Louisiana Inks First Basketball Signee For 2020-21

[zephyr]

Temple not impressive so far, but with so little time with his teammates, he could start. Like Wilson. He needs to hit the weights in off-season.

I disagree. He's been good on defense and in the open court. I think he gives us quite a bit at the guard spot.

[RaginDave]

I disagree. He's been good on defense and in the open court. I think he gives us quite a bit at the guard spot.

I agree zephyr, I think that Temple has been very surprising so far. He is a true freshman that wasn't even sure he was going to play. He has played in all 4 games and given us quality minutes, including McNeese and TCU where he played 17 and 24 minutes respectively. He is shooting 50% from the field and only 25% from 3 point range but has only taken 4 shots from there. If he can give us 8-12 minutes a game as a backup I will be happy with him. I love his energy and defense.

[cajuns80]

This would continue a disturbing trend. We seem to have more people come and go these days. It's like a revolving door. Can't build anything with pieces constantly transferring in and out.

Agreed! It's the reason we are what we are right now. Never ending cycle of being "young."

[zephyr]

Agreed! It's the reason we are what we are right now. Never ending cycle of being "young."

And to add to that, its not just players leaving. It's the coaches moving on from same players they brought in which just worries me about their ability to either evaluate talent or attract and retain talent. Either way its an issue.

[CajunStrong]

And to add to that, its not just players leaving. It's the coaches moving on from same players they brought in which just worries me about their ability to either evaluate talent or attract and retain talent. Either way its an issue.

Definitely agree with you on this.

[Cajunsmike]

This would continue a disturbing trend. We seem to have more people come and go these days. It's like a revolving door. Can't build anything with pieces constantly transferring in and out.

Unfortunately that is the trend everywhere these days. There were over 500 players in the portal last year which is almost 2 per school. I have no knowledge if any of our guys do move on. Just using history to say it is possible. As far as the guys from last year not returning, there were non basketball factors that came into play there.

[Turbine]

The portal changes everything.

[Cajunsmike]

Back to the signee, 15 ppg, 7 rpg, 7 apg, and 4 steals per game is indicative of a very versatile player. Apparently he has great speed. Questions are his strength and level of competition. Almost a year before he has to play for us so he has time to get stronger. I know he plays at the Class 1A level but I would hope he showed well in AAU play so as to earn the scholarship. Very difficult to project how he will do from what we know so far. With Malik Wilson, we were confident he would do well as he had shown ability in tournaments to be a good player despite playing at the 3A level.

[Cajunsmike]

This isn't a surprise as Thomas has been committed since February. It is also a guard replacing a guard as Hardy is the only scholarship scheduled to open due to graduation. There is somewhat of an imbalance as the situation with Temple coming in as late as he did is definitely out of the ordinary but getting an opportunity to take a player like that with an open scholarship you have to do it regardless of position.

Thomas appears to be a quality guard who can score as well as run the point. This is a pretty good video from Thomas's sophomore year when he was matched up against Javonte Smart who was a senior at the time.

https://youtu.be/2fumvDEqhQM

If you look at the video and are looking for Thomas, he is No. 23 in white. Note that the video is from 2 years ago and he has another year to go before he plays for the Cajuns. Appears he will be able to contribute from looking at video.

[Hatch]

If you look at the video and are looking for Thomas, he is No. 23 in white. Note that the video is from 2 years ago and he has another year to go before he plays for the Cajuns. Appears he will be able to contribute from looking at video.

The reason I shared the video is because I was impressed with the way he ran the point as a sophomore against some pretty formidable competition. He was able to handle the ball and score and also created some great scoring opportunities for his teammates. He really appeared to put the team on his shoulders and led that 4th quarter comeback although it came up just short.

[Rainman66]

The Sunbelt, and most successful mid-majors, are a guard-dominated league. I agree with the strategy, however the execution of said strategy is lacking.

Significant roster turnover is a given in today college basketball environment, at all levels. What troubles me is the amount of injuries that Marlin teams seem to consistently have here. A couple are coming out of HS, such as Julien, but the vast majority are once they are here. I'm not sure if they are practice related, strength and conditioning related, etc, but it seems like a yearly occurrence that seem to be quite a bit above average.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Just unlucky.

Pelicans also seem to have way too many injuries. Many serious causing loss of significant time up to season ending.