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

[CajunRebel]

Hey, look at my post where I put it in HUGE LETTERS and in RED. I gave them credit, but I'm not going to all of a sudden start talking about how good we are. The truth is that we have not beaten a top 100 team this season. If you want to be the second or third best team in one of the worst conferences in America that's fine with me. I would like to see us be competitive with the teams in the top 60.

Go back to the beginning of this thread and people were talking NCAA tournament and a first round win. Now they are celebrating wins against teams with RPI rankings over 200.

Look, you can go back in this thread and you won't find me taking issue with anyone who thinks we haven't played to our potential these past 5 years. What I take issue with is the way you are constantly choosing to sell our team short. You even do it in this post. We are NOT the 3rd or 4th best team in the conference. We are CLEARLY the 1st or 2nd best team in the conference. And you say we've only beat teams with RPIs over 200. We just beat a team with an RPI of 116 by 15 points and a team with an RPI of 133 by 33 points. Even though the RPI might not say it, this is obviously a top 100 team.

Given the reality of college basketball and the reality of playing in the Sun Belt in 2016 I never expected this team to have a top 60 RPI. If you did you were fooling yourself. Little Rock has only lost two games, beat a bunch of solid basketball teams, and even they can't crack the top 60. I'd love for that reality to be different, but we can only go off what we have to work with. When your conference isn't top 10, when your basketball budget is probably not even top 300, when only 4,000 fans show up for a big Saturday game, when you don't have top 60 prestige, when you don't live in a basketball hotbed, etc. it doesn't matter who your coach is.

You can say I'm making excuses for Coach Marlin all you want. But the fact is that it takes way more than a good basketball coach to have a consistent top 60 program. John Brady had a consistent top 60 team at LSU and a consistent top 200 program at Arkansas State. Do you see what I mean?

[Cajunsmike]

Look, you can go back in this thread and you won't find me taking issue with anyone who thinks we haven't played to our potential these past 5 years. What I take issue with is the way you are constantly choosing to sell our team short. You even do it in this post. We are NOT the 3rd or 4th best team in the conference. We are CLEARLY the 1st or 2nd best team in the conference. And you say we've only beat teams with RPIs over 200. We just beat a team with an RPI of 116 by 15 points and a team with an RPI of 133 by 33 points. Even though the RPI might not say it, this is obviously a top 100 team.

Given the reality of college basketball and the reality of playing in the Sun Belt in 2016 I never expected this team to have a top 60 RPI. If you did you were fooling yourself. Little Rock has only lost two games, beat a bunch of solid basketball teams, and even they can't crack the top 60. I'd love for that reality to be different, but we can only go off what we have to work with. When your conference isn't top 10, when your basketball budget is probably not even top 300, when only 4,000 fans show up for a big Saturday game, when you don't have top 60 prestige, when you don't live in a basketball hotbed, etc. it doesn't matter who your coach is.

You can say I'm making excuses for Coach Marlin all you want. But the fact is that it takes way more than a good basketball coach to have a consistent top 60 program. John Brady had a consistent top 60 team at LSU and a consistent top 200 program at Arkansas State. Do you see what I mean?

I would have liked more than 4000 to be there yesterday. However very few southern mid majors would have drawn more than that on a beautiful afternoon which also coincided with a major social event for their area. Also, a number of big games were on the tube yesterday including one involving the only TV school in our state.

[CajunRebel]

I would have liked more than 4000 to be there yesterday. However very few southern mid majors would have drawn more than that on a beautiful afternoon which also coincided with a major social event for their area. Also, a number of big games were on the tube yesterday including one involving the only TV school in our state.

Yeah I think that's a legitimate excuse, but I still think it speaks to the fact that our team isn't exactly supported like a top 60 team should be.

And while I agree that few southern mid-majors would have better attendance, its worth pointing out that there are no southern mid-majors who are consistent top 100 teams.

BTW, that team that was on TV Saturday has an RPI of 80.

[Duggie35]

My whole point is, and has been, that I want new leadership. Bob Marlin is a very nice man but I want a new leader for our basketball team. Coach Marlin has been paid well enough that he should have significant savings and can afford to move to a new position where I would wish him well.

I went back and collected quotes from people (other than myself). I really think that the vast majority of the people who post here are also ready for a change.

Looks like you found about 12-15 folks that have made a comment or two. Correct me if I'm wrong, but even in this day and age I think the Cajun fan base is significantly larger than that!

[Cajunsmike]

Looks like you found about 12-15 folks that have made a comment or two. Correct me if I'm wrong, but even in this day and age I think the Cajun fan base is significantly larger than that!

Also, while some of those who commented about a possible change go to basketball games regularly, several of them seldom go. Would they go with a new staff is something I do not know. However, I doubt that they would. Also, just because a change is made does not mean things would improve. You can make a mistake and actually go backwards. USM did that with their football program a few years ago. It took their current coach a couple of years to turn it around. Once again, this serves little purpose. Only way a change is made is with two consecutive losing seasons. That is still possible this year but I suspect we will finish with a winning D1 record. Therefore the soonest a change will likely be made is March of 2018. As a result, I think we should focus on supporting the young men who are working hard to be successful right now.

[BirdofParadise]

All I know is we've won six in a row, and we're in second place by ourselves in this league right now. The first place team still has to come to us.

And, we're not only beating these teams, we're beating the ____ out of them. The average margin of victory during this streak is nearly 20 ppg.

If you guys want to complain about that, go ahead. It's your right.

I just know real Cajuns fans are having fun right now.

[cajundiehard]

I just know real Cajuns fans are having fun right now.

AND looking forward to Tuesday night!

[raginsaints]

All I know is we've won six in a row, and we're in second place by ourselves in this league right now. The first place team still has to come to us.

And, we're not only beating these teams, we're beating the ____ out of them. The average margin of victory during this streak is nearly 20 ppg.

If you guys want to complain about that, go ahead. It's your right.

I just know real Cajuns fans are having fun right now.

6 wins in a row and you can get a big ___ Canebrake for $9 when Corner Bar charges $6 for a pint. It would be irresponsible of me to not go.

[Ragin4U]

Great points by all. But can you imagine the posts if Monroe beats us Tuesday? oldalum will be apoplectic.
I certainly understand oldalum and others issues with Marlin. Im baffled by his subs and timeouts at times but its not like the guy is costing us games right now. It seems like lsu has a guy that actively tries to lose them games. I always want our University to achieve to its potential and we should always have high expectations but they also need to be grounded in reality. I am enjoying this streak and will continue to support this team and this university.

[ManAboutTown]

Right now is not the time to talk about Marlin. But, if we're going to crush the guy when we're losing, he has to get at least SOME credit when we're winning. And winning like this. I know the schedule is not daunting, but we're doing what we all expected this team to do: dominate conference games. So, let's see where this ride goes and talk Marlin later.