MBB G13 Final: Louisiana 73, SLU 72

[zephyr]

Just throwing this out there, but I would say that if spending a few more bucks on softball would be what it would take to have the crowds in place to help the girls get to the WCWS, I'd gladly take that money from the basketball program.

Yes, I know........NCAA tournament $$$, eyeballs around the nation for basketball versus softball, yada yada yada......that's just how I feel.

I'm glad we feel differently.

[zephyr]

Usf budget is 50 mill so they spends 7.5% of their athletic budget on basketball we spent close to 8.2 I would like to see ours around 5%

Now do UCF their coach base salary is less than Marlins and they have a budget of almost 60 mill

I don't. I know that football tends to drive the bus and is certainly an overwhelming expense in relation to your overall athletic budget but we will always be capped in football. We are never going to play for a National Title and ultimately competing on the grand national stage is much more unlikely than building a championship worthy basketball program. I certainly don't want to bastardize our MBB program to chase a pipe dream.

[cajun_lannister]

I don't. I know that football tends to drive the bus and is certainly an overwhelming expense in relation to your overall athletic budget but we will always be capped in football. We are never going to play for a National Title and ultimately competing on the grand national stage is much more unlikely than building a championship worthy basketball program. I certainly don't want to bastardize our MBB program to chase a pipe dream.

I would be ok if we ramped up spending if we went after a high profile assistant coach that can get us signature wins.

But going down the road we are going down currently will get us nowhere

[zephyr]

I understand the rational behind your statement, but it doesn't help our overall athletic program to fund MBB program with less and expect even the AAC to look at us seriously. The bottom line is if we can't help them improve their conference strength in football and basketball, we are no help at all. If college baseball and softball had any influence on conference realignment, we would not be in the SBC today.

I have faith in Dr. Maggard and his decision to extend Coach Marlin's contract. I think when it's all said and done, supporters will realize it was the best decision to be made at this time. Yes, I'm apathetic to MBB right now, but do realize that we must do a better job of raising funds and funding the program right now. Coach Marlin is either going to meet the challenge of expectations set forth in his contract or be bought out eventually. The next two years will tell us what we need to know. JMO

My question is whether we actually have defined expectations of Marlin as it relates to his contract.

[Turbine]

58% winning percentage in pretty bad basketball conference and worse overall schedule. 1 NCAA appearance and 1 title each for conference championship and/or conference tournament championship in 9 years. That's mediocre.Keep grasping for each and every straw you can though.

You can't bring up "1 NCAA appearance and 1 title" in response to irrefutable evidence as to why there weren't more.

[zephyr]

It looks like Willis knows a whole more than many really want to know. But now it's there in black and white so enjoy.

Not really. Much of his post is based on speculation. He states that nobody cares more in the deep south about basketball. Based on his post, he's speculating this on attendance. Well, if that's the case, then nobody cares about college football in the deep south (SEC area) because all schools are posting attendance declines which includes Alabama. It's all how you want to spin it. He states that nobody dominates mid major level basketball...NOBODY. Well, that is a somewhat subjective terms and can be interpreted differently. He's wrong because Gonzaga does exactly that. I don't expect us to dominate but I do expect us to win more than 1 regular season championship in 9 years and more than 1 NCAA tournament in 9 years as well.

Again, its all about how you spin it. He also claims we have two conference titles in the last 5 years. I don't consider a conference tournament title a title. I know this is a common reference but one that I just don't agree with. You didn't win a conference championship when you may or may not have to play more games than the others in the tournament due to byes and you can win it with 3 games and a losing record. There are teams that get into the NCAA with losing records or .500 records. I don't consider them champs. What we did last year was a true championship.

[zephyr]

You can't bring up "1 NCAA appearance and 1 title" in response to irrefutable evidence as to why there weren't more.

LOL. What? Your evidence which is based on speculation that we would have gone to another NCAA had Elfrid not left early? LOL. Ok

[CajunT]

My question is whether we actually have defined expectations of Marlin as it relates to his contract.

There are bonuses attached to the regular season championship, conference tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearances. I don't know the other specifics, including the buyout until we actually see the contract.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Marlin outcoached himself from some diehard fan approval.

He took an underage EP, coached him into the NBA early, and denied himself the "combo" of Payton & Long as a Senior/Junior tandem.

If Marlin had that dnh year on his resume, the mediocre crowd would be silent. ... Perhaps

St Bobby didn’t do anything special there. EP was getting to the NBA as an early draft pick. Marlin did give him some good advice on getting involved in international community which got him attention.

Most coaches today think it’s to their benefit to have a lottery pick leave early. Kinda like the Indians showing the pioneers to throw a fish into the corn planting.

[CrazyCajun]

It’s not like things are exactly looking bright for the immediate future either..we lost Marquetti and even the defenders have all but written off this season, so what happens when we lose Gant, Stroman and Marquetti? It looks like they missed on a couple guys and a guy they will depend on greatly next year will have not played a single minute and coming off an ACL? So this year in the “injury pass” next year we will Be “young” and next thing you know it’s 2020 and we may or may not be in a position to possibly maybe be a contender possibly might maybe.