Online Q/A with LU basketball coach Clif Carroll

[Mike]

He's agreed to do an online Q/A session with our members in an attempt to answer any of our questions concerning the LU Mens Basketball team.

 

The format is still being discussed with one being Coach actually logging into our site and answering your questions from right here in the Above the Rim forum, another with me sending him the questions and replying. We'll see how it turns out but either way it's time to post questions so get started. When we decide how we'll post his replies I'll let you guys know.

 

So for now........Fire away!!

[Guest CardAmbassador]

Any thoughts on who will be this years big time players that we don't know much about? Who will be a fan favorite?

 

Are we planning on sticking to practicing defense only early in the season, due to the limited amount of time we get to practice?

 

Talk about scheduling this year, is there any portions of the schedule that you can tell us about yet?

 

 

[Big T]

First off thank you Mike for getting things like this set up and thanks to Coach Carroll for agreeing to do this. I hope he decides to come on here but either way thanks.

 

How many freshmen are going to see significant playing time this year?

Are any of the players coming in going to be redshirted?

When are all of the players going to be on campus?

How is the team chemistry with all of the new players?

[Big T]

How is Hondo's broken foot from last year? Is he at 100 percent? If not is he expected to be before the season starts?

[ScreamingDeane]

my questions are about the bigs:

 

i thought that osas came a long way towards the end of last season specifically in the slc tournament. would there be thought to playing him and stan brown at the same time if you guys decide to go big?

 

what kind of progress has norman made this offseason and do you expect him to be more a factor in the upcoming season?

 

is muepo a 4 or a 5?

 

thanks for doing this for the basketball fans.

[coachacola]

Do you think Doty will see much action this year?

[clifcarroll]

I thought I would get a jump on everybody and post a welcome message, but I was beat by a mile! Lamar has the best fan-base for any college basketball team in Texas and I am excited to get to interact with you in this environment. I have to let you all know upfront that there are certain topics that I will not and/or can not comment about. Do not get you feelings hurt if I do not answer your question or have something removed from the forum. I will be as forthcoming as I can and hope that I can give you all a little insight into LU Hoops. Let's have some fun!

[Guest CardAmbassador]

I thought I would get a jump on everybody and post a welcome message, but I was beat by a mile! Lamar has the best fan-base for any college basketball team in Texas

 

It really is true, for such a small school we have a real passion for Hoops.

[TBonesLU]

I thought I would get a jump on everybody and post a welcome message, but I was beat by a mile! Lamar has the best fan-base for any college basketball team in Texas and I am excited to get to interact with you in this environment. I have to let you all know upfront that there are certain topics that I will not and/or can not comment about. Do not get you feelings hurt if I do not answer your question or have something removed from the forum. I will be as forthcoming as I can and hope that I can give you all a little insight into LU Hoops. Let's have some fun!

 

Thanks for getting on BRI with us!

[clifcarroll]

Any thoughts on who will be this years big time players that we don't know much about? Who will be a fan favorite?

 

Are we planning on sticking to practicing defense only early in the season, due to the limited amount of time we get to practice?

 

Talk about scheduling this year, is there any portions of the schedule that you can tell us about yet?

 

 

As for who will be our big time players that you do not know about? We think very highly of Rhon Mitchell. He was able to practice with us for a short period of time last year before the NCAA stripped his eligibility. We felt he would have been a major part of our team last season. I think he will be a special player for the next 4 years here at LU. The other player that I look to playing a major role it Amos Wilson. He played for one of the best coaches in JUCO for 3 years and was one of the top players in Texas last season. His experience will be invaluable to our young team and his experience in a similar system to ours will allow him to play huge minutes right off the bat.

 

It is hard to figure out who the fan favorite will be. I got the feeling that last season everybody loved Lamb because of the relentless nature in which he played. I think if you follow that mode, the fans will love Hondo Webb. Hondo has the same kind of toughness that Lamb showed, however they do it in different ways. Hondo also is a very personable kid who loves doing community outreach and will be a high academic kid. Jim Sigona, his JUCO coach just called to tell me that he was selected as a NJCAA Academic All-American. The kid has an incredible story about where he was born and on top of all that, the kid is named after Hondo Crouch, who is the man that started Luckenbach, TX. How can you not love a kid with that kind of story attached to him.

 

Pat will always stress defense early no matter what type of team we have. If you do not defend, you will not win championships.

 

Scheduling has been a challenge this year. We made some changes in last years schedule that we felt would help that team be ready to compete for a SLC Championship, knowing that it would make scheduling this year a challenge. We do have dates set with Baylor, Purdue, and Alabama this season, which we are really excited about.

[Guest CardAmbassador]

Wow, thanks for that detailed response.

 

I just thought of another question that maybe you could answer after you get to everyone else's questions.

 

Alot of fan discussion has centered around what we should expect from such a young team. What are the player's and coaches expectations for this year?

[clifcarroll]

First off thank you Mike for getting things like this set up and thanks to Coach Carroll for agreeing to do this. I hope he decides to come on here but either way thanks.

 

How many freshmen are going to see significant playing time this year?

Are any of the players coming in going to be redshirted?

When are all of the players going to be on campus?

How is the team chemistry with all of the new players?

 

I am excited to do this. I do want to also thank Mike for thinking of this idea.

 

There will be quite a few freshmen that will need to play a role for us this season. A team can not sustain the loss of production that we lost last year, and not have any type of production from new comers and still be a good team. Freshmen are funny creatures, sometimes they show flashes of what they can do and then it will go away for a few days or weeks. The key is to keep the confidence of these guys high, while bringing them along in the system. I am excited about the group of kids in the freshmen class. I think they have a chance to be a special group.

 

There is a very good possibility of red shirting players. We are going to have to get the kids on campus and figure out who would benefit most from an extra year, but I could see one or two guys who could use a year to grow and work on things.

 

Most of our players will be here July 10. We have one newcomer who is finishing up some things academically and Sebastian will be playing for the Swedish National team this summer. Other than that, all will be here.

 

Chemistry is a funny thing. It's not whether you have it or you don't. There are degrees of team chemistry and sometimes it comes and goes. Pat is really good at getting teams to work together. I also think that the returning players are bringing a really good mindset to the group right now and will set a good tone in the locker room for the new guys.

[clifcarroll]

How is Hondo's broken foot from last year? Is he at 100 percent? If not is he expected to be before the season starts?

 

I talked to Hondo this morning. He tells me that his foot is 100% and that he is working out on it everyday. We are going to keep a very close eye on him and make sure that the foot is staying healthy.

[coachacola]

Will Lamar have a hard time getting enough home games each year by not scheduling non-D1 schools? If true, what would make it easier?

[clifcarroll]

my questions are about the bigs:

 

i thought that osas came a long way towards the end of last season specifically in the slc tournament. would there be thought to playing him and stan brown at the same time if you guys decide to go big?

 

what kind of progress has norman made this offseason and do you expect him to be more a factor in the upcoming season?

 

is muepo a 4 or a 5?

 

thanks for doing this for the basketball fans.

 

Last season, we weren't able to play two of our bigs together for any amount of time. The team never figured out how to get into any offensive flow with two bigs in at the same time. I think that the problem was caused as much by the guards as it was the big fellas. Personally, I like playing with a smaller, more versatile line-up. Generally, we are going to value skill and toughness over pure size. All of our returning bigs have put in a lot of work this off season and are getting better and that could translate into getting two of them in together to get more minutes for those guys.

 

Sebastian came in last year in a tough situation. We didn't get him here until late August and he was a young kid on a team of mostly upperclassmen. He has worked his tail end off over with Josh Miller in the weight room getting stronger and quicker. When his body gets to the point where things aren't moving so fast around him, I think he will contribute more. He is really skilled for his size, things just moved a little fast for him this year. I think playing with his national team will do him wonders this summer.

 

We don't play the numbers game, meaning we don't have 1,2,3,4 and 5. We have guards, forwards and bigs/posts. Muepo is a forward/big. He is a versatile players with a lot of tools. He is still a little raw, but will be a terror in the SLC for years to come.

 

 

[clifcarroll]

Do you think Doty will see much action this year?

 

I love Doty. His first practice last year we started off doing our alley drill. None of our players liked to guard Lamb in the drill. Doty jumped right in, got knocked on his ass, jumped up and did it again. He is a tough kid that didn't get to spend much time on basketball until this season. He needed a lot of work on basketball skills and has been in the gym everyday since he put on a LU uniform. It will be interesting to see what he does this summer in workouts.

[clifcarroll]

Wow, thanks for that detailed response.

 

I just thought of another question that maybe you could answer after you get to everyone else's questions.

 

Alot of fan discussion has centered around what we should expect from such a young team. What are the player's and coaches expectations for this year?

 

We are realistic. We will have a young team and a difficult non-conference schedule. We have an uphill battle in front of us, but I love the attitude that our returners are bringing. I really like how we recruited this year. If we have some things come together, don't be surprised if the SLC isn't looking up at the Cardinals again at the end of next season.

[Big T]

Toward the end of the year last year Osas "The Black Hole" really became a fan favorite on the defensive end with what he did in the tournament. The big question about him has always been his offense. So my question is how is he progressing with his offensive skills and do y'all see him as a starter or as a sixth man?

[clifcarroll]

Will Lamar have a hard time getting enough home games each year by not scheduling non-D1 schools? If true, what would make it easier?

 

It would be easier to pay bunch of NAIA and D3 schools to play here in Beaumont, but it does your team no good to play walk over teams. We have to test ourselves every time we step on the court or we don't get better. I have worked tirelessly to try to get quality D1 games here in the Montagne. The Bracketbuster helps with that. We will have George Mason come play us here in 2013. I have talked to teams like Valpo, San Francisco, Louisiana Monroe, Indiana State and countless others about home and home series. The key to getting good teams to come play here, is not to be afraid of playing good teams.

 

I have also kicked around the idea of hosting a pre-season tournament here. The earliest it could happen would be 2014 or 2015. SFA has a tournament called the ETech classic. I would like to do the same thing here at Lamar.

[clifcarroll]

Toward the end of the year last year Osas "The Black Hole" really became a fan favorite on the defensive end with what he did in the tournament. The big question about him has always been his offense. So my question is how is he progressing with his offensive skills and do y'all see him as a starter or as a sixth man?

 

My big question mark with "The Black Hole" (I like that by the way) has been consistent effort. He played as well in the 2nd half of the SLC Championship game as any big guy in the country. On the flip side of that, he was absolutely awful against Vermont in the NCAA's. Offensively, all we need him to do is screen and be disruptive on the offensive boards. We don't need him to score us 20 a night. We DO need him to play like his hair is on fire every time he steps on the court defensively. If he ever figures out how to do that, watch out!

 

Adding a note here:

I love Osas. He is a great young man with tremendous upside. Admittedly, I coach Osas pretty hard. He has the ability to dominate games, and I have faith that he will get to that point.

[Big T]

What are your thought on the SLC bringing in Oral Roberts, HBU, and possibly UNO?

 

Does this hurt, help, or not effect LU recruiting?

[clifcarroll]

What are your thought on the SLC bringing in Oral Roberts, HBU, and possibly UNO?

 

Does this hurt, help, or not effect LU recruiting?

 

I like that the SLC is being pro-active and replacing teams that have moved on from our conference with quality schools. Obviously Oral Roberts is the biggest dog in that pack. They have amble resources to work with and Coach Sutton does an unbelievable job. They will raise the level of play in the SLC and I like it. I don't think it changes the way we recruit.

 

I am also excited about UNO coming to the SLC. It never hurts to spend a little time in the Big Easy and Coach Slessinger (former Northwestern State Asst) is a great guy and will be a great addition to the SLC coaching fraternity.

 

I am personally pulling for Abilene Christian to be added as well. I grew up in that area and it could be neat for that area to have another D1 team to root for besides Texas Tech. I am also very close the the head coach there and would love for him to get the call up..

[clifcarroll]

This has been great. I have to run to some meeting on campus, but continue to post questions and I will stop by from time to time and answer them. A big thank you to Mike and BRI for allowing me to do this.

[LAZEEK]

LeBron took his talents to South Beach..........when is Clif Carroll gonna bring his talents to the golf course??? :D

[TBonesLU]

What role do you see for each newcomer in the event they get extensive playing time? (Feel free to combine a few if they are like in attributes)

 

Wilson

Blanks

Webb

Muepo

Hancock

Smith

Minton

Mitchell