[flameshaw]

He definitely made the right choice by sitting Marshall instead of Sanders. I think Retic running the point has made a difference in the last couple of games. Also if we win on Saturday the momentum might take us on another ride through the big south tourney.

Wouldn't hold my breath. Lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place. I would be happy to be wrong, but don't see it happening. My guess is that we will win zero or one.

[Bigsouthking]

My 2 cents on what Lang & PH are discussing about Retic getting the start, Why not make that change after losing 4 in a row?? Why wait til after the 5th or 6th loss to make a move?? Bad timing IMO

The 2nd half of Furman proved Retic can play.

If LU keeps scoring they WILL make a run. Cause they have always been decent defensively and they rebound well. BUT winning 7 in a row is a stretch.

[BJWilliams]

Just my view, but I think it took a few games to really pinpoint where the problem lay (lie?) and when DL got an idea of where the problem came from he was able to address it properly. I wont say that if Retic had ben switched in that we don't lose any of those games, but the streak isn't as big a story as it has become.

[LUalum12]

Look what happened last year. Anything is possible and if UVA can win 12 in a row in the ACC LU can win 7 straight in the big south. Dream big !!!!!

[VAGolf]

Just my view, but I think it took a few games to really pinpoint where the problem lay (lie?) and when DL got an idea of where the problem came from he was able to address it properly. I wont say that if Retic had ben switched in that we don't lose any of those games, but the streak isn't as big a story as it has become.

If it took him that long to figure it out, than that's a problem. I actually like Retic and have all season. And I'm glad that we've finally won a couple of games, but seriously, let's not pretend like we're all the sudden a middle of the pack team. We beat Campbell, who has been awful for several weeks now, and we beat Longwood, who is a Big South bottom-dweller. All I'm saying is, let's not forget that we are still one of the worst teams in the conference. IF, and that's a big if, we beat Radford on Saturday, I'll be slightly impressed. I won't get excited, and I still will think that we're getting bounced in the first or second round of the tourney.

[BJWilliams]

I was focusing on the streak mostly when I was talking about it taking a few games VAGolf

[SuperJon]

Here's the thing though: we had something like ten games that came down to the last minute. A few of those go different and we are a .500 ball club. We aren't gonna be world beaters but we weren't getting blown out this year.

[TIMSCAR20]

Given what I have seen of this team and seeing every team in the Big South play multiple games and really analysing this league, I can honestly say, as I did last year this time, that it would NOT surprise me if they win it all in Myrtle. Not saying they will do it but they certainly can. No doubt in my mind. Depending on the matchup/brackets I think things could line up nicely. Especially if Campbell loses tonight and Liberty gets a 4 seed with a win tomorrow over Radford.

[VAGolf]

Here's the thing though: we had something like ten games that came down to the last minute. A few of those go different and we are a .500 ball club. We aren't gonna be world beaters but we weren't getting blown out this year.

Exactly. When you do that a few times throughout the season, that's one thing. But when a majority of your games are decided in the last minute, and you lose 100% of those games, that is a problem. And just because we've beaten Campbell and Longwood doesn't mean that Layer has found a fix. It means he's found a way to beat two of the worst teams in the conference.

We have TWO total wins this year that are merely decent wins, as in the team that we beat wasn't absolutely terrible. Those wins are against Hampton and VMI. Outside of those two games, this season has been a complete disaster.

[Purple Haize]

Given what I have seen of this team and seeing every team in the Big South play multiple games and really analysing this league, I can honestly say, as I did last year this time, that it would NOT surprise me if they win it all in Myrtle. Not saying they will do it but they certainly can. No doubt in my mind. Depending on the matchup/brackets I think things could line up nicely. Especially if Campbell loses tonight and Liberty gets a 4 seed with a win tomorrow over Radford.

If if's and can/ were pots and pans the world would be a big kitchen!
I don't think we have a chance. This teams psyche is so fragile and I'm just waiting for this team to revert back to the team we had the first 20+ games. We have yet to prove we can take a punch from a quality team and respond.

[Chris Lang]

My 2 cents on what Lang & PH are discussing about Retic getting the start, Why not make that change after losing 4 in a row?? Why wait til after the 5th or 6th loss to make a move?? Bad timing IMO

That's why I asked that very question after the Longwood game. He said maybe he should have made the move a few games earlier. But as we've discussed, I think it was a combination of Joe not being quite ready and trying to see if Davon would work his way out of the funk that contributed to the late switch.

[SuperJon]

Here's the thing though: we had something like ten games that came down to the last minute. A few of those go different and we are a .500 ball club. We aren't gonna be world beaters but we weren't getting blown out this year.

Exactly. When you do that a few times throughout the season, that's one thing. But when a majority of your games are decided in the last minute, and you lose 100% of those games, that is a problem. And just because we've beaten Campbell and Longwood doesn't mean that Layer has found a fix. It means he's found a way to beat two of the worst teams in the conference.

We have TWO total wins this year that are merely decent wins, as in the team that we beat wasn't absolutely terrible. Those wins are against Hampton and VMI. Outside of those two games, this season has been a complete disaster.

I'm not disagreeing with that. What I'm saying is that we've been really close to not being a disaster. If we've figured things out, we could make a run.

[VAGolf]

Either you are a disaster, or you're not. There isn't really any middle ground, especially with one game left in the season.

All I'm saying is that one week ago, we're all ready to fire the coach (something that I still think should be done at the end of the season), but then after two wins against crap teams, everyone is acting as if we'll make another tourney run.

What is interesting is that most of you thought we would win around 15-20 games, go check out the "How many wins" thread. I told all of you that it would be around 10. If you take away the non-D1 opponents, we've won 8 games. 8. Why are we acting like this is almost not a disaster? 18 wins was your expectation and we don't even have half of that.

[TIMSCAR20]

Golf, I don't think ANYONE is saying the season was successful. My only point is that they are STILL good enough to win it all in my opinion. Usually the season is an indicator of which teams are better in general than the rest of the conference. In the Big South this season the margin between victory and defeat for almost every team on a given night has been slim. Next week there are probaby 8 teams that are good enough to win it all. I think Liberty is one of them. In years past (recently and historically) you could look at the tournament and say it is probably going to be one of about 3 teams that can win it. When Winthrop was going nearly unchallenged it was obvious that they would probably win the tournament too. The 2 years Asheville was hosting we all knew it would be tough to beat them on their floor and for 2 years in a row, they were the best team in the regular season and won it all.

I'm curious to see which team or teams in the Big South you guys think will be in the finals or win it all. I bet we would have 25 different combinations of teams or more if we took a survey. There are no clear cut, overpowering teams in the Big South this season. As SJ so accurately put it earlier, this team has been close to winning 10-13 games that simply didn't go their way. In a one and done situation Liberty is playing with house money because few are saying they can do it. All I am saying is that you can count me as one that believes they CAN do it again. That is not my fandom, or my loyalty to Liberty, my alma mater and the place where I get paid for part of the year. I am speaking as an Analyst of College Basketball.

[SuperJon]

Why are we acting like this is almost not a disaster?

Because it almost hasn't been. Unfortunately it actually has been a disaster, but what I'm saying is that we haven't been that far away from getting to 15 wins. If we win half the games we had a lead in, we're at 15 wins right now. We didn't win those games, but we were close. If this change in lineup is what was needed to get those wins, there's no reason to think that we can't win them next weekend. That doesn't mean we will, but it certainly shows that we can.

[g-webb1994]

Given what I have seen of this team and seeing every team in the Big South play multiple games and really analysing this league, I can honestly say, as I did last year this time, that it would NOT surprise me if they win it all in Myrtle. Not saying they will do it but they certainly can. No doubt in my mind. Depending on the matchup/brackets I think things could line up nicely. Especially if Campbell loses tonight and Liberty gets a 4 seed with a win tomorrow over Radford.

Don't know SCAR....I think CSU is going to be a tough out from that 5 seed, especially if they get Nimley back healthy.

[VAGolf]

Why are we acting like this is almost not a disaster?

Because it almost hasn't been. Unfortunately it actually has been a disaster, but what I'm saying is that we haven't been that far away from getting to 15 wins. If we win half the games we had a lead in, we're at 15 wins right now. We didn't win those games, but we were close. If this change in lineup is what was needed to get those wins, there's no reason to think that we can't win them next weekend. That doesn't mean we will, but it certainly shows that we can.

You are completely missing my point. It almost being a disaster is still a disaster. Part of basketball is closing teams out, so, I don't care how close you are to beating someone. A bunch of close losses mean nothing to me, they're still a loss. And the problem IS the fact that those games were close, and we came up short every single time. Closing games out is a mentality and that mentality hasn't been there. My point is that the same ones who were saying that we would win 15 to 20 games at the start of the year, all of the sudden, have this new-found confidence after wins against Campbell and Longwood. Yet the ones who were realistic about our expectations at the start of the year, are the same ones who aren't changing their minds after a couple of wins against poor teams.

I said at the start of the year that we would not win 10 games, and we've only won 8 (D1 games). I stand by that prediction because I know what this team actually is, versus the delusion that some of you had after a miracle tourney run. We aren't making that same run this year. Joe Retic is probably our most gifted player, but he isn't a big enough bandage to cover up the rest of the bleeding on this team.

[BJWilliams]

I think youre missing Jon's point but I'll defer to him to explain how.

[VAGolf]

I think youre missing Jon's point but I'll defer to him to explain how.

That would serve you well. Thanks for the heads up!

[Chris Lang]

Woodhouse is transferring out. Heard from someone back in January that this was a strong possibility.