Louisiana vs Cal Irvine

[CajunFan3406]

Just did some perusing on their board. Looks like the big guy suffered a leg injury in their game vs North Dakota last week. That was the reason he only played 8 minutes. Their fans are saying he is still not certain to play tomorrow. With that sort of frame, any type of leg injury can be hard to get over.

[Ragin4U]

Considering the half court "offense" that we have, pushing the pace will probably be our best shot at making this guy less of a factor in the game.

Do they tend to sit in a zone and let this guy patrol the middle?

Our "offense" is scoring 80 a game. Good for 25th in the nation.

Cant imagine they dont take advantage of their inside size, a la Syracuse and the 2-3.

[CajunFan3406]

Our "offense" is scoring 80 a game. Good for 25th in the nation.

Cant imagine they dont take advantage of their inside size, a la Syracuse and the 2-3.

I said half-court "offense". Surely you know the difference? And surely you know that not all of our points are attained via the half-court set, right? We rely heavily on tempo and pushing the ball up court before the defense can get set in their half-court formation. If we are unable to do this and they are allowed to sit in a zone with a 7'-6" guy protecting the inside, while our half-court "offense" piddles around and players stay stationary without the ball, then we will struggle. Given UL's overall outside shooting ability for this season, we must rely on an inside game and getting to the line to produce points in the half-court set. Playing that way a majority of the time is not advantageous to us against a team like UCI. And hoping outside shots will just fall in an attempt to open up the inside is not a reliable offensive strategy in the half-court if you don't have great shooters.

[BirdofParadise]

The big man is listed as probable, according to vegasinsider.com

Cajuns are a two point favorite which is a surprise to me.

[Ragin4U]

I cant find stats on fast break points but I would venture an estimate that we score over 80% of our points in the half-court. We get very few runouts and the few points we get on the secondary break would still be considered in the half-court even if not in our primary O. So while I get frustrated with the lack of hard cuts to the basket at times, etc I'm positive that our half-court O inst as bad as some would lead to believe.
I agree that we have to push the pace and play up-tempo but thats not the same as "fast break". And I agree, if we get stagnant and dont move the ball, it will not look good for us against UC-I or anybody for that matter.

[BeauCajun]

Hopefully you not thinkin' Shawn's gonna get many points against a 7' 6" defender? His game is tailored around out working smaller defenders. IMO he struggles against defenders his size or taller.

[Ragin4U]

Hopefully you not thinkin' Shawn's gonna get many points against a 7' 6" defender? His game is tailored around out working smaller defenders. IMO he struggles against defenders his size or taller.

He can hit the midrange though so if he can get that going and pull the tree out a bit, that's a positive. Shot blockers tend to also get into foul trouble.

[CajunAmos]

I'm guessing that they play a zone rather than MTM. If Shawn had a 7'6" guy out to the three point line, I like his chances.

[Cajunsmike]

He can hit the midrange though so if he can get that going and pull the tree out a bit, that's a positive. Shot blockers tend to also get into foul trouble.

Talked to a staff member while picking up tickets this morning. Staff believes at times they are more effective without the big guy in there. They are concerned about the 6'10" guy named Best and their overall guard play. As usual, how Jay Wright plays may be a key for us. Lots of respect for Irvine from our coaches. With that kind of record that is not surprising. After all they did tie for regular season league title but lost tiebreaker. In the old days there is no question Anteaters would have been in the NIT. This team deserved post season play and without the CIT they likely would not have had the opportunity. Also, Bryce is good to go for the Cajuns.

[Ragin4U]

Great news about Bryce. I think it will be good to be home. I see a good shooting night.

[Boomer]

I'm guessing that they play a zone rather than MTM. If Shawn had a 7'6" guy out to the three point line, I like his chances.

---think for sure they play zone because of that!!! Use the Shaq plan------ foul him every time and block the shot and giving him the FT!!!

[Ragin4U]

---think for sure they play zone because of that!!! Use the Shaq plan------ foul him every time and block the shot and giving him the FT!!!

I'm ok with Hack-a-Shaq