Live Game Talk MBB: Louisiana 64, Ball State 75

[NewsCopy]

[Cajunfever]

Considering this team has 4 times the NIL money, double the assistant coach budget, more fan interest, the product on the court was very similar to last year. Offensively, there is no creativity--dribble until 20 seconds on the shot clock, pass the ball around on the perimeter a few times, shoot a contested shot. Defensively, we are doubling the high screen which caused Evans to get in foul trouble. Teams will continue to do this to get our best interior player on the bench. We also allowed too much dribble penetration layups because our bigs were outside the paint. We looked lost on inbound plays under our basket--we had at least 3 turnovers--this is either poor coaching or poor execution.

[Million$Mullet]

My thoughts from game 1:

Defense will keep us in most games. The only issues I saw were when we didn’t get back in transition. If we were allowed to set up our D they really struggled to get a good look.

Our guards need to penetrate more specifically Keller. Offense seemed stagnant for the most part but I think that will come with time.

Kyran Ratliff needs to play more. Hes definitely our most seasoned big on the offensive side. I believe the staff may think he is lacking on the defensive side but that doesn’t matter when Jeremiah cant stay on the court with foul trouble.

I would like to see Mike Collins get a little more time on the floor.

I would like to see Woodson shot fake from 3 and take the ball into the lane as we need more high percentage mid range shots and not 25ft three pointers.

Jaxon Olvera can be a star. He needs to be defending the other teams worst player so he stays out of foul trouble.

Refs were not great but we didn’t lose because of them. Ball State forced them to make the calls by taking it inside. We did the opposite. I was impressed with Ball State for the most part. I think they have some good players and have a chance to make some noise in the MAC.

Overall pretty disappointing night but definitely see things that they can and will improve on. I have no doubt.

[zephyr]

Why do we keep shooting 3s when no one can shoot, except Olvera who I don't think took a shot the second half. We are not very good offensively and defensively and need better ball movement. We look more like a Marlin team than any semblance of a Houston team. A blow out by UNT, then this. Disappointing start. I was expecting more from Coach Q.

We're going to be a better shooting team than last year. We had two guys shoot 40% and Keller was at 36%. Not sure we've had many guys over the last couple of years even shoot like that even though its only one game. What we ran into was same old problems though. We only got to the line 9 times but BSU got there 28 times. This game alone could be considered won at the line. We also were outrebounded, particularly in the second half when we tired out. I was hoping to see more from some of our bigs but we wanted to match up with a smaller team so guys like Jones and I have no idea where Zeke Cook was but I was expecting to see a lot of him.

I think we will settle down as the year goes on but we have to get more out of our offense in particular from the front court players and we have to work the ball down low from time to time.

[zephyr]

My thoughts from game 1:

Defense will keep us in most games. The only issues I saw were when we didn’t get back in transition. If we were allowed to set up our D they really struggled to get a good look.

Our guards need to penetrate more specifically Keller. Offense seemed stagnant for the most part but I think that will come with time.

Kyran Ratliff needs to play more. Hes definitely our most seasoned big on the offensive side. I believe the staff may think he is lacking on the defensive side but that doesn’t matter when Jeremiah cant stay on the court with foul trouble.

I would like to see Mike Collins get a little more time on the floor.

I would like to see Woodson shot fake from 3 and take the ball into the lane as we need more high percentage mid range shots and not 25ft three pointers.

Jaxon Olvera can be a star. He needs to be defending the other teams worst player so he stays out of foul trouble.

Refs were not great but we didn’t lose because of them. Ball State forced them to make the calls by taking it inside. We did the opposite. I was impressed with Ball State for the most part. I think they have some good players and have a chance to make some noise in the MAC.

Overall pretty disappointing night but definitely see things that they can and will improve on. I have no doubt.

Ball State had 3 guys they could count on down the stretch. Period. We didn't. I think as the season progresses, that will change for us. We have to get our bigs into the offense more. When we did flash into the lane, we found guys a couple of times and it paid off.

Where the hell was Zeke Cook? I was expecting him to start this year. Is he hurt?

Defense played well but tired down the stretch. That was why you saw them start getting some things in transition. I would like to see a bit more of a rotation.

[zephyr]

Ball state picked 8th in MAC not great team at all. We are going to struggle on the road growing pains

I wouldn't put too much into those predictions when there is so much turnover these days. I'd bet that team does not finish 8th in the MAC. We are predicted to finish 9th and with the weakness of the SBC this year, I'd expect a much better finish.

[Million$Mullet]

Where the hell was Zeke Cook? I was expecting him to start this year. Is he hurt?

Not hurt but we probably won't be seeing much of him this year.

[HoustonCajun]

We're going to be a better shooting team than last year. We had two guys shoot 40% and Keller was at 36%. Not sure we've had many guys over the last couple of years even shoot like that even though its only one game. What we ran into was same old problems though. We only got to the line 9 times but BSU got there 28 times. This game alone could be considered won at the line. We also were outrebounded, particularly in the second half when we tired out. I was hoping to see more from some of our bigs but we wanted to match up with a smaller team so guys like Jones and I have no idea where Zeke Cook was but I was expecting to see a lot of him.

I think we will settle down as the year goes on but we have to get more out of our offense in particular from the front court players and we have to work the ball down low from time to time.

We are not a good 3 point shooting team. If we continue to rely on that, our record will reflect it. I thought I would see more of a Houston passing offense to create open shots instead of standing around and forcing a 3 point shot as the clock winds down. That's what UL did with Marlin. I didn't see much difference. I'm sure we will get better, but this was a very disappointing start for Coach Q.

[CAJUNSby90]

Info on Zeke Cook

[Turbine]

Info on Zeke Cook

RaginCajuns.com says "Appeared in 32 games, making 18 starts, including each of the last 17 games … Averaged 2.8 points and 3.9 rebounds"