Louisiana Officially Opens Men's Basketball Practice

[Cajunsmike]

It's not about attendance, not about victories, it's about developing teams worthy of at large bids, teams that can actually win some games in the NCAA tournament.

This has been discussed before but it is very difficult for mid majors to get at large bids in this environment. A team from a strong mid major conference went 17 and 1 last year but did not get a bid. I did not say it was impossible, just very difficult as that stat illustrates. That aside, playing a stronger schedule which challenges your team does help prepare them for post season play and gives them a chance to be successful if they reach that point. I like the idea of playing La Tech twice in the same season. That is good out of the box thinking. We do play 29 D1 games this year which is what is allowed if you don't go to an exempt tournament. We have 13 at home, 13 on the road, and three on a neutral court. The 2 non D1 games are not factored in the RPI and are really not factors unless you lose. I do understand folks not wanting to pay money to see those. I would play one more money game and only one non D1 game if I were making the schedule. When we do play non D1 games, I would try to play teams which provide more of a challenge. UTPB (Scott Farmer's new employer) is ranked 6th in the Division 2 pre-season polls. Those D2 schools do give scholarships so playing a school like that rather than Loyola would provide more of a challenge and better help the team prepare for conference play. This has been discussed many times before and I don't expect things to change with scheduling anytime soon. I was surprised they were able to get 13 D1 home games. At the end of last season, only McNeese was on the non conference home schedule.

[Ragin' Caleb]

Get better at basketball and everything else will take care of itself.

that's all any of this comes down to. Attendance problem=win, postseason bid=win, conference championship=win. I'm really excited about this years squad.

[Cajunsmike]

that's all any of this comes down to. Attendance problem=win, postseason bid=win, conference championship=win. I'm really excited about this years squad.

We also have to win at a higher Percentage than we have in recent years. We have had four straight winning seasons. Those were also winning seasons when only D1 games are included. I understand that is not good enough in many eyes. Only the first of those was at a significant enough level to draw attention.

[Hudsheen#Fired]

Im excited about this year. Only thing i am worried about is how this team will gel together.
Thoughts on starting lineup?
Stroman, bartley, marquetti, gant, Washington.
That leaves stove, justin miller, cedric russell coming off bench. Then you have jerekius davis, who really played well at times last year, pj hardy, kadavion evans, and stahlcup for added depth.

We could legit run out 5 man subs to keep everyone fresh

[Cajunsmike]

Im excited about this year. Only thing i am worried about is how this team will gel together.
Thoughts on starting lineup?
Stroman, bartley, marquetti, gant, Washington.
That leaves stove, justin miller, cedric russell coming off bench. Then you have jerekius davis, who really played well at times last year, pj hardy, kadavion evans, and stahlcup for added depth.

We could legit run out 5 man subs to keep everyone fresh

You may be pretty close with that projected lineup. Stove may battle Marquetti for a starting spot. On the other hand, some say Stove could be the ideal sixth man as he plays with a lot of energy and can play either the 2 or 3.

[Hatch]

You may be pretty close with that projected lineup. Stove may battle Marquetti for a starting spot. On the other hand, some say Stove could be the ideal sixth man as he plays with a lot of energy and can play either the 2 or 3.

I think it comes down to Stove and Marquetti as the 5th starter/ 6th man. They could even alternate as Marquetti gives you more size, Stove more quickness depending on the opponent. Do you know if there is still any consideration in redshirting Hardy?

[RaginDave]

You may be pretty close with that projected lineup. Stove may battle Marquetti for a starting spot. On the other hand, some say Stove could be the ideal sixth man as he plays with a lot of energy and can play either the 2 or 3.

Don't forget had it not been for injury his senior year K-Evans, might have been the best player in freshman group last year. He played limited minutes last year while recovering, but played much better as the season progressed.

I expect big things from him this year.

[Hatch]

Don't forget had it not been for injury his senior year K-Evans, might have been the best player in freshman group last year. He played limited minutes last year while recovering, but played much better as the season progressed.

I expect big things from him this year.

Evans broke his wrist his senior year in high school, last year he was dealing with a back injury so those weren't related, remember he had an entire redshirt season in between. Evans is the reason I think redshirting Hardy is an option as they have a similar skill set and would be competing against each other for minutes.

[RaginDave]

Evans broke his wrist his senior year in high school, last year he was dealing with a back injury so those weren't related, remember he had an entire redshirt season in between. Evans is the reason I think redshirting Hardy is an option as they have a similar skill set and would be competing against each other for minutes.

I think Evans has a better skill set than Hardy. I think Evans can play the 1 and the 2. While Hardy is a true shot maker, mostly the 2 position. I think Hardy takes more risks and hits more shots, but misses a ton as well. Reminds me allot of a better version of Hayward Register and Jarret Evans. While Ka-Evans is more similar to a Brad Boyd/Kasey Shepard. Not saying he will be as good as those guys, just a similar skill set. I agree if you are going to RS anyone off of this team besides Elijah Mccoy, Hardy would be the best option.

[Cajunsmike]

I think it comes down to Stove and Marquetti as the 5th starter/ 6th man. They could even alternate as Marquetti gives you more size, Stove more quickness depending on the opponent. Do you know if there is still any consideration in redshirting Hardy?

I don't think a Hardy redshirt is on the table right now. He would likely be in the Top 10 in the rotation. I don't think they trust Evans to stay healthy for the entire season with his back issues. If Evans is healthy it may getore consideration.

[Hatch]

I don't think a Hardy redshirt is on the table right now. He would likely be in the Top 10 in the rotation. I don't think they trust Evans to stay healthy for the entire season with his back issues. If Evans is healthy it may getore consideration.

That makes sense, it is a shame Evans is still having trouble with his back.

[CajunEXPRESS]

This has been discussed before but it is very difficult for mid majors to get at large bids in this environment. A team from a strong mid major conference went 17 and 1 last year but did not get a bid. I did not say it was impossible, just very difficult as that stat illustrates. That aside, playing a stronger schedule which challenges your team does help prepare them for post season play and gives them a chance to be successful if they reach that point. I like the idea of playing La Tech twice in the same season. That is good out of the box thinking. We do play 29 D1 games this year which is what is allowed if you don't go to an exempt tournament. We have 13 at home, 13 on the road, and three on a neutral court. The 2 non D1 games are not factored in the RPI and are really not factors unless you lose. I do understand folks not wanting to pay money to see those. I would play one more money game and only one non D1 game if I were making the schedule. When we do play non D1 games, I would try to play teams which provide more of a challenge. UTPB (Scott Farmer's new employer) is ranked 6th in the Division 2 pre-season polls. Those D2 schools do give scholarships so playing a school like that rather than Loyola would provide more of a challenge and better help the team prepare for conference play. This has been discussed many times before and I don't expect things to change with scheduling anytime soon. I was surprised they were able to get 13 D1 home games. At the end of last season, only McNeese was on the non conference home schedule.

You wrote a book to debunk my statement "worthy of an at large bid"!

There have been many Cajun teams worthy of an at large bid. None coached by Marlin. I don't need five paragraphs to express the need to be worthy. We know that the system is fixed, but we haven't played a schedule worthy of at large, and haven't won nearly enough to be worthy.