Is Bob Marlin's seat even starting to warm up?

[ManAboutTown]

Oh, is that all there is to it? And here I thought there were difficult tasks in our way.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that (a) recruiting can still be difficult, (b) you can only gain so many new players each year, and (c) getting a new coach doesn't always translate to "whole new crop of NBA stars"?

Ya know, both on the court and off, we DO have to compete against other schools. Sometimes they are just better. It happens.

And then there are the non-straightforward reasons for not attending UL - family, loyalty to other schools, locale, culture, etc. Recruiting, unfortunately, is NOT simply a "go out and get them" process.

College basketball is a business, like it or not.

The product on the court or field should be relative to the investment. It's how the free market works, I'm sure you're aware. This is just one minor caveat, but it matters none the less.

I've seen you ask others why Marlin is a "bad" X & O coach. I've yet to see anyone come on and support why he's a good coach, as everyone likes to say. I have friends, close and far away from the program, that both say he's a great guy and appreciate him as a coach. I'm not disparaging those people, as I like and respect them very much. But I am curious, what exactly makes him a "good" coach?

I do know that passing and spacing are one of the building blocks of offensive basketball. Do coaches teach it at the D1 level? I don't know. But I do know, that the teams that do it intelligently are usually pretty damn good. My biggest gripe from an X & O standpoint, is that we are awful, AWFUL when spacing the floor and making the correct passes. Bryce Washington (and Shawn really improved in this department in 2016) are the best passers on the team.

[CajunT]

Oh, is that all there is to it? And here I thought there were difficult tasks in our way.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that (a) recruiting can still be difficult, (b) you can only gain so many new players each year, and (c) getting a new coach doesn't always translate to "whole new crop of NBA stars"?

Ya know, both on the court and off, we DO have to compete against other schools. Sometimes they are just better. It happens.

And then there are the non-straightforward reasons for not attending UL - family, loyalty to other schools, locale, culture, etc. Recruiting, unfortunately, is NOT simply a "go out and get them" process.

Has if ever occurred to you, or do you even know that there are coaches with less of a pedigree and facilities then Marlin, that have recruited better? Recruiting is not just about results, but contacts, closing skills and selling your program. Some coaches are just better at those specific skills. If you don't have those skills or if they are not your strengths, you hire someone that can help you recruit and name them your recruiting coordinator. Take a look at the All-Sun Belt Conference team and please explain to me how so many good guards are playing in programs that have accomplished less then Coach Marlin in the past 4 seasons? As someone that has followed and reported on football and basketball recruiting over the past 10 years, I can assure you it's not a simple process but we have as much or more to offer then most Sun Belt Conference programs in facilities, culture, academics and support. It is up to the staff to sell their program and use the contacts they have to recruit athletes to our campus in Lafayette.

[BananaHammock]

Oh, is that all there is to it? And here I thought there were difficult tasks in our way.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that (a) recruiting can still be difficult, (b) you can only gain so many new players each year, and (c) getting a new coach doesn't always translate to "whole new crop of NBA stars"?

Ya know, both on the court and off, we DO have to compete against other schools. Sometimes they are just better. It happens.

And then there are the non-straightforward reasons for not attending UL - family, loyalty to other schools, locale, culture, etc. Recruiting, unfortunately, is NOT simply a "go out and get them" process.

And he gets paid quite well to figure these things out.

[Turbine]

If Marlin had Elfrid and Shawn together at their collective peak, UL would be coming off a 28 win season and even with a senior S.L. it would be considered a rebuilding year.

[Turbine]

I thought Marlin would have more success than he has had so far.

[225cajun]

Everyone praised him and thought he was the savior when he replaced Lee...he hasn't done much better and the program (academically and sanction wise) was in better condition when he got here compared to Lee. He's played weak schedules to boost his wins. He has under achieved.

[GreatestStory]

It seems like college basketball is a sport which you don't have to be a P5 school to have a good team. I think of the success which some smaller schools have had, Davidson and Butler come to mind.

Football is a whole different story, but I often wonder why our basketball team can't be as competitive or successful as our baseball and softball teams.

[Turbine]

Everyone praised him and thought he was the savior when he replaced Lee...he hasn't done much better and the program (academically and sanction wise) was in better condition when he got here compared to Lee. He's played weak schedules to boost his wins. He has under achieved.

The end of sanctions are your weakest point.

When Marlin arrived the inmates were flat out running the asylum.

This fact necessitated a reset.

The schedule is picking up.

The program has underachieved this year.

[CajunRed]

Recruiting...recruiting...recruiting.

Wins...wins...wins.

Not enough quality in either.

[Turbine]

Recruiting...recruiting...recruiting.

Wins...wins...wins.

Not enough quality in either.

Allowing a rusty McGuire (a move I loved and still like) is evidence to your point.

[BraveCajun]

Allowing a rusty McGuire (a move I loved and still like) is evidence to your point.

In fairness to Marlin on the pg position, I'm sure he was planning on Davis (LHS local) or Hasset (sp?) being on this year's team.

[Cajunsmike]

Let me say this because we've had this discussion before on this subject. Our bowl game was rewarded to us for winning 8 regular season games, that is not mediocrity. While it's a minor bowl game, that is seen by 2.5 mil households which gives you the almost equivalent exposer to being a 14 seed in the NCAA televised in our region. In addition to that, until four years ago our program had never competed in a college bowl game in modern times. And the bowl game is not on lousy ESPNU.

Now, the CBI and CIT rewards programs with mediocre records including a 16-14 teams. The NIT is rewarded to programs that win their conference. The CBI Championship game is on lousy ESPNU this year. The NIT is more highly regarded then the CBI or the College Insiders Tournament and it's Championship game is not on ESPNU.

We have had a tradition of playing in the NIT in our past, we have had no tradition of playing in college football bowl games. Playing in the CBI or CIT is simply rewarding mediocrity if you have tradition. JMO

I did not mean to demean our football accomplishments with the post season ratio. Our football teams in their bowl years definitely brought more recognition to us than CIT appearances do. P5 teams with 6 wins and 3 rent a wins in bowl games do irritate me. I do agree that we need to recruit a higher quality basketball athlete and have the resources to do so. That is particularly true for skilled perimeter shooters.