LumberCard

[quote name="LamarTech" post="971845" timestamp="1298594485"] Marlin's gone. So LU wins...by more than 10 unless we miss free throws. We've improved...and we'll be home. And again...Marlin's gone. That guy always found a way to beat us. [/quote] Speaking of Marlin, he has the Cajuns on a 10 game win streak and a tie for first place in their division of the Sun Belt. I have some people who are close with Marlin and his staff and they were told that it was mainly a matter of their upperclassmen buying into the system and playing some defense. They started hitting their free throws late in games and it has paid off big time with wins over all of the top teams in the Sun Belt. A win tonight to end the season at cellar dwelling La. Monroe would, I think, garuntee them a top three seed in their conference tournament. Glad to see his success. I'm sure they will be even better next year As far as This game between the Kats and the Cards, it should be a good one. Lamar's strengths should give SHSU some problems and Sams strengths should give LU some problems. Home court might be the advantage, but it seems like the Bearkats have played a little better away from home this year. Good luck tonight and hopefully down the stretch you can play your way into the tourney, same goes for my Kats.

Great win Cards. I always enjoys seeing our teams beat the "big boys". I hope, as a conference, that there will be a collection of wins this year against top competition and that the league gets multiple bids to the NCAA tournament, not just two. I think there are several teams in this conference that have the pitching depth and the sticks to make noise this year. I think the biggest thing to remember for all of us is that its a marathon, not a sprint. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy some good baseball into the summer.

I ind it interesting that there are a couple of people who think that LU is ready and SAm is not based on not having facilities ready. Did you miss the fact that LU is still missing a softball program? Not to mention a lack of a facility for it. I know it is coming, but if the move needed to be made today, LU is still short a sport. No need to worry, Our conversations on a message board won't make anything happen or not...

A few months ago I would would have said it was a good move for Lamar because it is in line with what they want and getting there is the first step. The WAC isn't the greatest conference in the world especially with the new allignment, but it's FBS football and that is the desired destination for LU. If it happens, good move. For Sam, I would have said it was not even a possibility because it wasn't what their focus was at the time. As time has worn on, it might be in their best interest to move. You would have four Texas schools in your football conference (as opposed to the potential of two with just SFA and SHSU) and maintain some pretty strong rivalries with LU and TSU-SM. Personally, I don't think either Lamar or Sam are "ready" to make a move, but if the opportunity presents itself, the time to act is probably now.

[quote name="badndn" post="961004" timestamp="1296830118"] Is this the same solid source that said "FORD TO LU"  ::) [/quote] ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[quote name="ForeverADog" post="960888" timestamp="1296788336"] Do you mean Darika Hill or maybe Ashley Crawford? Brittney barely played last year. [/quote] Really? The girl might have rubbed some folks the wrong way over her 4 years, but she still finished her career as one of the greatest scorers and rebounders in school history. I would say the signifigant lack of an inside game is the biggest factor in the team not being as dominant this year. Williams and Hill (although Darika would also step out and fire the three ball) gave LU a presence in the paint that could not be ignored by their opponents. Right now they don't have that. Tray is a great defender, but offensively she is not a go to player. This team is obviously still very good and should probably go back to the NCAA tourney, but their lack of a post game will make it more of a challenge than last year.

[quote name="hjhawks" post="957562" timestamp="1296371028"] Some of you guys on here would criticize Jesus if he came down from Heaven to coach the cardinals and Lamar didn't win 30 games in his first year.  [u][i][b]Roc is doing a heck of a job running the mens program. The wins haven't happen like most want, but a HECK OF A COACH is busting his butt to put a team on the court that the university and city can be proud of...[/b][/i][/u] How many team has Larry Brown coached that have had a losing record?  Lenny Wilkins, etc... does that mean they are awful coaches? [/quote] If you really believe that then I want to drink what you're drinking...

[quote name="geezer" post="943541" timestamp="1294358008"] Roc needs to quit thinking he is a basketball genius and let the players use and develop their talents.  I know in many ways James Davis was a clown but had Roc not been so full of himself and figured out how to best use Davis it would have been two interesting years.  Instead Davis was in his doghouse, we barely made the SLC tourney and did not comeback. [/quote] While true that Davis was in Roc's dog house almost all the time, he shouldn't have even been allowed to be in the dog house. The program would have been better served if he had been shown the door the first time he was kicked off the team/suspended/quit/whatever it was that happened. It was a revolving door with him and he shouldn't have been given that many chances to continue to be on the team. JMHO.

[quote name="bigred360" post="942824" timestamp="1294250934"] Yep, they (UCA) shot like 20 FT's in Conway last year when they beat Lamar. Coach Tidwell still gets upset when talking about that game. I'm sure he'll have the Ladies ready for the Sugar Bears. Speaking of Herbert, she is a flat out stud and can' believe she ended up at UCA. She has over 30 double-double for her career and she is just a sophomore. Last season, if Jenna Plumley didn't win the POY honors it would have been Herbert. She did take home the Freshman of the Year honors. [/quote] AS far as Herbert goes, I think her size kept the "bigger" schools away from her. I remember thinking that there was probably a hand full of SEC women's programs that are nothing special that could have used a talent like that, especially since she was Arkansas Miss Basketball as a senior. But I guess 5-11 post players just don't get a lot of coaches excited, especially when you are an SEC or similiar sized program. I suppose it was their loss and UCA's gain.

Good win for the Lady Cards! This Saturday will be a great way to open SLC play and get things going towards a second title. Central Arkansas is 8-5 and doesn't really have any super impressive wins this season. But they had a big win last year. They beat the snot out of the Lady Cards in Conway, Ark. and now is a chance for some payback for LU. Herbert is a really good player averaging a double double this season and so far for her career, although she is just a sophomore. Being at home, first conference game, probably a little chip on their shoulder after falling big to them last year I see an impressive Lady Cardinals victory on Saturday. Possibly setting up a big time run through the SLC? Hope so.

Gametracker not working and ESPN scoreboard has no updates. strange.

[quote name="HardHitter" post="910222" timestamp="1289872841"] Maybe someone should tell Mac that D.Hall is still available, I just saw where Tre Newton wasn't any good.....64 rush att.  229 yrds  3.6ypc and this is on Texas a team that always get some of the best recruits in the country... ::) ::) ::) [/quote] Newton is quitting football because of an inability to recover from concussions. A problem since high school apparently. heard that info on ESPN radio this morning for what its worth...

The rankings are interesting to look at, but really they don't do a whole lot for projecting next year and down the road in my opinion. The fact is, Lamar is going to be better next year because they have a year experience and will have more talent on the roster by default. You are going to add talent and some of the current contributors might not see the field. It happens for every program, but at an even greater level for teams like LU who are in the beginning stages. If you add a Johnson and Hall type of player to your roster you are obviously going to have more talent than you currently do. But it takes time to build up O-Lines and D-Lines and that will probably be they key area to watch as things progress. LU already has some electric talent offensively, but the not so flashy positions is where the difference in wins and losses come. All that to say, the numbers show one thing, but recruiting, injuries, momentum, scheduling and a lot of other factors go into how your ranking will be, and how good the teams will actually be. If I had to guess, if South Alabama had played the same schedule as Lamar, they would not be 10-0, and would not be ranked 100. It would be a lot more like LU at 204, which is not terrible for either school considering they are new programs.

[quote name="bigred360" post="903387" timestamp="1289412777"] They are going to be very exciting to watch. If you haven't never watched a women's basketball game in person you'll be surprised at their athletic ablities. Lamar is loaded from top to bottom with two players that are flat out studs in Plumey and Loyd. The only weakness IMO is the lack of scoring in the post but if they can get that fixed I can see them dancing in March again. [/quote] Agreed on all points. The Lady Cards are going to win the majority of their conference games just because they have more talent than their opponents. That doesn't mean they'll go undefeated in SLC play, because that's a tough task and there are some good players in the league that will pose match up issues. The potential lack of post scoring is a concern because an solid inside presence makes things that much easier for the guards. The defensive post presence is there though, as Tray Smith is the best defender in the SLC, even if she doesn't get nominated for defensive player of the year. I wouldn't be surprised if you see Loyd take advantage of her size and go inside some, and the Lady Cards are likely to have a couple of ladies step up and get the job done enough to make a difference. You might not get the same point production that you did over the last couple of season with Hill and Williams, but you I'm willing to bet they won't be looking to rely on it as much either.

[quote name="NorthoftheBorder" post="901267" timestamp="1289185171"] I was at the first game at McNeese and I am just baffled at how the cards have digressed.  I don't buy the "game film" explanation for how far we have gone backwards in our performance.  If this team would have played at the level they played in Lake Charles, 6 wins should have been a lock with 7 a good possibillty IMHO.  I think from a fan perspective, it would have been better to have lost that game big if we were going to perform as poorly the rest of the season than to raise expectations to a phenomenal level that the McNeese game did only to witness the poor play the rest of the season.  [b]Even you SHSU fans were right on board with the LU fans thinking that this would be a breakout season for the Cards, openly expressing concern that LU would win the game against the Bearkats.[/b]  I surely don't have the answer to the many questions that we all have.  I'm hoping that Woodard & Co can get things sorted out with the schemes and personell over the next two seasons. [/quote] I think that "fear" came from a couple of things. The first being the way LU played ot start the season. Good game against McNeese, Beat a nobody and then a great road win against SELA. The second factor was how Sam played int heir first two games before giving the QB reigns to the freshman and establishing the running game with Flanders. I will be honest with you, I was concerned about the game as a SHSU fan, but after the Gardner Webb game for Sam and the SFA game for LU, I was pretty confident that Sam would win pretty easily. There was NO WAY I was going to go out and talk mess about the game though. Lamar had played well and Sam had only one good performance at the time. I figured with the game being at home for LU it was going to be a hard fought battle. Thankfully for me as a Bearkat, it wasn't. But that is no reason to think that Lamar isn't going to get where all the fans want to be. A little patience and some time to continue recruiting and I think LU will be fine.

To think that the coaches are in over their heads is kind of crazy. A winning program doesn't come over night, everyone on here knows that and I think is just frustrated because they want to win games. Lamar surprised me a bit this season with their early play and the impressive come from behind win at Southeastern, but the physical nature of football is going to take a toll on teams. Established teams have the "backbone" in place that helps sustain the team when injuries hit. A first year program is going to find it much tougher sledding when injuries happen because there is nothing to fall back on as far as depth in recruiting. Lamar signed a small class in Woodard's first year and then a full class last year. I think this staff has found talent and signed some talent, but not every player you identify is going to sign with you and not every player is going to continue to develop into a better player once they get on campus. Give this staff more than one season on the field before you give up and think they are in over their heads.

[quote name="skyhcky" post="896233" timestamp="1288873643"] [quote author=bigred360 link=topic=75484.msg896207#msg896207 date=1288868584] There is no way Kalis Loyd will be second team. If it wasn't for Plumley I'd say she could win POY honors. [/quote] I very much agree!!! If Kalis sticks around she can become the greatest Lady Card of all time. Imho :) [/quote] That is very high praise coming from you for sure. I have a feeling that she won't play all four years though. Probably three years then head to Europe. She will be done with her undergrad after three years on the court since she was here for a year before she could play. Hopefully she'll decide to start working on a masters and stay for a fourth year on the hardwood. I agree that she could well be the greatest Lady Cardinal of all time statistically if she plays a full four. She'll likely be pretty well cemented into the top of the books in just three years as well. And she is a great young woman!

[quote name="bigred360" post="889579" timestamp="1288281891"] Thanks LumberCard for the post. Lamar must not have done well in the womens race as you didn't mention them. If you know how they did, could you post it please. Thanks. [/quote] The women struggled. Finished seventh. Congrats to Taylor Cloy who finished third individually though. As a team they did not have a very good performance. In theory they return everybody next year so maybe they will get back to being one of the top teams next year.

Congrats to Jake Stewart and Trey Clark and of course the men's cross country team on winning their fifth straight SLC championship! They did it in dominant fashion with all of their point scorers finishing in the top 18!!! Their eighth runner finished in 23rd! That is a serious butt kicking they handed out today and that program should get a lot more credit than they do. I know that McNeese was a team that the coaching staff was really keeping an eye on this season, but today it looks like the McNeese runners were keeping their eyes on the LU runners backs. Here are the results (The ones that matter) Event 1 Men 8k Run CC Team Scores ================================================================================= Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9 ================================================================================= Results - Men 1 Lamar 38 2 3 7 11 15 17 18 Total Time: 2:06:12.10 Average: 25:14.42 2 McNeese State 70 4 5 10 24 27 28 47 Total Time: 2:08:35.00 Average: 25:43.00 3 UTSA 77 8 9 19 20 21 22 51 Total Time: 2:09:33.30 Average: 25:54.66 4 Stephen F. Austin 114 14 16 25 29 30 34 41 Total Time: 2:11:18.30 Average: 26:15.66 5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 134 1 26 33 35 39 40 45 Total Time: 2:12:08.40 Average: 26:25.68 6 Texas State 155 12 13 36 46 48 55 71 Total Time: 2:13:24.80 Average: 26:40.96 7 UT Arlington 201 23 31 44 50 53 62 64 Total Time: 2:16:16.00 Average: 27:15.20 8 Southeastern Louisiana 213 6 38 54 56 59 65 72 Total Time: 2:16:35.70 Average: 27:19.14 9 Central Arkansas 234 37 42 43 49 63 68 74 Total Time: 2:18:11.40 Average: 27:38.28 10 Sam Houston State 298 52 57 58 61 70 75 81 Total Time: 2:22:33.40 Average: 28:30.68 11 Northwestern State 304 32 60 67 69 76 77 80 Total Time: 2:25:14.50 Average: 29:02.90 12 Nicholls State 378 66 73 78 79 82 Total Time: 2:35:28.11 Average: 31:05.62 Event 1 Men 8k Run CC ======================================================================= Name Year School Finals Points ======================================================================= Results - Men 1 Patrick Kimeli SO TAMCC 24:47.0 1 2 Bob Ahimbisibwe SO Lamar 24:49.7 2 3 Matt Johnsen SO Lamar 24:50.1 3 4 David Rooney JR McNeese State 24:56.6 4 5 Joshua Sawe SR McNeese State 25:02.9 5 6 Henry Rop SR Southeastern LA 25:07.6 6 7 Tallum Kipruto * JR Lamar 25:13.3 7 8 Cole Reveal JR UTSA 25:22.7 8 9 Albert Cardenas JR UTSA 25:27.3 9 10 Jarrett LeBlanc JR McNeese State 25:32.5 10 11 Anthony Pequeno * JR Lamar 25:36.6 11 12 Jonathan Hernandez SR Texas State 25:37.7 12 13 Michael Morris JR Texas State 25:38.4 13 14 Dennis Yeats SR Stephen F. Austin 25:40.1 14 15 Tom Wade * GS Lamar 25:42.4 15 16 Xavier Rodriguez JR Stephen F. Austin 25:51.8 16 17 Joe Wade * GS Lamar 26:03.4 17 18 Kyle Hawley SO Lamar 26:10.4 18 19 Ivan Garcia JR UTSA 26:11.1 19 20 Daniel Balbontin SO UTSA 26:15.0 20 21 Brandon Chiuminetta JR UTSA 26:17.2 21 22 Jim Stitt SO UTSA 26:19.4 22 23 Chris Jones FR Lamar 26:22.0

Quick thoughts. Not thta many care what I think, but I'll share anyways. Divisions: Yes the West is an all around better division than the East. The top teams (top two usually) in the East every year are good enough to win championships in all of the sports, where the West typically has had three or four for each sport. Lamar bounced in and out of the West and East so now that divisions are set, I think time will make the divisions a little easier to "predict". Lamar MBB: If this truly is the most talent they have had under Roc, then they should be pretty darn good. The team with Sanders, Todd, D-Hop and so on was pretty good. They were missing some pieces, but who in this league isn't? If this team can put it together this season with the youth and JUCO talent, I'll be a little surprised. It's very hard to get all cylinders clicking in year one of a JUCO heavy team. (example: SHSU 2002 missed the SLC tournament. In 2003 with the exact same starting five and all the same key guys off the bench, they win the conference title and the SLC tournament.) Hopefully for the Cardinals faithful the team can figure it out early in SLC play and get themselves into the tournament and then everybody has a punchers chance. Lamar WBB: Tidwell has an outstanding track record so far and I see no reason for that to change. The big question will be how they play in the post. The last two years you had undersized post players that gave you scoring. They have some youth down low that isn't proven yet, but the beauty of the women's game is that you never know who is going to be a beast in teh paint or maybe have range. (Williams and Hill produced offensively despite their size, and the girl from UTSA a couple years ago Onika Anderson, was undersized as well, but was one of the best in the league) They will have to find a way to score points down low, but their speed and athleticism should be enough to beat most of the teams they play. Hopefully they will have a good showing in the Pre season WNIT and roll on from there. SHSU MBB: It will be interesting to see how Hooten does. I think he'll be a pretty good coach and I think they will play a very similiar game as they always have. Clavell is the best post player in the conference and they have some fast guards who get after it defensively. Not sure what to think though because you lose Mitchell and Almond and thats two huge pieces gone from last year. Those are my thoughts. I'll leave you all alone now.

Good luck Cards!

[quote name="TexasTerror" post="836774" timestamp="1283430769"] The SLC has always ranked well in XC... You've got to remember how it (and track and field) is funded by many schools in this region - not well at all. A few schools fully fund the sport, but others do not... Over the last 5-10 years, Lamar has put most of their T&F scholarship money into the distance runners, which has put them on the top of XC and hurt them in the indoor/outdoor season. [/quote] I know the belief is that LU has built up on distance runners and it has "hurt" them in the indoor/outdoor season, but that was only true a few years back. They have continually gotten better in all aspects of the "running sports", not just cross country. They have dominated the cross country side and have been very competitive. In 2007, 08 and 09 they finished fourth in the indoor season, in that same time they were dominating CC. Yes, the outdoor track season has not been quite as impressive, but that is mainly because Lu doesn't have the numbers in the jumps & throws that many of the other schools have. I think that will begin to change a little now that football is on campus, but you never know for sure. Point is, the Cards are producing better than one might think at first glance.

[quote name="ForeverADog" post="811319" timestamp="1276208026"] Also 3 super nice guys! [/quote] I don't know Joonas very well, but Francis and Sammy are GREAT guys who I wish all the luck in the world in their future endevours. Both of those guys will likely have a great opportunity to take their running careers to the next level and hopefully they'll have a world of success. As for Joonas, he'll be a beast next year and will likely notch more All American titles to his name.

[quote name="UNLV" post="811118" timestamp="1276177557"] If Big 12 dissolve, there will be little chance for LU or any FCS to move up. If the Big 12 reload, then opportunities open up. [/quote] The big 12 is not likely to reload in any form or fashion that it currently looks like now. The schools that will be left after the wake of destruction from the shakeup will get with one or two of the remaining conferences and there will likely be some additions made by the SEC, to create another "super conference" the way the Pac 10 seems to be headed. If those things happen I could see the ACC being raided, the Big East being raided while the Big 10 would add several more including Notre Dame to get to 16. Maybe three "Power Conferences" with the Pac 10, Big 10 and the SEC. Probably there would be one more big conference which would consist of the "leftovers" from the fallout of the ACC and Big East, but those schools wouldn't really have any big players in their conference. I also think the Mountain West stands to gain from all of the Big 12 stuff, they could possibly grab KU, KSU, Mizzou and try to snag Boise and all of a sudden you would have a pretty solid conference. If you had Boise, TCU, BYU, Utah, and Kansas you have five programs who played in BCS bowls inthe last 2-3 years. It will be interesting to see what shakes out.

Lamar has three runners participating at the NCAA Track and Field Championships this week at the University of Oregon. Two of the runners, Samuel Kosgei and Francis Kasagule, are two of the greatest runners in the history of the school and Southland Conference. The newest addition to the group, is newcomer Joonas Harjamaki has already punched his ticket to the finals in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase. It would be nice if these guys had gotten some descent publicity for their accomplishments this far, but finding info on their previous meets and how they made their way to the championships has been challenging throughout the year. Kasagule runs his semifinal today and Kosgei runs his 10K final tonight. All three of these guys are legit national championship contenders. Hopefully they can pull off some big feats!