[bigsmooth]

LJVM is just not a good idea. you are comparing a state high school tourament to the big south. state tournaments have a least two classifications at a certain site in north carolina. and for a state title game the fans come out from either school.it is high schhol basketball which is big in north carolina or any state for that matter and would draw the casual fan who may be looking at a recruit going to the school they cheer for. who in winston-salem would come see LU vs. winthrop?? mainly fans from each school, and few locals. and with the driving distance those number would be cut down depite the two best teams who draw well. the only teams that travel well in the big south are LU and possibly winthrop. that is why the big south had the tournament at LU for so long b/c of the good crowds. when LU did not reach the semifinals or finals it was a graveyard at the vines. ultimately the america east format is the best for the big south, not these big arenas.

[Realist]

I agree with smooth. When it was in asheville, WU vs. RU, the crowd was pretty tiny. Both schools traveled pretty well, but there was basically no one else there. I would assume the same would hold for Winston. Unless it's a game between LU and WU, and maybe coastal, you're going to have a pretty small crowd at the championship game in a neutral site.

The championship game played at Vines between HP and WU was pretty small too, only the two schools fans present. I think the format works pretty well as it is, though I do admit it's much more fun to take a weekend, travel somewhere, and watch every team in the conference play.

[LUconn]

though I do admit it's much more fun to take a weekend, travel somewhere, and watch every team in the conference play.

Definatly. I watched abysmal LU almost upset #1 WU in the Roanoke CC. It was great spending all day there watching all the games. I missed all my classes and a test and that later came back to bite me but it sure was fun on that day. I'd imagine if LU had advanced, it would have been even better making it a multi-day affair.

[krh44]

I think the format we have know is best solution because the big south is not going to draw a huge crowd at a neutral site. I really enjoyed having the tournament in the Vines and when LU was in the finals they represented well on TV. Yes I liked it and most on this board did but we didn't have to travel more than 15-25 minutes.
There is a big difference in atmosphere from the LU vs HPU championship game as opposed to Radford vs Ashville game in the Vines. Even win LU wasn't in the championshiop Falwell was telling everyone to go to the championship game in the vines just so there would be some people in the seats.
But probably the best championship game was win LU played Campbell in the finals on a Monday afternoon. Being a freshman and making the trip down to SC along with the other thousands of fans was a great event.

[PAmedic]

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

LU has dropped 10 of its last 11 games

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
February 12, 2006

It seems VMI and Liberty will keep trading figurative punches until the end of the season.
VMI frittered away a chance at home against UNC Asheville Saturday afternoon. Liberty did same against an offensively challenged Charleston Southern team later that night.

Does either team actually want to make the eight-team Big South tournament?

Liberty wasted a perfect opportunity to put some distance between itself and VMI in the battle for eighth Saturday night, losing 61-45 to a CSU team that, at times, mastered the ability to blow layups.

No matter. Liberty struggled to hit any shots. Midway through the second half, the Flames' points total was still in the 20s. Larry Blair was cold and no one else could compensate.

But all hope is not lost, at least in terms of making the tournament field. Liberty still holds a one-half game lead over the Keydets and has two home games to VMI's one. Neither team has won on the road this season. VMI has lost eight straight. Liberty (5-18, 2-9 Big South) has dropped 10 of 11, with the only win coming over the Keydets.

That's the big picture. The small picture Saturday night showed a Liberty team that was inefficient and incapable of finding an offensive rhythm.

Liberty shot 29.4 percent with Blair going 5-for-23 from the floor. LU shot 61.1 percent from the free throw line and didn't break 40 points until less than four minutes remained. It was Liberty's worst offensive output at home since the Flames beat Tusculum 46-45 (in overtime) in December 2001.

"The Flames have got some weaknesses," Liberty coach Randy Dunton said. "When

Larry Blair is not in rhythm offensively, those weaknesses get really magnified. The magnifying glass was pretty strong tonight ? at about a power of 10."

Finally, with 7:43 left in the second half, Dunton snapped and drew a technical foul.

Then, the night went as it had been going all along. Charleston Southern's Chris Moore, who led the Bucs with 20 points, knocked down the two technical free throws. Liberty's Anthony Smith, who was fouled before Dunton drew the tech, missed his two free throws.

It seemed like the season had reached a low point.

"It's real bad right now," Blair said, speaking of the frustration level in the Liberty locker room. "We're as frustrated as we possibly can be right now. We're losing games we feel we should win."

Liberty's night was made even worse by Charleston Southern's offensive clumsiness. There was a possession early in the second half when Ferdinand Cain missed a wide-open layup. Later, Dwayne Jackson blew a gimme, and Trent Drafts cherry-picked the rebound, only to miss the tip-in. Charleston Southern (10-13, 5-7) managed to grab another offensive rebound before missing a 3-pointer.

Charleston Southern coach Barclay Radebaugh took a glass-is-half-full tack with the blown layups.

"You're executing well, and we're getting the shots we want," he said. "We just need to concentrate and hit them. It's really not a bad thing. That's easy to correct - layups. It's a lot easier than pushing your big guys to run."

The 6-foot-8 Drafts missed another wide-open layup later in the half, but Liberty couldn't take advantage of the miscues. Once Charleston Southern found its offense, the Flames were toast. The Bucs led by as many as 17 points as the Flames continued to melt.

Liberty drew within 48-40 after a Blair jumper with 3:48 left but got no closer. That Blair struggled so much (he finished with 12 points, more than 10 below his average) was a testament to Charleston Southern's level of preparation. The Bucs defended him as well as any team this season.

"We had a formula of what we wanted to do to try and stop him and our players executed that very well," Radebaugh said. "Larry Blair, if you're talking about the best players in mid-major college basketball, if he's not in the top five ? it doesn't take long to call roll."