Basketball Expectations

[Cajunsmike]

Again Mike, I have no doubt we will have competent players. The debate is whether they are considered "High recruits". Outside of Julien, I don't think any of them are so I'm not sure where Rebel's argument is, especially when he's stating that they will be the reason we are a top 100 ranked team in the near future. We will need a lot more talent brought in to achieve that after this year. Stroman, Gant and Marquetti are high level guys who could play for P5 teams and already have. We will REALLY miss them when they are gone.

Agree Julien is high level recruit while others will likely be good players but may not have the ceiling he does. Agree we will miss transfers which is why I hope we can bring in another inside transfer with 2 years remaining

[Cajunsmike]

Again, you aren't answering the question. What is a "High Recruit"? Russell was not considered a highly rated guy by outside recruiting services. Julien, depending on which you look at, can be considered a good get but is he a highly rated guy? I'm not sure where you are seeing we will have Marquetti another year but he is a senior. So, outside of the three guys we lose this year, we have Russell, Wesley, Julien, Gladney, Jerekius Davis, K. Lafayette, J. Miller, Eli Mouton and P.J. Hardy.

Now, look at the season we had this year which was a top 100 RPI year and look at how we played. You saw P5 talent mixed in with efficient veterans who ALL defended. After this year, tell me what you see on the bench that will give you a product who can play like that?

Russell was a highly rated recruit while committed to LSU. His ranking dropped when he flipped to us. His improvement will be critical this season. He has to defend with more focus. Made strides in that area towards end of season but not enough.

[Balanced_view]

Again, you aren't answering the question. What is a "High Recruit"? Russell was not considered a highly rated guy by outside recruiting services. Julien, depending on which you look at, can be considered a good get but is he a highly rated guy? I'm not sure where you are seeing we will have Marquetti another year but he is a senior. So, outside of the three guys we lose this year, we have Russell, Wesley, Julien, Gladney, Jerekius Davis, K. Lafayette, J. Miller, Eli Mouton and P.J. Hardy.

Now, look at the season we had this year which was a top 100 RPI year and look at how we played. You saw P5 talent mixed in with efficient veterans who ALL defended. After this year, tell me what you see on the bench that will give you a product who can play like that?

i missed on marquetti. thought he was a soph this season. so to answer your question for me high recruit can be 3 star at 84-89 rating with both russell and julien being rated in that range. for me 90-99 is the elite recruit. and personally i think julien was underrated and is bottom elite level. but thats just my take on him. so your turn, what do you feel is a highly rated guy?

[Balanced_view]

After this year, tell me what you see on the bench that will give you a product who can play like that?

so your question is a projection for 2 years from now right, so with russell and julien, Gladney could be every bit the high level player by that time, who knows yet, the new juco guard looks like a player and that will be his senior season,could be just what we need and whatever freshman we recruit next year, tbd. to your point this current roster will be different in 2 seasons, but no reason to think things get worst.

[zephyr]

i missed on marquetti. thought he was a soph this season. so to answer your question for me high recruit can be 3 star at 84-89 rating with both russell and julien being rated in that range. for me 90-99 is the elite recruit. and personally i think julien was underrated and is bottom elite level. but thats just my take on him. so your turn, what do you feel is a highly rated guy?

Well, I would certainly suggest that highly recruited means a minimum of 3 star although in basketball there are obvious flaws with the system. While I don't know if I would suggest Julien is an elite player, I do think he will be a very good player for us and someone to build around.

[zephyr]

so your question is a projection for 2 years from now right, so with russell and julien, Gladney could be every bit the high level player by that time, who knows yet, the new juco guard looks like a player and that will be his senior season,could be just what we need and whatever freshman we recruit next year, tbd. to your point this current roster will be different in 2 seasons, but no reason to think things get worst.

Well, there's also no reason to think it will be as good as it was this past season. We had 3 P5 talent players who all contributed heavily last year and will be relied upon every bit as much this year. We also had Bryce who was as steady as they come and Stove who was an elite defender and great sixth man and leader. Let me not forget perhaps the MVP of the team in Frank Bartley who had P5 size and was a great shooter. After this year, I don't see where we have guys that can fill the shoes of a Gant and Stroman. We lost McCoy already and are extremely thin on the front line. I'm not saying these guys are donkeys but I'm also saying I don't see how our team in two years could compare to the team we had last year. And I certainly don't see where Cajunrebel can make that claim off the players we have now since many of them have not played a minute in college yet. Its all speculation at this point.

The team we had last season looked the part with not only their size and development but with their skill. I think its a stretch at this point to suggest the guys we have coming up right now can fill those shoes.

[tank]

Most softball teams do not have a stadium as nice as ours. All the teams in the north fight weather causing lack of interest. Generally most programs in the country Have few people caring about them even when very successful.

So we will not be good in any sport till we have the great stadium ? Cajundome is a pretty good venue . Northern teams fight weather ? Oregon and Washington are up north but they are top notch in softball.
We have some of the finest facilities of any G-5 school in the Nation.
Give some credit to coaches, and players . Hmmm ..... coaches recruit the players .They built the game from the ground up .This is why softball is followed . THEY WIN .Local kids are being recruited and work their butts off . TRADITION,RESPONSIBILITY,TOUGHNESS, was built from nothing .
No more excuses. Name a better basketball facility in the Sun Belt . Name a better training facility besides LSU in all sports than we have . What about indoor practice facility ? Baseball stadium? Give credit where credit is due .
Does Ga State have a better basketball facility ? WKU ? Mid Ten ? LSU ?
Who has a better baseball stadium in Sun Belt ?
Coach picks assistants, Coach picks players . Coach has a lot of resources in ALL SPORTS .

[CajunVic]

So we will not be good in any sport till we have the great stadium ? Cajundome is a pretty good venue . Northern teams fight weather ? Oregon and Washington are up north but they are top notch in softball.
We have some of the finest facilities of any G-5 school in the Nation.
Give some credit to coaches, and players . Hmmm ..... coaches recruit the players .They built the game from the ground up .This is why softball is followed . THEY WIN .Local kids are being recruited and work their butts off . TRADITION,RESPONSIBILITY,TOUGHNESS, was built from nothing .
No more excuses. Name a better basketball facility in the Sun Belt . Name a better training facility besides LSU in all sports than we have . What about indoor practice facility ? Baseball stadium? Give credit where credit is due .
Does Ga State have a better basketball facility ? WKU ? Mid Ten ? LSU ?
Who has a better baseball stadium in Sun Belt ?
Coach picks assistants, Coach picks players . Coach has a lot of resources in ALL SPORTS .

I think maybe at this level, it may be more of the players pick the university/coach more than the coach picks the players. If the coach picked the players, each sport would be loaded with only 5 star players. I think you have tremendously oversold the general concept that "the coach picks players."

[tank]

Ok, they pick each other . A lot of players that want to pick a certain university aren’t picked by the coach . And certain players the coach picks , the kid goes somewhere else.

Point of conversation, EXPECTATIONS ,
Be at the top of the conference, an NCAA tournament qualifier on a consistent basis ,No excuses ,WIN.

[Just1More]

People need to get over this idea of “big” wins.

ULM beat Alabama a few years ago. Their program still sucks ___.

Nope. There's a lot of outcomes in between. The ULM / Alabama football analogy is nonsense. That was a fluke. We aren't talking about beating a giant only to return to losing to scrubs. There's no such thing as preparing a team to beat great programs... and somehow going under .500 in your own average conference. In Hud's UL world... he literally coached our program to compete to edge out crappy teams. He never had the team prepared to challenge (or even marginally compete with) a good program. That can be done. He viewed "money games" as "show up, take the beat down, take the check". No one is suggesting we beat good teams and then lose to lesser programs.

My biggest problem with Hud was that I could see his operation. He literally coached a program to use a few really good athletes, very unsophisticated coaching, and a load of hype... to barely beat average and bad football programs. He looked at his schedule and said, "I can win 6 to 8 games with my philosophy... make quite a few of these stupid football fans happy... and get to a bowl". He never used any of the capital his first few successes brought him to start coaching up a team that was actually better than the year before. If Napier plans to do the same thing... we need to run him out of town right now. But luckily, if he read your comment about "big wins"... he said, "BS. I'm out to compete with the best on the schedule... the rest will fall as a result". And he will take down a big program in doing so. Hud got slaughtered by the big boys. I wasn't even begging him to beat them. I just begged him to run a program that didn't get slapped around like we were standing still. Hud literally sucked when we faced a good football team. His most hyped year ever was the Broadway year when we blew Southern off the map... then invited Tech to a showdown on our property... and absolutely got dismantled. It wasn't just a lopsided win. We were beaten by every single player and coach on the Tech sideline on every snap. The disparity in coaching skill was massive. The system planning differential was ungodly. Never speak of ULM / Alabama. Focus on UL at our pinnacle... and Tech... at Cajun Field... in front of their recruits... invited by our HC. It defined Hud. The fall with Coach Saunders hadn't occurred. Losing the locker room hadn't occurred. The reality of our coach versus other good coaches... that was definition day.

PS Napier isn't a proven commodity at UL. But he displays no similarities to our prior coach. He isn't seeking out one or two athletes and a simplified scheme to barely beat mediocre to poor programs... to carry him to a lackluster trophy ceremony.