MBB Final Louisiana 69, ULM 60

[CajunEXPRESS]

When the Cajuns do not create aggressive defensive turnovers they do not do well offensively because we are not a good half court offensive team. We might be no better than low average. Tonight we did not have that good turnover ratio.

Observations not criticisms. Hardy had to hit those shots because he was schooled twice by number 23. His burst was not equal to Hardy's but he kept up for a while.

Brown was also having trouble with 23 as he dribble penetrated forcing Brown to fall back. At that point in the second half he simply did a fade away ten footer twice in a row.

In both cases Marlin had to bring in a better defensive player, or should I say a more seasoned one.

Miller? You can almost tell when he is going to shoot whether the shot is good or not. Man is good so you got to take the good with the bad.

Stalcup and Plaisance? Thinking we got a little more from Stalcup than we would have with Plaisance, but man we need to put some kind of weight room work for that guy. He is heavier than he looks.

Never had a serious doubt about the game, but anytime a team takes a lead or is within one possession of taking a lead you get a little uncomfortable. Next year Marlin needs to find a coach who knows how to run a half court offense.

[MetryCajun]

We are a top 20 offense. Yes, we score more when we create turnovers, but I would not call our half court offense below average. The stats do not bear that out.

[Ragin4U]

We are a top 20 offense. Yes, we score more when we create turnovers, but I would not call our half court offense below average. The stats do not bear that out.

Stats, smats.

[ZoomZoom]

Hardy is a serious upgrade from our go to 3 guy from last year. Yes, he had some defensive lapse, but at least he tried playing defense. And he can MAKE the three.

[SlappyCajun]

Hardy is a serious upgrade from our go to 3 guy from last year. Yes, he had some defensive lapse, but at least he tried playing defense. And he can MAKE the three.

Hardy is shooting 56% from the three, which is insane and good for 3rd in the country. Also, Bryce is the third leading RPG guy in the country.

[MetryCajun]

Hardy is a serious upgrade from our go to 3 guy from last year. Yes, he had some defensive lapse, but at least he tried playing defense. And he can MAKE the three.

No joke. We waited for three years for Register to be that guy. Hardy has been exactly what we have been needing off the bench.

[Grantvb]

And to think, 3 - treys in the first 7:20 minutes for P.J.

[Just1More]

Hardy would have been a game changer for us when Long was here. I know it's nothing in the big scheme of things, but those gray unis must go. And it won't hurt my feelings if we decide the novelty of that floor is over... and we go to something else.

Individually, the Cajuns played well last night. ULM played us very well defensively. And they have a couple of gifted shot makers. I can't understand, for as much as they collapsed on us down low, that we didn't kill them with the mid range jumpers. We out rebounded them even outnumbered under the basket, but they were very aggressive at the rim. We don't seem to want to get in and kick it back out. Thank goodness for the long range shots. And I have to give it to Marlin... his teams play excellent defense. They lose assignments ever so often... but they hustle huge.

[Cajunsmike]

These Cajun uniforms, oooh.

I was not a fan of the gray uniforms but if the team wins in them, that is a minute detail. Winning is the only thing that should be prioritized. Everything else is minor.

[Cajunsmike]

When the Cajuns do not create aggressive defensive turnovers they do not do well offensively because we are not a good half court offensive team. We might be no better than low average. Tonight we did not have that good turnover ratio.

Observations not criticisms. Hardy had to hit those shots because he was schooled twice by number 23. His burst was not equal to Hardy's but he kept up for a while.

Brown was also having trouble with 23 as he dribble penetrated forcing Brown to fall back. At that point in the second half he simply did a fade away ten footer twice in a row.

In both cases Marlin had to bring in a better defensive player, or should I say a more seasoned one.

Miller? You can almost tell when he is going to shoot whether the shot is good or not. Man is good so you got to take the good with the bad.

Stalcup and Plaisance? Thinking we got a little more from Stalcup than we would have with Plaisance, but man we need to put some kind of weight room work for that guy. He is heavier than he looks.

Never had a serious doubt about the game, but anytime a team takes a lead or is within one possession of taking a lead you get a little uncomfortable. Next year Marlin needs to find a coach who knows how to run a half court offense.

We had trouble finishing inside last night which made our half court offense look stagnant. We did get to the rim several times but could not complete the play. Work on the boards helped negate the finishing problems at times. I give ULM credit for some of those problems. I do agree with J1M in that we perhpas should have shot more mid range jumpers when we beat the guy off the dribble. Stove, Wright, and the two inside guys have made some of those in other games. Stove especially had trouble completing plays and he may have been better off with the mid range shot. Still, ULM was responsible for that issue as they did a good job of contesting every possession. It was obvious they were up for this game due to it being an in state game. Express is correct in that at times Hardy and Brown were beaten by their men. That happens occasionally. Still, we kept them under 40% and you usually win when you do that. What has not been credited enough was the Cajuns FT shooting. After starting 1 for 5, they were nails the rest of the night. We shot one and ones four times last night and made three. That is fine for a shot with that much pressure. Good to see that occur after they struggled in that regard on the Arkansas trip. That needs to continue as we will have to score more to beat Georgia Southern. They scored 86 against Troy last night and have one of the league's best players in Tookie Brown.

[Boomer]

We had trouble finishing inside last night which made our half court offense look stagnant. We did get to the rim several times. Work on the boards helped negate the finishing problems at times. I give ULM credit for some of those problems. It was obvious they were up for this game due to it being an in state game. Express is correct in that at times Hardy and Brown were beaten by their men. That happens occasionally. Still, we kept them under 40% and you usually win when you do that. What has not been credited enough was the Cajuns FT shooting. After starting 1 for 5, they were nails the rest of the night. We shot one and ones four times last night and made three. That is fine for a shot with that much pressure. Good to see that occur after they struggled in that regard on the Arkansas trip. That needs to continue as we will have to score more to beat Georgia Southern. They scored 86 against Troy last night and have one of the league's best players in Tookie Brown.

---Jean-Pierre is one great player---he was killing us!!!

[Cajunsmike]

No joke. We waited for three years for Register to be that guy. Hardy has been exactly what we have been needing off the bench.

Metry you are right in that Hardy has been huge for us from the perimeter this year. Yet, not one person who criticized his signing (and there are a few) has admitted they don't know much about what goes into recruiting. I suspect I will wait a long time before that happens. A lot more goes into it at our level than how many stars a guy has and who else is recruiting someone. How a guy will fit into your system and how he fits your needs is a big part of it. I never expected Hardy to be the zone buster he is. I expected he would be solid defensively due to his speed and not turn the ball over much due to how his brother did at McNeese. I figured he would be more than a solid contributor by his second year. That is another part of recruiting that people don't think about much. How will a guy respond to coaching and how much he can progress with time. It's not all about being a difference maker in Year 1. If that happens, so much the better and that is the case with Hardy this year.

[Boomer]

Metry you are right in that Hardy has been huge for us from the perimeter this year. Yet, not one person who criticized his signing (and there are a few) has admitted they don't know much about what goes into recruiting.

----Wait C-Mike are you serious----with all the crap that people have been wrong with on here??? admit they are wrong??? Surely you jest!!!! lol

[moorecajun]

Hopefully we surpass 5000 next Saturday when Georgia Southern comes in. Students will be back so it is possible. As far as tonight goes, ULM controlled the tempo by making it a half court game. That is how they got back into in in the first part of the second half. You knew Richard would do that. Fortunately his guys struggled at the line while ours did well there after a slow start. I am sure their fans are bemoaning that stat. We really struggled finishing inside tonight and ULM's defense had something to do with that. Once again PJ Hardy shows that Bob Marlin may know a little more about recruiting than some of the experts on this site as he busted their zone in the first half with three triples and hit one at a critical time in the second half. Yes, I will remind people of that the entire season. If you want to know why, go back and look at some of the posts when we signed him back in April. I am sure those folks may come out of hiding next time he has a bad game.

I'm going to hope for over 6k; there were a few reasons we didn't have people there Saturday night but still a decent crowd. Rio does hurt our attendance some if only because some fans went to the ball.

[Zeebart21]

----Wait C-Mike are you serious----with all the crap that people have been wrong with on here??? admit they are wrong??? Surely you jest!!!! lol

who has been wrong about what?? Bring it!

Z