Cedric Russell-Early Basketball Signee Progress

[Cajunsmike]

Do you have an ideal who will be the starting five? Will any of our current starters be relegated as the 6th and 7th man; and if so, do you think they stay? My guess is Stove and Miller.

I think the three transfers will start along with Washington and Bartley. However, we will have more depth than this year to the point I can see Hardy and Brown both redshirting. I see Evans, Russell, Stove, and Miller playing significant minutes off the bench. I would hope we press more and play more intensely for 40 minutes with this depth. Playing less will make Miller more productive when he does play due to knee issues. Davis had some big plays on Saturday but he needs to be more consistent.

[CajunEXPRESS]

It won't be a Div one winning record Mike because two or three of those wins are NAIA, or some other NCAA non division one games. No doubt he has two losses as road team to P5 teams so we could almost swap those for the non division one games except some expect to beat P5 more often than losing to a non division one team.

If t-jo wants to continue in mediocre production Bob is our man. If on the other hand we want a coach who can move us back into greatness we need to take a chance.

[Cajunsmike]

It won't be a Div one winning record Mike because two or three of those wins are NAIA, or some other NCAA non division one games. No doubt he has two losses as road team to P5 teams so we could almost swap those for the non division one games except some expect to beat P5 more often than losing to a non division one team.

If t-jo wants to continue in mediocre production Bob is our man. If on the other hand we want a coach who can move us back into greatness we need to take a chance.

18 wins will give us a D1 winning record as we will be 16 and 13 in D1 games. We need two more wins to reach 18 and we had two non D1 games. That scenario assures a winning record as a loss in the tournament and the first game of a pay for play tourney ends up at 16 and 15. Although some believe we did not have D1 winning records the last two years, that is not accurate. Fact is they were similar to this year, a winning D1 season but barely so. I would agree the term mediocre is accurate for such a scenario, not good or bad but slightly above average.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Whatever Mike, I simply cannot accept mediocre Cajun basketball as being OK over a long stretch.

There is a crazy situation at UL where baseball has more dedicated, or directed RCAF funds than football, and a lot more than basketball. To me it shows that things are way out of wack here. Sure Robe is doing an outstanding job, but it also shows how bad Marlin and Hud are doing considering both are in much higher profiled sports.

[Cajunsmike]

Whatever Mike, I simply cannot accept mediocre Cajun basketball as being OK over a long stretch.

There is a crazy situation at UL where baseball has more dedicated, or directed RCAF funds than football, and a lot more than basketball. To me it shows that things are way out of wack here. Sure Robe is doing an outstanding job, but it also shows how bad Marlin and Hud are doing considering both are in much higher profiled sports.

No doubt football and basketball have to improve results starting next season. No matter how much pride we receive from the diamond sports accomplishments, they simply don't move the needle nationally. I have more confidence basketball will improve at this stage. Football has had two consecutive losing seasons and three will put significant pressure on the administration. Basketball has a chance to move out of the "mediocre" mode next season and all will be disappointed if that does not occur. As far as accepting mediocrity goes, the only thing the average fan can do about it would be to stop following the team until change occurs. Some have done that but not enough to impact things as of yet. I suspect a disappointing 2017-18 will increase that number. On the other hand, a one year turnaround won't bring everyone back but it will bring some excitement back. Top 3 finish or better is a good barometer for a turnaround.

[Hatch]

Mike, going back to the original post while impressive I wouldn't read too much into those recent stats for Russell. I don't follow high school basketball but growing up in Alexandria I know that Peabody sees a significant drop in the level of competition once district play starts. I just glanced over their schedule and the smallest margin of victory in the games you referenced was 35, many times it was 60+.

[cajunfan96]

Geeze I hope Big Fish does not wreck him....

i can see us getting back to the mid/lower upper,mid,minor, major invitational tournament!

[Cajunsmike]

Mike, going back to the original post while impressive I wouldn't read too much into those recent stats for Russell. I don't follow high school basketball but growing up in Alexandria I know that Peabody sees a significant drop in the level of competition once district play starts. I just glanced over their schedule and the smallest margin of victory in the games you referenced was 35, many times it was 60+.

I totally agree that the recent competition for Peabody has been weak. However, they also did well in the pre district part of their schedule. It will be interesting to see how they do in the state playoffs. I imagine the watered down brackets will result in them not being tested until likely the third round. The guy is shooting 53% from beyond the three point line and he shoots a lot of them. You have to be encouraged with that stat regardless of the competition. Granted, the faster speed of the college game requires you to get the shot off quicker. We will just have to wait and see how he adjusts. I am sure it will take a while for him to do so. Hopefully he figures it out by the time conference play starts.

[Warhorsepride]

I joined the site not too long ago. I'm a Peabody alum, I wanted to post aout the 54 pt game he had but I couldn't create a post, so I've been waiting on someone to say something. Yea, he had 54 in that game but the bigger stat from that game was 16 of 25 from the 3pt line for the game.

We haven't had a lot of comp since district started but some of the teams we beat out in that span are 7 seed Jena, 9 seed Jennings, 16 seed Marksville and 4A 8 seed, Tioga. I don't think we're gonna run into any comp until the final. Wossman beat us on a buzzer beater in the semi final last year, and at a tournament earlier this year. I think we've progress to be able to handle them with the progression of Darrius Smith.

I also wanted to ask, does UL have anymore spots available in recruiting? Kevin Norman, is a monster, he's gonna be a 3 at the collegiate level but he's avg a double double the last 2 years and has been the leading scorer most of the year. He's one of the national leaders in double doubles and field goal percentage. But I've heard of no one recruiting him, I'm hoping he gets something.

[Cajunsmike]

I joined the site not too long ago. I'm a Peabody alum, I wanted to post aout the 54 pt game he had but I couldn't create a post, so I've been waiting on someone to say something. Yea, he had 54 in that game but the bigger stat from that game was 16 of 25 from the 3pt line for the game.

We haven't had a lot of comp since district started but some of the teams we beat out in that span are 7 seed Jena, 9 seed Jennings, 16 seed Marksville and 4A 8 seed, Tioga. I don't think we're gonna run into any comp until the final. Wossman beat us on a buzzer beater in the semi final last year, and at a tournament earlier this year. I think we've progress to be able to handle them with the progression of Darrius Smith.

I also wanted to ask, does UL have anymore spots available in recruiting? Kevin Norman, is a monster, he's gonna be a 3 at the collegiate level but he's avg a double double the last 2 years and has been the leading scorer most of the year. He's one of the national leaders in double doubles and field goal percentage. But I've heard of no one recruiting him, I'm hoping he gets something.

Theoretically, the Cajuns have no spots open on the roster as they have only one senior on the team, three transfers sitting out, and Russell joining the squad next year. I have heard we are recruiting an inside player in the spring signing period. If they get another player in, someone on the current squad will leave or someone on scholarship now will be paying their own way. Therefore, I don't see them being able to bring Kevin Norman in unless he wants to walk on. From your description of him, I suspect he will garner interest from some one. Surprised Northwestern State is not on him as I thought they recruited lots of guys from the Alexandria area. Warhorsepride, how do you project Russell performing at the college level?