[PAmedic]

CHRIS' take on our problems (1/12/06)

(the first part of the article online evidently got cut off?)

Flames struggling at center

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
January 12, 2006

perate Tuesday night when he started 6-foot-6 forward Eric Bigby at center against a Marist team that starts a 7-footer in the middle.
"I was just looking for production," Dunton said.

Production was something the Flames weren't getting from 6-11 sophomore center Russell Monroe. In his last three games prior to Tuesday, Monroe scored four points. Worse, he fouled out in seven minutes against Marist and picked up four fouls in eight scoreless minutes last week against High Point.

So while it's easy to look at Liberty's 4-10 record and come to the conclusion that the Flames miss the production departed guard David Dees gave them, the true missing piece is elsewhere.

The Flames have gotten little to nothing out of the five spot this season, and Monroe is a big culprit.

Dunton challenged Monroe to be more aggressive in the post, but Tuesday, he came out too aggressive. He picked up three offensive fouls away from the ball, which are turnovers that contributed to Marist's whopping 31-shot advantage from the field.

There's a difference between blind aggression and calculated attacking. That's a line Monroe is still trying to discern.

Dunton said Monroe will start Saturday's game at VMI on the bench as well as the Flames look to run at the Keydets with a smaller, faster lineup.

Monroe will control when he gets back into Dunton's good graces with progress at practice.

"We'll find out what he's made of when he sits," Dunton said. "The greatest motivator in the game of college basketball is the bench. If you really want to play and you're a competitor, you'll rise to it. Otherwise, you'll find out that maybe this individual player doesn't want to compete."

Out of his shell

Damien Hubbard was a completely different player from one half to the next Tuesday night.

In the first half against Marist, he would take two hesitant dribble steps toward the bucket before backing out and looking for other options.

Lacking was a sense of urgency with the basketball and playmaking ability, two things that had Liberty excited about Hubbard when he transferred from Frederick Community College.

His stats at the break: 0-for-1 from the floor, two assists and four rebounds in 13 minutes.

After halftime, he was active, using his 6-6 frame to take defenders off the dribble and create space to shoot. He found holes in Marist's 2-3 zone defense and worked for open mid-range jumpers. He had 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out.

In short, he was the player Dunton expected he could be.

The next question: Can he do it consistently? That's entirely up to Hubbard, Dunton said.

"Damien is somebody that we've challenged," Dunton said. "He's got to come with a personal commitment to preparation and performance that allows him to bring the very best out of himself."