If roundball is your blood, this is the place to discuss the Flames as they move into the Ritchie McKay era for the 2nd time.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke

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By cruzan_flame13
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#627740
stokesjokes wrote: June 20th, 2021, 10:22 pm At the very least he can be a good culture kid. We don’t need every player to be a star.
It would be nice if every player can contribute and possibly take it to the next step. Not sure if it will be exciting going to the tourney every year and can't pass the first or second round. I'm just saying though; understand that the coaches are great finding talent.
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#627741
cruzan_flame13 wrote: June 20th, 2021, 11:50 pm
stokesjokes wrote: June 20th, 2021, 10:22 pm At the very least he can be a good culture kid. We don’t need every player to be a star.
It would be nice if every player can contribute and possibly take it to the next step. Not sure if it will be exciting going to the tourney every year and can't pass the first or second round. I'm just saying though; understand that the coaches are great finding talent.
We need to define "contribute" here. It is a simple fact that 13 scholarship players is a number higher than the number who will see significant minutes, especially under RMK, who has rarely gone more than 8 deep after his initial early season evaluation period. Of course it's great to have talent on the bench in case of injuries, but as stokesjokes indicated, you are probably better off having kids who are a great fit for the team and school culture in the 11-13 spots in the rotation. I don't think Ritchie ever signs a player with the idea he will be in that category, but in the event that is how it plays out, that's the kind of kid you want, and the fact that we have placed such a high priority on culture in our recruiting is IMHO one of the biggest reasons for our success both on and off the court. Even if a player eventually transfers to get PT their last year or 2, they leave on great terms with the school and program, and in most cases with their Liberty degree in hand . I could cite multiple recent examples.
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By Kricket
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#627743
olldflame wrote: June 21st, 2021, 7:37 am Here is Manson's take, with Zach's JR year highlight video. He looks legit to me.

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-picks ... cleveland/
I think so too. He seems to be a good shooter and passer with decent athleticism for his size.

The competition didnt seem the greatest, but if he hits the gym hard and gets stronger and more athletic he may be a great player. Heck, he could even grow another inch or two at that age.

Seems like he has an upside to me.
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By Cider Jim
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#627749
A 6'8" shot blocker who can dunk and shoot the 3-ball (with a mask). What's not to like? Just get him in the weight room to put on a few pounds of muscle. Play Basketball
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By Cider Jim
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#627766
stokesjokes wrote: June 21st, 2021, 1:35 pm With any luck, he could be the next Tyler Baker :wink:
Or Carter McMasters. Play Basketball
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#627937
Nice read on Zach's recruitment from Manson.



Interesting factoid. He comes from a very athletic family, including an older sister who is an All-American vollyball player at Purdue. Trivia question. Zach will not be the first Liberty MBB player with a sister who played volleyball at such a high level. Who was the other one?
By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#627939
SumItUp wrote: June 26th, 2021, 12:26 pmBrock Gardner
Bingo.
I knew you would get that one, but I was hoping you wouldn't see it so soon so it would look like a tougher question. 8)
I don't know if Macy was ever a first team All-American, but she did set the career kills record at AZ State.
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By olldflame
Registration Days Posts
#627955
LUOrange wrote: June 26th, 2021, 4:15 pm This was probably asked and answered before. But what happened with Gardner? Why'd he leave us? i only remember the hype around his recruitment.
His public statement was that he wanted to be closer to home. While technically he achieved that, The Master's U was still over 1000 miles from his family in AZ. He was not likely to be driving that often, so we're talking maybe an hour or 2 shorter flight than Lynchburg (plus he did not have $6,000/year FCOA stipends at Master's to cover travel bills.)

I strongly suspect it was mostly a basketball issue, where he didn't like the role he had in Ritchie's system, with the roster we had. He played mostly in the post his FR year, and the rest of the time at PF. I think Brock saw himself as more of a swing guy who could handle the ball and make plays both outside and inside. I suspect he was not a big fan of the pack line either, and he certainly got to play in a way more up-tempo system at the NAIA level.
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