[ballcoach15]

Reference to post above about "nice find", I read the News & Advance at 5:30 this morning. I did not get on this website until and hour or 2 later, and I never read newspaper links on website. I like to read hard copy newspaper.

With that out of the way, even though we are not very good, we need to play a tougher schedule, to some degree. We have too many cupcakes on schedule.

[Purple Haize]

Reference to post above about "nice find", I read the News & Advance at 5:30 this morning. I did not get on this website until and hour or 2 later, and I never read newspaper links on website. I like to read hard copy newspaper.

With that out of the way, even though we are not very good, we need to play a tougher schedule, to some degree. We have too many cupcakes on schedule.

Why? So we can lose even MORE games? UNC-W is a good squad for us to play. Really, ANY D1 school is good for us to play. Unless you are advocating we lose even more games by greater margins to better teams

[ballcoach15]

My memory isn't good, but UNC-W might be the best team we've played. At least that's a school I have heard of.

[PAmedic]

you've never heard of Delaware, Virginia Tech, Miami (OH) or Furman?

[-army56mike-]

Weak schedules won't help us at all. Even if we win, it doesn't really prepare us for tough competition. There needs to be balance in a schedule. We should play at least one team from the ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, and maybe a couple others each season. Our kids will learn what it takes to play stiff competition, even if they lose. They will learn how hard, and the effort it takes, to beat some top teams. It will also get the Liberty name out in the public some more. We should never schedule a D2 or NAIA team unless it is an exhibition game in the preseason. Getting back to a balanced schedule, you need a few cupcake games as well. All the big programs do this. The problem is, in the state of our program, there are no cupcake games. We are the cupcake. So we need to continue to schedule some of the lower ranked D1 BB teams OOC, but strategically. It's not like we have any juggernauts on our conference schedule anyway.

[ATrain]

you've never heard of Delaware, Virginia Tech, Miami (OH) or Furman?

Hey now, not everyone knows that VT actually does put people on the basketball court...

And Army, we did play a team from the ACC: VT.

[jcmanson]

Scheduling is the least of our concerns.

[bluejacket]

Scheduling is the least of our concerns.

This.

[ATrain]

Scheduling is close to irrelevant at our level. The Big South is never going to be a 2 bid league. So schedule whatever you want I guess, but you have to win those 3-4 games at the end of the season.

IF the big schools (Liberty, Coastal, Radford and Winthrop) could get their acts together, we could be a two-bid league. However, as others have said...scheduling is the LEAST of our concerns right now.

[ballcoach15]

Good post above army56mike.

I saw in paper this morning that our next 2 games are with 2 schools that I believe are below NAIA level. We should never play a non D1 school.

[Purple Haize]

Good post above army56mike.

I saw in paper this morning that our next 2 games are with 2 schools that I believe are below NAIA level. We should never play a non D1 school.

Umm PRINCETON is a pretty successful D1 school
Cincinnati Christian is NAIA
Central Penn I believe is sub NAIA which I agree makes no sense. We'd be better off playing VUL

[Chris Lang]

This is the story ballcoach is referencing:

http://www.newsadvance.com/sports/liber ... 34de8.html

[flameshaw]

When does baseball start?

[TIMSCAR20]

Chances we can get Kevin Keattes back to Lynchburg?

I think he would consider it. I haven't asked him about it because I don't talk to coaches about jobs that are still filled and coaches don't like to talk about other guys' jobs. Don't underestimate the chance to coach at home. Also Liberty could afford to pay him very very well!

[Chris Lang]

Not unless Liberty can get in a better conference. He's going to get UNCW turned and turned quickly, and Liberty would simply be too much of a step down at that point. He'll be at a power 5 within the next five years.

He does love Lynchburg, though, as he says in the story I'm running on him for Sunday.

[PAFlame]

I want to believe this team will get better or has the heart to push through every night regardless if Coach Layer is holding them back or not. I graduated from Liberty in 2013 (the fluke NCAA run) and it seems from my freshmen year on, this team is literally getting worse each year. There is no other way to put it, we are one of the worst teams in DI at the current venture. I want Layer to succeed but I can't help but feel he's not getting it done.

[-army56mike-]

Scheduling is the least of our concerns.

This.

I would disagree somewhat. Scheduling isn't as big a concern as winning, but it does make a difference. Why can't we get more than 1,000ish people to a home game? That is WAY embarrassing for LU. 1) The home team is not good. 2)The visiting team generates no level of interest or excitement. Look at other programs. The biggest crowds around the country (regardless of a winning/losing program) come when fans are interested and excited about who you are playing. And, to the contrary, the smallest crowds are when they play "no name schools." I thought Liberty wanted to market itself as a national university. If so it needs to schedule that way. It appears obvious the problem within the men's BB program is systemic, the issues branch out in several directions. I will contend that building a better schedule is one way to restore the men's basketball program to health. Better teams is good for players and fans. It better serves the players by forcing them to face stronger competition and play harder. It provides the fans with some anticipation and excitement. I understand that scheduling isn't the main concern, but it certainly isn't the least either.

[jcmanson]

The only way to restore the men's program to health is to get a new coach.

[flamehunter]

If Duke came to play here we would have a big crowd. Why? Because people want to see Duke, not LU. That is not going to help the program. Get a good team established that is playing well, then worry about the schedule. That won't happen in the current situation. Change is needed.

[bluejacket]

I want to believe this team will get better or has the heart to push through every night regardless if Coach Layer is holding them back or not. I graduated from Liberty in 2013 (the fluke NCAA run) and it seems from my freshmen year on, this team is literally getting worse each year. There is no other way to put it, we are one of the worst teams in DI at the current venture. I want Layer to succeed but I can't help but feel he's not getting it done.

Welcome!

[bluejacket]

The only way to restore the men's program to health is to get a new coach.

[olldflame]

Let's not pronounce Kevin Keatts a genius just yet. He is considered a hot commodity based primarily on the fact that he did really well at Hargrave with a lot of high level talent. (The year after he left Hargrave went 38-1 under new coach AW Hamilton). He leveraged that into a great connection with the Pitinos. He has a 5-3 record as a college head coach, and just had to go OT to win at home against the #351 RPI team, who were playing without their best player and with their PG in foul trouble the whole game. Not saying he won't win a lot of games in the future, but it's really premature to declare him as the next Shaka Smart.

[jcmanson]

He's also got his team competitive with any team in the country. This same team lost 64 games over the past 3 years. I don't think anyone's declaring him the next Shaka Smart, but we would like to have him leading our program.

[jcmanson]

I want to believe this team will get better or has the heart to push through every night regardless if Coach Layer is holding them back or not. I graduated from Liberty in 2013 (the fluke NCAA run) and it seems from my freshmen year on, this team is literally getting worse each year. There is no other way to put it, we are one of the worst teams in DI at the current venture. I want Layer to succeed but I can't help but feel he's not getting it done.

Welcome to the board