Congratulations to Men's Basketball for a winning D1 season

[BirdofParadise]

You guys need to go back and read my blog about scheduling difficulties.

You play 29 games unless you schedule an exempt event, at which time you can schedule 31 (which is what we've been doing)

Coach Marlin has to play 2-3 guarantee games (this year Tulsa and Auburn) in order to help balance the budget. He got, as part of that agreement, two neutral site games.

The idea in scheduling is to have an equal number of home and road games if possible. But if you're playing guarantee games the only way to balance is to schedule a team where you don't have to return the visit.

And he doesn't get the $$ to do that. The only teams he can "buy" are non D-1.

Now, we could do like App. State did this year and play only two home non conference games. And, we could schedule all home and homes but we'd still be playing more on the road than at home.

Since winning on the road in college basketball is the toughest things to so in sports, that road thing isn't a good idea in my opinion.

I was also led to believe you want to be playing your best basketball in February and March. And, in a one bid league, that makes perfect sense.

Bob Marlin's record in February and March is 34-14 and you know what? There wasn't a non-D1 game in the whole bunch.

[Cajunsmike]

Earlier in the season I attended a Rebounders Club meeting in which next season's schedule was briefly discussed. I don't recall the details but I do recall hearing the possibility of us participating in another exempt event next year. That event would involve four games. I think one would be on the road, two at a neutral site, and one at home. We were very interested in this as it appeared we would get Southern Miss to come here as part of that deal. I have not heard anymore on this in several weeks however. Jay makes some good points about the scheduling difficulty. I also don't like the idea of playing an inordinate no. of road games as non conference road games are much more difficult than conference road games. It is also not fair to the team as the constant travel does wear you down and it can affect academics. What I am in favor of is the budget increasing to the point we can buy D1 home games. For that to happen there will need to be a dramatic increase in donations to basketball or attendance. I don't foresee either one happening in the short term. That view includes attendance increases which you would expect with a more consistent winner. Of course their would be some improvement if that occurred but I don't think it would be substantial as the sport simply does not have the interest in this area it once did. I bet there are few of you who participate here who do not have season tickets would do so even if the team had a couple of years of winning 25 games. That is not meant to be a criticism, it is simply an observation. I recognize that life brings different priorities to different folks at different times.

[California Cajun]

You guys need to go back and read my blog about scheduling difficulties.

You play 29 games unless you schedule an exempt event, at which time you can schedule 31 (which is what we've been doing)

Coach Marlin has to play 2-3 guarantee games (this year Tulsa and Auburn) in order to help balance the budget. He got, as part of that agreement, two neutral site games.

The idea in scheduling is to have an equal number of home and road games if possible. But if you're playing guarantee games the only way to balance is to schedule a team where you don't have to return the visit.

And he doesn't get the $$ to do that. The only teams he can "buy" are non D-1.

Now, we could do like App. State did this year and play only two home non conference games. And, we could schedule all home and homes but we'd still be playing more on the road than at home.

Since winning on the road in college basketball is the toughest things to so in sports, that road thing isn't a good idea in my opinion.

I was also led to believe you want to be playing your best basketball in February and March. And, in a one bid league, that makes perfect sense.

Bob Marlin's record in February and March is 34-14 and you know what? There wasn't a non-D1 game in the whole bunch.

When you sense that something is amiss and don't what it is, you express opinions that don't go over well with insiders.

I'm frustrated with poor starts and strong finishes that are followed up with more poor starts and valiant efforts in the postseason that result in 1-3 wins.

Without upsetting the players who are laying every ounce of energy they have out there, what can fans do to break through that cycle?

The fans need a play from the coaching staff.

[Turbine]

34-14

[CrazyCajun]

If keith Richard can compete for a sunbelt regular season title at ULM with their situation, I don't think its too much to ask to be in the convo at the end of a season...is it really that unreasonable to think we should be able to do that?

[Cajunsmike]

When you sense that something is amiss and don't what it is, you express opinions that don't go over well with insiders.

I'm frustrated with poor starts and strong finishes that are followed up with more poor starts and valiant efforts in the postseason that result in 1-3 wins.

Without upsetting the players who are laying every ounce of energy they have out there, what can fans do to break through that cycle?

The fans need a play from the coaching staff.

Although the slow starts are frustrating, if you look season by season you see a reason for all of them. The 2013-2014 season was one we started well in. That is the only one in which that occurred in Coach Marlin's five years here. Do you know why that is? It is fairly simple. That is the only year in which the majority of the key guys from the previous season returned in similar roles to the previous. In Coach Marlin's first year, there were lots of returnees but he was doing things differently than Coach Lee. The 2nd year did not have Travis Bureau, LaRyan Gary, and Randall Daigle carrying the load. That 2nd year team was making progress until dissension raised it's ugly head causing the staff to start over in Year 3. Although the third year was not a winning one, it did lay the foundation for Year 4 which was a good season. Most of the guys returned that year from Year 3. It would have been better but injuries to Shepherd, Moore, and Mbamalu prevented it from being so. Shepherd's injury occurred before Mbamalu was healthy creating the mid season slump. This year, the leadership of Mbamalu was missed and it is of course difficult to replace an NBA player like Elfrid Payton. We turned it around this year when it all began to click for the new guys. Note, we have four guys starting right now and the top two guys off the bench which were not part of the mix a year ago. We should have 6 of the top 7 guys return next season and it could be 7 if Long comes back. We also have two promising players who redshirted this year. Considering the early success we had in the one year of Coach Marlin's tenure in which he had significant returnees in similar roles, there is hope for a strong start in 2015-2016. Cali, don't make this too complicated. There is no great philosophical reason for the slow starts. It simply is we have not had enough returnees in similar roles to the previous in most years the staff has been here. Of course the staff is somewhat responsible for that and they know it. As far as fans go, there is nothing we can do to break this cycle other than continue to support the program. It is up to the guys in the program, players and coaches to do it. That is in the future however. Hopefully there are a few more games to be played this season.

[CajunT]

Earlier in the season I attended a Rebounders Club meeting in which next season's schedule was briefly discussed. I don't recall the details but I do recall hearing the possibility of us participating in another exempt event next year. That event would involve four games. I think one would be on the road, two at a neutral site, and one at home. We were very interested in this as it appeared we would get Southern Miss to come here as part of that deal. I have not heard anymore on this in several weeks however. Jay makes some good points about the scheduling difficulty. I also don't like the idea of playing an inordinate no. of road games as non conference road games are much more difficult than conference road games. It is also not fair to the team as the constant travel does wear you down and it can affect academics. What I am in favor of is the budget increasing to the point we can buy D1 home games. For that to happen there will need to be a dramatic increase in donations to basketball or attendance. I don't foresee either one happening in the short term. That view includes attendance increases which you would expect with a more consistent winner. Of course their would be some improvement if that occurred but I don't think it would be substantial as the sport simply does not have the interest in this area it once did. I bet there are few of you who participate here who do not have season tickets would do so even if the team had a couple of years of winning 25 games. That is not meant to be a criticism, it is simply an observation. I recognize that life brings different priorities to different folks at different times.

Not taking one side or the other, but according to the most recent State Budget report Men's Basketball received over $1 Million in donations. I don't recall any time in recent history that was the case, but wouldn't it be a fair question to ask why didn't our athletic program use some of those funds to buy games? Or, could it be that money was not available at the time the schedule was completed? If not, perhaps the money was dedicated for specific expenses? In any case, it doesn't look like on paper there is a shortage of funds to buy several mid-major games. Just a question that might be asked.

[Boomer]

And C-Mike don't forget the year that the big guy (can't recall his name) didn't return---Think he was part of the problems and left us in a real bind!!! Think he was from the Bahamas!! Colby??

[Zeebart21]

If keith Richard can compete for a sunbelt regular season title at ULM with their situation, I don't think its too much to ask to be in the convo at the end of a season...is it really that unreasonable to think we should be able to do that?

No its not unreasonable at all. Keith Richard/ULM? Are you kidding me? LOL!

Z

[Cajunsmike]

And C-Mike don't forget the year that the big guy (can't recall his name) didn't return---Think he was part of the problems and left us in a real bind!!! Think he was from the Bahamas!! Colby??

That was at the end of Year 2, the dissension year. Coleby transferred to Wichita State where he was one of their top bench guys last season. As I said earlier, a start over occurred after Year 2.

[MelRock]

This year's travel schedule was a total cluster ____ for teams and add a lot of cost to all teams. Not saying this stopped us from buying games or playing better, but it not help. Yes I know the coaches/ADs voted for this schedule and shot the first two down, but it still does not make it right.

Also we have to get rid of this notion that we have to play ever team in the conference because everyone doesn't not make the conference tournament. It is also time for UALR to step up or get out. They do not play football and they are below the league minimum number of teams. Just one less team in the league would allow us to start conference play after the first of the year. Ideally we would not start conference play until the students are back in school. It is ashamed we play GA (crybaby) State before the semester started. I could go on about the schedule inadequacies that we faced this year but it would not change the facts that we lost to NW, McNeese and USA (after we had 10 point leads at halftime).
I would love us getting back to playing SEC schools at home, but first I would like for our team not have to bus to a different city to fly out to save a few dollars.

[BirdofParadise]

UALR played 30 games, 29 against D1 schools. In addition they had six non conference games at home, only two on the road and two neutral site games.

I think they did fine with their scheduling.

Now, technically they could have played 31 because they played in an exempt event. But there are many schools that played 29 so I'm not going to nit pick.