MBB Final: Louisiana 83, Arkansas State 77

[mahtoo]

Their big (think his name is Omir) is a super freshman. Freshman of the year a season ago. That guy has an NBA body and skills to go with it. Not sure if he will be playing in college next season or playing pro ball somewhere (may not be in the NBA). He is likely to be SBC player of the year this season. Although he had a great game, the Cajuns continue to do a great job of guarding the perimeter. Red Wolves guards shot 6 for 36 and under 30 percent on threes. Cajuns are one of the best in the country at defending the three ball. They do put emphasis on that which results from their analytics study. Half court offense still too stagnant at times but at least the turnover numbers continue to go down. I expect the offense to improve when AU is able to play more minutes. Things just flow so much smoother when he is in the game. He dribbles with a purpose which our other point guards do not always do. Wesley did come up big in the second half however. I was pleased with how the guys did not panic and stayed focused when they lost the lead. Overall very satisfying win considering our best player was not available and the opponent was one of the hottest teams in the league. Great way to end my birthday.

Seems we share a liking for basketball and a birthday too. Happy birthday.

[zephyr]

Overall, this has been a very encouraging start to conference play. It does appear that things are coming together with team chemistry and understanding their place on the team. We do have a lot of depth, something we really haven't had in a while. Hopefully, they continue to improve and make some real noise.

Yeah. This game was a tough one without Jordan Brown our best player and Joe Charles who has been pretty consistent for us so far and a less than fit Au. They didn't have the same scoring pop down low that they would obviously have with Brown and they had to manufacture points elsewhere. I'm just glad Dou was able to make some shots because I get really worried when we start relying on him for scoring.

While the sample size is still small I like how we've found ways to win games this year in conference considering just about all of our offensive stats are down from last year. FG pct, 3pt %, Rebounding margin, Turnovers and assists are slightly down from last year.

[Million$Mullet]

I yelled out a huge "NOOOOOOOOOO" when Isiah let it go. I thought Million Dollar Mullet was going to fall out of his chair laughing.

I’m pretty sure YOU were the reason he missed lol

[Cajunsmike]

Yeah. This game was a tough one without Jordan Brown our best player and Joe Charles who has been pretty consistent for us so far and a less than fit Au. They didn't have the same scoring pop down low that they would obviously have with Brown and they had to manufacture points elsewhere. I'm just glad Dou was able to make some shots because I get really worried when we start relying on him for scoring.

While the sample size is still small I like how we've found ways to win games this year in conference considering just about all of our offensive stats are down from last year. FG pct, 3pt %, Rebounding margin, Turnovers and assists are slightly down from last year.

Interesting that turnovers are down from last year. That was not the case prior to conference play. Using Wesley and Thomas at point which is their natural position is probably part of the reason. That may continue to improve with Au coming on board. One area that has improved from a year ago is our defense against the three pointer. We are holding teams to below 30 percent. I am not sure with our overall FG percentage defense is but I bet it is also an improvement over a year ago due to the perimeter defense. Recall that Awkuba missed several games so our 2 point FG percentage number may also improve now that he is back for conference play.

[zephyr]

Interesting that turnovers are down from last year. That was not the case prior to conference play. Using Wesley and Thomas at point which is their natural position is probably part of the reason. That may continue to improve with Au coming on board. One area that has improved from a year ago is our defense against the three pointer. We are holding teams to below 30 percent. I am not sure with our overall FG percentage defense is but I bet it is also an improvement over a year ago due to the perimeter defense. Recall that Awkuba missed several games so our 2 point FG percentage number may also improve now that he is back for conference play.

No. I misspoke. The turnovers are slightly up. I noticed it when I posted but didn't have the energy to go back and fix it. They are slightly up. Not a ton but up nonetheless. You are right, overall FG % defense is better as teams are barely shooting 40% this year.

[Duggie35]

I actually thought the refs did an Ok job. They let them play a lot but it seemed to go both ways. They did miss the over the back foul on the big guy that should have fouled him out in second half and the goaltending call but all in all it seemed like it was called ok.

I agree. I think the officials on Thursday night did a good job. I believe when we don't play well, Cajun fans tend to want to blame the officials. But, it is up to the Coaches and Players to get a feel on how the game is being called and make the adjustments. There will always be questionable calls, but for every bad call we think goes against the Cajuns, there are just as many calls that our opponents feel went against them. The bottom line is that you just play the game and attempt to have more points on the scoreboard than the other team when the clock hits 0:00. Both teams have to live with however the game is being called.

[roarman]

No. But you'll win a lot of games when you hold the three guards to 6-36 from the field.

That's another example of why college basketball is so bad. 6 for 36. Why are those guys even on the floor?

[JayWalker]

The officials called it both ways, which is about all you can ask. But boy, they let them play. There were a couple of muggings inside where nothing was called. Again, both ways.

There's no way we win that game if it's called tightly. They are way too good at the FT line.

[zephyr]

The officials called it both ways, which is about all you can ask. But boy, they let them play. There were a couple of muggings inside where nothing was called. Again, both ways.

There's no way we win that game if it's called tightly. They are way too good at the FT line.

Yeah but we did shoot 75%.

[CajunJeaux]

That's another example of why college basketball is so bad. 6 for 36. Why are those guys even on the floor?

Guy, sometimes guys have a bad night or defenses step up. Their starting 3 Guards were 19-33 tonight.

[CajunEXPRESS]

I’d prefer to think our defense stepped up. I know Bobby has fooled me before like the year he only lost one SBC game in the regular season only so lose to , that year, God awful LilRock because Stove was out.

Regardless I’m bummed that we didn’t play a God awful LilRock yesterday.

[JayWalker]

That's another example of why college basketball is so bad. 6 for 36. Why are those guys even on the floor?

Marquise Eaton has killed us in the past. He's an all-conference guy. He was 1-11 from the field. Desi Sills is a transfer from Arkansas (from Jonesboro) who played a LOT for the Razorbacks. We held him to three field goals.

Sometimes our guys deserve a little credit for playing defense.

[CajunJeaux]

Marquise Eaton has killed us in the past. He's an all-conference guy. He was 1-11 from the field. Desi Sills is a transfer from Arkansas (from Jonesboro) who played a LOT for the Razorbacks. We held him to three field goals.

Sometimes our guys deserve a little credit for playing defense.

Jay, with Marlin the coach, no one gets credit around here.

[cajuns80]

Marquise Eaton has killed us in the past. He's an all-conference guy. He was 1-11 from the field. Desi Sills is a transfer from Arkansas (from Jonesboro) who played a LOT for the Razorbacks. We held him to three field goals.

Sometimes our guys deserve a little credit for playing defense.

We deserve some credit for some defense but we were caught chasing for a while in that game and they just missed shots. Sometimes that is what you need to win games, especially without your best player. And Desi Sills is not a good shooter. He is like 20% from 3.

[ragin50]

Marquise Eaton has killed us in the past. He's an all-conference guy. He was 1-11 from the field. Desi Sills is a transfer from Arkansas (from Jonesboro) who played a LOT for the Razorbacks. We held him to three field goals.

Sometimes our guys deserve a little credit for playing defense.

Our defense was good. I was disappointed that everyone got playing time except Carter Domingue. He got some big rebounds and gave some good minutes when we were shorthanded last week.