MBB G7 Final: Louisiana 77, UNO 73

[Cajunsmike]

Johnson is a shooter and not a rim protector, he is a finesse player. We will def need some one to replace GANT

I have seen Johnson a couple of times. He can be a finesse guy offensively but he bangs pretty well on the glass.

[cajuns80]

And look at Marlin's record of getting a high school or JUCO big (not a D1 transfer), it isn't very good at all. Plaisance, Elijah McCoy, Stalcup, none have ever given us good minutes. Lafayette doesn't seem the be that guy either.

[CajunJeaux]

The sky isn't falling. Its just a consistent theme.

But is it a consistent theme to allow small programs to compete with us?...the biggest gripe on this board about Marlin is him padding his record with W’s against smaller schools...apparently he beats them religiously

[Hatch]

Gladney has the potential be a rim protector type defender, hopefully we will know soon if he can fill that roll. The Spenkuch kid who just signed and Julien should be able to alter some shots as well. I would still like to see another “big” brought in as well though.

[ULvictory]

But is it a consistent theme to allow small programs to compete with us?...the biggest gripe on this board about Marlin is him padding his record with W’s against smaller schools...apparently he beats them religiously

Respectable question and I noticed you asked me the same thing last night.

Beating small schools is one thing, but most of these “small schools” are either D2 or NAIA. With the money we are investing into the basketball program compared to our peers, this should be automatic wins with no questions asked. The problem is that it doesn’t help us get better. That coach who took us to OT last night makes barely over $100k with a program budget that’s equal to peanuts, and it took a clutch shot or two to come out with a win.

I’ve said it many times before. Cost has to match quality. With the cost being demanded from our fans, the quality has to give us a complimentary return. And that includes postseason appearances that doesn’t involve pay-ins. Padding wins against Loyola-New Orleans and The University of The Virgin Islands doesn’t help us as a team.

Now if we make the tournament this season, I will be the first one here to eat my crow stew over rice. But for now, the apathy has really started to sink in. And I know that I’m not the only person who feels this way.

[CharlieK]

Respectable question and I noticed you asked me the same thing last night.

Beating small schools is one thing, but most of these “small schools” are either D2 or NAIA. With the money we are investing into the basketball program compared to our peers, this should be automatic wins with no questions asked. The problem is that it doesn’t help us get better. That coach who took us to OT last night makes barely over $100k with a program budget that’s equal to peanuts, and it took a clutch shot or two to come out with a win.

I’ve said it many times before. Cost has to match quality. With the cost being demanded from our fans, the quality has to give us a complimentary return. And that includes postseason appearances that doesn’t involve pay-ins. Padding wins against Loyola-New Orleans and The University of The Virgin Islands doesn’t help us as a team.

Now if we make the tournament this season, I will be the first one here to eat my crow stew over rice. But for now, the apathy has really started to sink in. And I know that I’m not the only person who feels this way.

Not saying you are wrong...but wouldn't it be hypocritical for us to expect to be competitive with P5 programs with multiples of our budget? We seem to expect Marlin to be competitive on occasion with those guys, but for teams with fractions of our budget to never be competitive with us.

[ULvictory]

Not saying you are wrong...but wouldn't it be hypocritical for us to expect to be competitive with P5 programs with multiples of our budget? We seem to expect Marlin to be competitive on occasion with those guys, but for teams with fractions of our budget to never be competitive with us.

The problem is that we never have been competitive against P5 competition outside of that one win against Iowa last year.

[CajunJeaux]

Not saying you are wrong...but wouldn't it be hypocritical for us to expect to be competitive with P5 programs with multiples of our budget? We seem to expect Marlin to be competitive on occasion with those guys, but for teams with fractions of our budget to never be competitive with us.

Exactly what I’m trying to say...

[Cajunsmike]

Respectable question and I noticed you asked me the same thing last night.

Beating small schools is one thing, but most of these “small schools” are either D2 or NAIA. With the money we are investing into the basketball program compared to our peers, this should be automatic wins with no questions asked. The problem is that it doesn’t help us get better. That coach who took us to OT last night makes barely over $100k with a program budget that’s equal to peanuts, and it took a clutch shot or two to come out with a win.

I’ve said it many times before. Cost has to match quality. With the cost being demanded from our fans, the quality has to give us a complimentary return. And that includes postseason appearances that doesn’t involve pay-ins. Padding wins against Loyola-New Orleans and The University of The Virgin Islands doesn’t help us as a team.

Now if we make the tournament this season, I will be the first one here to eat my crow stew over rice. But for now, the apathy has really started to sink in. And I know that I’m not the only person who feels this way.

We only play two non D1 teams per year. I agree that is too many but it is not as frequent as some think. We had no choice this year to play those in order to get to the 14 home games Learfield requires. The MTE's we play in allow us to play the normal 29 games vs D1 competition. I do give lots of credit to UNO for the intensity they played with last night. We will see how many they win going forward but I think they will contend well in the SLC. We have two chances to play in either the NIT or NCAA in our league. Conference tournament championship is the only way to the NCAA and we have to win the regular season to get to at least the NIT. Can we do that? I have no idea. I know the Georgia schools are good and I know our team is nowhere near the well oiled machine of last year prior to injury. If we finish second in the regular season and lose in the tournament finals our season will be over or we will be in a minor tournament. That would be disappointing but I don't know if I would call that a failure of a season. However, the last two games vs the New Orleans schools shows we do have a gritty bunch. Hopefully, the way they dug deep to find ways to win will pay off once conference play starts.

[Cajunsmike]

The problem is that we never have been competitive against P5 competition outside of that one win against Iowa last year.

We were somewhat competitive against the two road games we played vs Top 10 schools we played this year. We also played Michigan State to a 3 point game on the road when Elfrid was here. Losses are not to be celebrated in any form. However the words "competitive" and never were used. Perhaps the term "rarely" would be more appropriate than "never".

[Hatch]

We only play two non D1 teams per year. I agree that is too many but it is not as frequent as some think. We had no choice this year to play those in order to get to the 14 home games Learfield requires. The MTE's we play in allow us to play the normal 29 games vs D1 competition. I do give lots of credit to UNO for the intensity they played with last night. We will see how many they win going forward but I think they will contend well in the SLC. We have two chances to play in either the NIT or NCAA in our league. Conference tournament championship is the only way to the NCAA and we have to win the regular season to get to at least the NIT. Can we do that? I have no idea. I know the Georgia schools are good and I know our team is nowhere near the well oiled machine of last year prior to injury. If we finish second in the regular season and lose in the tournament finals our season will be over or we will be in a minor tournament. That would be disappointing but I don't know if I would call that a failure of a season. However, the last two games vs the New Orleans schools shows we do have a gritty bunch. Hopefully, the way they dug deep to find ways to win will pay off once conference play starts.

I really don’t get the hate for the “other” tournaments, especially with the way the selection committee and NIT treat mid majors these days. Of course the NCAA should be the goal but if you win 20+, finish in the top 4 in conference and make at least the semis of the tournament that is solid, not great but solid. If that is the case let the kids get the chance to go play some more ball with something on the line. If you win the whole thing celebrate and hang a banner. If you don’t at least it was some extra practice and game experience for next years bunch. I really think a 6-6 team going off to a bowl game is much more of a celebration of mediocrity than the CIT/CBI.

[CajunJeaux]

We were somewhat competitive against the two road games we played vs Top 10 schools we played this year. We also played Michigan State to a 3 point game on the road when Elfrid was here. Losses are not to be celebrated in any form. However the words "competitive" and never were used. Perhaps the term "rarely" would be more appropriate than "never".

Also...the Creighton Big Dance was quite entertaining (at least for 33 min)