Podcast: We're Talkin Ragin' Cajuns Basketball with Jay Walker 03-07-2023

[CajunStros]

MAT - One thing I do admire about you is your ability to be wrong as ____ but stand by your words. It is a rare things these days. I appreciate that.[/QUOTE]

I spit my drink out.

[MelRock]

Craig, the podcast before this one, audio quality was the best I’d heard. It was the one with you and Mike talking post South Al, I’m pretty sure.

Whatever y’all did there, it was really good.

That is done through Zoom, and Zoom does a great job with its filters. I need to spend a day with my mixing board and how it comes into the computer. I may end up having to drop the mixer and go directly into the computer with a couple of USB microphones, but that is a little more complicated. Thanks for the input, I appreciate all the comments.

[MelRock]

Well, I will say all of us are passionate, and we want the Cajuns to win. Jay is big and ugly enough to speak for himself, but he is put in a difficult position as the play-by-play guy. I am not sure his opinion would change if he were not that guy. Regarding baseball, I am in a similar place as well, helping run the Diamond Club. I am not going to discuss too many coaching decisions or individual players unless it is in a positive way. I have learned much from Coach Robe, Coach Deggs, and Coach Bab. Coach Deggs is not Coach Deggs, and there are many ways to win a baseball game.

We are also lucky to have so many diverse opinions, which is great. I am not the best at keeping it civil, but I try because I value everyone's input, even when they are wrong. We have some of the best facilities, and our teams should finish in the top 4 year in and year out.

[Turbine]

I get Jay's point, and MaT's point, and CajunRage's point, and RedTails' point, and CajunNation's point.

Lots of good points.

[Big Poppa]

No. That's because the criteria has changed. If the NIT still owned the NIT, the Cajuns would be a lock had they lost on Monday. Marshall would be in as well. With today's criteria it is my opinion Jessie's teams would not have gotten an NIT bid. I'm all aboard with our need to schedule better. But the solution is easier said than done. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me the caliber of team we would get at the Cajundome for the money we got from Drake. Geography hurts here. For instance, Marshall can schedule half of the MAC every year and travel by bus. Here it gets us the third worst conference in America. I know fans here rale about the non D-1's. UNO and McNeese (traditional rivals) both lost 20 games this year. THAT'S hurting us more than the NAIA's.

And, this year, our schedule looked a lot better before we started playing. We thought the likes of ETSU and Harvard would help our SOS. Then they both had bad years. Everyone (including me) wants to see our schedule improve. But none of us have ever tried to schedule and probably don't know nearly as much about it as we think we do.

Look, we disagree on a lot of things. But I'll stand by my comments on the podcast, including (especially?) my statement about coaches preparing student-athletes for life beyond athletics being the top priority. And, I"m proud that all of our coaches, from Des to (name your sport here) feel the same way.

My other answers wound up in the shaded block. I didn't ignore any of them.

Get with the moderator of this board. I think he has the answers to scheduling.

[cjr3888]

Well, I will say all of us are passionate, and we want the Cajuns to win. Jay is big and ugly enough to speak for himself, but he is put in a difficult position as the play-by-play guy. I am not sure his opinion would change if he were not that guy. Regarding baseball, I am in a similar place as well, helping run the Diamond Club. I am not going to discuss too many coaching decisions or individual players unless it is in a positive way. I have learned much from Coach Robe, Coach Deggs, and Coach Bab. Coach Deggs is not Coach Deggs, and there are many ways to win a baseball game.

We are also lucky to have so many diverse opinions, which is great. I am not the best at keeping it civil, but I try because I value everyone's input, even when they are wrong. We have some of the best facilities, and our teams should finish in the top 4 year in and year out.

So you're sayin Jay has a face for radio?

[Cajunsmike]

The push will be to schedule D1 home games that we are likely to win by comfortable margins. That is because the NET does consider margin of victory in their analysis. That is not our philosophy. That is coming from league office as part of the requirement to have a minimum number of D1 home games. I am not certain of the number but I think it is 13 for next season. Keep in mind that the major schools are now trying to play ZERO true road non conference games as LSU did this past season. That is why buying better home games will be good mid majors at best. Even 2 for 1 or even 3 for 1 deals are becoming rare.

[cajun4life]

Heaven forbid we expect to win SBC titles!

The 5 major sports we compete in only 3 are expected to win the SBC.

Football
Softball
Baseball

The other 2 basketball programs….winning is just to difficult to expect SBC titles every year. We have finished in the Top 3 of the SBC only three times in the last 10 years. But apparently Louisiana basketball and the Baseball HOF have something in common. Go .333 and you’ll get into the HOF.

We PAY for championships! We have a top 4 budget for basketball within the SBC. We were number 1 prior to the new arrivals.

Compete for championships and people show up.

[ManAboutTown]

The push will be to schedule D1 home games that we are likely to win by comfortable margins. That is because the NET does consider margin of victory in their analysis. That is not our philosophy. That is coming from league office as part of the requirement to have a minimum number of D1 home games. I am not certain of the number but I think it is 13 for next season. Keep in mind that the major schools are now trying to play ZERO true road non conference games as LSU did this past season. That is why buying better home games will be good mid majors at best. Even 2 for 1 or even 3 for 1 deals are becoming rare.

That’s a great formula to have teams that can’t compete in the post season.

Keep hearing how rare it is, but seems everytime I log on to twitter, one of our peers is hosting a P5 school.

[Turbine]

That’s a great formula to have teams that can’t compete in the post season.

Keep hearing how rare it is, but seems everytime I log on to twitter, one of our peers is hosting a P5 school.

Well, if you start with "can't" you stay there.