February 8th, Basketball versus Abilene Christian

[coachacola]

There's no excuse for LU to be down 28-2 to start a basketball game, especially against a SLC team! Time for Price to go.

[baller]

As I posted on last game’s thread Lamar was playing the top 4 conference teams on the road and needed one to two wins against them.Now there are only three conference road games left.The schedule God’s weren’t friendly to us this year nor were the injury gods but still need to win more and have better attendance.we need to win all 4 winnable home games and at least one tough road win to get to 4th and a bye.The chances of that are less after yesterday’s blowout loss.Freshmen will be freshmen.Guards who have gone on to be players of the year in the Southland have had minimal and inconsistent freshmen years.JUCO players that are good often take over half a year to get comfortable and consistently contribute. Their senior years are often even better barring injury.

[geezer]

I watch a lot of high school and college basketball and I am amazed at several things players fail to consistently do at the college level. Number one free throw shooting. I find it difficult to see shooting guards that are shooting less than 80% from the line. I have watched many high school guards that shoot a higher percentage. I really don't see a reason that the majority of forwards and post players aren't shooting at least 70%. Another thing is the lack of ball control resulting in turnovers. How do players come out of high school not knowing they have to come meet a pass? How do they think they can pass the ball to a 6'6" or taller team mate 2' off of the floor and expect them to catch it cleanly? Why does a coach allow unnecessary dribbling. For me the only reason to dribble the ball is to attack the basket, dribbling around the three point arc is a waste of time. Good crisp passes is what breaks down a defense. I know I saw at least ten possessions yesterday where the Lamar offensive player attempted to drive to the basket get stopped but kind of dive forward and attempt to throw the ball toward the rim underhanded. That is not playing under control.

[baller]

Did anyone see actual bats flying around during the boys game.The refs didn’t stop the game so I guess they are used to the bats there.Im sure their bats are tested for rabies.Talk about a home court advantage.It is still no excuse for a 28-2 deficit to start.

[PeckEm]

I watch a lot of high school and college basketball and I am amazed at several things players fail to consistently do at the college level. Number one free throw shooting. I find it difficult to see shooting guards that are shooting less than 80% from the line. I have watched many high school guards that shoot a higher percentage. I really don't see a reason that the majority of forwards and post players aren't shooting at least 70%. Another thing is the lack of ball control resulting in turnovers. How do players come out of high school not knowing they have to come meet a pass? How do they think they can pass the ball to a 6'6" or taller team mate 2' off of the floor and expect them to catch it cleanly? Why does a coach allow unnecessary dribbling. For me the only reason to dribble the ball is to attack the basket, dribbling around the three point arc is a waste of time. Good crisp passes is what breaks down a defense. I know I saw at least ten possessions yesterday where the Lamar offensive player attempted to drive to the basket get stopped but kind of dive forward and attempt to throw the ball toward the rim underhanded. That is not playing under control.

 

DITTO, DITTO, DITTTO, DITTO, DITTO!!! The dribbling around...that is 100 percent on Price! It is ridiculous. Our half court offense is: maybe set one screen, maybe pass once or twice, someone throw up a terrible contested shot. But the most prominent play seems to be to just let someone dribble/drive around and try to get off their own shot.

[coachacola]

I think at this point in his career Price is probably just going through the motions when it comes to coaching. He does seem to be able to recruit decent talent. Coach Roc could recruit but didn't know how to coach and he had a similar record to Price. Seems like a .500 winning percentage is about the norm at LU lately.

 

Which brings me to Pat Knight. I bet he just didn't give a shit about coaching at LU, or he was just really terrible at recruiting, because his winning record was so horrendous. Probably the worst hire of all time at LU, for any sport.

 

Looking at who Born has hired since becoming AD, I think we're going to see a younger, more motivated head coach next year. I believe Price's contract is up at the end of the season so I bet we'll see Price and LU part ways on friendly terms.

[baller]

I don't think the staff is going through the motions as I know multiple venues they have been at scouting players.Pat Knight did go through the motions and fished..If Price is replaced it will be important to retain key players and recruits and help students succeed academically during the transition to a new staff.APR sometimes suffer during semesters of coaching changes.Now that the NCAA pays hundreds of thousands of dollars based on APR I know we will be all over that.To get the 8th seed or higher I believe we need to win at least 4 games.Right now we are tied for the 8th spot with Corpus and one game behind McNeese,NW State and Central Ark.With our lack of depth it will be hard to win more than 2 games in the tourney.If Buster remains hurt it will be hard to win 4 games.His multiple injuries during conference have really impacted this season.If you went to the McNeese game he was something special scoring 39 with the last 10 on a bum ankle that afterwards needed a boot.Lake Charles friends still marvel at his performance that night.Lamar provides resources few schools in the conference can match or exceed and deserves better results more often than not.

[geezer]

I agree that I doubt Price is just going through the motions. I just believe he is only an average coach. Better coach than Roc, but not quite as good of recruiter. Knight was a terrible recruiter plain and simple. He probably didn't care near as much as some of the other coaches that have been a LU, but end of the day he couldn't recruit. He couldn't recruit the quality of players to Tech that Price and Roc have been able to get to LU.

[PeckEm]

I think at this point in his career Price is probably just going through the motions when it comes to coaching. He does seem to be able to recruit decent talent. Coach Roc could recruit but didn't know how to coach and he had a similar record to Price. Seems like a .500 winning percentage is about the norm at LU lately.

 

Which brings me to Pat Knight. I bet he just didn't give a shit about coaching at LU, or he was just really terrible at recruiting, because his winning record was so horrendous. Probably the worst hire of all time at LU, for any sport.

 

Looking at who Born has hired since becoming AD, I think we're going to see a younger, more motivated head coach next year. I believe Price's contract is up at the end of the season so I bet we'll see Price and LU part ways on friendly terms.

 

It’s close, but I think Tony Branch gets the nod as worst hire. And I’m thinking this new women’s coach is going to be in the running for worst hire by the time she’s done.

[PeckEm]

I agree that I doubt Price is just going through the motions. I just believe he is only an average coach. Better coach than Roc, but not quite as good of recruiter. Knight was a terrible recruiter plain and simple. He probably didn't care near as much as some of the other coaches that have been a LU, but end of the day he couldn't recruit. He couldn't recruit the quality of players to Tech that Price and Roc have been able to get to LU.

 

Ditto