MBB Final Louisiana 69, ULM 60

[Duggie35]

Stop with the BS that Marlin got "lucky" with those two players. No one recruited Elfrid and Marlin saw something in him when he was a junior. EP is the hardest working player I have watched.(Bryce is stepping up big time.) But do you think Marlin could have used is "connections" if Elfrid was good enough to be on those teams? Not only make the team but to start every game for team USA?
As for Shawn he has said on multiple accounts that UL was his first choice and listened to some people that he should not have listened to. Shawn developed as a player because of the coaches we have here and they should get credit for it.
I suppose next Marlin got lucky on Bartley coming here along with the 3 transfers this year. If you do not think college basketball is about building relationships and using them to your advantage you are a fool.

Thank you!

[Hark Mudspeth]

Stop with the BS that Marlin got "lucky" with those two players. No one recruited Elfrid and Marlin saw something in him when he was a junior. EP is the hardest working player I have watched.(Bryce is stepping up big time.) But do you think Marlin could have used is "connections" if Elfrid was good enough to be on those teams? Not only make the team but to start every game for team USA?
As for Shawn he has said on multiple accounts that UL was his first choice and listened to some people that he should not have listened to. Shawn developed as a player because of the coaches we have here and they should get credit for it.
I suppose next Marlin got lucky on Bartley coming here along with the 3 transfers this year. If you do not think college basketball is about building relationships and using them to your advantage you are a fool.

He didn't get lucky getting those guys, he got them and should get credit...unfortunately he missed on too many others to do something special with them.

[MelRock]

He didn't get lucky getting those guys, he got them and should get credit...unfortunately he missed on too many others to do something special with them.

I can't argue with that either.

[Cajunsmike]

You sound like a broken record, we have a long way to go...you have been Bob's biggest defender no matter the situation. You are too close to the program to not take this personal and it shows. Nothing wrong with that, I've seen several people eat their crow on here...that should be good enough for you.

If you go back and see some of my posts in previous years, you will see that I have also been critical of recruiting in the past. I never thought we should have bought Tyrone Wooten in and I had questions about Luka Kamber. I believed things changed when Bryce Washington came in as he was an underrated player and recruiting has been improving sense then. I have said the staff was getting what they could from the talent they had. Some would say last year would be an exception and I agree with that as they probably underachieved. I don't think people realize the limitations last year's squad had defensively. I have not been as upset with the scheduling as some as I just don't think folks realize how difficult it is to get people to come to our place in home and home situations and we don't have money to pay folks to come here. I would agree an effort to raise money for this would be worthwhile. I also think we should play an additional money game vs two non D1 games. Go back to what I said this summer as a projection for this year. I never said we would do well. I simply said that with so many new guys it was impossible to predict how they would do, good or bad. Others were simply assuming it would be a tough year. Again, someone asked to give examples of when people were wrong and I simply responded to that request. Yes, some people have eaten crow but I may not have noticed it as much as I probably should have. I still don't think the guy who said we were the worst team in the state has eaten any. As far as being close to the program, most in the Rebounders club naturally are. Very few posts however. Most support the program strongly for off the court reasons. Good kids are generally brought in and they are encouraged to do well in the classroom. Like everything else in life, there are positives and negatives in everything. I have pointed out concerns in the past and will continue to do so. I simply think there are more positives in the basketball program at this stage. One thing I do agree with is that the team still has a long way to go. We need to get Bartley going again, not let teams like ULM control tempo, be more consistent at the free throw line, and keep playing defense like in the last two games. We are far from being a finished product and must continue to improve to meet potential.

[anhil8tor]

Ok.. I see the argument here.. but what has been our past coaches records on hits and misses?

[Hark Mudspeth]

Ok.. I see the argument here.. but what has been our past coaches records on hits and misses?

Only one record matters and he hasn't been very good at that overall either.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Stop with the BS that Marlin got "lucky" with those two players. No one recruited Elfrid and Marlin saw something in him when he was a junior. EP is the hardest working player I have watched.(Bryce is stepping up big time.) But do you think Marlin could have used is "connections" if Elfrid was good enough to be on those teams? Not only make the team but to start every game for team USA?
As for Shawn he has said on multiple accounts that UL was his first choice and listened to some people that he should not have listened to. Shawn developed as a player because of the coaches we have here and they should get credit for it.
I suppose next Marlin got lucky on Bartley coming here along with the 3 transfers this year. If you do not think college basketball is about building relationships and using them to your advantage you are a fool.

There's nothing wrong with being lucky from time to time. I thought Jesse was a great recruiter, and he got lucky with Southal. Shipley got lucky with Lamar who he discovered on a recruiting trip for another player. He got Ivory because Ivory wanted to integrate a deep south team.

We have gotten lots of players under a lucky star. There's nothing wrong with a coach cashing in on luck.

I'm sorry you thought I was belittling EP by bolstering Marlin for using his contacts and basketball savvy to get him the opportunities. There were multiple articles about Marlins important role in getting him those opportunities.

No matter what Long said he left Moo State to be near his family. I'm assuming his coach wouldn't approve an LSU transfer. That pretty much leaves us competing with Southetn, UNO (dropping from div 1),Lamers, Nicholas, BrokeBack U to be near his family. In effect the only potential suitor worthy of Long would us and TooLame. So that's not a world of choices.

And yes, until his senior year there was constant concern he'd chunck it all and go home. Gave Marlin a lot of credit for keeping Sean focused in spite of people trying to get him to quit.

So in the end Marlin was fortunate that many important basketball programs ignored EP age and class designation much like McGuire. He was fortunate Long realized he made a mistake leaving his family so far away. He took advantage of good fortune and really was a big part in the success of both these players.

[jllanclos]

I in the middle on Marlin so far, but having the most NBA players on your college team without high levels of success could be a knock, not a success. JMO

Good point.

Before this season, I was feeling pretty down about Marlin too. Felt "above average" was ok with him.

Hope that's not the case. I'm not okay with settling for above average.

Maybe Marlin and Hud both have a fire lit under them by the uncertainty of AD and the willingness to take athletics seriously that T-Joe has shown.

It's time for next level thinking. The kind of thinking that possessed Tony Robichaux to walk into a job interview and say "Here's what I need you to provide me with to win the national championship here."

Absolutely no reason we shouldn't be knocking on the door of the NY6 every year, or in multiple sweet 16's.

Bout time we started acting like it.

Rant over (maybe).

[moorecajun]

Jeez half that thread was boomer describing how he invented basketball by nailing two peach baskets to the rafters or something.

Is that also Boomer doing the Dr. Pepper commercials? Cause he invented the college playoffs!

Go Boomer!

[Boomer]

Is that also Boomer doing the Dr. Pepper commercials? Cause he invented the college playoffs!

Go Boomer!

--Now that I think of it ---the old St Louis gym was very old looking and haven't seen the Dr Pepper deal yet---Lookin' forward to a great Spring Sports season---Waiting for the first negative post on the new AD, the baseball whatever, and the softball season----I think we are sitting pretty at this time and can't wait to sit in my new seats in the Russo!!!

[moorecajun]

Justin Miller is another recruit that is doing better than expected. You can probably add Roydell Brown to that list as well. In previous years, Bryant Mbamalu and Kasey Shepherd did better than expected. On the other hand, Heyward Register did not work out as well as we had hoped. You could say the same for Scottie Plaisance. That is the recruiting game. Hopefully the team we have now is indicative of what we will have going forward. With only one senior on this squad and three highly regarded transfers coming in as well as highly regarded recruit (he could be a bust-who knows), there is optimism for at least the next two years. You never know if chemistry will be an issue with those teams though. That appears to be a positive now. Someone asked to give examples of when people were wrong here. I provided some examples. The one I chuckle the most about was the view we would be the worst team in Louisiana this year as it occurred after a 70 point blowout. I can give you some more. Many people predicted the basketball team would win around ten games this year. They presented those as facts, not opinions as they were so sure the program was headed in the wrong direction. I predicted 17. Hopefully I am wrong as well there. I can give you another one that was wrong and it was something I said. I said the OL for the Cajuns football team would be improved this year. That crow tastes rancid.

I understand crow has to be cooked over a low heat for a long time. The only way to get rid of the rancid taste is too drink a lot of bourbon; I thought that was why we had the bourbon thread?

Just kidding. What we need more than someone being right or wrong is to enjoy what we have! This team is good, getting better and should continue getting better. This is a good time to go out and watch them develop right in front of our eyes.

Just to give my .02, I saw development in Scottie; it's just (as someone else pointed out) we brought in players after him that were better fits on our team. He may very well have a good career at another school. So he was not a bad signee.

[Just1More]

It wasn't a personal dig at mike, it's just the way I see it, I get it and like I said nothing wrong with it.

I don't think you meant it as harsh as it sounded. But in all honesty, Mike is not a puff for the program. He is about as informed and respectful as I've ever met. He chooses not to post ultra derogatory comments... but he is a very straight forward basketball fan/observer. I value his opinion on UL MBB about as much as anyone I've met. He will listen to your counter opinion and give it thought. That is a rare quality on this forum. He is not a blind cheerleader for MBB.

[Hark Mudspeth]

I don't think you meant it as harsh as it sounded. But in all honesty, Mike is not a puff for the program. He is about as informed and respectful as I've ever met. He chooses not to post ultra derogatory comments... but he is a very straight forward basketball fan/observer. I value his opinion on UL MBB about as much as anyone I've met. He will listen to your counter opinion and give it thought. That is a rare quality on this forum. He is not a blind cheerleader for MBB.

I didn't mean it to be harsh at all, people that are very close to a situation usually see it through different lenses than people that arent...neither are right or wrong...just different. Whe you start knowing these coaches and players on a personal level..it's very different...nothing wrong with it at all.

[Cajunsmike]

I didn't mean it to be harsh at all, people that are very close to a situation usually see it through different lenses than people that arent...neither are right or wrong...just different. Whe you start knowing these coaches and players on a personal level..it's very different...nothing wrong with it at all.

I can agree with that. When you know guys personally, you naturally pull harder for them to succeed.

[Turbine]

I'm starting to lean towards pro Marlin.