A Sea Of Red

I wasn't expecting that. The Boys were awesome. It's nice to see Brody stepping it up and Cleveland making me eat the words I have said. I hope they can put together a good run until the Tournament.

I only have 2 complaints. First was the crowd turnout. Both student and Baptist turnout was disappointing. Secondly, with us holding a 25-30 point lead for most of the final 12 minutes and Spell and Shrier only got in 1 minute each. I was hoping Spell would get more PT after McKay essentially said that he and Southerland deserved more minutes at the press conference earlier this week.

Brody might be the most improved player from the start of the year till now.
Cleveland was full of himself tonight. Nice yo see a talented guy with an edge
Sutherland adds a nice dimension. But defensively I can see why his minutes are currently limited
My only complaint in games like this would be to clear the bench at the 4 minute media. Those guys show up every day and put in work. They aren’t gonna lose a 25 point lead in 4 minutes.

What is up with Kyle Rodes, a 5th year senior shooting 4-13? He has not been shooting well. I expect better performance from him. Instead, we have a sophomore leading the way, in Cleveland.

ECC29 wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 11:33 pm What is up with Kyle Rodes, a 5th year senior shooting 4-13? He has not been shooting well. I expect better performance from him. Instead, we have a sophomore leading the way, in Cleveland.

KR has always been a marginal D1 player at his best. Not athletic at all. Good guy, smart, will probably make a good assistant coach at LU. Another thing, he is recently married. Nothing wrong with that, but it makes a big change to your personal life and priorities.

ECC29 wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 11:33 pm Instead, we have a sophomore leading the way, in Cleveland.

Looking beyond this year, this is a good problem. Cleveland has it. Build the offense around him as a point forward.

flameshaw wrote: ↑February 9th, 2024, 9:08 am

ECC29 wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 11:33 pm What is up with Kyle Rodes, a 5th year senior shooting 4-13? He has not been shooting well. I expect better performance from him. Instead, we have a sophomore leading the way, in Cleveland.

KR has always been a marginal D1 player at his best. Not athletic at all. Good guy, smart, will probably make a good assistant coach at LU. Another thing, he is recently married. Nothing wrong with that, but it makes a big change to your personal life and priorities.

That's a bit harsh. He's better than marginal. I'll agree that he's probably not the most athletic guy, but he's a solid player. He's just been in a shooting slump. And he's been married for a few years now.

As a former college athlete, it has been a blessing to able to play at a D1 level. I played 4 years like most athletes. If you are given 5 years, what have Rodes been doing. One would think, a greater improvement from previous years is in order. What was he doing during the off season. I understand he is married and more blessings to him. But, he is taking a spot in the roster from someone that wants to play. If you given a 5th year to play, I would try my hardest to improve and elevate my game. He had some moments but so many times it is frustrating to watch him play.

Hindsight is 20/20.

“Back in my day……”

Rode is a fine glue piece. He was never meant to be an alpha.

JK37 wrote: ↑February 9th, 2024, 10:29 pm Hindsight is 20/20.

“Back in my day……”

Rode is a fine glue piece. He was never meant to be an alpha.

He is what he is. He maxed out his potential and is getting a graduate degree and has a wife. He’s been a great locker room guy for this team. Not everyone can be The Guy and his value to the team has been shown by the improvement from Cleveland and the lack of jealousy or envy he has shown. That’s something that cannot be measured on a stat sheet

JK37 wrote: ↑February 9th, 2024, 10:29 pm Hindsight is 20/20.

“Back in my day……”

Rode is a fine glue piece. He was never meant to be an alpha.

Did you even HAVE a ‘day’?

Rode? Probably did what he was asked to do. 12 rebounds w/Joe out. Double double was added bonus. And let's not forget the 6 assists and his always reliable D.

Purple Haize wrote: ↑February 10th, 2024, 2:23 pm

JK37 wrote: ↑February 9th, 2024, 10:29 pm Hindsight is 20/20.

“Back in my day……”

Rode is a fine glue piece. He was never meant to be an alpha.

Did you even HAVE a ‘day’?

Nope, just nights

stokesjokes wrote: ↑February 9th, 2024, 9:39 am

ECC29 wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 11:33 pm Instead, we have a sophomore leading the way, in Cleveland.

Looking beyond this year, this is a good problem. Cleveland has it. Build the offense around him as a point forward.

Love it that we have a 6''7" F who can make plays, but let's not forget we have a young PG who is in the top 10 in the NCAA in assist/TO ratio. Cleveland has roughly the same number of assists (which is impressive) but double the TOs.

olldflame wrote: ↑February 15th, 2024, 8:58 am

stokesjokes wrote: ↑February 9th, 2024, 9:39 am

ECC29 wrote: ↑February 8th, 2024, 11:33 pm Instead, we have a sophomore leading the way, in Cleveland.

Looking beyond this year, this is a good problem. Cleveland has it. Build the offense around him as a point forward.

Love it that we have a 6''7" F who can make plays, but let's not forget we have a young PG who is in the top 10 in the NCAA in assist/TO ratio. Cleveland has roughly the same number of assists (which is impressive) but double the TOs.

I can't say that I would want to build an offense around a player shooting 50% from the line. He will have to improve here significantly before I would want to build the offense around him. I think you'll start to see a "Hack a Zac" strategy employed if we look to build around him too much. I'm looking forward to seeing what Curtis Blair will add to this team next year.

The offense is built around 5 guys playing as one team in 5-out (formation). It’s advantageous to frequent ZC as the initial touch for multiple reasons. It’s effective.

Tothehoopyall1 wrote:

olldflame wrote: ↑February 15th, 2024, 8:58 am

stokesjokes wrote: ↑February 9th, 2024, 9:39 am Looking beyond this year, this is a good problem. Cleveland has it. Build the offense around him as a point forward.

Love it that we have a 6''7" F who can make plays, but let's not forget we have a young PG who is in the top 10 in the NCAA in assist/TO ratio. Cleveland has roughly the same number of assists (which is impressive) but double the TOs.

I can't say that I would want to build an offense around a player shooting 50% from the line. He will have to improve here significantly before I would want to build the offense around him. I think you'll start to see a "Hack a Zac" strategy employed if we look to build around him too much. I'm looking forward to seeing what Curtis Blair will add to this team next year.

paradox wrote:The offense is built around 5 guys playing as one team in 5-out (formation). It’s advantageous to frequent ZC as the initial touch for multiple reasons. It’s effective.

I guess so, until you have to make a free throw and can't make one.

If and when such a situation ever arises, we’ll know. Until then, it would seem you’ve placed your bet. Some may caution risk in wagering against a tough competitor on the level of a ZC.

Hello everyone, I have followed liberty mbb for years and I feel like change is needed. I understand the philosophy of recruiting great character athletes and I greatly respect that as a alumni of liberty. My biggest issue with this coaching staff is that they don't recruit at the level of liberty football and simply do not take risks. If liberty football did not take a risk and recruit and sign Salter after his character issues from his previous school we would not have one of the very best quarterbacks in the country. Also liberty football has produced NFL level player and what has mbb done? . In my opinion mbb can recruit at a much higher level and still maintain the high standards of liberty. Also much needed speed, height and athletic ability is needed. These other conference USA schools have much lower resources and money than we do and have out recruited us. We may be competitive over time but we truly will not reach the highest level of college mbb at the current rate.

Would it be much of a stretch to suggest that the majority of top players in program history are McKay recruits? If you made a top 10 list, you could easily slide 8 or more in.

And let’s not forget that nothing comes close to touching the success achieved in the past 5 years, nor the players and coaches responsible for making that happen.

And what about this season? Maybe the best is yet to come. Who knows? March is soon upon us. We'll know then.

Yeah, not an intelligent reason in the world to be thinking about a change in MBB leadership at this point. 10 years ago fans would have thought they died and gone to heaven with a season like this year. We've been spoiled with the success in recent years. SO now some want to get rid of the man resposible for all of that success?

broncosliberty wrote: ↑February 20th, 2024, 11:48 pm Hello everyone, I have followed liberty mbb for years and I feel like change is needed. I understand the philosophy of recruiting great character athletes and I greatly respect that as a alumni of liberty. My biggest issue with this coaching staff is that they don't recruit at the level of liberty football and simply do not take risks. If liberty football did not take a risk and recruit and sign Salter after his character issues from his previous school we would not have one of the very best quarterbacks in the country. Also liberty football has produced NFL level player and what has mbb done? . In my opinion mbb can recruit at a much higher level and still maintain the high standards of liberty. Also much needed speed, height and athletic ability is needed. These other conference USA schools have much lower resources and money than we do and have out recruited us. We may be competitive over time but we truly will not reach the highest level of college mbb at the current rate.

Is this a parody account? If you truly followed LU Hoops you’d realize we are in basically a Golden Age of LU hoops. After its tumultuous history this century LU finally has a coach of impeccable character and ability. This team wins consistently year after year and brings in kids who fit the system and the School. If you consider this a ‘down year’, which isn’t a crazy position, and compare it to any season prior to RMK arriving you’d see, as the longtime fan you claim, how far this Program has come.

We need NCAA tournament appearances, and some NCAA tournament wins. Basketball has yet to reach the next level, compared to football, softball and baseball.

ballcoach15 wrote: ↑February 26th, 2024, 9:16 am We need NCAA tournament appearances, and some NCAA tournament wins. Basketball has yet to reach the next level, compared to football, softball and baseball.

I’m pretty sure MBB has reached greater heights than either SB or BB.

Since 2018 we have the 8th best winning percentage and the 3rd best margin of victory in college basketball. I don't take the "we should move on because we don't have size and athleticism" argument seriously when the shortest HS recruit that's committed since the move to CUSA was announced is a 6'2" PG. Right now we have a 6' 5" guard, a 6' 6" guard and a 7' 0" center redshirting. Help is on the way but they need to time to learn the system first.

ballcoach15 wrote: ↑February 26th, 2024, 9:16 am We need NCAA tournament appearances, and some NCAA tournament wins. Basketball has yet to reach the next level, compared to football, softball and baseball.

They were there in '19 (and won a game), would have been in '20 (the tourney was cancelled), and went again in '21 - all from a single bid league. Even last year when the team seemed to struggle finding a groove, they were one point away from a third appearance in four eligible years.