[A New Guest]

I realize there has been recent doubt about the direction of the program, but I have to say that with the pieces in place to date, there is alot of reason to be excited.

The backcourt should be very good with incoming players Franklin and Jenkins. I have seen Franklin play a little this summer and he can shoot from outside. That with Larry back for his senior year will be great.

The 3 spot should be dynamite. D Brew is the real deal. He should be pre season Conference Player of the Year (unless Blair is??) He is lightning quick and real supportive on the floor. If Liberty and D Brew can maintain a stable relationship for the next 1 1/2 years, it will be great. Not only that but Anthony Smith has really improved and looked impressive this summer. Damian Hubbard will provide experience at any of the guard positions.

The front line is what people have been waiting for. The unique thing about the 3 new big men are is that they are all left handed. Armon Jones is a skilled player who will help right away. Alex McLean will be a beast on the boards and provide some scoring. The player to watch IMO is Lamont Winters. He is all of 6'8" 260. He is very strong and I think will be the best of the 3. Russ will get in there as well, but he will be challenged for minutes with them.

I think the coaching staff has plenty of options this year. I may have missed some role players in this. Please let me know anything else you may have observed if you have seen any of the summer workouts. GO FLAMES!

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for the observations. I think we are all excited to see how all of these new pieces can fit together with holdovers like Larry & Anthony. We have the potential to have something really special in LB's final year int he program.

Since you obviously care about the program, why not go ahead and register and then stick around. The more informed folks we have on the board the better.

[Chris Lang]

I guarantee someone from Winthrop will be preseason player of the year. Guarantee.

[SuperJon]

That pretty much goes without saying.

[LUconn]

Well with people like you voting Mr. I-voted-for-a-choke-artist.

I'm just kidding. I don't even know if the media votes for that. Acutally, it had better be someone from Winthrop, Leasure, or Blair. Anything else would be ridiculous. Brew is only gonna play a half of a year and that's after taking 1.5-2 years off. There's no way he's getting it.

[WinthropEagleFan]

It'll be a close vote between Blair, Leasure, and Torrell Martin. I don't think it'll be Leasure though since the voters probably feel like they got burnt a little by giving him the regular season last year and then he layed an egg in the tourney finals. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think Blair may get it. The voters may also shy away from giving the preseason honor to the same guy in back-to-back years.

[Chris Lang]

Yeah, I know Leasure sucked in the tournament. I still think he deserved the regular-season award ... Winthrop's situation is tough. So many good players, so many unselfish players ... the numbers aren't great on any one of them, but you know any one of them can torch you on a given night. Leasure almost single-handedly brought Coastal from nothing to the brink of the NCAAs, so he was the right choice, I thought.

Torrell Martin is a heck of a player, though. So is Larry Blair. Larry's scoring numbers could go down five points this year and he'd probably be a better player than he was last year, if that makes sense. Had Liberty won even 11-12 games last year, it would have made it a lot easier to give Blair the POY nod.

[A New Guest]

When I made my original post, I should have said that D Brew is the best player - talent wise in the league. When you have a player come from a Big East school who was 2nd on the team in scroing as a sophomore (behind Ryan Gomes who is one of the all time leading scorers in Providence history), you have to get credit there. Plus D Brew can play either the 1,2,3 which you don't hear everyday. 1/2 season or full season, Brew will impact Liberty and the league. Maybe his senior year will be the POY nod??? I respect the opinions of others and think they are more accurate on this year's POY.

With all that said, Liberty has a few players that can play multiple positions which hopefully give the coaches plenty of options to make opposing coaches guess on how to defend, etc.

For sneak previews of the upcoming season, www.collegesportsnet.com is counting down the top 144 teams in the country. They are currently at #119. Coastal came in at #141 and was picked to finish 3rd in the BS. It will be interesting to see where Liberty ends up. Gotta think they will be at least a #2 rank pre-season in the BS.

[LUconn]

no. I don't think we'll be in their top 144. I have no doubt that we will be by season's end, but nobody outside of Lynchburg knows how great this team can be. Especially a national publication like that. All they see is us in next to last place last season. I have no idea who they'll have in 2nd though. I really thought it would have been CCU. Seems like the obvious choice.

[Stevev]

Nice to hear that the team is shaping up well. Hopefully enough to make me totally forget about last years mishaps. Really exited to see what Blair and Brew do in the backcourt together. If we can get any kind of improvement down low then we could pull off some good early season wins which will give us confidence going into conference play. A little concerned that we could be inexperienced at center and power forward positions but hopefully the newcomers like McLean, Baker, and Jones will rise to the occasion.

[LUconn]

I'm in a camp that thinks our season depends on how well either McLean or Baker play. If either can step in and at least pull down 7 rebounds a game and chip in a few points I really like our chances. Brew and Blair will distribute/score. Smith will lockdown the other team's hot player. We just need a rebounder who will at the least demand a body on offense so that it's more difficult to double down on our guards.

[TIMSCAR20]

interesting post to say the least. I think our expectations of other people's perceptions of our program may be a bit high. No one is gonna put Liberty in their top 144 after finishing in the bottom 300 last year, unless LeBron James transferred in. Brew playing the 1,2 and 3 is really not that impressive. I know a kid from Philly that did that for 3 years at LU Mark Reed, Ryan Mantlo and others have done that over the years. Howeva, Brew is a really good player and not because he played in the Big East. I don't necessarily think he is better than even Larry Blair or Torrell Martin. I judge talent and not what is on the front of your jersey. There were plenty of division II players or even guys that didn't make a team in college that are great players but didn't have the right connections. Brew is gonna have an impact but this team is gonna be better because of what they will get from the 4 and 5 position with McLean, Jones, Baker and I believe Winters is the other big. Don't expect this team to come out of the gates and put up a couple of upsets. Even though they will be improved it is still a matter of cohesiveness and gelling that will really let you know how good this team is. Chemestry means a lot in hoops. You don't just throw out your best 5 scorers or biggest players or best athletes. Coaches need to find the right blend of talent and more often than not that takes time. I am really high on this team though and they do have some weapons from what we can tell here in July.

[LU'sbestmanger]

about the multiple positions thing, it really isn't that impresive as scar said. damien hubburd did it for us last year. but getting rebounds wont be a problem for us simply because Damien is returning and he was our leading rebounder with 6.? a game, and rell porter follwed. we all know that rell is going to throw his body around and do what ever it is that coach d wants him to do, and most of the time that is to be a rebounder and a defensive stopper.... everytime one of the players talk about Lamont winters they say that he is one of the strongest people they have ever faced, so im sure he wont have a problem getting rebounds, expecially with that 260 lb frame. alex mclean is a beast on the bourds. i recently saw him play in a summer league and his body looks great and he probly snatched about 8-10 rebounds. i think we look good for this season and i think alex mclean and lamont winters will be key in our big man woes.

[Realist]

High Point came in at 112 on those rankings at 2 in the conference. Should be interesting to see where WU ends up. They were 76 I believe last year.

[LUconn]

I'm gonna say they put WU at 37. Anybody wanna do over/under? HPU at 112, #2 in the BS Do they know something that the rest of us don't?

[A.G.]

HPU at 112, #2 in the BS Confused Question Do they know something that the rest of us don't?

Guess they know a whole heck of a lot about LANDSCAPING!!!!

[- panfan01 -]

HPU is not that far behind WU and if the chemistry is sound neither is LU.The HPU front court is much stronger than advertised and LU will have the best backcourt in the conf.come Jan.

[panfan01]

The above post is mine.KOL!!!