MBB G13 Final: Louisiana 73, SLU 72

[CajunT]

Wesley is shooting 40% from 3 and is averaging 13 minutes a game and played damn good against SLU. I'll take that.

Well that's one game, didn't play well against Tech or McNeese. His shooting 41% from the field period. I'm not saying he can't improve, just not impressed yet.

[zephyr]

We are 28 pages here because there are people who either think he should be fired, that the program should be disbanded, or his salary should be cut to a HS level. Since you said it what should Maggard do at this point to “hold Marlin accountable”. The season is currently playing out and we have not even started conference play. The goal for the team is to win the conference and then win the tournament. That seem like he is being held accountable. If neither of those goals are attained he will then have to explain to his boss why they didn’t and how he is going to make it happen.
I realize some fans enjoy firing coaches and like having new energy injected into the program, but unfortunately for them Marlin won the SBC last year and got coach of the year honors. They will probably have to wait a couple of years before they get their pound of flesh.

Again, you like many take opinions and turn them into assumptions. You are assuming that guys like myself want Marlin fired based on your opening of your post. That is inaccurate. There may be a couple of outliers but most of us who have made critical comments about Marlin centralize it in regards to his extensions. That typically inflames the Marlin supporters who counter those claims and we have two sides who are trying to make their point by either fluffing up his accomplishments or focusing on the lack of success.

Now, you said the goal is to win conference and the tournament. That is a goal. Goals and expectations are different. Goals are what you strive for. You can have success and accomplishments yet not attain your goals. I thought last year's team was a success. We did not attain all of our goals but that doesn't mean there was not a level of success attained. However, expectations are the tangible results you make someone accountable to attain. If they fail to reach these expectations, obvious reactions need to be considered. My question was about what are Marlin's true expectations. What, if any, has Maggard addressed with Marlin thus giving him a blueprint of what he needs to do to be successful in the university's eyes.

I posted something earlier in response to Willis in regards to striving for excellence. We have made decisions at the top that have suggested and stated that we are on a mission of excellence in our athletic programs. We have done everything from forming private funding mechanisms to supplement salaries, facilities upgrades and additions, nutritional programs etc...These are things we are doing to attract the best talent as well as best coaches to attain excellence so we can hopefully be considered for future realignment. So, many are happy or satisfied with what we've accomplished in basketball over the past 9 years but does that truly define excellence? If we had more years like last year, I would answer yes or at least be much more in agreement.

[Hatch]

i agree about Wesley. He played 32 minutes against Southeastern and played very well. I think he's going to turn out to be a good one.

I think Lafayette and Gladney need to get a lot better for them not to be considered misses. I think the jury is out on Hayes. I think he's good. I don't think he's made the adjustment to D-1 yet.

Now I trust the coaches because I’m obviously not at practice every day but the one thing that is a little bit strange about Gladney and Lafayette is they have actually showed promise the little bit we have seen them in games. Gladney had those 2 blocks and looked to be very physical while Lafayette has made 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and rebounded well. In fact with an extremely low sample size of just 20 minutes played Lafayette actually has more points and rebounds per minute than anyone else on the team. Now granted I know that is skewed as the only time he has seen was garbage minutes against some lowly competition. I would still like to see them each get a couple minutes here or there as Marquetti’s load is distributed out just to see what they can do.

[MetryCajun]

Zephyr, I know you don’t want Marlin fired at this time, but others do and we all know it has a zero chance of happening. No one fires their coach after a year after winning a conference title and garnering coach of the year. What usually happens in these situations is the coach gets an extension which is exactly what happened. Now if it were my athletic department I would not have offered the extension because of our poor Top150 RPI record, but we have entrusted our success to Maggards wisdom. I honestly don’t know how people constantly _____ing and moaning about one of our better sports teams is productive. We only have two sports where we can even compete with P5 programs. If I had to pick a third to that can complete it would be MBB.our football team and other spring sports are an absolute embarrassment when trying to complete with good teams.

I can only speak for myself, but I am not satisfied with our current team. We only have 2 difference makers and one of them is out for the year. A title run is unlikely at this time. Next year we will rely heavily on a transfer, a redshirt Frosh coming back from injury and a true Frosh. The other guys will be role players. That does not look like a recipe for a SBC title run. So I firmly believe Marlin will be held accountable. He is just not going to get fired this year like some people want.

[CajunAmos]

Well that's one game, didn't play well against Tech or McNeese. His shooting 41% from the field period. I'm not saying he can't improve, just not impressed yet.

You're right about the 41.5% from the field, but he is 40.0% from three which maybe indicates he should be taking more of them. I'm more concerned about his 18 assists with 15 turnovers which has to improve as a PG, but he does have 14 steals which based on minutes played puts him at about the same as Marcus Stroman is averaging.

[CajunT]

You're right about the 41.5% from the field, but he is 40.0% from three which maybe indicates he should be taking more of them. I'm more concerned about his 18 assists with 15 turnovers which has to improve as a PG, but he does have 14 steals which based on minutes played puts him at about the same as Marcus Stroman is averaging.

I didn't mention it, but yes his assist to turnover ratio is a concern. But it is typical of a young PG in my opinion. He has plenty of time to develop, it's too early to call him a miss but I'am concerned.

[Cajunfanatico]

George Almonds was a 3 sport HS All-American in HS, MBB, Football and Track & Field.

BTW, was it Almonds, or Almones? That last spelling seems to ring true with me.

[mahtoo]

I didn't mention it, but yes his assist to turnover ratio is a concern. But it is typical of a young PG in my opinion. He has plenty of time to develop, it's too early to call him a miss but I'am concerned.

I agree Wesley shows promise. He is fast and IMO he tries to play too fast at times resulting in some of his turnovers. That too will improve with time and experience, at least we hope so.

[Ragin4U]

Kind of. You get called a "hater" when it's not necessarily true.

Or a member of the Corner Bar Mafia, if you go the other way!

[Cajunfanatico]

See, that wasn't so hard.

There's nothing we can do about the "crappy" teams we play in the Sun Belt. All we can do is try to beat them.

And, while the resume is what it is, I maintain if Marlin had won those two championships early in his tenure, you haters would be pounding the "what have you done for me lately" drum. So, yeah, I'm allowed to discount the first three years.

But you are typical of so many on this board. You bring up what you want (top 3 or four in the league). I tell you they are doing that. You do a "yeah, but".

It's called moving the needle. And, there are plenty on this board who do that. I guess that's part of being a "fan."

In the past five years, there is only one other Sun Belt school with multiple post-season appearances which include an NCAA berth.

I don't want to be second. I want to be first. We all do. But let's quit acting like our program is in the sewer. As a donor, THAT'S insulting.

Why are fans like UL Victory who believe we can do better, and demand of the administration and the coach that we do better, considered haters?

I hate the fact that I've pretty much given up on a sport that was my favorite for a long time.