Basketball Expectations

[cajun_lannister]

Speaking of expectations former conference member WKU just inked another 5 star player

We've got a new member in the WKU family. Hilltopper Nation, please help us welcome five-star center Charles Bassey, who will reclassify and join the Tops in the 2018 class! #GoTopshttps://t.co/ww90KMHDU9 pic.twitter.com/WgfqWpACEB

— WKU Basketball (@WKUBasketball) June 13, 2018

[ManAboutTown]

We can accomplish all of our goals in the sunbelt.. even 5 star players ...

[zephyr]

What are our expectations as a basketball program? Are we good with 27 wins, a regular season title with no tournament appearance? Or what about winning less during the regular season but winning those key 3 games in March to get us to the tournament? What about going under .500 during the regular season but still somehow winning the Sun Belt tournament and making the dance?

Again, when we were discussing this at length during the season, why does this scenario have to be either/or? Why does it have to be winning regular season with a lot of wins and no NCAA birth or the other way around? I've been vocal about this for some time now. I want to create consistency in our program that will start attracting good young players, particularly from our own state. You build that by winning and you start by winning and dominating your conference.

We had a great year this year. We won a ton of games and ran into some health issues late in the year that helped derail us. We ultimately fell short of our goal but we still automatically qualified for the NIT and put on an exciting game to say the least.

If we go with the model of win a few but somehow qualify for the NCAA, its just going to be a quick shot in the arm but it does nothing to create a winning focus in the program. To me, there is nothing harder in college basketball than winning your conference outright. That is a great accomplishment. Its done over a large sample and you can't hide behind soft schedules or playing tough teams at home. Its home and home and you have to get things done on the road if you want to prove you are a champion.

Build the program by building a winning culture and the tournament appearances will follow but success does not have to be either/or. If you focus on winning conference titles I promise that some NCAA appearances will follow and therefore, better seeds in the tournament when you do get there.

[zephyr]

I can see the comparison to Coach Bustle. However he had one winning season in nine while Basketball has had 5 straight winning years. That is the case even with only D1 games are included. Granted the situation Coach Bustle took over in 2002 was very difficult.

Mike, 12 games with only a handful of home games with a terrible recruiting budget etc. is not the same as playing 30+ games where you should be equally as talented as about 80% or more of the teams you face especially when quite a few of those games each season are against lower tier D-1 teams and D-2 teams. I liken Marlin to Bustle quite a bit. Neither wanted to really be in the public pushing their programs, I don't think either truly liked to get in the recruiting wars, neither has been able to win the "big" game and until this year, neither had one a conference title outright. There are a lot of similarities I believe.

[VObserver]

Again, when we were discussing this at length during the season, why does this scenario have to be either/or? Why does it have to be winning regular season with a lot of wins and no NCAA birth or the other way around? I've been vocal about this for some time now. I want to create consistency in our program that will start attracting good young players, particularly from our own state. You build that by winning and you start by winning and dominating your conference.

We had a great year this year. We won a ton of games and ran into some health issues late in the year that helped derail us. We ultimately fell short of our goal but we still automatically qualified for the NIT and put on an exciting game to say the least.

If we go with the model of win a few but somehow qualify for the NCAA, its just going to be a quick shot in the arm but it does nothing to create a winning focus in the program. To me, there is nothing harder in college basketball than winning your conference outright. That is a great accomplishment. Its done over a large sample and you can't hide behind soft schedules or playing tough teams at home. Its home and home and you have to get things done on the road if you want to prove you are a champion.

Build the program by building a winning culture and the tournament appearances will follow but success does not have to be either/or. If you focus on winning conference titles I promise that some NCAA appearances will follow and therefore, better seeds in the tournament when you do get there.

I agree with this, with the caveat that we still need to play a significantly better OOC schedule, both for RPI purposes and to prepare us for the competition we will face in the NCAA or NIT when we get there.

[zephyr]

“That is due, in part, to finishing toward the top of the league in four of the last five seasons. It is also due, in part, to reaching the conference tournament semifinals in three of the last five years. It is also due, in part, to continued success in the classroom.”

While all that is true, I would say it has even more to do with the FUTURE he has built for this program. This wasn’t a “one and done” season. We have high level recruits and redshirts coming in that will be able to step up and perform at the same high level for the next few years.

Marlin deserves every penny of that new contract.

"High Level Recruits"?? I don't know about that. I guess it depends on your reference point for definition of high level. I think we did OK but we've already lost one of them and our best incoming player is going to be sidelined all year.

[ULvictory]

Again, when we were discussing this at length during the season, why does this scenario have to be either/or? Why does it have to be winning regular season with a lot of wins and no NCAA birth or the other way around? I've been vocal about this for some time now. I want to create consistency in our program that will start attracting good young players, particularly from our own state. You build that by winning and you start by winning and dominating your conference.

We had a great year this year. We won a ton of games and ran into some health issues late in the year that helped derail us. We ultimately fell short of our goal but we still automatically qualified for the NIT and put on an exciting game to say the least.

If we go with the model of win a few but somehow qualify for the NCAA, its just going to be a quick shot in the arm but it does nothing to create a winning focus in the program. To me, there is nothing harder in college basketball than winning your conference outright. That is a great accomplishment. Its done over a large sample and you can't hide behind soft schedules or playing tough teams at home. Its home and home and you have to get things done on the road if you want to prove you are a champion.

Build the program by building a winning culture and the tournament appearances will follow but success does not have to be either/or. If you focus on winning conference titles I promise that some NCAA appearances will follow and therefore, better seeds in the tournament when you do get there.

Winning cures all. Couldn't agree more.

With that being said, consistency is the key here. There's a few fans out there who I've spoken to who think that this past season was a one and done, and that we will be back to our usual 18-19 win records. We have to build on this past year and continue to win more games and put ourselves in a good position to compete for more conference titles. Also, beating a P5 or two would tremendously help.

I know some people will say I'm comparing apples to oranges when I bring this up, but the only way we will bring a P5 to the Cajundome will be through consistent winning and name recognition. In the diamond sports, we tend to host past national champions and teams who make it to the CWS not just because of who we are, but also because we leverage ourselves to be competitive from a RPI and SOS standpoint. When those teams come to our house, we can still beat them; and they won't get affected as bad on their own RPI and SOS. Unfortunately for basketball, that is not the case. A #206 SOS isn't attractive to other teams. We have to start winning consistently before getting that respect that we want.

[Cajunsmike]

Winning cures all. Couldn't agree more.

With that being said, consistency is the key here. There's a few fans out there who I've spoken to who think that this past season was a one and done, and that we will be back to our usual 18-19 win records. We have to build on this past year and continue to win more games and put ourselves in a good position to compete for more conference titles. Also, beating a P5 or two would tremendously help.

I know some people will say I'm comparing apples to oranges when I bring this up, but the only way we will bring a P5 to the Cajundome will be through consistent winning and name recognition. In the diamond sports, we tend to host past national champions and teams who make it to the CWS not just because of who we are, but also because we leverage ourselves to be competitive from a RPI and SOS standpoint. When those teams come to our house, we can still beat them; and they won't get affected as bad on their own RPI and SOS. Unfortunately for basketball, that is not the case. A #206 SOS isn't attractive to other teams. We have to start winning consistently before getting that respect that we want.

Our SOS this past year was 156, not 206. There are about 350 D1 teams. Therefore 175 is the halfway point. There was a previous point made that Coach Marlin like Coach Bustle does not like the recruiting limelight. The limelight point is correct but Coach Marlin very much enjoys the recruiting process.

[cajun_lannister]

Our SOS this past year was 156, not 206. There are about 350 D1 teams. Therefore 175 is the halfway point. There was a previous point made that Coach Marlin like Coach Bustle does not like the recruiting limelight. The limelight point is correct but Coach Marlin very much enjoys the recruiting process.

https://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...l/rankings/sos


SOS of 206

[cajun_lannister]

RECORD VS. TEAMS RANKED IN THE CBSSPORTS.COM RPI

NO. 1-25 0-1

NO. 26-50 0-0

NO. 51-100 0-1

NO. 101-200 11-3

NO. 200+ 14-1

[CajunRebel]

"High Level Recruits"?? I don't know about that. I guess it depends on your reference point for definition of high level. I think we did OK but we've already lost one of them and our best incoming player is going to be sidelined all year.

With all due respect, you must not have a clue about the level of talent we have sitting on our bench right now. We’re set up to be a top 100 RPI team for the next few years.

[CrazyCajun]

With all due respect, you must not have a clue about the level of talent we have sitting on our bench right now. We’re set up to be a top 100 RPI team for the next few years.

We might have the talent but is the schedule setup to be a top 100 rpi team