[Purple Haize]

I feel like the one dude trying to stop an angry mob from killing someone. He usually gets trampled or killed in the movies. im not going to be able to soften any of you guys opinions. The funny thing is, when I'm at the games most fans opinions are much softer and closer to mine. So I think I'm out of these discussions, aka irrational blather. One more thing, be careful with those pitchforks, you'll put an eye out.

Don't leave. There is honor in fighting for what you believe. No matter how misguided.

[jbock13]

Did somebody say baseball?

[jbock13]

Also, there is something to almost all of those injuries being stress fractures...

The Vines Center floor sucks?

I don't know what it is. Maybe he works them too hard in training or practice? I just know that when something happens that consistently, it usually isn't a coincidence.

Interesting point, how many times have we had guys go down for the season before the season even starts?

[Rooster Cogburn]

Also, there is something to almost all of those injuries being stress fractures...

It a recruiting problem. Layer should only recruit invincible players. Shame.

[jbock13]

Also, there is something to almost all of those injuries being stress fractures...

It a recruiting problem. Layer should only recruit invincible players. Shame.

Yeah, let's destroy the man of straw, not the argument.

[Rooster Cogburn]

Injuries happen. Ask Carey Green about the rash of knee injuries not so long ago.

[jcmanson]

We did a Q&A with LancersBlog, he answered a few questions for us and we answered a few questions for him
http://www.libertyflamesnation.com/qa-with-lancersblog/

[VAGolf]

Difference is that Carey Green finds a way to consistently be relevant. Even in the years that our girls team doesn't win the conference, they still compete and are fun to watch. Our girls team has actually had some success.

I understand there being injuries every once in a while. But you can't use that excuse for six consecutive seasons.

[Purple Haize]

Difference is that Carey Green finds a way to consistently be relevant. Even in the years that our girls team doesn't win the conference, they still compete and are fun to watch. Our girls team has actually had some success.

I understand there being injuries every once in a while. But you can't use that excuse for six consecutive seasons.

Let's not get carried away now

Coach Green also took steps to lessen the risk of injuries even though female athletes are more prone to ACL injuries than their male counterparts. Yes BJ, there are Peer reviewed studies on that

[Purple Haize]

Also, there is something to almost all of those injuries being stress fractures...

It a recruiting problem. Layer should only recruit invincible players. Shame.

You are half right. The problem with the men's team is a recruiting problem!

[ATrain]

Injuries happen. Ask Carey Green about the rash of knee injuries not so long ago.

He also still managed to win the conference or finish close to the top and have close to 20 wins...what's your point?

[PAFlame]

Is there a website that one cane look at how much Liberty spends on athletics? I know we rival some big FBS schools off the top of my head, which makes our situation with men's basketball even more disturbing.

[VAGolf]

Is there a website that one cane look at how much Liberty spends on athletics? I know we rival some big FBS schools off the top of my head, which makes our situation with men's basketball even more disturbing.

Our budget isn't the solution. A change of culture is the solution.

[Schfourteenteen]

Is it really that the Athletics Dept simply doesn't care all that much, or do you think they just realize they still have 2 years left on what might be the worst contract extension in the history of Liberty sports?

Someone please educate this idiot on what the DEPT is not doing that shows they don't care.

[JakeP50]

Not firing DL after last season, giving him an undeserved extension after a fluke five game winning streak at just the right time, and not firing him after some of the atrocious losses from this season. That's the evidence I've seen presented so far that JB, the athletic department and admin don't care about basketball.

[ballcoach15]

With the right Coach, recruiting will not be a problem at LU.

[Purple Haize]

Is it really that the Athletics Dept simply doesn't care all that much, or do you think they just realize they still have 2 years left on what might be the worst contract extension in the history of Liberty sports?

Someone please educate this idiot on what the DEPT is not doing that shows they don't care.

My understanding is that after this season he only has 1 year left on his contract

[SuperJon]

So people allude to how difficult it is for LU to recruit basketball talent. What do they mean by that, exactly?

Typical basketball culture of 2015 doesn't fit Liberty culture. In other sports (namely football and baseball) you can hide behind helmets, hats, and not being known by what you look like. That allows you to move around campus and town more freely without everyone knowing who you are. In basketball, there is nothing blocking what you look like and you're fully exposed. Everyone knows what you look like and you can't hide.

Example from when I was in school:

It was a big deal that Anthony Smith got his girlfriend pregnant. No one realized that at the same time there for three football players who had recently done the same thing.

It's not a race thing. It's a culture thing.

For Liberty basketball to be successful in the current game, you're going to need a coach who will come in with a system that's different. It doesn't have to be the VMI run and gun, but you have to realize you're not going to get elite talent at the traditional five positions. For all his faults, this is something McKay got right. He went after the best basketball players he could get then built a system around them.

[Bigsouthking]

Agree totally with the culture thing at LU -

Superjon great comments.... case in point Allen Iverson you cant hide the rows and tattoos, but so many NFL guys had the same look.

I disagree with the McKAy comments -- who did he sign beside Curry... got lucky with him

[SuperJon]

The magnificent 7 or whatever it was called was assembled in the attempt to just get a bunch of good players together. It didn't work out for a number of reasons (star treatment of Seth, Austin being homesick, again - star treatment of Seth), but I think it was the right formula for a school like Liberty.

[Chris Lang]

Agree totally with the culture thing at LU -

Superjon great comments.... case in point Allen Iverson you cant hide the rows and tattoos, but so many NFL guys had the same look.

I disagree with the McKAy comments -- who did he sign beside Curry... got lucky with him

Sanders, but Eaker was already on him before McKay took over.

Jon, to your point, I remember some in the athletic department were furious that I had written a story about Pat Calvary referencing the fact that he had a child. He wanted to talk about it, so who was I to censor that because it didn't fit the Liberty way? That's not my responsibility. But I caught some crap about it, which was ridiculous.

[TIMSCAR20]

There have been far too many good players in the history of Liberty basketball to say that it is too hard to recruit at Liberty. Plus Liberty is 10 times the school today that it was back then in so many categories and for that matter so is the city of Lynchburg in terms of commerce (restaurants, hotels, things to do). RD, JM, Dan Manley and even Mel Hankinson all brought in high level talent.

I'm sure Coach Manley giggles a little when people say how hard it is to recruit at Liberty. It isn't. Please stop perpetuating that false notion. I personally know 3 former Liberty players that have exposure, influence and access to 4 and 5 star recruits and would GLADLY steer them towards Liberty if Liberty had ANY interest in them.

I'm not sure where SJ is going with the whole cultural thing in terms of basketball players but if I am reading it right it sounds like he is saying Liberty needs some more inner city type kids (like me ) and less "nice suburban white guys" and it is not an image the current administration wants to be associated with. I don't want to put words in his mouth but that was what I got out of that post.

If the above is true, and they are worried about projecting a positive public image, I think that can be done. Not every inner city player or good basketball player is a thug or even buys into the hip-hop culture. I am around REALLY GOOD mid-major talent on a regular basis and I see them interact with teammates, walk talk etc off the court and I see a ton of "good fits" for Liberty at other schools.

I think it is tragic that Longwood, Charleston Southern and almost every other school in the Big South seems to have better players than Liberty across the board.

[SuperJon]

Those late Dunton teams (Blair, Rell, Anthony, etc) got such a reputation for being "thugs" or "not Liberty kids" when they were doing the exact same things that football and baseball players were doing. People just recognized their faces and not just their jersey number.

[TIMSCAR20]

Those late Dunton teams (Blair, Rell, Anthony, etc) got such a reputation for being "thugs" or "not Liberty kids" when they were doing the exact same things that football and baseball players were doing. People just recognized their faces and not just their jersey number.

WOW those 3 guys were all great kids in my opinion. 2 of the 3 had kids out of wedlock but that is the world we live in. I had teammates and I coached players that had the same situation. It is an age old situation at Liberty and all over the country. Not a reason to label a kid a thug or not a Liberty kid in my humble opinion. Maybe the Judgmental culture at Liberty is a turn off for recruits as well? I guess it can work both ways. I would love to see Blair, Smitty and Porter in a Liberty uniform today. I don't think they misrepresented Liberty at all again in my humble opinion.

[SuperJon]

Scar - I don't think it's an administration mandated thing. I think it's the nature of 2015 with social media and all that. Basketball players know they can't hide. Coaches know they can't hide the players. Football and baseball have the numbers game on their side (100 players/25 players vs 12 players). To get 12 guys who can play basketball to Liberty, you have to take the best 12 regardless of position and then make it work. If you wait to fill the traditional five positions with guys who can fit our culture, you end up with a team constructed like the one we have now.