A Sea Of Red

Terrible loss! A disaster in the second half on both ends of the court. Packline was non-existent, turnovers on the offensive end and missed free throws! One of the worst performances I’ve seen the Flames have in the last 20 minutes.

Agree on all points. Can’t overstate how terrible that was

Allowed WK 50 points in 2nd half.

If we were simply a bad free throw shooting team we win this game. Unfortunately for us to describe Liberty as pathetically horrific free throw shooting team would be very generous.

aredd33 wrote: ↑January 2nd, 2025, 10:15 pm If we were simply a bad free throw shooting team we win this game. Unfortunately for us to describe Liberty as pathetically horrific free throw shooting team would be very generous.

I don't think it's a coincidence that our FT shooting started going downhill when Brad Soucie left the program. (BTW, he is now the head girl's coach at Link Academy.) Pretty sure FT shooting was one of his primary areas of emphasis.

We've come to expect misses from Cleveland and Aquino, but it's pretty disappointing to see Porter miss 2 at crunch time. He played 37 minutes. That's about 5 too many for him. Same with the other 4 starters. Fatigue can be a big factor at the line.

Fun Fact: every starter missed at least 1 free throw!

jmclaughlin wrote: ↑January 2nd, 2025, 11:43 pm Fun Fact: every starter missed at least 1 free throw!

Well, you got the "fact" part right.

I may be the least likely person on this board to say anything critical about coach McKay, but here we go.

One injury has revealed a huge flaw in the recruiting class we have all been so excited about. Of the 5 transfers we signed, 2 are one and done and 2 have injury prone careers (including one we knew was going to miss this season before we signed him.)

For the second time in a few years, we decide not to redshirt a true FR guard (Decker) and then when we are in desperate need of depth, we don't play him.

I will cut Ritchie a little slack for going with the 6 man rotation 2 games in a row because it worked the first time. Fool's gold IMHO.. WKU actually had 2 players out with injuries in this game. They went to their bench and after a slow first half came on strong to pull out the W while we faded down the stretch.

With Ihnen out, we have veteran players who are 6'8" and 6'9" on the roster (Yates and Spell) who know the system and also happen to be able, like Isaiah, to shoot the 3. Yes they are not as athletic, but they have size, and a few minutes from each would IMHO make Cleveland and Aquino more rested and effective. I think we could also add CB3 to that list, although he's not quite as big. They are all gathering splinters.

Not sure if it's fair to blame Ritchie for our FT woes, but who else? It's killing us.

A few things:

I agree with you on the portal class. From McKay’s perspective I think he sees legitimate potential in the young guards we have on the bench in addition to the kid we’re bring in from the next class. Going after Maughmer and Peter, even though they only have one year left, was worth it because of their experience and ability to bridge the gap we have in talent at that position. I’d like to see Maughmer use his size to attack the basket more. There were a few times where he was driving and it seemed he had a path to the basket or a chance to at least draw a foul and instead he stopped and pumped the brakes only to kick it back out. He’s a long guard and a difficult matchup if he would only get a little more aggressive.

Decker has looked good at times this season against lesser competition, but for a PG he seems too quick to pull the trigger on shots instead of running the offense. I like his confidence, but think he needs to adjust his mentality slightly. He’s not ready to be Darius McGhee.

You’re right on the two main points. 1) We need to find some depth to help Aquino and Cleveland and 2) FT shooting needs to improve or we will be on the losing end of several close games.

Humble_Opinion wrote: ↑January 3rd, 2025, 11:04 am A few things:

I agree with you on the portal class. From McKay’s perspective I think he sees legitimate potential in the young guards we have on the bench in addition to the kid we’re bring in from the next class. Going after Maughmer and Peter, even though they only have one year left, was worth it because of their experience and ability to bridge the gap we have in talent at that position. I’d like to see Maughmer use his size to attack the basket more. There were a few times where he was driving and it seemed he had a path to the basket or a chance to at least draw a foul and instead he stopped and pumped the brakes only to kick it back out. He’s a long guard and a difficult matchup if he would only get a little more aggressive.

Decker has looked good at times this season against lesser competition, but for a PG he seems too quick to pull the trigger on shots instead of running the offense. I like his confidence, but think he needs to adjust his mentality slightly. He’s not ready to be Darius McGhee.

You’re right on the two main points. 1) We need to find some depth to help Aquino and Cleveland and 2) FT shooting needs to improve or we will be on the losing end of several close games.

I could have phrased my assessment of the transfers a bit better. I am absolutely ecstatic that we have Peter and Maughmer, and with Decker, Blair and Carter (incoming FR) we will be talented next year, but extremely green (especially if Decker and Blair continue to gather splinters). To me, the gamble of signing 2 big men with a long history of serious injuries was a roll of the dice, and we have come up snake eyes.