If roundball is your blood, this is the place to discuss the Flames as they move into the Ritchie McKay era for the 2nd time.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke

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By R i
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#511907
Ill give feed back by way of Awards.

MVP - John Dawson is really the all star of this team. He is a leader and works extremely hard.
Biggest Surprise - Myo Baxter Bell . He has so much athleticism for his size, think Julius Peppers. I think he will start, and be all conference forward in the Big South.
Most Impressive - Brock Gardner , He runs and finishes and can shoot. Im sure it will take him a year to get familiar with the Pack Line, like all of the freshman.
Most Improved - Ryan Kemrite has changed his body a ton since last season. He is much more built, and I could see him playing as a forward.
MVC (most valuable coach) - Henry the strength coach, really thinks outside of the box, and has developed his own movement matrix. The guys love him, and he works them very hard.

Overall, I think the culture of the program is a winning one. On a side note, if you have not had a chance to see the practice facility, you really need to walk over there. It has to be top 10 in the country. Well Done LUADJEFF.
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By Cider Jim
Registration Days Posts
#511914
Saw both Jesse Sanders and Tomasz Gielo on campus today shooting around in LaHaye. :shock:
Last edited by Cider Jim on June 28th, 2016, 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By TDDance234
Registration Days Posts
#511915
flamehunter wrote:
Jonathan Carone wrote:Jesse was at the camp too.
That is awesome. Jesse could really be a great ambassador for the school.
I don't know if his playing career has starting to wind down overseas or not but I'm a bit surprised he hasn't been brought back in some kind of quality control position with a path to becoming an assistant yet.
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By BJWilliams
Registration Days Posts
#511921
Jesse I think still has some prime years left so I wouldn't rush him into coaching just yet.
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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#511923
He signed a contract in Germany recently. I think he is just in town working out.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#511928
R i wrote:Ill give feed back by way of Awards.

MVP - John Dawson is really the all star of this team. He is a leader and works extremely hard.
Biggest Surprise - Myo Baxter Bell . He has so much athleticism for his size, think Julius Peppers. I think he will start, and be all conference forward in the Big South.
Most Impressive - Brock Gardner , He runs and finishes and can shoot. Im sure it will take him a year to get familiar with the Pack Line, like all of the freshman.
Most Improved - Ryan Kemrite has changed his body a ton since last season. He is much more built, and I could see him playing as a forward.
MVC (most valuable coach) - Henry the strength coach, really thinks outside of the box, and has developed his own movement matrix. The guys love him, and he works them very hard.

Overall, I think the culture of the program is a winning one. On a side note, if you have not had a chance to see the practice facility, you really need to walk over there. It has to be top 10 in the country. Well Done LUADJEFF.
Side note on Henry Barrera, which confirms what you said about his value to the program After just one year, he has been promoted to the position of Director of Player Development What an asset to have essentially a 5th coach, who is not only one of the best in the world with basketball specific S&C and nutrition, but knows the game well enough to have won 3 state championships as a HS coach in Oregon

Since you obviously have seen the guys play, what are your thoughts on Xzavier Barmore
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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#511931
I saw mostly work outs, and he was average in athleticism and skill, in limited time I watched.

I think where he may contribute most to the team, is his basketball awareness and IQ.
By FlameFan11
Posts
#512061
Thanks for the feedback R i! Love to hear Dawson taking on more of a leadership role. Should be his team these next two years and then Gardner can step in with Cuffee/Newton following. Leadership is so underrated and valuable to success. Great to hear Myo is looking good. Very unique style of player for sure with his body and skill set. Ryan adding bulk is good so he can play the 4 a little more with Gardner at the 3.

So of the freshman you saw, Gardner looks to be the primary impact player? Any chance to see Josiah Talbert or to see Ray Chen or Pacheco-Ortiz? Most likely those two competing with Barmore for point guard minutes. I know it is early and a long way to go.

Cabbil, Dawson, Gardner, Homesley and Baxter-Bell with big minutes from Kemrite, Reid, Talbert bros and one of Barmore/Chen/Pacheco-Ortiz. Most likely rotation this season?
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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#512062
Chen and Pacheco-Ortiz are both still playing with National Teams, and Gardner looked the most impressive of the Freshman for sure. I believe Brendan will Red Shirt. This could be Dawson's last year with the team.
By FlameFan11
Posts
#512063
Oh yeah. I forgot those guys are not here yet. I know it may be wishful thinking but I hope in this new era of Coach McKay, we will be able to get guys to stay all 4 years. I know Dawson will be able to grad transfer to a bigger program and Gardner will have bigger options as well. Just would love to see guys stay so we can see a run of NCAA tourney trips and maybe win a NCAA game.
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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#512080
Someone smarter about eligibility can inform us about Dawson's situation. I think its his last year playing college hoops.
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By BJWilliams
Registration Days Posts
#512088
He's listed as a R-Junior on the roster for 2016-17 so he will have the option of playing out his r-senior year (regardless of which uniform he is wearing) or he can move on.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#512107
Dawson has 2 full years of eligibility, but will likely have the option of being a graduate transfer after this year Our best bet to keep him around is to put ourselves in a position where we look like a tournament team going in to 2018 Best way to do that is to go this year
By FlameFan11
Posts
#512268
I agree oldflame. Making a run to the NCAA would definitely be incentive to come back and try to get a win in the tourney. Not sure if the team can get it done this season but we will have a chance. If we get really close and don't make it, it could be a reason to come back one final season to make the big dance. Hopefully we will see the core of this group for the next two seasons.

Alan York is doing sit down interviews with the incoming freshman. They posted the video of him with Xzavier Barmore. Here is the link to find the video.

http://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cfm ... 4&TeamID=6
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#512478
Add Alex McLain's name to the list of former players who have found their way to the mountain this summer Nice interview with Nick

https://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cf ... 21&TeamID=

Coolest part for me is near the end when Nick asks about the role his faith has played and he talks about how he was not a Christian when he came to LU, and it was Brad Soucie who led him to Christ Sent chills down my spine Hearing him talk now, you can tell "it took"
Last edited by olldflame on July 5th, 2016, 6:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#512552
That was a really, really good interview with Alex. Like Rashad, Alex isn't the same dude I went to school with. It's fun to see how they've grown up and turned into everything we would want in an alum.
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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#512597
Jonathan Carone wrote: Like Rashad, Alex isn't the same dude I went to school with.
Same
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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#513126
olldflame wrote: I think Brock will have the biggest impact of any of our newcomers and likely will start

Play Basketball Same
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By R i
Registration Days Posts
#513128
R i wrote:Someone smarter about eligibility can inform us about Dawson's situation. I think its his last year playing college hoops.

FWIW - He is now listed as a R-Senior. I am guessing some type of appeal did not go as planned.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#513133
R i wrote:
R i wrote:Someone smarter about eligibility can inform us about Dawson's situation. I think its his last year playing college hoops.

FWIW - He is now listed as a R-Senior. I am guessing some type of appeal did not go as planned.
That is bizarre He played a full year as a Freshman and first semester as a Soph at Marquette, then sat the second semester as a soph and first as a JR at LU before playing last Spring That is 4 semesters For him to have only one year remaining, the NCAA would have had to have counted a full year against him for both last year and the year before, when he only played one semester each year If this is how they are going to handle mid year transfers, they will effectively end them

If anyone can clarify this either by an explaination of the rules or a source with the team, I would be really interested to know what is going on It makes absolutely no sense to me that he would be classified as a R-Sr
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