A Sea Of Red

Liberty has 4 Freshman Guards on the team: Dobbs, Jackson, Maide, Warfield.

Dobbs is getting more minutes than the other three combined. He is a good looking player, for sure. What do we know about these other players?

Warfield is listed at 6'-5" which is pretty long for a Guard. Would love to see some of these other guys getting minutes. Does anyone have any insight on any of them?

Warfield was our highest rated recruit- athletic, slasher-type. He needs to physically mature before he’s a big contributor imho. He’s got a tiny frame, but looks like he could be a 3-level scorer when he fills out and gets used to the college game.

Jackson is apparently a great shooter. He’s a bit behind because of having to sit the first few weeks with an injury.

Maide is a bit of a mystery. In his limited minutes he’s shown flashes of athleticism, but he just seems like the last man out here. He red-shirted last year and seems like he’s behind the true freshmen in the rotation this year.

2 reasons we see Dobbs and not the other guys:

1. Dobbs is one of 2 PGs on the roster, we kind of have to play him.

2. Defense. The pack-line takes time to learn. Ritchie isn’t going to play you if you’re a defensive liability. See: Abii.

stokesjokes wrote: ↑January 30th, 2021, 10:27 pm Warfield was our highest rated recruit- athletic, slasher-type. He needs to physically mature before he’s a big contributor imho. He’s got a tiny frame, but looks like he could be a 3-level scorer when he fills out and gets used to the college game.

Jackson is apparently a great shooter. He’s a bit behind because of having to sit the first few weeks with an injury.

Maide is a bit of a mystery. In his limited minutes he’s shown flashes of athleticism, but he just seems like the last man out here. He red-shirted last year and seems like he’s behind the true freshmen in the rotation this year.

2 reasons we see Dobbs and not the other guys:

1. Dobbs is one of 2 PGs on the roster, we kind of have to play him.

2. Defense. The pack-line takes time to learn. Ritchie isn’t going to play you if you’re a defensive liability. See: Abii.

The other thing about Dobbs is he is absolute money at the FT line. The last several times we had the lead late and opponents needed to foul, he has been in there and had the ball in his hands. 6-6 from the line this weekend in that situation.

Warfield's greatest upside is as a defender, where he has the potential to be a 6'5" version of Lovell Cabbel. Besides needing to get stronger, he is still in the learning curve on the pack line.

Jackson's medical issue early in the year was actually not an injury, but an illness. No, not Covid.......... mono. Ritchie has said multiple times that he was in the top 7 of our rotation prior to that. Others have emerged (mainly McDowell) and he has not been able to get back to that point.

Talented as he is, Abii has been a huge liability on defense. He needs to bear down in practice and fix that if he wants to play. We will certainly be a better team if he does.

When you look at who we have now and the 2 we have already signed for next year, it's very apparent there are 2 current scholarship players who will be buried at the end of the bench the rest of their careers if they don't transfer. I do not believe we are done recruiting for 2021.

olldflame wrote: ↑January 31st, 2021, 6:40 am

stokesjokes wrote: ↑January 30th, 2021, 10:27 pm Warfield was our highest rated recruit- athletic, slasher-type. He needs to physically mature before he’s a big contributor imho. He’s got a tiny frame, but looks like he could be a 3-level scorer when he fills out and gets used to the college game.

Jackson is apparently a great shooter. He’s a bit behind because of having to sit the first few weeks with an injury.

Maide is a bit of a mystery. In his limited minutes he’s shown flashes of athleticism, but he just seems like the last man out here. He red-shirted last year and seems like he’s behind the true freshmen in the rotation this year.

2 reasons we see Dobbs and not the other guys:

1. Dobbs is one of 2 PGs on the roster, we kind of have to play him.

2. Defense. The pack-line takes time to learn. Ritchie isn’t going to play you if you’re a defensive liability. See: Abii.

The other thing about Dobbs is he is absolute money at the FT line. The last several times we had the lead late and opponents needed to foul, he has been in there and had the ball in his hands. 6-6 from the line this weekend in that situation.

Warfield's greatest upside is as a defender, where he has the potential to be a 6'5" version of Lovell Cabbel. Besides needing to get stronger, he is still in the learning curve on the pack line.

Jackson's medical issue early in the year was actually not an injury, but an illness. No, not Covid.......... mono. Ritchie has said multiple times that he was in the top 7 of our rotation prior to that. Others have emerged (mainly McDowell) and he has not been able to get back to that point.

Talented as he is, Abii has been a huge liability on defense. He needs to bear down in practice and fix that if he wants to play. We will certainly be a better team if he does.

When you look at who we have now and the 2 we have already signed for next year, it's very apparent there are 2 current scholarship players who will be buried at the end of the bench the rest of their careers if they don't transfer. I do not believe we are done recruiting for 2021.

Mono is rough. He could be dealing with fatigue for a long time.

I assume Maide and Price are the odd men out?

stokesjokes wrote: ↑January 31st, 2021, 8:08 am

olldflame wrote: ↑January 31st, 2021, 6:40 am

stokesjokes wrote: ↑January 30th, 2021, 10:27 pm Warfield was our highest rated recruit- athletic, slasher-type. He needs to physically mature before he’s a big contributor imho. He’s got a tiny frame, but looks like he could be a 3-level scorer when he fills out and gets used to the college game.

Jackson is apparently a great shooter. He’s a bit behind because of having to sit the first few weeks with an injury.

Maide is a bit of a mystery. In his limited minutes he’s shown flashes of athleticism, but he just seems like the last man out here. He red-shirted last year and seems like he’s behind the true freshmen in the rotation this year.

2 reasons we see Dobbs and not the other guys:

1. Dobbs is one of 2 PGs on the roster, we kind of have to play him.

2. Defense. The pack-line takes time to learn. Ritchie isn’t going to play you if you’re a defensive liability. See: Abii.

The other thing about Dobbs is he is absolute money at the FT line. The last several times we had the lead late and opponents needed to foul, he has been in there and had the ball in his hands. 6-6 from the line this weekend in that situation.

Warfield's greatest upside is as a defender, where he has the potential to be a 6'5" version of Lovell Cabbel. Besides needing to get stronger, he is still in the learning curve on the pack line.

Jackson's medical issue early in the year was actually not an injury, but an illness. No, not Covid.......... mono. Ritchie has said multiple times that he was in the top 7 of our rotation prior to that. Others have emerged (mainly McDowell) and he has not been able to get back to that point.



Talented as he is, Abii has been a huge liability on defense. He needs to bear down in practice and fix that if he wants to play. We will certainly be a better team if he does.

When you look at who we have now and the 2 we have already signed for next year, it's very apparent there are 2 current scholarship players who will be buried at the end of the bench the rest of their careers if they don't transfer. I do not believe we are done recruiting for 2021.

Mono is rough. He could be dealing with fatigue for a long time.

I assume Maide and Price are the odd men out?

You said it, not me.

but

I believe Maide is a legit D1 player if he can find the right fit, but he could be a stud at a lower level. The cupboard is really full here for his size and skill set. Price, IMHO, needs to be at the D2 or NAIA level to see the court. They were HS teammates at Carmel Christian in Charlotte. I would think Queens or Belmont Abby would be more than happy to have either or both.

Thanks to Covid, Maide will be in the unusual situation of having 4 years of eligibility remaining after 2 years of development in our program. Price is likely graduating this Spring, with 3 years remaining.

I like Price. In moments, he’s looked very capable of taking his man off the dribble and making some creative plays. I think he could also do very well in the right spot.

Last year I had the privilege of having the Price family sit behind us during a non-D1 game that Josh got significant run in. It was interesting hearing his brother’s critique of his game- he was saying Josh needs to work on being more firm with his dribble. I think if he cleaned up his handle and gained some confidence, he could be a good scorer somewhere.

I love that our turnover is now great kids who just didn’t fit in the system or weren’t quite up to par talent wise, instead of kids with tons of talent who we lied to about what the school was about and didn’t fit character wise.

Jonathan Carone wrote: ↑January 31st, 2021, 1:13 pm I love that our turnover is now great kids who just didn’t fit in the system or weren’t quite up to par talent wise, instead of kids with tons of talent who we lied to about what the school was about and didn’t fit character wise.

Wait just a minute there! When did we EVER do that?!??!!

Pre-Ritchie the first time.

Like, when we had a real estate agent coaching the team?

One former coach was notoriously bad at doing that. I won't mention his name because there is no reason to open THAT can of worms but needless to say it is nice that is no longer the case.

(And yes, he may dabble in real estate )

He and Prevo have to be buddies, right? Both from Anchorage and landing in Lynchburg? Maybe Prevo can bring him back and we can finally have some basketball success.

stokesjokes wrote: ↑February 1st, 2021, 8:53 am He and Prevo have to be buddies, right? Both from Anchorage and landing in Lynchburg? Maybe Prevo can bring him back and we can finally have some basketball success.

Prevo was actually his boss when he coached at Anchorage Christian.

stokesjokes wrote: ↑February 1st, 2021, 8:53 am He and Prevo have to be buddies, right? Both from Anchorage and landing in Lynchburg? Maybe Prevo can bring him back and we can finally have some basketball success.

They are and.....

stokesjokes wrote: ↑January 31st, 2021, 12:48 pm I like Price. In moments, he’s looked very capable of taking his man off the dribble and making some creative plays. I think he could also do very well in the right spot.

Last year I had the privilege of having the Price family sit behind us during a non-D1 game that Josh got significant run in. It was interesting hearing his brother’s critique of his game- he was saying Josh needs to work on being more firm with his dribble. I think if he cleaned up his handle and gained some confidence, he could be a good scorer somewhere.

Mark Price was a phenomonal player. He would know better than anyone regarding the value of a coach and how that can make or break you. Most NCAA coaches were very suffocating, rigid, and insanely systems based back then. Mark needed a guy who would let him be the leader on the floor. Great shooter who would devise opportunities for himself and others. HOF talent IMO.

Ritchie is that coach IMO. Perhaps, the consummate players-coach of our day. It's no coincidence that so many players with NBA ties are drawn to this program. I would imagine that the Price family is very comfortable with the culture here.

Mark Price’s high school coach was my high school coach. At least until he got caught with the Spanish teacher

stokesjokes wrote: ↑February 1st, 2021, 5:49 pm Mark Price’s high school coach was my high school coach. At least until he got caught with the Spanish teacher

Bueno!

stokesjokes wrote: ↑February 1st, 2021, 5:49 pm Mark Price’s high school coach was my high school coach. At least until he got caught with the Spanish teacher

It's not hard to get caught up someone involved/studied in a romantic culture .

cruzan_flame13 wrote: ↑February 1st, 2021, 11:04 pm

stokesjokes wrote: ↑February 1st, 2021, 5:49 pm Mark Price’s high school coach was my high school coach. At least until he got caught with the Spanish teacher

It's not hard to get caught up someone involved/studied in a romantic culture .

I can verify that is sometimes true. On the other hand, my Spanish teacher in HS was a fat white guy who was literally the town drunk.

Yikes!
This thread has gotten WAY off topic. I think we all have stories of high school teacher indiscretion. Nevertheless...

Great comments at the top of this thread. I really appreciate the insight on these players. Hopefully Warfield is hitting the weights and getting stronger. Having a 6'-5" guard is an asset. Dobbs has been great and he's only a freshman. His future is bright.

The recruiting and talent level is on the rise. Exciting times for Liberty Basketball.

I just hope we don't get infected with the transfer portal.

ballcoach15 wrote: ↑February 2nd, 2021, 3:07 pm I just hope we don't get infected with the transfer portal.

We wouldn't want another Chris Parker showing up on our doorstep now, would we?

I was referring to "OUT" not "in".

ballcoach15 wrote: ↑February 2nd, 2021, 4:07 pm I was referring to "OUT" not "in".

You still don't get it. Liberty has not had a player transfer out who figured to be in the regular rotation in 5 years (Brock Gardner) and that is not likely to change soon. When a player is completely buried on the depth chart as it is, plus you have 2 stud FR coming in at his position, him deciding to transfer out is not a bad thing. He can hopefully find a place where his skills are needed, and the team has a scholarship to offer to someone who may be able to make us better. Win/win.