[JK37]

Basketball very much is. Don’t let the schedule fool you: P5’s refuse to play LU because they know better.

[TH Spangler]

I believe FAU is a finial 4 team again. I think we can move the ball around and get good looks against almost anyone, but FAU defense is smothering. I liked them last year, hope they win it all this year.

[jmclaughlin]

FAU is the program we are trying to emulate. System guys that are team first minded. That stat of being 1 of only 6 programs in the country that didn't have to dip into the portal is the proof. 14 of 15 players are back from a 35 win, final 4 team. Culture wins.
Hopefully our big Chinese guy will be the equivalent of their big Russian guy in a few years.

[Geraldos Mustache]

No answer for Goldin. Love to see the return of the old school big man. They were much more athletic at every position than LU but if they didn’t have Goldin it would have been a different game
Love Porter and Methehny in the backcourt. Off the charts basketball IQ but neither are over 5’10 or terribly athletic.
Vanzant is a great defender but an absolute liability on offense
If you can speed Rhode up he becomes ineffective

Having said all that LU won’t face a team like this until the Tournament if they make it). They will be fine but we saw the difference between a good team and a Too 25 Team

Great observations in this post. Let me add this...

The FAU style of defense against Liberty has now provided every other team with a blueprint of how to beat the Flames. FAU guarded Liberty all the way out to half court. They completely took Liberty out of its offensive rhythm and disrupted the flow of how Liberty is accustomed to operating. When future opponents do this to the Flames, they need to be prepared to counter with some kind of alternative approach on offense.

It didn't help that Liberty had a very poor shooting night. Terrible shooting percentage.

I do not agree that if Golden had not played it would have been a different game. FAU was scoring from all over the court - inside, outside, foul line. Everywhere. They have a very complete team. The FAU defense was the real story. They held LU to 58 points. Owls game LU no space to shot from the perimeter and they were too large and physical down low.

I'm glad we got this game under our belt early. The coaching staff will learn a lot and make adjustments. This definitely makes LU a better team for the long season ahead. Gotta love McKay's statement, "They made us unlike the best version of ourselves."

[Purple Haize]

No answer for Goldin. Love to see the return of the old school big man. They were much more athletic at every position than LU but if they didn’t have Goldin it would have been a different game
Love Porter and Methehny in the backcourt. Off the charts basketball IQ but neither are over 5’10 or terribly athletic.
Vanzant is a great defender but an absolute liability on offense
If you can speed Rhode up he becomes ineffective

Having said all that LU won’t face a team like this until the Tournament if they make it). They will be fine but we saw the difference between a good team and a Too 25 Team

Great observations in this post. Let me add this...

The FAU style of defense against Liberty has now provided every other team with a blueprint of how to beat the Flames. FAU guarded Liberty all the way out to half court. They completely took Liberty out of its offensive rhythm and disrupted the flow of how Liberty is accustomed to operating. When future opponents do this to the Flames, they need to be prepared to counter with some kind of alternative approach on offense.

It didn't help that Liberty had a very poor shooting night. Terrible shooting percentage.

I do not agree that if Golden had not played it would have been a different game. FAU was scoring from all over the court - inside, outside, foul line. Everywhere. They have a very complete team. The FAU defense was the real story. They held LU to 58 points. Owls game LU no space to shot from the perimeter and they were too large and physical down low.

I'm glad we got this game under our belt early. The coaching staff will learn a lot and make adjustments. This definitely makes LU a better team for the long season ahead. Gotta love McKay's statement, "They made us unlike the best version of ourselves."

They may have shown the blue print to other teams but I’m not sure other teams have the ability to execute it.
Goldin was unstoppable on offense. LU had to adjust to that which took away a few key things they like to do defensively. Again, not sure LU will see a big man that skilled the rest of the year. FAU is a VERY good team. Having a ton of players back after a FF run is huge.
LU will be ok.

[Humble_Opinion]

We fared better against FAU than VT did at least... This team has a hard time handling lengthy athletic guards. That's the real difference maker. It's why KSU beat us twice last year and it's why FAU did so well against us imho. Yeah there guy inside did a lot of damage, but our offense was thrown off by their aggressive nature on defense on the perimeter, and that was aided by their size/length. I looked at the GCU roster and their starting 3 guards are 6'4"+, with one being 6'7". I fear we're going to have a really tough game Saturday.

[paradox]

If they could get a do-over on this one, I'm sure they'd take a different approach. Play to strengths. It's a work in progress.

[LU 57]

If you can speed Rhode up he becomes ineffective

Tough player and great guy, but this gets proven over and over…

[paradox]

I actually believe that it would be advantageous for this team to speed things up, on their own terms, in games like this, as long as Porter leads the charge. Porter's ability to race the ball with control, dictating tempo, and seamlessly shifting gears, is problematic for most opposing teams, and this game is no exception.

[Purple Haize]

I actually believe that it would be advantageous for this team to speed things up, on their own terms, in games like this, as long Porter leads the charge. Porter's ability to race the ball with control, dictating tempo, and seamlessly shifting gears, is problematic for most teams, and this game is no exception.

It’s not Porters decision making that would be the issue. It’s the other 4 people on the floor and their ability to finish that would be a concern. Also LU doesn’t have the horses to get into track meets and they only go about 7.5 deep or so.

[paradox]

Starting five can go fast. Cleveland would've beaten Golden up & down the court every time. Speed w/control & efficient passing adds to the quickness & shiftiness of Porter/Metheny.

Agreed, bench is the achilles heal, at the moment, with the exception of McKay, who's been playing with a lot of confidence and energy.

[Purple Haize]

Starting five can go fast. Cleveland would've beaten Golden up & down the court every time. Speed w/control & efficient passing adds to the quickness & shiftiness of Porter/Metheny.

Agreed, bench is the achilles heal, at the moment, with the exception of McKay, who's been playing with a lot of confidence and energy.

Most of that is correct. But it doesn’t address the inability to finish at the rim or from in the paint in transition

[paradox]

Jump stop pump-finish, jump stop pivot-pass, ect. Create options off the jump stop in the paint: finish, dish, kick, draw contact, etc.

[Purple Haize]

Jump stop pump-finish, jump stop pivot-pass, ect. Create options off the jump stop in the paint: finish, dish, kick, draw contact, etc.

Have you watched LU play the past year or so? Finishing in the paint is an Achilles heel for this team. Absolutely cost them the game on Saturday. (And I hope they make a decision with the ball and stop no later than the FT line. Doing so in the paint isn’t a good option )

[paradox]

Peebles is good in the paint, not because he's big and powerful or fast or even good looking, but simply because he's skillful and he's obviously worked on the craft.

[Purple Haize]

Peebles is good in the paint, not because he's big and powerful or fast or even good looking, but simply because he's skilled and he's obviously put the work in.

I’ll disagree with you about Peebles being good in the paint. He does have good footwork though. And that’s absolutely gotten him some decent shots in the paint. But again getting shots and finishing shots are 2 different things

[paradox]

Peebles is about 60% in the paint over the past two years. Not too shabby.

Smart offense confounds defense.

Bottom line on the game: roster is thin from offensive standpoint. Doesn’t appear to be enough guys that can stay in sync and keep offense flowing. Where does it go from here?