"What it means for the Cajuns: This was a deceiving 22-point victory. Instead of pounding the ball inside against the under-sized Wildcats - which would have resulted in easy points, a big lead and some important confidence for their post guys - the Cajuns went 3-of-12 (25 percent) on 3s in the opening half with only 12 points in the paint. UL, which finished 7-of-22 from 3, could have done whatever it wanted and basically wasted almost half of the game doing exactly what hurt the team last season instead of putting LC away. They out-scored LC in the paint 28-2 in the second half. Daigle hit four 3s in a row in the final seven minutes, but the Cajuns would have gone 3-of-19 (15.8 percent) from behind the arch without that streak. They won the game but have a long, long way to go to be a contender in the Sun Belt Conference this season."
Well said, JP. Well said.
Reason the game was close so long last night was due to the Cajuns either traveling while driving to the basket or missing layups. They were making more of an effort to get to the basket than in the past but it looked like they were in unrecognized territory as they did so. Once they actually made some layups they were able to play pressure defense. In the second half, both McCoy and Daigle started. McCoy really got us going with his penetration and Daigle was able to hit shots as he coud catch and shoot. I know we outmanned the opponent and the effort was very poor in the first half. If there was any positive last night it was the potential of having both point guards on the floor at the same time. We will see more of that if Gradnigo does not get out of his slump.
I don't think the FGA cost us the game. We shot almost 50% from the field. We did do a much better job in the second half in getting the ball inside, which was why we shot 55% in the second half. We shot 48% for the game with your best two shooters going 2-12 from three point range. I'll agree the FT's didn't help, as it's never good to shoot 52% from the line, but I don't see that as the reason we lost the game. The bigger free throw issue was SM shooting 39 and us shooting 23. They missed 12 FT's and we missed 11. I think this was a direct result of us losing the rebound battle by 20, costing us a number of second chance points & additional fouls for Southern Miss.
I think the team in the past few years has done a poor job of post passing, which needs to improve in order to shoot a good percentage of three pointers. We've had guys get open in the lane but don't get them the ball. Additionally, I think rebounding may be an issue until we get into the mindset of rebounding. It's requires a consistent effort and good technique, and it's something we'll have to improve on to be more successful this year.
Josh
The guys I sit with were discussing leadership on this team.We know it's
early but at this point it seems there is noboby taking the bull by the horns.
Southern Miss had a player that took charge during breaks in play, talking to his teammates, settling them down.
What are your thoughts on this?
I think Daigle is doing what he can. Problem is I think these are lead-by-example guys, not really vocal ones. Hope I'm wrong about that.
igeaux.mobi
I imagine we reported tickets distributed vs actual folks in the building. Reason we can report the 2500 figure is because we sold 2000 season tickets, 250 more than the previous year. I know that is hard to believe as I was shocked when I heard it. Only reason I believe it now was because the person who provided the info is the assistant AD. We went to the businesses that bought the football discounted tickets the year before and had some success getting them to buy basketball. Also, more people renewed than anticipated. People did that in anticipation of better days ahead and wanting to keep their tickets for that day. Yes, many folks have tickets but will attend on an irregular basis. Again, I am shocked at the season ticket no. I am still having a hard time believing it.
With a senior laden lineup as a sales point I'm just sad there was no extroverted ticket drive.
With no ticket drive whoever walked into the business had the tall task of being the 1st person to expose the biz to UL basketball 2009 and look what happened.
Think what an extroverted ticket drive and the resulting frontal lobe presence for UL basketball could have meant for the business ticket push? Biz alone ticket sales could have been around 2000.
Certainly with renewals and the bulk business sales angle, UL surely could have sold 4000 season tickets.
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