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

By Houston05
Posts
#554572
Hello everyone, If you couldn't guess by the user name it is the white homeschooler from Houston not named Sanders . Things have settled down a little bit for me since my move to Miami, and I wanted to be able to keep in touch with my school and program. I wanted to be apart of the forum and throw my opinions around as well since I care for the this school and the basketball program. I wanted to do an AMA (ask me anything for the Reddit people), give people a chance to ask me about my time at Liberty since I survived two coaching staffs and 50 teammates and have had the chance to watch the university grow rapidly. Just to get the ball rolling here if anyone wants to ask here are a few things from me:
1). I loved playing Kevin Vannata as UNCA. That dude is a competitor and a great dude away from the court.
2). Ed Polite was the best player last year. Ed is a monster, but as a side note he is genuinely nice on and off the floor. Also a lot of respect for Coach Jones at Radford. He did something so incredibly nice at Big South media day I'll never forget it.
3). You can argue about this, but Saah Nimley was the best player in my time in the Big South. He was unreal to watch. Maybe John Brown but I think Scottie is going to be way better than him.
4). I would not be what I am today if Joel Vanderpol didn't take me under his wing my redshirt year. He showed me what it meant to be a leader and stand up guy.
5). My redshirt year the walk on freshman who came in with me, Devon Pekas, he aced the theology classes at Liberty. The advisers told him maybe like three people in the entire school had done that before. Still don't know how he did it.

Well hopefully people have some questions. So shoot away.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#554578
Houston05 wrote:Hello everyone, If you couldn't guess by the user name it is the white homeschooler from Houston not named Sanders . Things have settled down a little bit for me since my move to Miami, and I wanted to be able to keep in touch with my school and program. I wanted to be apart of the forum and throw my opinions around as well since I care for the this school and the basketball program. I wanted to do an AMA (ask me anything for the Reddit people), give people a chance to ask me about my time at Liberty since I survived two coaching staffs and 50 teammates and have had the chance to watch the university grow rapidly. Just to get the ball rolling here if anyone wants to ask here are a few things from me:
1). I loved playing Kevin Vannata as UNCA. That dude is a competitor and a great dude away from the court.
2). Ed Polite was the best player last year. Ed is a monster, but as a side note he is genuinely nice on and off the floor. Also a lot of respect for Coach Jones at Radford. He did something so incredibly nice at Big South media day I'll never forget it.
3). You can argue about this, but Saah Nimley was the best player in my time in the Big South. He was unreal to watch. Maybe John Brown but I think Scottie is going to be way better than him.
4). I would not be what I am today if Joel Vanderpol didn't take me under his wing my redshirt year. He showed me what it meant to be a leader and stand up guy.
5). My redshirt year the walk on freshman who came in with me, Devon Pekas, he aced the theology classes at Liberty. The advisers told him maybe like three people in the entire school had done that before. Still don't know how he did it.

Well hopefully people have some questions. So shoot away.
:welcome Really looking forward to your input! JVP posts here occasionally, and SCAR used to be a regular, but I think that has been the extent of it as far as MBB alum are concerned. I´m a bit of a koolade drinker, but I think we are on the verge of some great things. One or 2 breakthrough recruits could put us over the top. Thought we might get one with Kyler Edwards this year, but when it all played out it looks like he was never really that interested. Totally agree on Nimley. That little guy was a headache. Hoping Darius McGhee can give us some of that kind of Juice.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#554586
What do you think we can expect to see from Brendan Newton this year, and do you think Ritchie will go much with a bigger lineup with Brendan or Blake Preston in the post?
By Houston05
Posts
#554590
To JK37 - I think a big difference is in the type of confidence instilled in the players. It might be a difference of style but McKay gives alot of freedom on offense. Less restrictive + he tells you constantly what he thinks you do well = more confidence. Now if you are wild and make bad plays... your leash gets shorter. For me personally, Layer was an incredible man. He was a great example of a christian man, but the relationships I have with the current staff are above and beyond then I would say the vast majorities of programs in college. They really do care about the person before the player. Coach Soucie is officiating my wedding because of the amount he poured into me. I can go for hours on how top to bottom they truly want whats best for you.

To Baldspot1 - I am really excited cause I moved to Miami and now we play teams in Florida! I'll be at the first FGCU game for sure! I think we will do really well (staying healthy).. We have excellent pieces and Keenan will be a much better #5 than me so upgraded across the board. We will be really balanced.. Scottie is an animal in the gym so he is getting better, Keegan and Cuff one year older, Caleb will be completely healthy so he will be geared up... other pieces like the new guys make us deeper too. Also style of play as the pack is a defense that if you have never played against it.. it will throw you out of your game. That being said ASUN has high powered offense so it will be some good games for sure.
By Houston05
Posts
#554591
oldflame wrote:What do you think we can expect to see from Brendan Newton this year, and do you think Ritchie will go much with a bigger lineup with Brendan or Blake Preston in the post?
If Brendan beasts on the glass and can guard ball screens he will play. Mostly if he can give quick spurts of the rebounding on both ends he will make an impact and be much needed. Thanks to Hen he moves really well for someone his size so if he can sustain the spurts he will play.
By JVP21
Posts
#554596
Houston05 wrote:Hello everyone, If you couldn't guess by the user name it is the white homeschooler from Houston not named Sanders . Things have settled down a little bit for me since my move to Miami, and I wanted to be able to keep in touch with my school and program. I wanted to be apart of the forum and throw my opinions around as well since I care for the this school and the basketball program. I wanted to do an AMA (ask me anything for the Reddit people), give people a chance to ask me about my time at Liberty since I survived two coaching staffs and 50 teammates and have had the chance to watch the university grow rapidly. Just to get the ball rolling here if anyone wants to ask here are a few things from me:
1). I loved playing Kevin Vannata as UNCA. That dude is a competitor and a great dude away from the court.
2). Ed Polite was the best player last year. Ed is a monster, but as a side note he is genuinely nice on and off the floor. Also a lot of respect for Coach Jones at Radford. He did something so incredibly nice at Big South media day I'll never forget it.
3). You can argue about this, but Saah Nimley was the best player in my time in the Big South. He was unreal to watch. Maybe John Brown but I think Scottie is going to be way better than him.
4). I would not be what I am today if Joel Vanderpol didn't take me under his wing my redshirt year. He showed me what it meant to be a leader and stand up guy.
5). My redshirt year the walk on freshman who came in with me, Devon Pekas, he aced the theology classes at Liberty. The advisers told him maybe like three people in the entire school had done that before. Still don't know how he did it.

Well hopefully people have some questions. So shoot away.
Ryan Kemrite was a class act and one of my favorite “young guys” to spend time with. Tyler Baker paid it forward to me and I tried to look out for Kemrite the way Tyler did for me.
Saah Nimley was absolutely one of the best players we played against, and now a good buddy I play with one Atlanta.
Scottie is an absolute beast. I was not kidding when I tweeted last year that I am glad I didn’t have to play against him in practice.

Essentially I didn’t add anything to what Kem said, but it’s nice to have some back and forth in a public forum.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#554606
Houston05 wrote:
oldflame wrote:What do you think we can expect to see from Brendan Newton this year, and do you think Ritchie will go much with a bigger lineup with Brendan or Blake Preston in the post?
If Brendan beasts on the glass and can guard ball screens he will play. Mostly if he can give quick spurts of the rebounding on both ends he will make an impact and be much needed. Thanks to Hen he moves really well for someone his size so if he can sustain the spurts he will play.
I´m pretty confident he will rebound. Guarding the ball screen is a tougher challenge. I can think of at least one NBA Hall of Fame center who never really mastered it.
User avatar
By Sly Fox
Registration Days Posts
#554611
Love having former players come by the board and the quick responses. You mentioned the difficulty in adjusting to the Pack Line. But obviously your opportunities offensively soared when it was installed. Are the two connected or was it just Ritchie's notorious green lights for certain shooters?

PS - I hear Miami is a poor man's Conroe. Don't shatter my illusions of the 9-3-6.
By Houston05
Posts
#554634
oldflame wrote:What do you think we can expect to see from Brendan Newton this year, and do you think Ritchie will go much with a bigger lineup with Brendan or Blake Preston in the post?
Coach loves mismatches on the offensive end, so he loves small ball because the team defense we play protects the smaller player, but allows us to exploit on offense. There would have to be a huge advantage for him to play big as our bigs would have to guard smalls which is not easy for bigs to do, which is why being versatile is important in today's game. You see that on every level now i.e. the warriors with Draymond.
By Houston05
Posts
#554636
Sly Fox wrote:Love having former players come by the board and the quick responses. You mentioned the difficulty in adjusting to the Pack Line. But obviously your opportunities offensively soared when it was installed. Are the two connected or was it just Ritchie's notorious green lights for certain shooters?

PS - I hear Miami is a poor man's Conroe. Don't shatter my illusions of the 9-3-6.
Haha! Nothing will replace the 936 and all the BBQ and Tex Mex it has! Miami is amazing.. Cuban food is a different animal and the café con leche is awesome. Same muggy weather but more Palm trees.
My opportunities with the pack line went up because it's a thinking man's defense and I could see stuff happening. Being able to play the 4 helped because it created a problem for the defense on who would guard me. My job varied on offense and sometimes it was to space and open up driving lanes because I wasn't going to get a lot of room to shoot. What others teams started to do was put a guard on me and place a big on Georgie or Keegan. But still that's mismatches for others and I was willing to play my role to try and get a good shot. I have no inside information but Keenan will be a much better/more athletic version of me at the 4. Then Caleb can use length at the wing and all of a sudden our defense is really long and athletic.
User avatar
By Cider Jim
Registration Days Posts
#554663
I believe in your career you played the 2, 3, & 4. What was your favorite position and why? Play Basketball
By Houston05
Posts
#554674
Didlibertywin wrote:When you got a first glimpse at a schedule, what game do you remember being most excited about? And what did you think about having to play D2, D3 and NAIA teams?
I think the most excited I was for a game on the schedule was at University of Houston being thats my home. This last year if you asked us before we knew we were going to beat Wake so that game was exciting for the build up. I also loved VCU because of the atmosphere.. unreal to play in. Regarding the D2, D3, NAIA teams. They serve a purpose as coach gets to try out things and see different combos but by the end of my career playing 30 plus minutes a game I didn't want to have to warm up my knees and back for no purpose haha. That being said.. I think one important point people miss with these games is the real thing Coach is doing in those games is testing discipline. He wants to know if he can count on you to execute on both ends of the floor when it would be easy to gamble on defense/go one-on-one on offense. Its much harder to stay disciplined/pay attention to the details against lesser competition so its really a test to play one or two of those games.
By Houston05
Posts
#554675
Cider Jim wrote:I believe in your career you played the 2, 3, & 4. What was your favorite position and why? Play Basketball
As much as I hated it at first I loved the 4 the most. I think I'm a 6'8 bruiser trapped in a much smaller body haha. Defensively I loved the thinking part of our defense and from the 4 I could talk people through stuff during plays and I could see everything that was happening. In the Pack 4/5 are key because they have the most vision.. the guards have their backs to most of the action. And besides the 4 was a blast because I could help the team offensively by stretching the D even if I never touched the ball and I could bait much bigger guys into charges on the other end. I felt like I could do things that helped us win that weren't major box score stats.
By flamehunter
Registration Days Posts
#554677
Aside from the athletic part of it, what does it take to be a successful student athlete at Liberty? What was the hardest part for you? The easiest or your favorite part of being at LU?
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