RaginCajuns Basketball Program poll (2011-12)

[Turbine]

On a scale of 1-10 how pleased are you with the status and direction of the Ragin' Cajuns MENS basketball program?

[TuffGuy84]

Season just started, after a month I'll officially give my opinion. Until then, I'm optimistic and hopeful.

[Turbine]

For me, I'm including the win streak at the end of last year, recruiting, the new/return of the Shipley Classic . . . as well as the opening to the season.

[cajun67]

Lots of jelling to do with this team. So many new faces in mix and new roles. Late blooming I believe and a lot depends on how we shoot the ball. At least FTs and defense looks to be encouraging. TOs and ball in hoop, not so much.

[wgwillis]

There can be little doubt that the long term prospects for the Cajuns are better than they were with Lee, as Lee took a top 50 program and sank it to lows I have not seen at UL. On the other hand, I need to see better cohesion from various team members. They did not play that well against USF as the game was easily within reach. I am encouraged by the recruitment of JJ Thomas last year and Payton this year and the fact that the team did not quit in the USF game. Payton reminds me slightly of Winkler without the shooting touch as of yet. He is smooth with the ball makes quick positive decisions and plays with confidence. You know, we can win with a smart Point Guard a la Eric Mouton or the guy that played with Dan Gay - Johnny something besides he's averaging 10 points a game and that's a good start. There is some potential on this team but I don't see the same intensity on offense as they have on defense. This is so weird as, at one time, offense was what we were really good at. I don't like the ball movement on offense at this point in the season but I am hoping they will gel better when the return home. I am proud to have every player on the team but it doesn't help much if you are going to foul out every game!!! I hope we get smarter or maybe the coaches can come up with some better solutions. The team played better when Payton was running the point, now all we need are better offense sets and better perimeter shooting and then we will see. Are you sorry you asked yet? One last thing, when Marty went to the NCAA tournament he did not capitalize on that accomplishment by bringing in top caliper recruits the next year. I hope we can do better with Marlin et al. We need to build the program back to standard that was established in previous decades not just win a bit more..

[sportsfanatic21]

Johnny Collins

[awadelewis]

I'm looking forward to this weekend's tournament given they've had a week to work on some of the problems that had in their first three games. Ought to be able to get an idea of how things will go in the early part of the season by looking at how we do against CSU-Fullerton on Sunday.

[Cajunsmike]

Actually turnovers decreased every game in San Fransisco. We had less than 10 on Sunday which is a good outing. Of course
a few were late when the game was in balance so they stand out. Rebounding was also good out there but I do not believe
our own ball defense in Games 2 and 3 was very good. Dons were very successful with their dribble penetration. Some of their threes came on kickouts after the dribbler penetrated inside. Also, the winning basket came on a dribble drive to the goal
when our defense failed to cut off the baseline which is a cardinal sin in basketball. That does not mean that facet won't
improve as the team plays more games and learns to execute what Coach Marlin expects. offensively, we will improve there
as the rotation is solidified. I agree there are a lot of new roles to be learned and we may not hit out peak until mid season
again. Hopefully it is a little earlier this year as the conference favorite (Florida Atlantic) comes to the Dome on New Year's
Eve.

[Cajunsmike]

We play Cal State Fullerton on Saturday and Nicholls on Sunday.

[awadelewis]

I completely misread the schedule. Guess I would have found out pretty quickly when I got to the arena on Saturday. And looking at the schedule, I see your point about FAU coming into Lafayette early in the season. Plus we get to turn around and travel to both WKU and MT for the next two games. That's going to be a rough week.

[CajunAlum10]

It was a rough start this past weekend.. but give these guys time to gell and we will have a solid season. Can't wait for Friday!

[Turbine]

I see a few of UL's regular opponents, have chimed in . . . we haven't had head coaches participate in polls since J Kelley Hall set the standard.