Chris Gradnigo Granted Transfer Release by UL

[CajunTime]

_ Zephyr -

Without a doubt I think there is cause for concern regarding the the offensive output of this team. Hopefully Josh Brown and David Perez can help. The misses on a couple of kids were disheartening, but I think that is a product of getting a late start in recruiting. Hopefully it is not a trend throughout Marlin's tenure. We can only hope that the cohesion among the other members helps them overcome this setback. As far as Chris putting in the work to have a great senior year. All the team was working out and playing together during the junior summer session, except one guy.... _

Good point, Perez is a dead eye DK, if you know what i mean. The brown kid is an exact repleca of Laurie Bridges. These two will help a lot

[Parrott]

I agree with the lack of hustle, but the other stuff is BS. Chris is a 2/3 not a 4 regardless of where the 4 plays. He is the best returning basketball player, but now he is gone. Some guys jsut couldnt stand playing for lee and this affected there play

Anyone who has watched Marlin's team operate knows that his 4 is not a true inside player. It's the same position that Clavell played last season at Sam Houston when he earned all-Southland Conference honors. He took advantage of mismatches on the perimeter and went into the post whenever going against a smaller defender. It's pointless to blame coach Lee because he's no longer leading the program.

[zephyr]

_ Anyone who has watched Marlin's team operate knows that his 4 is not a true inside player. It's the same position that Clavell played last season at Sam Houston when he earned all-Southland Conference honors. He took advantage of mismatches on the perimeter and went into the post whenever going against a smaller defender. It's pointless to blame coach Lee because he's no longer leading the program. _

Coach Marlin has also stated that the talent on the team will determine what kind of gameplan and lineup he plays along with what type of tempo he will push. He mentioned this at his press conference when he was hired and he wanted to make that especially clear as most people know he likes to play transition ball and get in your face defensively. However, he did mention that he would move to more of a half court game if the personnel and talent was better suited for that type of style in a given year. I can't imagine that Gradnigo would have played extensively with his back to the basket. I'm sure he would have done fine at the 4 if we were running a transition game but playing him exclusively in the low post would not have been putting his talents to best use.

[ULtimateCajun]

just heard about this last night and my first thought was good riddance. His first year I liked him, he played well, shot well, and had tons of promise. Then he appeared to stop caring. And if he can't realize that he would be getting the best coaching where he is now, then it's probably best that he's leaving. I was pretty much over this guy after last season so now this just solidifies it.

[NewsCopy]

  After playing basketball for three years at UL, Chris Gradnigo decided on Wednesday to leave the program.

To the untrained eye, losing a player who was the team's leading scorer as a freshman and sophomore and was second on the squad in scoring as a junior would be a huge hit.

In this case, Gradnigo's departure was best for the Lake Charles native and for first-year Ragin' Cajuns coach Bob Marlin.

The rest of the story

Joshua Parrott
jparrott@theadvertiser.com

[Parrott]

My blog looking for your reaction to the column, Gradnigo's decision to transfer:

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pb...Id=personaDest

[Just1More]

This article sums it up about as good as can be. I do believe Gradnigo would have gained, if he would have allowed it, from playing for Marlin. But, if he was unwilling or unable to see the upside to it, and put in the effort to capitalize on it, it was probably better for Marlin and the program for him to move on. Good article Josh.

[zephyr]

_ My blog looking for your reaction to the column, Gradnigo's decision to transfer:

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pb...Id=personaDest _

Josh, I thought the article was spot on in terms of detailing Chris and his time here. It's tough to see that talent walk out the door but it would have been possibly more detrimental to have him stay.

[reddot]

_ Josh, I thought the article was spot on in terms of detailing Chris and his time here. It's tough to see that talent walk out the door but it would have been possibly more detrimental to have him stay. _

Zephyr,
That was what I was trying to convey in an earlier thread. I agree there will
be a loss of talent but I don't think it necessarily negatively impacts the team's "performance".

[Turbine]

Gradnigo missed the entire point of Tyren's senior year explosion.

Sad thing is if Tyren had gotten drafted Gradnigo would not be leaving. But because this was such a deep draft Gradnigo missed the entire point of Tyren's solid work ethic and commitment to excellence.

O-n a side note I think sitting out a year with only a year to recover will hurt his game.

jmo

[Parrott]

I agree, Turbine. Without his marked improvement as a senior, Tyren isn't getting paid to play anywhere this next season. Belgium is a good place for him to grow and mature for at least a year.

As for Gradnigo, be the top offensive option for mid-major with a proven coach or sit out one year and have to start all over again in a new program with only one season to play? Seemed like an easy choice from the outside looking in, granted he needed to do whatever he felt was best for himself.

[RaginDave]

_ I agree, Turbine. Without his marked improvement as a senior, Tyren isn't getting paid to play anywhere this next season. Belgium is a good place for him to grow and mature for at least a year.

As for Gradnigo, be the top offensive option for mid-major with a proven coach or sit out one year and have to start all over again in a new program with only one season to play? Seemed like an easy choice from the outside looking in, granted he needed to do whatever he felt was best for himself. _

Although, I might be in the minority, I hate seeing Chris leave, but if that is what is best for him, good. Granted he never reached his potential, but Chris at half best was better then many of our other options.

My bigger concern is former Coach Lebato, does anyone else have a problem with a former coach, who is unemployed, contacting 3 current players and trying to get them to transfer? I think he must have been using Chris, Ramoyne and Javan as pawns for him to get a new job somewhere. Could he have possibly been telling some D-1 teams that he could get 3 transfers to come, if they hired him. If so, this guy is a peice of work, and I only used work to cover the fact that I wanted to call him a peice of something else, that my dog does every morning and evening.


I really think Raymone has a chance to be a very good one with the Cajuns, and I like the upside of Javan.