[SuperJon]

but we dont play offense

Line of the day.

[LU'sbestmanager]

you say Radford beat Coastal in trying to prove Coastal is bad but do you remember how we beat Winthrop last year?? we were very bad last year, Winthrop just didn't come to play...it happens...

and the loss to Winthrop this year...the loss isn't what bothers me, I figured we would probably lose because Winthrop is very good...but with there best player out it should have been respectable...I guess you won't ever see where we are coming from, which is fine....thats the way the world works i suppose

anytime a team is without their best player they play harder. im sure if we play without larry we would play harder too.

[JDUB]

play harder but suck more

[thepostman]

so its ok we got killed?? I don't understand your reasoning...we should have kept it respectable..we are not playing well....we will be 4th of 5th in the Big South this year...I hope I am wrong and we turn things around, but the team has been playing like crap, there is no excuse to lose the way that we did to Winthrop...none at all

[SuperJon]

At this point maybe not. We wouldn't be jacking up horrible shots.

[PAmedic]

play harder but suck more

harsh

[thepostman]

he wouldn't have to jack up horrible shots if people would take open shots when they had them, there were so many chances for different players to step up and take the open shot but they hesitated to long and the shot was gone forcing larry to take bad shots...I am not saying larry didn't make some stupid mistakes, because he did...but when nobody wants to step up and take the shot that presents itself it makes it that much harder

[Cider Jim]

All we know right now is that we got crushed by the preason's BEST and WORST teams in the conference. We did beat Radford, so that at least shows we have some minimal potential to win a few games in conference.

[LU'sbestmanager]

i didn't say it was ok to lose

[thepostman]

yeah, but you seem to think its no big deal that we lost as big as we did to Winthrop...we should not have lost by that much, not matter what...we played like crap, and the players didn't seem to care...

[LUzer]

Hmmm. Right now on various other Big South team message boards, they are making their season predictions, and their managers are all pointing out that they will finish above Liberty because they lost to UNCA, and deserved two losses for the game they played against Winthrop. So I guess the real question is, which manager will go the extra mile and stay up till the weee hours of the morning and shoot with the less confident offensive players on the team. That being said, their are realistic fans on all of those boards that are telling those other managers to take a deep breath and be realistic. Bestmanager, if you had to bet every cent you have in the world on what our final standing in the Big South would be, what would you take? To save you some thought, #1 is not an option.

[Libertine]

All we know right now is that we got crushed by the preason's BEST and WORST teams in the conference. We did beat Radford, so that at least shows we have some minimal potential to win a few games in conference.

Normally, I stay out of the basketball conversation here but this is a misstatement. We certainly got crushed by the BEST preseason team, Winthrop. The WORST preseason team was VMI and we don't play them until 1/27. Our other conference loss was by 7 at UNC-A -- preseason #6 -- and I would hardly describe that defeat as "being crushed". Just setting the facts straight.

I will now go back to lurking.

[SuperJon]

No, against UNCA we did what we normally do:

a) Get down by 20+
b) Make a comeback
c) Give it up with 5 minutes to go

[Libertine]

No, against UNCA we did what we normally do:

a) Get down by 20+
b) Make a comeback
c) Give it up with 5 minutes to go

So...we were in the process of getting crushed, became inspired, fought our way back and ended up only getting emotionally crushed. Do I have that right?

[SuperJon]

Sure. I just know it's happened in multiple games this year.

[Cider Jim]

he WORST preseason team was VMI...Our other conference loss was by 7 at UNC-A -- preseason #6 -- and I would hardly describe that defeat as "being crushed". Just setting the facts straight.

Didn't the News & Advance list UNC-A as the worst men's team in the conference? And they were beating us my 20 (my definition of being crushed), before we mounted a come back--too little, too late.

[Libertine]

I was going off of the Big South's pre-season poll. If the News & Advance is paying enough attention to Big South athletics (ie., more than just Chris Lang) to come up with their own poll, I'm unaware of it.

[Cider Jim]

If the News & Advance is paying enough attention to Big South athletics (ie., more than just Chris Lang) to come up with their own poll, I'm unaware of it.

The N&A did a full page write up on the Big South schools; I just wish I could remember where they ranked us--maybe 2nd or 3rd.

NOTE: Chris Lang later confirmed that he picked LU to finish 3rd in the conference.

[Purple Haize]

To add some thought to this VMI thing: SCAR and I have gone round and round about this. Is this type of offense a gimmick? Probably. But I feel it can be a successful one (Remember Run n Shoot has turned into 5 Wide sets? Pitino's 3 point barrages?) SCAR disagrees. The philosophy is that we don't HAVE to play much defense b/c we can outscore you. It is the difference between: The team with the most points wins (VMI) or Hold your opponents to fewer points than you (Just about everyone else). As illustration, when this type of offense took off, Westphal was coaching a game where the other team was doing a 4 corner. He told one of his players to run under the OTHER basket. When that team wouldn't shoot, he told ANOTHER player to go under the basket. Then another. Finally, the other team shot, missed, they through the ball long and scored a lay up. When playing against a style like VMI you have to either shoot better than they do, slow them down, or foul out all of their players. IF they have a bad shooting nite ANYONE can blow them away. If they have a GREAT shooting nite they can beat ANYONE. But, the same could be said about "defensive" teams or teams that slow the ball down.
Not playing defense does not mean you lose

[mrich]

I would say at best we finish 5th. We cannot win on the road, and who knows if we can win at home.

[Sly Fox]

I think you are highly overrating the rest of the Big South. We'll do fine the rest of the way.

[SuperJon]

I think you haven't seen this team play as much as some of us have and haven't seen the completely lack of intensity and how bad they have played together.

[jmdickens]

anytime a team is without their best player they play harder. im sure if we play without larry we would play harder too.

UNC on the national chmapionship team was without Raymond Felton.....probably their best player and they lost at Santa Clara.....they might have played hard(er) without Felton, but they still lost.

A team w/out the best player generally plays worse than they would with their best player

[Sly Fox]

I've been watching the home games online. And yeah, we're nto very good right now. But I also know this league and how bad it is across the board.

[LU'sbestmanager]

I've been watching the home games online. And yeah, we're nto very good right now. But I also know this league and how bad it is across the board.

that's what i was saying