen him play so its a reach to assume either way. However, he seems to come from a strong conference and seems to be enough of a character guy that he was able to concentrate just on defense and make that his role on the team. We could certainly use more guys like that. Like JP said, he has this year to shine and become a much more pivotal player where you are going to see his scoring average shoot up if that is what you judge players by. We also seem to get a lot of guys who have good scoring pedigrees only to see them average 4 points their entire career.

[Cajunsmike]

_ I really could care less what a signee's scoring average is. None of us have seen him play so its a reach to assume either way. However, he seems to come from a strong conference and seems to be enough of a character guy that he was able to concentrate just on defense and make that his role on the team. We could certainly use more guys like that. Like JP said, he has this year to shine and become a much more pivotal player where you are going to see his scoring average shoot up if that is what you judge players by. We also seem to get a lot of guys who have good scoring pedigrees only to see them average 4 points their entire career. _

I don't not mean to indicate I was against the signing by my question. I just wanted more info about the guy and that was the basis of bringing it up. I liked Josh's answer, especially his defensive ability. Coach Lee told me that one of the reasons we struggled last year was the loss of Brandon Dison. Every team needs a defensive stopper. Ours is a junior this year and will be a senior next year. The commitment can help there. Also, Dison tends to be injury prone. Having two defensive stoppers on a team is a help there and having both on the floor at the same time can you back in games when you are behind.

[Boomer]

_ The guy still has this season to play. Last season he was a defensive specialist on a very good team and played behind two DI signees. He will score 12-14 points per game this season for a team with three or four DI guys.

Against Miami-Dade last season he help hold Kentucky signee Darnell Dodson to 7-for-22 shooting in a GCCC win. He also played great in pick-up games when he visited a few weeks ago, including a dunk that is still being talks about around campus.

igeaux.mobi _

When I worked on the farm the pick up games were a no-no---what is the deal?????

[zephyr]

_ I don't not mean to indicate I was against the signing by my question. I just wanted more info about the guy and that was the basis of bringing it up. I liked Josh's answer, especially his defensive ability. Coach Lee told me that one of the reasons we struggled last year was the loss of Brandon Dison. Every team needs a defensive stopper. Ours is a junior this year and will be a senior next year. The commitment can help there. Also, Dison tends to be injury prone. Having two defensive stoppers on a team is a help there and having both on the floor at the same time can you back in games when you are behind. _

Sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like that. However, I'm a big believer in role players on a team. Sometimes, a guy fills a certain role and is then asked to fill different roles later. His HS stats tend to suggest that he's got some serious scoring ability as he averaged about 24 points per game. My point was that he was willing to take a back seat to others in terms of scoring and accept a role to go in and dig in on a good offensive player and shut him down. I think that shows some character and we can certainly use that on this team. I'll be checking in on him to see what he does this year now that he's one of the main guys.

[CajunRed]

_ Josh, 7-22 is not shutting some one down, thats more like the guy had an off night. a shutdown would be more like 2-8, i shooter gets that many attempts up (22), hes not getting shut down he was just off...

I guy that averages 2 ppg in JUCO should not get signed for a D1 scholarship. If he would ball this year, then look into signing him. Hope this kid develops into a player... Only time will tell!!! _

Nope... 7 of 22 can be because of the defender taking any open looks away from him, forcing him to take off balance shots or shots further out than he is used to.

[Parrott]

Exactly right, CajunRed. Sure, the guy got off 22 shots, but that's probably because Dodson was three inches taller than Reese.

Brad, based on your experience you should know better than to jump to the conclusion that the guy just had a bad shooting night. Sometimes that does happen. But sometimes a good defenders MAKES it happen by putting an elbow in his gut, a hand in his face or by doing anything to mess up the shooting rhythm without getting whistled for it. That includes forcing him away from where he wants to shoot on the floor and making him use the dribble when he really wants to just catch and shoot. Reese has a tremendous wingspan and is dedicated to playing defense - something the Cajuns could use on the perimeter right now! Surprised that you're not happy that the team is looking for better defenders given how much that was a sore spot last season.

Again, the 2 points per game average is low. No arguing against that. To understand why he averaged that you just need to look at who was in front of him and what his role was last season. The guy still has to play as a true sophomore this season. Other coaches in the region are talking about him being a steal if the Cajuns sign him early because he will get more and more looks in the spring since he plays for a good team with talented big guys. Sometimes taking a late bloomer pays off, sometimes it doesn't. That's the nature of recruiting. But don't allow your frustration with the program to make you write off this recruit before you even see him play or before he even gets a chance to step into a new role one season before he joins the team.

[zephyr]

_ So did we sign him? or is he a committment? I am just saying that I haven't seen many kids that average 2PPG no matter what team they are on, develop into a good player for a D1 School, hope he works out... _

He is a verbal commit but can't sign until later in November. That is why people think this is a poor signing but what if he comes out and averages 20 points per game and starts getting some serious looks from bigger schools and we have him signed already? Then, we've gotten a steal.

[BeauCajun]

Hmmm. Defensive gems from the Matador. Just a thought.

[Turbine]

Why would Robert Lee go after a defensive gem when what he really wants is scorers who can play defense he won't play defenders who can't score.

I say this because last year Colby Batiste was one such defensive gem, opponents had trouble scoring on him under the basket (to me that is worth points) but his playing time was limited more and more as the season progressed with the stated reason being he didn't possess enough offensive skills.

[HoustonCajun]

_ He is a verbal commit but can't sign until later in November. That is why people think this is a poor signing but what if he comes out and averages 20 points per game and starts getting some serious looks from bigger schools and we have him signed already? Then, we've gotten a steal. _

Did I read that only Jacksonville has shown interest in him other than UL. What should we read into that?