[flameshaw]

Congrats on the win...Evan played big for you guys tonight.

Thanks as always for the class you exhibit here and for your insight into the BSC.

[olldflame]

I think you will find you are all alone out there on this one Keenan. Noone cares how we measure up in the state. All that matters is how we measure up in the Big South, and we're standing pretty tall right now.

[Keenan]

Who cares where we are in the state right now? We're not in the CAA. We don't claim to be in the CAA. We know we're not on the CAA level.

After Curry/McKay left we had to start almost from scratch. In a year and a half we've gotten to the point where we can beat the top half of our league at home and play very competitively against teams that are better than us. In a few years we'll hopefully be judging ourselves against the CAA teams in-state, but we're not there yet.

You need to realize where our program is and change your expectations up a little bit. We'll get there, and I honestly believe Layer can get us there, but it takes time.

but we aspire to be CAA, no? We can't clamor for CAA in football and praise the Big South in basketball.

[SuperJon]

Wanting to be CAA and thinking we're there in basketball are two completely different things.

Your line of thinking in "seeing how we match up to in state teams" is basically the equivalent of saying we need to play VT in football to see where we match up in state. The CAA is a different level than us. We have to become Big South good before we worry about being CAA good.

[Sly Fox]

Where is Realist to remind us of our brush with royalty tonight?



Nice win. We haven't been receiving quality performances from the same players on a consistent basis ... but somebody seems to step up inside & out the past few games. Well done.

[Cider Jim]

Coach Layer--in only one year and 2 Big South games this year--has accomplished something that NO OTHER Liberty coach has done in the HISTORY of the program: started the season going 2-0 in the Big South Conference!

Yea, beating Winthrop in snowy Lynchburg made it feel like CHRISTMAS tonight.

[Stevev]

Im with Keenan on this one. The game vs George Mason is big. Some of our better teams in the past have competed and beaten some of the better teams in the CAA such as VCU, JMU, GMU, and Richmond and this goes back to the Jeff Meyer era. It would be nice to see how we stack up vs one of the better teams in the CAA. The last 2 wins were big but the pressure was on LU to win at home and I thought that we beat some fairly good teams in Winthrop and Presby.

[olldflame]

Noone is praising the Big South. Where did you get that? It's the conference we are in, and the only one we need to succeed in right now. Do a lot of us think it would be great if we could move to the CAA? Sure. If and when that happens it will be importaant that we beat George Mason. Til then its a good opportunity for our guys to compete against a quality opponent and get better.

[SuperJon]

I was the one that said the Big South was better this year and it is.

If we were Winthrop, or Coastal this year, or Radford last year, or a team that finished in the top 3 in the Big South then yes, I would expect us to compete with the upper teams in the CAA. Until we can finish top 3 in our league though, I don't expect us to go into Colonial teams' arenas and win. Those games don't matter to me.

[olldflame]

Im with Keenan on this one. The game vs George Mason is big. Some of our better teams in the past have competed and beaten some of the better teams in the CAA such as VCU, JMU, GMU, and Richmond and this goes back to the Jeff Meyer era. It would be nice to see how we stack up vs one of the better teams in the CAA. The last 2 wins were big but the pressure was on LU to win at home and I thought that we beat some fairly good teams in Winthrop and Presby.

You contradicted yourself in the same paragraph! First you say the game is "big" and then you say it would be "nice" to see how we "stack up"? That doesn't sound too big to me.

[olldflame]

OK, I see what he meant by that now. Sure the BSC is improved, but certainly not on a level with the CAA as a conference.

[jenkins]

every game on the schedule is important. you want to win them all, and especially defend your home court. I think the point you guys are making is that this game will have no bearing on our postseason hopes, which is mroe than likely true unless it's the CII or whatever, if that's even still goin on. It would be nice to earn a 2-2 split in the 4 game series with them as well with all the chaos we've had in that 4 years. I think it's a great way to validate what this team has been building. Same with the William and Mary game, they appear to be a bit down this year though.

[Stevev]

We should definately beat William and Mary this year.

I was disppointed with the attendence figure on tonights game. Around 1,700. Are the students gone on Christmas break or something. You would have thought that we draw around 4K plus I mean we are playing last years conference champs.

[Rooster Cogburn]

It was a great game to be at tonight. The scary part is this team has a ways to grow this year and I believe they will be a lot better come tourney time. I wish Baird had not have gotten hurt.

[Cider Jim]

Very good student turnout, and they were loud in the second half, even chanting "Ev-an Gor-dan!" The difference was the Baptist side, the majority of whom stayed home because of a few snow flakes.

[bigsmooth]

look at the positives. 2-0 in big south play first LU team to do that ....even though the league has improved we are showing we can play with the teams that are supposed to be better than us. do we have work to do?? oh yes...but i love seeing how this team is growing and gettting better each game. are the mason and w&m games important for state credibility? sure..you want to win those, but even if we lose and we play well it will bode well for the team later in big south play. am i sold on this team yet? no, but im enjoying what i see so far and if we can get really consistent from the perimeter, then i like our chances. crowd was small tonight but the studsents were loud....they did a great job, and that student who dances in the aisles is entertaining.

[TIMSCAR20]

Turned the game on early and got to hear Tim and Ray working on their pregame intro. In between takes Scar says, "Winthrop's good. Liberty's young. Let's play."

Wow that went over the air!?! Were you watching online? The told us to condence our opening so that was my take LOL. I always watch what I say when I am mic'd because you just never know. Too funny.

[Sly Fox]

Ask ESPN's Robert Flores about open mics. Of course that ultimately led to him landing the gig in Bristol so sometimes things work out anyway.



It was good to have a return of Scarvision.

[From the class of 09]

Yeah I don't really know what to do with some of these negative comments but I'm pretty excited with being 2-0 in the BSC. Clearly we aren't playing perfect ball but the best part is that we are 2-0 and not playing to our full potential. I'm sure we may lose a game again this year so their will be time for negative comments but for now I'm going to enjoy being perfect in Big South play

[Elicoolbreeze]

I am not going to say Liberty is the best team in the conference just yet but they are arguably one of the top four. What this team is doing on the boards in particular the offensive boards is incredible. I don't recall a better rebounding team than this one. They are so dominant that it will become a topic of conversation especially because they are so small in stature. If Liberty continues to win the rebounding war by 8 - 10 rebounds a game it becomes very difficult to lose. What is awesome is that this team is young and is only getting better every day. I am looking forward to seeing how the season unfolds.

[ToTheLeft]

Why do we need to stack up against the state? We don't recruit VA anyways, we recruit Texas, NC, and Florida, with some Arizona and other states mixed in. It's always nice to win, and I don't like to lose, but this isn't really that big of a deal of a game.

Layer coaches different in conference and out of conference, anyways. Look at sub patterns, look at how often he changes defense. It's totally different. He plays to learn and compete OOC, and he plays to win in conference. I don't mind that, either. But expect to see Sommy and Chene and Asaad and Hoyt and Carter (if he's back off suspension) more than usual, and more switches in defense. It's just what he does, and we reaped the benefits tonight. Having the full court press ready helped us a lot at the end of the game.

[Realist]

Congrats on the win, Gordon really stepped up and played well and Minaya looks much better than last year.

I really just wish WU could play a game at full strength. We'll get Corbin back next game but I have a feeling Reggie will be sitting out for a few games now to rest that ankle. Think our club is pretty darn good but until we see a complete picture it's hard to tell.

I think LU will be upper middle and with luck/progression maybe upper at the end of the season.

[Cider Jim]

that student who dances in the aisles is entertaining.

That's one of my Honors students and Quiz Bowl players--James D. Black--and we're also FB friends. On Thursday, he was wearing a long sleeve yellow shirt, so he stood out even more. We haven't had a student that entertaining since the dancing cow bell guy or the guy who used to purposely fall down the stairs every game, but honestly James is more fun to watch that even the old cow bell guy, but you can probably only see him from the Baptist side.

To get the students into it, they should flash his image up on the big screen, because he dances his heart out during every time out--in sort of a Saturday Night Fever/Flash Dance style.

On a non-dancing note, here's a great stat from LibertyFlames.com:

Gordon posted a career-high 26 points and five steals, while also chipping in seven rebounds and five assists. The Indianapolis native's performance marks the first time a Liberty player has posted at least 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals since...[darenotsayhisname] accomplished the feat in his Liberty debut against Montreat on Nov. 14, 2008

.
http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm? ... ewsID=6261

[flamehunter]

On Thursday, he was wearing a long sleeze yellow shirt, so he stood out even more.

I would love to see a picture!

[olldflame]

Here is the article from the AD website:

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm? ... ewsID=6261

Nice audio interview with Evan as well as Layer. Evan talks about how his brother and dad helped him to work through his early offensive struggles. Layer says Evan has been playing well all year even though he was not shooting well.