[inthebeginning]

When you only have one guy who can post with only one hand its a little easier to defend than you think
As for next year? Im skeptical

It is even easier to defend him if you don't throw the ball in to him.

He actually had the ball MORE this year than last year.

In 2006, Alex shot 18% of our FG's compared to this year's 21%. Also, in 2006, he shot 20% of our team's FT's compared to this year's 30%.

He got more offense off TeeJay's penetration for dishes and offensive rebounding than in his first year without a penetrating point guard. Late in the season it seemed our shot selection became very undisciplined and rarely seemed to focus on going to Alex. I disagree with those who say he was limited he showed real strong face-up skills and dribble spins as well. I doubt a freshman will have the level of experience, toughness and work ethic to match AM. But who knows from what I read we should easily be in the top couple of teams next year. That will be great.

[LUconn]

[Schfourteenteen]

All Im saying is he was the only guy we could go to and it doesnt take much for a defense to shut one post player down.

[TIMSCAR20]

All Im saying is he was the only guy we could go to and it doesnt take much for a defense to shut one post player down.

There was a guy named Shaquille O'Neal that played in Los Angeles a few years ago. I believe he was their only post player. I also hear there was a guy that went to Wake Forest named Tim something...Duncan I think. He went to the pros and played with San Antonio. Sometimes he seems unstoppable.

Sorry man just giving you a hard time. Just because people know what you are running or who is going to take the shots doesn't mean they can stop you. I think Ace was far from one dimentional too. He used his right hand when necessary. He is an excellent face up scorer as well.

[jimflamesfan]

I went to just about every home game this year, plus the away game at VMI. From what I saw of Alex, he was good as far as moves, but he dropped passes a lot - it led to a lot of turnovers. He had moves, but his weakness was catching the ball cleanly and getting started on the shot - too much of a hesisitation.

I think Sarchet was a better center, and I think Glenn Turner was a better defending center.

As far as our centers next year...we might not have a true banger, but with the height we have, if they can play defense and lock down the opposing centers, then we can still win with our shooting.

[LUconn]

I think time does a funny thing to a player's legacy. We forget just how good Larry was a putting the ball into the hole, and we remember 2 very average big men as being better than a double double machine. Or I should say one very average big man. Glyn had very limited game, and I would pin him as "servicable".

[checkmate]

All Im saying is he was the only guy we could go to and it doesnt take much for a defense to shut one post player down.

There was a guy named Shaquille O'Neal that played in Los Angeles a few years ago. I believe he was their only post player. I also hear there was a guy that went to Wake Forest named Tim something...Duncan I think. He went to the pros and played with San Antonio. Sometimes he seems unstoppable.

Sorry man just giving you a hard time. Just because people know what you are running or who is going to take the shots doesn't mean they can stop you. I think Ace was far from one dimentional too. He used his right hand when necessary. He is an excellent face up scorer as well.

Alex Mclean, Jason Sarchet or Glyn Turner. I like them all but please. Even RKM saud he ws the hardest working player he ever coached. It isn't close with those three in my opinion. AM could play in any for many conferences and if we think that a freshman from a small christian school league is going to come in here and replace him on day one than we must have beaten George Mason in baseball yesterday. But your entitled to your opinion the season will be here and time will tell.

[LUconn]

Even RKM saud he ws the hardest working player he ever coached.

EVEN McKay? What's that supposed to mean? I think you're forgetting that they're on the same side.

[checkmate]

Even RKM saud he ws the hardest working player he ever coached.

EVEN McKay? What's that supposed to mean? I think you're forgetting that they're on the same side.

Even RKM means even RKM.

[olldflame]

Even RKM saud he ws the hardest working player he ever coached.

EVEN McKay? What's that supposed to mean? I think you're forgetting that they're on the same side.

But, despite his likely protestations to the contrary, if you look at what checkmate has posted here he clearly doesn't look at it that way.

Alex did a lot for this program in 2 years and improved a lot, but he was not IMHO a highly skilled basketball player. Strong, intense, tough and fairly athletic yes. Skilled no. Keep in mind he never played HS ball and had only 2 years of JC under his belt when he arrived here. Some of the Freshmen coming in next year will have already played a lot more organized basketball than he has now, although of course none of it has been against D1 opposition.

Besides his difficulty scoring more than a few feet from the basket, as has been said earlier Alex did not have particularly good hands, was not very good at finding the open man against the constant double teams he faced, and in general turned the ball over too much. Don't trust me, look at the numbers. 62 turnovers against only 31 assists. Same ratio as Russ (6 to 3), and far worse than anyone else on the team.

We will definately miss him on the boards and also as a post presence, and we will miss his intensity. I have no more idea than the next person how well players like Carter McMasters and Austen Smith will do at this level, but I think it shows where a person is coming from when you basically predict failure for them. BTW checkers, Austen Smith played for a public school and led his team to the Arizona State championship, where he was the Leading scorer & rebounder and MVP in the final. McMasters played for a Christian school, but they went head up against the Julic kid who is going to Tennessee and he held his own and his team won, so get your facts straight.

[TIMSCAR20]

Old flame you can reduce that fraction from 6/3 to 2/1 I am in a math mood today I guess. Anyway, I would have to take issue with you guys' assesment of Alex McLean. Double Double guys just don't come along that often. In fact Liberty has only had 1 other one in our division 1 history and that was Jason Dixon. The 1st guy to average a double double in big south history was this season when AZ Reid did it. McLean and Reggie Williams were not far behind. My point is that yes we have some talent coming in but to compare Ace to Sarchett and Turner is silly IMO. I am friends with both of those guys and I would tell them, heck they would say the same thing. I will see Turner at the final 4 next week so I will ask him if he things he was as good as Ace. I would agree that his hands weren't the best. Turnover ratio's (his is actually 1/2 by the way, the turnovers are listed 1st), is not a measure of his abilities. The fact that he commanded constant double teams makes him better. Sarchett and Turner and Sneed never commanded that kind of game planning.

[checkmate]

Old flame you can reduce that fraction from 6/3 to 2/1 I am in a math mood today I guess. Anyway, I would have to take issue with you guys' assesment of Alex McLean. Double Double guys just don't come along that often. In fact Liberty has only had 1 other one in our division 1 history and that was Jason Dixon. The 1st guy to average a double double in big south history was this season when AZ Reid did it. McLean and Reggie Williams were not far behind. My point is that yes we have some talent coming in but to compare Ace to Sarchett and Turner is silly IMO. I am friends with both of those guys and I would tell them, heck they would say the same thing. I will see Turner at the final 4 next week so I will ask him if he things he was as good as Ace. I would agree that his hands weren't the best. Turnover ratio's (his is actually 1/2 by the way, the turnovers are listed 1st), is not a measure of his abilities. The fact that he commanded constant double teams makes him better. Sarchett and Turner and Sneed never commanded that kind of game planning.

Well said and another insight that will be revealed next year.

[jimflamesfan]

I'm just stating an opinion. It can't really be tested next year because Mclean was gone. He was strong & a good scorer, but really had trouble handling passes.

I think our system will be completely different next year. We'll still be a shooting team,
but with a lot of tall people, we should get more rebounds and play better defense against other teams with big post players. (excluding Kenny George, how you defend him - I don't know).

[Knucklehead]

Old flame you can reduce that fraction from 6/3 to 2/1 I am in a math mood today I guess. Anyway, I would have to take issue with you guys' assesment of Alex McLean. Double Double guys just don't come along that often. In fact Liberty has only had 1 other one in our division 1 history and that was Jason Dixon. The 1st guy to average a double double in big south history was this season when AZ Reid did it. McLean and Reggie Williams were not far behind. My point is that yes we have some talent coming in but to compare Ace to Sarchett and Turner is silly IMO. I am friends with both of those guys and I would tell them, heck they would say the same thing. I will see Turner at the final 4 next week so I will ask him if he things he was as good as Ace. I would agree that his hands weren't the best. Turnover ratio's (his is actually 1/2 by the way, the turnovers are listed 1st), is not a measure of his abilities. The fact that he commanded constant double teams makes him better. Sarchett and Turner and Sneed never commanded that kind of game planning.

Well said and another insight that will be revealed next year.

Look Checkers allows for the Freshman big man issues! Kind of contradictory of some opinions of coaches isn't it?

[olldflame]

Ace was really good, and we would have been in deep doo-doo without him this past year. I was always amazed that he could shoot such a high % in spite of often forcing the shot against double teams. He was a tough and determined player.

All I was saying is that along with his strengths, his game had some farly substantial holes in it, and IMHO we will be FAR better equipped to deal with his absence next year than we would have been if for instance his knee problems had kept him from playing for any length of time this year, which could easily have happened.

I hope I never become so bitter about anything that I am constantly dwelling on what is no more; and so beyond sceptical that I can't even see the prospects for the future despite the promise it clearly holds.

Alex has no more eligibility
Orukpe is still in Nigeria.
McMasters, Austen Smith, Baker and Jackson will be manning the front line next year, and I am looking forward to what they will bring to the table.

PS for SCAR: 6 turnovers and 3 assists were Russ's TOTALS for last year! Kinda sad actually. I really think that even some modest productivity from him could have meant 2 or 3 more wins for us.

[TIMSCAR20]

PS for SCAR: 6 turnovers and 3 assists were Russ's TOTALS for last year! Kinda sad actually. I really think that even some modest productivity from him could have meant 2 or 3 more wins for us.

Oh my.

As far as next season I hope that our size bothers people at our level and allow us to play bigger teams competitively like when we had Aluma and co. However youth and inexperience could hinder us. I really hope Tyler Baker is healthy next season. He told me a few weeks ago that he was watching tape of himself from last year and he feels he needs to get a lot stronger and play tougher on the inside. It has been my experience Jim that height does not equal rebounds. Rebounds are about pursuit of the basketball. Kenny George at 8 feet tall is cleary the exception. Your best rebounders are usually athletic 4 men like AZ, Rodman, Karl Malone, Ben Wallace (even though he is an undersized 5 much like Ace). Aluma never averaged more than 6 rebounds in a season.

[coolhandluke]

Yeah, I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here, but we lost a good rebounder in BJ. Maybe curry will be good in that aspect like his brother is. But we definitely need some guys to step up and get rebounds next year.

Also, if Baker is healthy, he should be able to give us a back to the basket threat. Tyler is putting in a lot of work at the gym and I am sure he will be much more physical than he was in the limited time we saw him last year. The man has a big heart and, as long as he stays healthy, then, just like Scar said, Tyler will be a big help to our post game.

[WinthropEagleFan]

I'd say the biggest challenge for you guys will be the point guard spot, mainly because it is a big unknown right now. Solid point guard play can win alot of games for a team, so the quality of the incoming PGs will play a huge role for you guys next year. So I'm not saying it is going to be bad, but I just don't what to expect from that spot next season...

[Sly Fox]

I am with you, WEF. Then again it will be a big concern for most of the top teams like WU & UNCA. It is easy to take what TeeJay did for granted but it contributed mightily to our success.

I think many of us have been so excited about our highly touted fish points that we are overlooking their transition to the college game.

[jcmanson]

I think many of us have been so excited about our highly touted fish points that we are overlooking their transition to the college game.

I don't think anybody, except for maybe 1 or 2 of us, has overlooked their transition to the college game. How big of a transition it is for them is what our success for next year hinges on.

[coolhandluke]

I think many of us have been so excited about our highly touted fish points that we are overlooking their transition to the college game.

I don't think anybody, except for maybe 1 or 2 of us, has overlooked their transition to the college game. How big of a transition it is for them is what our success for next year hinges on.

Exactly!

If Jesse Sanders and Stephene and Curry all pan out, we will be okay as far as point guard goes, but we need them to have a smooth transition to the Div 1 level.