A Sea Of Red

This is one where I would be be concerned if we were to lose. They are 3-1 and just beat N Bama 55-51, but the Lions were devastated by transfer portal losses in the off season and face a tough rebuilding year.

olldflame wrote: ↑November 20th, 2021, 7:50 am

This is one where I would be be concerned if we were to lose. They are 3-1 and just beat N Bama 55-51, but the Lions were devastated by transfer portal losses in the off season and face a tough rebuilding year.

Might need to be concerned. McGhee with 3 turnovers and 0 points at the break. Down 28-17. Offense is anemic.

This is pathetic.

If McGhee is going to run the point, we are going to lose a lot of games.

I think we will be fine by February. This is a young team. We haven't had one in a while and I didn't anticipate us being so out of sync. I still think we figure it out but we will lose a few we shouldn't until we do. I trust RM though.

………………………

Absolutely embarrassing. Were Parker and Cuffee that good?

They had leadership. Not sure there is a leader on this team yet. Thought it would be Kyle and I still think it could be with time.

On the day we are awarded the top Athletic Dept in VA we get steamrolled in both major sports. This one being the biggest head scratcher IMO.

This was most definitely the worst Saturday for Liberty sports in a very long time.

Followed by maybe one of, if not the, greatest Sunday’s of field hockey were to win tomorrow. Not that it’s any great solace, but it was the first thought that popped into my head.

Both & had same problem today:

Lack of offense

As usual, Ritchie was transparent and accountable in the post-game. I thought the most interesting take was about the fact that it was Isaiah Warfield who led the charge at the end when we cut the 29 point deficit almost in half. He was obviously pleased with Zay's play, but also said he would rather it had come from one of the experienced players. It will be interesting to see if he get's his PT bumped up a bit.

Not that it made any difference in the outcome, but for the record, Shiloh missed another dunk last night.

olldflame wrote: ↑November 21st, 2021, 7:19 am As usual, Ritchie was transparent and accountable in the post-game. I thought the most interesting take was about the fact that it was Isaiah Warfield who led the charge at the end when we cut the 29 point deficit almost in half. He was obviously pleased with Zay's play, but also said he would rather it had come from one of the experienced players. It will be interesting to see if he get's his PT bumped up a bit.

A coach in search of leadership.

JK37 wrote: ↑November 21st, 2021, 8:15 am

olldflame wrote: ↑November 21st, 2021, 7:19 am As usual, Ritchie was transparent and accountable in the post-game. I thought the most interesting take was about the fact that it was Isaiah Warfield who led the charge at the end when we cut the 29 point deficit almost in half. He was obviously pleased with Zay's play, but also said he would rather it had come from one of the experienced players. It will be interesting to see if he get's his PT bumped up a bit.

A coach in search of leadership.

He should check the rafters. I know an excellent coach who does that

olldflame wrote: ↑November 21st, 2021, 7:19 am As usual, Ritchie was transparent and accountable in the post-game. I thought the most interesting take was about the fact that it was Isaiah Warfield who led the charge at the end when we cut the 29 point deficit almost in half. He was obviously pleased with Zay's play, but also said he would rather it had come from one of the experienced players. It will be interesting to see if he get's his PT bumped up a bit.

Agreed. In case anyone wanted to read the quotes they're linked

https://www.aseaofred.com/three-takeawa ... manhattan/

It is interesting about Warfield. He came in and hit a three and was diving on the floor and I was thinking I was appreciative of his effort at that moment. I hope he is rewarded for it.

Warfield has been spending more time per minute on the floor than anyone on the team all year. He is considered primarily a defensive specialist, and rightly so, but although it's a small sample size, he has made 5 of the 9 3's he has taken as a Flame. Of course every shot our players take in practice is tracked, so Ritchie has a better handle than us on his ability as a perimeter shooter. I think he, Venzant and Shiloh may be the most talented trio of defenders we have had in the pack-line era. The question is, would we give up too much on offense if we had all 3 of them on the court? Right now, probably yes.

I think Warfield and Venzant could give us offense if we were a fast-break team, but obviously that’s not gonna happen.

I think Abii needs to eat into Preston and Shiloh’s minutes. I don’t want to see those two on the court at the same time anymore. We need a big who is a threat to score on the court as much as possible. That would open up space for our shooters.

We need more offense . With the emphasis we put on defense, i think sometimes we forget about the other end of the floor

Honestly never really saw much potential in last year's team. Too much of a talent drop. Ritchie proved me wrong. Probably his finest hour as a coach IMO...mostly because of how they played team BB. Talent drop was real. RM deserves a ton of credit for that.

This year? Even less confident starting out. Not sure where this is headed, but would like to see more emphasis on the younger guys. Seems like that would be in the best interest of the program as a whole.

We most definitely need help on Offense. I think both Kyle and Shiloh are good defensive players but severely lack ability on the offensive side. Both miss way to many shots on the interior (especially the give me buckets). Kyle will occasionally hit a 3 but way too inconsistent. If someone does not step up and help McGhee with consistent scoring, this will be a long season. Hopefully Venzant and Peebles can help. We need another Caleb Homesly.

I honestly believe that Peebles may be that #2 scorer. But honestly Blake should be. He's had his hands full with very talented bigs this season. Hopefully he regains some confidence. He is our most effective scorer in the paint at this stage.

I am not giving up on Kyle. I believe he has the ability to be a gamechanger on both ends of the floor. It just seems that he doesn't always recognize it.

Sly Fox wrote: ↑November 22nd, 2021, 12:30 pm I honestly believe that Peebles may be that #2 scorer. But honestly Blake should be. He's had his hands full with very talented bigs this season. Hopefully he regains some confidence. He is our most effective scorer in the paint at this stage.

I am not giving up on Kyle. I believe he has the ability to be a gamechanger on both ends of the floor. It just seems that he doesn't always recognize it.

Kyle is just not an athlete. From all accounts, he is a vocal leader and a valuable teammate but he cannot create his own shot or corral a tough rebound. His feet and hands do not pair well on the floor. Sadly this is the exact problem with Preston. Their physical ceiling is in.

The biggest concern with Kyle right now has to be playing him out of position. Another related concern is the overcommitment to system, defense, and experience. Most of what we've seen over the last three games has been ugly to say the least.