[A.G.]

Let the fur flying begin from Thursday's embarassment.

[LUconn]

Absolutely uneffing believeable! I havent been so ticked off in a long time. I don't even say that word. It's hard to play a game when the other team get 5 free points! AND THEN WE LOSE BY 5! Smith is caught in the air and Ard jumps into him and fakes a shot and yells! I almost ran out onto the floor and strangled that ref. It was one of the single worst foul calls I've ever seen. He jumped into him! into his space! He knew he'd get bailed out. Dunton's T was completely warrented. I'm just sorry it came back to bite us because the team, nor the refs responded as they should. I'm so mad. Awful awful awful call. You don't see one call affect a game so much when it happens with a full 10 minutes left in the game. The refs didn't change how they called the rest of the game and the players didn't respond with any passion. What a waste.

[Stevev]

I am so ticked off right now I have nothing to say about that game.

[LUconn]

and Larry did the same exact thing at the end of the 1st half and the refs rightfully didn't call it. I'm not sleeping tonight. I'm gonna go beat my dogs.

[SuperJon]

Zach, there was no reason to lock that other thread. I was talking about other things besides this game. I was looking to the future, not just this game. We've got 4 likely L's coming up which'll put us under .500 going into UNC-A, and with our current road streak, we may not win that one. God I want us to pull an upset over the next two weeks.

[LUconn]

why is anybody questioning the team's chemestry? They played fine together. I saw some really really good offensive sets for some easy layups tonight. I didn't notice some big gaping holes in the D. I couldn't figure out who kept letting their man go but it kept happening. And when does Larry ever foul out of a game? That's right, never. His first time.


edit: I'm so mad I can't even type coherantly

[A.G.]

No excuse. No freaking excuse. Three games and at least 5-6 practices with the new mix. I refuse to rip any one player—but what I saw tonight at the Furnance was not team basketball at all (although I love what I am seeing out of Brew--contrary to Dickens' remarks in another thread). There is no need to be jacking 3’s up like we did in the first half. We are all out of sync. Team play--that is a COACHING issue. Thank God we can at least rebound—or it would have been worse. If something isn’t done---and done quick---we will be nothing more than a 5-6 seed in the big south. Unacceptable. Yes--I am the one who preached "be patient," but this is ridiculous. We have the talent--so that is not the issue. I am off the good ship lollypop and dumping my Kool-Aid supply.

I leave you with these thoughts.
Turnover in players--leaving on their own and otherwise?
Turnover in the coaching staff--yes, some to better jobs??
Turnover in Athletic Dept admin and support staff--most certainly not on their own??? (We have posters who can attest to that)
My father always told me If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, flies like a duck, and swims like a duck, then it is a duck.
Dickens, Nickrichard, and others--maybe you are the ones in the right.

I am OUT.

[Realist]

The thing that would concern me is that this is Lipscomb's first road win. I actually picked you guys to win this one.

[jmdickens]

what did I say that was so bad.....I think Brew is nasty...

Oh well....haterade for now

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Im not seeing a problem out of Brew either, he is doing fine. He did miss some free throws tonight, but thats going to happen. We shouldnt have lost tonight though. I didnt really see a reason for Hubbard or Porter to get the min. they got tonight, stats might say they did ok, but when they are doing things that (i hate to use this example but i will) Tyler Baker is doing, and Tyler is scoring when he is in, I dont see the point of them being the PF before TB.

We were also without "our best manager" so we obviously wont be as good of a team hahaha

On a Side note, The Refs were AWFUL tonight, I dont know that i have ever seen such terrible officiating. They were SO terrible, Jerry and Terry Falwell were talking about them the entire game. Of course Jerry didnt yell at them but Terry did.

I dont think it is time to get worried yet though. Will we win these next few games, doubtful, but we are not trying to make a run to be a top 25 team. Sure, its devistating to the team to lose that many in a row, but the players are still smart people. Is it possible we pull off an upset? Sure, but hardly believable. So they know what they are facing and that its time to play Big South Ball when they get back, and if we lose to Radford and Winthrop, then i would say its time to startbeing worried. Right now its time to learn whats so different about the team before Brew and now with him, its not chemistry, its DEFENSE... We were holding teams to 20% shooting in the second half before he started playing, and now its just time to play defense and get out in transition like we are good at, but im sure that Coach will be working on that, so lets see what happens.

Tomorrow is Coach D's Birthday, just for the record

[ATrain]

I drove all the way out from Farmville (and back) to watch us lose? GRR!!!!

Anyway, Brew and Blair seemed to be a good combination, didn't really see any attempts at one-upmanship. A lot of Blair's shots were in-and-out. The refs...HORRIBLE. Though they did make bad calls on both sides, so it sorta kinda evened out. The T on Dunton was I felt was fair, especially once he started cussing at the refs ("That is bulls**t-at least thats what I heard from right behind the bench) Last season it didn't matter so much if teams got an extra 2 points off a Technical b/c we were getting blown out anyway, but this season is different...hopefully he realizes we can't afford to give the opposition free chances in tight games.

And no, I am not a Dunton hater. I think this team just needs a little more time to jell with Brew in the mix now. That is all.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

and there is no way there were close to 600 people in the vines the box score is a lie hahaha well at least i dont think

[paradox]

...

[LU'sbestmanager]

thanks TBGBG... i gt to go home because our plane from buffalo stopped at laguardia, so they let me just stay since it would save me some money. i'l be back for utah though. are you sure coach cursed? he never does...maybe he said bull crap. like tbgbg said, we are working towards winning the conference and i think we will be in pretty good shape by then.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Yeah I dont think Coach Cursed... he might say frappin, but thats about as bad as it gets...

[whmatthews]

I share the ticked off sentiment with the others. I was there tonight and as for the questions of "Will Brew and Blair coexist?" I think we have our answer, and it's yes. I'm not usually quick to blame the refs, but I thought tonight's officiating was garbage. I yelled at the one ref the whole night, Mike, as Coach D was yelling at him.

I'm tired of people who work for Liberty telling us to stop yelling. My friend yelled "You suck Mike" and one of the guys at the scorers table, "Too Tall" they call him told him to quiet down. Then some guys he knew behind us started yelling and he laughed at whatever they yelled and smiled back. So, I began to yell my head off at the ref. I didn't say anything bad.. I just yelled "You're garbage Mike" and "Thanks for helping us lose Mike"... I did no cursing or anything over PG rated and the guy looks back at me and starts running his mouth to me. So, I say "Oh, ok" and I keep yelling. Then he really gets ticked off and starts yelling at me. I couldn't understand a word he said and my friends beside me were like "what did he just say?" Anyway, so, me and my friends were scolded for yelling at a basketball game. That ticked me off maybe a little bit more than the loss.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Yeah i understand that... Ive said Sucks before and LUPD said that we couldnt say that word, but this is college basketball, step out of your bubble people, its going to be loud and there is nothing wrong with the word "Suck" or "Sucks"

[Chris Lang]

Of course Jerry didnt yell at them but Terry did.

As someone who sits in front of Terry for 20-some odd home games (men and women), I can tell you Terry yells at the refs every game, no matter how good or how bad they are. It never stops.

Carry on.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

haha ok sorry, but they were AWFUL tonight, i was telling kids "Make sure you finish your education or you will end up like these idiots"

[SuperJon]

I hate people who tell us to stop yelling. It makes me want to kick them in the face. I just can't lift my leg up that high.

[ATrain]

I'm pretty sure I heard BS (the non-abbreviated version) and then saw the ref call the tech...but I could be wrong though. I'm just saying what I thought I heard.

[Realist]

Paradox, you have real winthrop envy don't you? Peaking in December, I don't think they're peaking when the starting point guard is out and they took Wisconsin to OT with a walk on freshman running the point, Bradshaw still finding his groove from an injury, and McCoullough playing limited with an ankle. We're playing down right now, actually.

I agree some of the LU fans are over-reacting, they've only played 3 games together, but I do question Brewington at the point, he's always been turnover prone, but will he switch to a new position, and then where do you play smith?

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Turnover Prone? in 2003-2004 he Adv. 1.5 a game and in 2004-2005 he adv. 3.2 a game... Having 3 Turnovers a game is hardly "turnover prone" He can play the point, and if coach decides to move him then you play Anthony off the bench like you were going to do if Larry Franklin stayed and played the point with Dwight at the 3

[jmdickens]

at D-1 level....it matters the assist-turnover ratio......The leading assist man only averaged 8.5 assist compared to 4.2 turnovers.

Brewington only averaged 2.8 assists to 3.2 turnovers. If he is the primary ball handler, that is turnover prone.

By the way, I think Brew is a pretty nasty player and he is fitting in just fine.

[Sly Fox]

It sounds like I picked a good game to not follow online due to family commitments. Here is Chris' take:

LU fails to solve Lipscomb's zone

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
December 22, 2006

Before Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson sat down for a postgame radio interview Thursday night, he chatted up the school's broadcast team.

"That zone sure messed them up," Sanderson said.

Did it ever.

Realizing his team would have trouble defending athletic scorers Larry Blair and Dwight Brewington in one-on-one matchups, Sanderson switched his Bisons into a sticky 2-3 zone that made the Flames miserable. Liberty never found an offensive flow and sputtered to its third straight loss, a 66-61 setback at a near empty Vines Center.

The game had all the markings of a trap game for Liberty. Coming off a two road losses and playing in front of a cozy gathering of 558 and with Christmas right around the corner, no one would blame either team for an unfocused effort.

That wasn't a problem, LU coach Randy Dunton insisted, adding his team had two energetic days of practice leading into the contest.

The zone was the problem. Liberty faced lots of man-to-man defense in its first nine games and hardly any extended periods of zone. So it wasn't all that surprising that the Flames struggled against Lipscomb's defense.

Liberty struggled to reverse the ball and find open shots, often settling for heavily contested jumpers with less than 10 seconds on the shot clock. The Flames (6-4) shot 38.3 percent and only broke the 60-point mark in the final 15 seconds.

"The zone created problems for us. We never got a rhythm against it," Dunton said. "It was more effective against us than we were against it tonight."

A good zone will force a team to abandon the inside game and look for points from the perimeter. But Liberty's outside game was off. Blair (20 points) and Anthony Smith combined to shoot 10 of 29 from the field and 3 of 12 from 3-point range.

"We just picked the wrong night to shoot bad," Blair said. "It came back to bite us."

Still, Liberty was in the game. With 14:21 left, Alex McLean (who broke a Vines Center record with 17 rebounds) scored on a tip-in to pull the Flames within 44-43.

Lipscomb's Brian Fisk scored in the lane to push the lead to 46-43, and then Liberty unraveled.

After the Flames failed to score on their next two possessions, Lipscomb's Eddie Ard (game-high 24 points) drew a foul when he threw up an ugly, off-balance jumper with two defenders on him. He drew contact, but both defenders were stationary, sending Dunton into a rage.

Officials hit the Liberty coach with a technical foul (to go along with Smith's personal foul). Ard sank four free throws, and Lipscomb (8-4) had a 50-43 lead with 12:39 left. Liberty drew within three on Brewington's tip-in with 35 seconds left, but the Flames never threatened to take the lead.

Dunton's show of frustration wasn't surprising. The free throw tally in Liberty's last three games - St. Francis had 26 attempts, Liberty 4; Buffalo 30, Liberty 10; Lipscomb 37, Liberty 17.

The total: A whopping 62 more attempts for LU's opponents.

"We've got to solve the issue of the foul disparity," Dunton said. "I've got to sit down and look at the tape. Are we really hacking that bad? Are we really fouling that bad, that it's creating that kind of disparity? That is a big problem on the stat sheet."

The loss leaves Liberty with its first extended losing streak of the season after the Flames started 6-1. Next week, the Flames travel to Utah to participate in BYU's Holiday Classic, and the opponents are daunting - the host Cougars, Seton Hall and Oral Roberts, which earlier this season beat Kansas in Lawrence.

After that, defending national champion Florida is on the docket.

Blair wouldn't say there's pressure on his team to pick up at least one win next week in Utah, but the thought of heading into the Jan. 6 Big South opener at UNC Asheville on a seven-game skid is unappealing for Liberty players.

"We've got to get our first road win, by all means necessary," McLean said. "These are lessons we have to learn. We have to pick it up.

"It's not good to have a losing streak."

http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... th=!sports