Live Game Talk MBB: Louisiana 64, Ball State 75

[CAJUNSby90]

RaginCajuns.com says "Appeared in 32 games, making 18 starts, including each of the last 17 games … Averaged 2.8 points and 3.9 rebounds"

thanks....

[sportsfanatic21]

Is Sean Elkington hurt? I think he was the only scholarship guy that didn’t play (other than Cook)

[Million$Mullet]

Is Sean Elkington hurt? I think he was the only scholarship guy that didn’t play (other than Cook)

yes

[Cajunsmike]

I also was quite disappointed with last night. Not the offense however. 64 points is often enough to win for the Houston Cougars. I expect the offense to struggle early. The defense was particularly a struggle. I listened to Coach White's interview with Kevin Foote earlier and he made an interesting point. We did well in the first half when Ball State used a lot of ball screens. In the second half they spread the floor which allowed their small lineup to take Cajuns off the dribble. They often got fouled or kicked it out for open threes. Allowing over 50 percent from the field and putting our opponent on the line 28 times is not going to win many games. I know that is a lot of fouls but most were good calls. Granted we were not the beneficiary of the same whistle but that did not determine the outcome. With the opponent making so many free throws it is tougher on you offensively as well as they have time to set their defense while you are taking the ball out from under the basket. Also, it was a 2 point game with 4 minutes to go. Ball State was more mentally tough down the stretch with their execution and that is why they won. Going forward, it will be interesting to see if defense can improve and be consistent an entire game. When the opponent adjust their scheme, we have to respond accordingly. Now being disappointed in one game does not mean we can't have a good team. Coach White is known as one who develops talent. Can he use that trait to have team improve overall as the season progresses is a question I believe will be answered with a "yes".

[Louisiana84]

Execution is fixable, right? We will see improvement. Chemistry is a critical component, and as this team begins to experience success, they will gel.

[Million$Mullet]

Execution is fixable, right? We will see improvement. Chemistry is a critical component, and as this team begins to experience success, they will gel.

This will be an issue every year going forward

[zephyr]

Not hurt but we probably won't be seeing much of him this year.

WTH? They did a whole story on him and everything about coach approaching him to stay and be a leader and all....

[zephyr]

We are not a good 3 point shooting team. If we continue to rely on that, our record will reflect it. I thought I would see more of a Houston passing offense to create open shots instead of standing around and forcing a 3 point shot as the clock winds down. That's what UL did with Marlin. I didn't see much difference. I'm sure we will get better, but this was a very disappointing start for Coach Q.

What I'm saying is that we have some better shooters from the perimeter but they have not shot really well yet. Go find me a game last year where we had multiple guys (while not shooting well) hit 40% from 3pt land. However, I'd prefer to do what UH does with the 3. They hit it at a very high mark of 39% last year but they only took about 20 attempts per game. I'd prefer to go this route and take fewer shots unless we are wide open and work the ball more inside a tad more.

[zephyr]

I also was quite disappointed with last night. Not the offense however. 64 points is often enough to win for the Houston Cougars. I expect the offense to struggle early. The defense was particularly a struggle. I listened to Coach White's interview with Kevin Foote earlier and he made an interesting point. We did well in the first half when Ball State used a lot of ball screens. In the second half they spread the floor which allowed their small lineup to take Cajuns off the dribble. They often got fouled or kicked it out for open threes. Allowing over 50 percent from the field and putting our opponent on the line 28 times is not going to win many games. I know that is a lot of fouls but most were good calls. Granted we were not the beneficiary of the same whistle but that did not determine the outcome. With the opponent making so many free throws it is tougher on you offensively as well as they have time to set their defense while you are taking the ball out from under the basket. Also, it was a 2 point game with 4 minutes to go. Ball State was more mentally tough down the stretch with their execution and that is why they won. Going forward, it will be interesting to see if defense can improve and be consistent an entire game. When the opponent adjust their scheme, we have to respond accordingly. Now being disappointed in one game does not mean we can't have a good team. Coach White is known as one who develops talent. Can he use that trait to have team improve overall as the season progresses is a question I believe will be answered with a "yes".

I would tend to disagree with you about the fouls not determining the outcome. We were outshot at the FT line 28-9. Considering we only made 5 of them we gave up even more points there. However, the main difference were the 3 players BSU had that were dependable in crunch time. They got baskets when they needed them and they made plays when they needed them. I think we'll get there as the season goes on but we have a lot of work to do to become a tournament team.

[Cajunsmike]

I would tend to disagree with you about the fouls not determining the outcome. We were outshot at the FT line 28-9. Considering we only made 5 of them we gave up even more points there. However, the main difference were the 3 players BSU had that were dependable in crunch time. They got baskets when they needed them and they made plays when they needed them. I think we'll get there as the season goes on but we have a lot of work to do to become a tournament team.

Fair point. Had we gotten the same whistle they did, perhaps things would have been different. In his interview with Kevin Foote, Coach Q also said we could have been a little more patient on times on offense in an attempt to get more inside looks.