Final: Louisiana 75, Samford 58

[CajunEXPRESS]

Someone from the media like Scott Prather needs to ask Maggard, or T Joe about why on earth we have these anti fan contracts for tickets and concessions. Maybe they can explain it away, but at these prices I’d not expect many people willing to come to games.

[Cajunsmike]

M$M doesn't need my vote approval, but I can say without hesitation, he's absolutely NOT a part of what I call the "social club." The social club are the people that hold the program back by supporting bad basketball, bad promotional practices, get too cozy with the coach and care more about their seats at the table than the health of our program.

M$M is the kind of fan we NEED to stay invested. Doesn't support blindly but gives the benefit of the doubt and is pretty honest about where we are. Knows his ball as well.

I presume you advocate that all Rebounders Club members suspend their donations until a coaching change occurs. Were that to happen it would have a significant impact to the players. All funds go to them. Without those they would have poorer meals on the road, worse hotels to reside in, fewer plane trips, and longer bus rides. Those things impact performance. I don't think any Cajun fans want any of our athletes to have less than we can reasonably provide. Some funds have been used to improve the video equipment in the Moncla practice facility. With the players approval some funds have been designated to encourage student turnout via T shirt and pizza promotions. Players themselves have been doing some of that promotion on campus. Those efforts will continue when a coaching change occurs. As far as benefit to donors, all our programs provide minor perks to their major supporters. Every school does to some degree. Note many of those people recognize there are shortcomings but choose to continue support for the benefit of the athletes.

[Cajunsmike]

Someone from the media like Scott Prather needs to ask Maggard, or T Joe about why on earth we have these anti fan contracts for tickets and concessions. Maybe they can explain it away, but at these prices I’d not expect many people willing to come to games.

I think his answer will be we are bound to these due to our contract with the Dome. Followup should be when does that contract end and can we negotiate a better one in the future.

[ZoomZoom]

For those commenting about the CD renovation? I’m pretty sure that money wasn’t for anything but the CD renovation. That money was FEMA money for the damages from housing Katrina victims. So it was never possible for Blackham renovation.

The size of the dome. Given the recent history of UL basketball at the time, and no daily tv coverage it wasn’t unreasonable to expect 7K-9K on a regular basis. I recall watching a near full dome vs UNO, USA , and LTUR.

And the mothership was just coming on the media scene. A lot of dynamics changed.

No crowds over 10k this century, none since ‘95. No sellouts. Only ONE post 2000 over 9k (1-1-2001 new century by definition), one 8k. Pretty much kills the “it was packed back when” bs.

Trend is undeniable, been coming for decades.

[ManAboutTown]

I presume you advocate that all Rebounders Club members suspend their donations until a coaching change occurs. Were that to happen it would have a significant impact to the players. All funds go to them. Without those they would have poorer meals on the road, worse hotels to reside in, fewer plane trips, and longer bus rides. Those things impact performance. I don't think any Cajun fans want any of our athletes to have less than we can reasonably provide. Some funds have been used to improve the video equipment in the Moncla practice facility. With the players approval some funds have been designated to encourage student turnout via T shirt and pizza promotions. Players themselves have been doing some of that promotion on campus. Those efforts will continue when a coaching change occurs. As far as benefit to donors, all our programs provide minor perks to their major supporters. Every school does to some degree. Note many of those people recognize there are shortcomings but choose to continue support for the benefit of the athletes.

Financial support is one thing. Actively politicking to keep the current coach installed is a completely different thing. And, the majority of the social club talk down to 'regular' fans that aren't happy with results. They purposely shun people who asks questions or have a more realistic view of what's going on with our once proud MBB program. They expect no real result or standard, but they look down on people that aspire to achieve more.

[Cajunsmike]

Financial support is one thing. Actively politicking to keep the current coach installed is a completely different thing. And, the majority of the social club talk down to 'regular' fans that aren't happy with results. They purposely shun people who asks questions or have a more realistic view of what's going on with our once proud MBB program. They expect no real result or standard, but they look down on people that aspire to achieve more.

You can ask me any question you like at any time. You may not agree with my answer but I don't have a problem sharing my opinion. I may want to do it privately at times however.

[ManAboutTown]

You can ask me any question you like at any time. You may not agree with my answer but I don't have a problem sharing my opinion.

Which is why I don't consider you a social club member.

[Cajunsmike]

Which is why I don't consider you a social club member.

I will add that some people do believe that when positive things do occur, many are reluctant to give credit to the team. That may be due to the past when results were not consistent. Also questions about the strength of the pre conference schedule are reasonable and I am ignoring the non D1 games when I say that. However you can never truly know the strength of a team in preseason and the players have no control over that. One ☝️ should not assume the current team will have the same inconsistent results. If you watch them play you will see that they play hard and have a team first mentality. Will that be enough to have significant success in conference play, I do not know.

[ManAboutTown]

I will add that some people do believe that when positive things do occur, many are reluctant to give credit to the team. That may be due to the past when results were not consistent. However one should not assume the current team will have the same results. If you watch them play you will see that they play hard and have a team first mentality. Will that be enough to have significant success in conference play, I do not know.

I have watched them. And I like the team. I think they're much better than anything we've had in the past 3 years. I think they can win the league.

My issue is not with the young men that wear the jersey.

[RaginDave]

I have watched them. And I like the team. I think they're much better than anything we've had in the past 3 years. I think they can win the league.

My issue is not with the young men that wear the jersey.

This is one of the best Cajun teams in recent years for sure, but it aint gonna be easy to win this conference. The top half is going to be pretty good this year and we will be in that discussion, but the following teams are solid.

JMU is my favorite to win this year, they are playing some fantastic ball, they are currently 8-3, but their losses are UNC by 16, Valpo by 2 and UVA by 5. They score allot of points, including 7 games with over 95 points this year.

Marshall is solid as well, they are 9-1 and have not played a non D1 team this year. Their schedule has not been all that tough, but their only loss was the first game of the year vs Queens College in NC a newcomer to D1 basketball. They have a nice win over Dusquene.

USM is playing some really good basketball, again schedule has not been great, but they as well are 9-1 with wins over Vandy and Liberty, as well as Montana and Wintrop. Their lone loss was to a really good Northwestern State team.

Troy is playing some good ball as well, they are 7-4 with a win over Florida State. They have lost to a few teams that are surprising, but overall playing good ball.

ODU is a tough one to read. They are 7-4 as well, they lost to a very good VT team and a good Davidson team, they have a win over ECU.

All but ULM and USA (who USA has played a rough schedule) are at or above .500.

I think we can win it all this year in the Belt, but it will not be easy