Louisiana Hosts Texas State In Blackout Game

[Boomer]

Back end of roster is getting plenty of development this year. No idea if that pays off down the line but it appears their upside is limited. Critical injured guys come back reasonably healthy. Good news is that Caldwell and Julien are ahead of schedule in rehab process.

.....The key to me is the future what will we look like in 1-3 years from now.......recruiting....think we lost our best recruiter to Tulane last year and the record this year will hurt big time....Coach has to explain what the future holds and it should include chances of championships!

[cajuns80]

Back end of roster is getting plenty of development this year. No idea if that pays off down the line but it appears their upside is limited. Critical injured guys come back reasonably healthy. Good news is that Caldwell and Julien are ahead of schedule in rehab process.

You have said yourself that what we have out there is a D2 team. They just aren't talented.

[cajuns80]

I agree there have been some recruiting misses and some that haven’t developed as hoped. However at the mid major level there will always be more of a disparity between the back end of the roster and the front end. When you start losing multiple guys from the top 5 or 6, there is going to be a detrimental effect.

OK, so how long are you willing to say injuries are the reason we lost considering this is the 3rd straight year of that?

[zephyr]

If you want to look at just the last 3 years it was all the same story. You can look at that as a curse, a few crappy hands in a row or whatever.

17-18 season was probably the best Cajun team I have seen play. Injury and Illness at the worst possible time and running into a underachieving talented team in the conference tournament and bam it was over.

18-19 season was a team with a few key pieces left that should have been in contention for the conference title but not as dominant as the year before. Losing a potential starter before the season and then one of the key pieces that couldn’t afford to be lost before conference and they end up a notch below that in 5th.

The best team you have seen play but they couldn't overcome a sickness and an injury?

[zephyr]

I agree there have been some recruiting misses and some that haven’t developed as hoped. However at the mid major level there will always be more of a disparity between the back end of the roster and the front end. When you start losing multiple guys from the top 5 or 6, there is going to be a detrimental effect.

So Hatch, let me ask you. With 10 years to gauge where our program is, what is it that still makes you think Marlin is the guy? We know his record, scheduling and recruiting history so what is it that still makes you think he is the guy to lead our program?

[ZoomZoom]

Got this over on Zem's Gems. Between the Tiger love and sugar coating the slow death of McNeese, sometimes he has a great point. This is related to girl's basketball, but am sure it applies to boys. One team has lost 3 players this season to ACL tears as documented in the full article.



Girls who play high school and AAU basketball might play 80 games a year, including 20 to 25 in a single month (July), South Grand Prairie coach Brion Raven said. More athletes are playing year-round at an earlier age, starting at 9 or 10.

“The only age group that logs the hours and wear and tear on their bodies is this age group and younger. College athletes and professional athletes have an off-season to recover and develop, but not this age group,” said Midlothian coach Amy Tennison, who lost leading scorer Kierra Middleton (was averaging 26.3 points per game) to a torn ACL in the fourth game of the season.

https://zemsgems.wordpress.com

[Hatch]

So Hatch, let me ask you. With 10 years to gauge where our program is, what is it that still makes you think Marlin is the guy? We know his record, scheduling and recruiting history so what is it that still makes you think he is the guy to lead our program?

Please show me how where I have stated Marlin is undoubtedly our guy. In this thread I have simply given reasons for why I think this team has come up short for the past 3 years. I have stated before I wouldn’t have a problem if a change was made after this season. I personally wouldn’t make that change (and I don’t think Dr. Maggard will either) due to the circumstances and the way the roster is set up for next year if healthy.

[zephyr]

Please show me how where I have stated Marlin is undoubtedly our guy. In this thread I have simply given reasons for why I think this team has come up short for the past 3 years. I have stated before I wouldn’t have a problem if a change was made after this season. I personally wouldn’t make that change (and I don’t think Dr. Maggard will either) due to the circumstances and the way the roster is set up for next year if healthy.

You have fairly consistently been on the "keep Marlin" side of things which is fine. I am asking an honest question as to why you feel that way. Even with injury issues which IMO once you start seeing them in more than an isolated occasion, you can't really use them as an excuse anymore. Anyhow, you've still had the better part of a decade outside of the years you use for your argument to take a look at our program and evaluate. I'm just curious to know what your evaluation is.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Please show me how where I have stated Marlin is undoubtedly our guy. In this thread I have simply given reasons for why I think this team has come up short for the past 3 years. I have stated before I wouldn’t have a problem if a change was made after this season. I personally wouldn’t make that change (and I don’t think Dr. Maggard will either) due to the circumstances and the way the roster is set up for next year if healthy.

We can be 100% healthy 90% of the season and we’ll still not finish in top 3. Of course anything is possible for the tournament. He’s getting next year, but honestly we’re simply wasting time and dollars on this coach.

[Cajunsmike]

We can be 100% healthy 90% of the season and we'll still not finish in top 3. Of course anything is possible for the tournament. He's getting next year, but honestly we're simply wasting time and dollars on this coach.

I will bet you we finish in top 3 if we are 100 percent healthy for 90 percent of the conference season. I will not bet we will be healthy for 90 percent of season however.

[cajun_lannister]

I will bet you we finish in top 3 if we are 100 percent healthy for 90 percent of the conference season. I will not bet we will be healthy for 90 percent of season however.

We lost to a 5-15 Wyoming team when we were above 90%

[Hatch]

You have fairly consistently been on the "keep Marlin" side of things which is fine. I am asking an honest question as to why you feel that way. Even with injury issues which IMO once you start seeing them in more than an isolated occasion, you can't really use them as an excuse anymore. Anyhow, you've still had the better part of a decade outside of the years you use for your argument to take a look at our program and evaluate. I'm just curious to know what your evaluation is.

So the early part of Marlin's tenure was the takeover of Lee's roster, the fear the beard run, that falling apart and the rebuild, and eventually the tournament run. I did take issue with the amount of roster attrition during that time but you have to give a new coach some time. You could see the improvement going into that 4th season and that ended with the trip to the NCAA so overall no complaints. The next 2 seasons with Long as a Junior and Senior could be looked at as a disappointment because that was certainly a nice piece to build around. However those teams were by no means terrible as they still both finished 4th in conference and made it to the semi finals losing to good teams that would both go on to win a game in the NCCA tournament. It was around this time that I really began to question some of Marlin's defensive philosophies which I still do. The season after that was a clear rebuilding year but that team surprised me and was very competitive. After that is the years I have already discussed.

I have seen others compare Marlin to Bustle and I think that is pretty accurate. If Bustle would have been here a decade later he would have made a few bowl games because of the way football and the Sunbelt's place in the FBS has changed. I think his tenure would be looked at slightly different because of that but yes nowhere near the same light as Napier's is. In comparison I think that mid major basketball has changed as well, and what a lot of this fan base views as success is harder to achieve than it was 20 years ago. An example is the Jessie Evan's teams from 02 and 03 would not be in the NIT but instead sitting at home or (gasp) playing in the CIT today because they weren't regular season or tournament champs.

Like I said I am by no means fully supportive of Marlin but I do think I look at things and measure success different than some others here.