Men’s Basketball: What national media is saying about the Cajuns – Kerr doesn’t like UL’s chances

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, March 21, 2014

What a few national websites are saying about the Ragin’ Cajuns heading into their NCAA Tournament game Friday vs. Creighton:

Foxsports.com, on why UL is a candidate to be this year’s Cinderella:

“Bringing a projected NBA draft pick (UL’s Elfrid Payton) into a meeting with the Wooden Award favorite (Creighton’s Doug McDermott can only help.

“The Ragin’ Cajuns are porous defensively and they’ve yet to see McDermott & Company. Possible winning formula for ULL coach Bob Marlin: incite a shootout and lean heavily on Payton.”

Cbssports.com, on UL’s turnaround:

“Back on Jan. 30, Louisiana-Lafayette was one of the biggest disappointments in the Sun Belt. The Ragin’ Cajuns started just 3-5 in the league, and had lost to teams like Jackson State, Louisiana-Monroe and South Alabama in the first two months of the season. Something changed, though.

“Bob Marlin has this team playing at a high level right now. … (Elfrid) Payton is a first-round NBA talent, and (big man) Shawn Long is one of the most difficult matchups at the mid-major level. If they’re allowed to push the tempo and speed teams up, they could be a threat in the Round of 64.”

Rantsports.com, on the matchup:

“The only way anyone is going to defeat Creighton is to let (Doug) McDermott score, but shut down everyone else. Expect ULL and Creighton to put on an offensive show that has the potential to get up into the low 90s as both teams are elite scoring offenses.

“ULL isn’t going to stand much of a chance against Creighton. The Bluejays are just far more talented, and the quality of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ opposition this season has been nowhere near the quality of Creighton. Expect a high scoring game in which McDermott finishes with 30-plus points.”

– Compiled by Tim Buckley

Kerr Doesn’t Like UL’s Chances

SAN ANTONIO — He played 15 NBA seasons with seven different organizations and was a member of five NBA championship teams, four with the Chicago Bulls from 1996-99 and one with the 2003 San Antonio Spurs.

He’s a former NBA basketball operations president and general manager with the Phoenix Suns, and was quite a sharpshooter in pro days.

He’s calling No. 14 seed UL’s NCAA Tournament game today against No. 3 seed Creighton for truTV, working as analyst next to play-by-play man Marv Albert.

And Steve Kerr is rather worried about the Ragin’ Cajuns’ chances today.

“I think it’s a bad matchup for them, unfortunately,” Kerr said while watching the 23-11 Cajuns practice Thursday at the AT&T Center here.

“Because obviously they want to run, and they want to get out and score,” he added with reference to a UL team averaging a Sun Belt Conference-high 81.4 points per game. “But the way to beat Creighton is what Providence did last week: slow them down, zone them.”

Providence knocked off Creighton last Sunday in the title game of the Big East Tournament at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The Bluejays went into that game shooting an NCAA-leading 42.7 percent from the field, but with the Friars playing a 2-3 zone they hit only 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from behind the long-distance line.

“So you can kind of look at (as) for them to beat Creighton they would have to sort of play counter to what they themselves want to do,” Kerr said. “That’s a hard thing to do.”

And even tough he knows it doesn’t seem to make much sense to dare a strong-shooting team like Creighton to fire away over a zone, UL coach Bob Marlin suggests it’s something the Cajuns will consider as they try dealing with the Bluejays and standout senior forward Doug McDermott.

McDermott leads the nation in scoring at 26.9 points per game.

Yet even as a power forward he shoots 45.4 percent from behind the arc at 94-of-207 – which isn’t even the most trey tries or best percentage by a Bluejay this season (Ethan Wragge hits 47.3 percent at 104-of-220).

“You don’t think you want to zone a team that’s the best 3-point shooting team in the country,” Marlin said, “but sometimes that can be a positive defensive scheme for you.

“But we’ll took a look at different avenues (for dealing with McDermott) and just try to hang in there the best we can.”

Still, Kerr – who along with Albert spent most of the first half of UL’s practice talking with Marlin – seems concerned about whether the Cajuns can make it all work.

“What they’re trying to do,” he said, “is still be who they are – get out and run and score – but somehow contain a Creighton team that’s probably even better at them than doing that.

“It’s a very tough balance to find,” Kerr said. “That’s why I worry about that matchup.”