Cajuns MBB Sign Portland Transfer!

[Rainman66]

I understand that it probably frustrated coaches, and I still take issue with 'improved greatly' It is my opinion that successful coaches find a way to either improve the player (which Marlin has done on occasion) or make sure they stick to what they are good at (which I think Marlin has failed miserably in doing).

I think his teams the last few years have lacked discipline, both on the offensive and defensive ends. Part of that is knowing roles and understand where the most value is to the team. It is one of two issues, either Marlin doesn't recognize the undisciplined play (which I highly doubt) or two, he doesn't have the will/ability to enforce it with today's players. Neither is a good answer.

[SlickRick]

Dou's tendency to over dribble was frustrating to many including the coaches. Towards the end of the season he improved greatly in that regard. Hopefully that improvement continues next season.

He did improve in the later games....but he's not the only one with a bad handle. We had another forward that lost the ball many times heading into the paint.

[Cajun Monkee]

Good analysis. Although Smith may not be a true 5 man, they plan to use him that way when he becomes available. Dou actually played the three in JUCO which may explain some of the problems he had last year.

So, MIke, Smith will return for the spring of 2021?

[Cajunsmike]

So, MIke, Smith will return for the spring of 2021?

My guess is yes. In most situations like this you can play the day the first semester ends which is usually around December 10. That is assuming that the player is academically eligible after the fall semester. Generally they miss 6 to 8 games.

[zephyr]

Depending on the status of Tirus Smith, there will not be enough minutes for the players on the team. My assumption is that we have 10 - 12 potential contributors.

Obviously we all think that the starting lineup (depending on injuries) will look like this:

PG -- Wilson
SG -- Russell
F --- Johnson
F--- Julien
C/F-- Gueye

Contributing Bench Players:
G -- Au
G -- Betts
C -- Akwuba
G -- Wesley
F -- Smith
G -- Cadwell
G -- Lowery

My assumption is that Smith/Lowery and Wesley could be the odd men out trying to get minutes. Now obviously injuries and other issues could change that. Smith is not going to be eligible until later if he comes back, Lowery is a question mark as he only played in 1 game, Cadwell is coming off of injury as is Kobe Julien. Wesley (who I really like as a spark and his defensive mentality) I would hope could be a lift off the bench, but depending on Au and Betts, he might not see the minutes he did in 2019/2020.

I do think that if everyone is healthy and back and available, this team has a really good chance to compete at the top of the SBC.

To me, the key is Julien, we know exactly what we get from Wilson/Russell, Johnson and Gueye. The missing component most of the year was Kobe, when he was in the lineup he was really good. Kobe only played in 8 games, but averaged 30 minutes a game, shot 43% from the field and 75% from the FT line. He averaged 12.8 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game and shot a respectable 33.3% from 3 point range for a bigger guy. Julien only had 2 poor performances, vs TCU scored 4 points and vs Detroit scored 5 points. Ironically those were the only 2 games that he played less than 30 minutes.

I do not see how Smith could be an odd man out. He's a rim protector, good defender and high energy guy who fills a critical role that not many on the team do. Wesley I kind of look at the same. He's a PG. We have few true point guards on the team and he's tough as nails and plays D. I just can't see him not playing unless a couple of these guys can cross over into other spots in the backcourt.

[Cajunsmike]

I do not see how Smith could be an odd man out. He's a rim protector, good defender and high energy guy who fills a critical role that not many on the team do. Wesley I kind of look at the same. He's a PG. We have few true point guards on the team and he's tough as nails and plays D. I just can't see him not playing unless a couple of these guys can cross over into other spots in the backcourt.

Agree with this opinion.

[RaginDave]

I do not see how Smith could be an odd man out. He's a rim protector, good defender and high energy guy who fills a critical role that not many on the team do. Wesley I kind of look at the same. He's a PG. We have few true point guards on the team and he's tough as nails and plays D. I just can't see him not playing unless a couple of these guys can cross over into other spots in the backcourt.

What I meant, is Smith might be the odd man out not by his decision, but by the fact that he might not be here (not on scholarship).

With Wesley, I am a fan, it is different. Wilson is our starting PG, it appears at times Marlin likes to use Russell there, depending on the incoming crop and their ball handling skills, Wesley's minutes could be limited, he had more minutes this year due to injuries and the fact that we were so shorthanded. I hope I am wrong and Wesley gets plenty of playing time and I actually hope I am wrong and Smith comes back to play for us. I was just saying that you have potentially 12 players that could contribute, if that is the case, someone is going to lose minutes.

I don't count Spenkuch because, I just don't think he is going to be a contributor in 2020/21 even if Smith is not on the roster.

[zephyr]

What I meant, is Smith might be the odd man out not by his decision, but by the fact that he might not be here (not on scholarship).

With Wesley, I am a fan, it is different. Wilson is our starting PG, it appears at times Marlin likes to use Russell there, depending on the incoming crop and their ball handling skills, Wesley's minutes could be limited, he had more minutes this year due to injuries and the fact that we were so shorthanded. I hope I am wrong and Wesley gets plenty of playing time and I actually hope I am wrong and Smith comes back to play for us. I was just saying that you have potentially 12 players that could contribute, if that is the case, someone is going to lose minutes.

I don't count Spenkuch because, I just don't think he is going to be a contributor in 2020/21 even if Smith is not on the roster.

If Marlin continues to want Russell to run the PG for significant chunks of time, that's on him. I think everyone can agree that he is just not a very good PG. Wesley is the one true PG on the team and a team captain. There's just going to be a need for him to play. His minutes went up last year when we had the injuries, true but he was one of them. If healthy, I see him playing 12+ minutes a game this season. I don't know the 2 guard transfers coming in but I think there's a decent chance that one of them may have trouble adapting and find it hard to contribute significantly this season. Gueye is also another guy that needs to improve or he could possibly see his time go down when Smith comes back. A lot of that depends on Akwuba but he has to be more efficient offensively.

[CajunEXPRESS]

If Marlin continues to want Russell to run the PG for significant chunks of time, that's on him. I think everyone can agree that he is just not a very good PG. Wesley is the one true PG on the team and a team captain. There's just going to be a need for him to play. His minutes went up last year when we had the injuries, true but he was one of them. If healthy, I see him playing 12+ minutes a game this season. I don't know the 2 guard transfers coming in but I think there's a decent chance that one of them may have trouble adapting and find it hard to contribute significantly this season. Gueye is also another guy that needs to improve or he could possibly see his time go down when Smith comes back. A lot of that depends on Akwuba but he has to be more efficient offensively.

I’m just going to disagree about Wesley. That’s as far as I’m going to go on a Cajun player.

[zephyr]

I’m just going to disagree about Wesley. That’s as far as I’m going to go on a Cajun player.

You're going to disagree that he's a true PG? Or the captain part? By position he's a PG. ALL of our other guards on this team are either a combo guard or straight up SG.