[olldflame]

Update from Manson.

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-baske ... l-updates/

Nothing really new except some info on where some of the portal players we were interested in ended up. A couple of surprises there.
He speculates about whether we will save the remaining 2 roster spots for Peter/Maugher and seems to thing we should not.
My take on that is that we don't need 15 players anyway, so why not hang on to one opening in case Peter (who seems to have the better argument for another year) gets it.

[LU Armchair coach]

I'm starting to read people resurrecting Doc's saying "If it's Christian, it should be better" as if it implied that cost is no object to attain superiority. As one of the few people still around who saw first hand how he lived his life and what his priorities were, I call on that.

One of his favorite stories was about the time a wealthy supporter of the ministry gifted him a pair of beautiful purebred Irish Setters with a list of the choice cuts of beef he should feed them. "As soon as they left, I went out and bought a 50 lb bag of Purina, and sure enough, they wouldn't eat it....................................... 4 days later they did." Did he have the money to feed the dogs what was on the list? Sure. But he also knew that they could do as well or better on a quality commercial dog food.

He preached stewardship constantly, and was a huge critic of other televangelists who lived and flaunted an extravagant life style. If he were still with us, I'm sure he would want to take a strategic approach toward being competitive without throwing the Lord's money around just because we were blessed with it.

I do think it should be Christ like. IMO this don't mean spending x amount on players. If LU has kids that are led by the example of Training Champions for Christ, you figure out a way to keep them and not low ball them and I think this is why some of the kids leaving are leaving in the spring portal & MBB like Owen. Just my thoughts.

[cruzan_flame13]

I'm starting to read people resurrecting Doc's saying "If it's Christian, it should be better" as if it implied that cost is no object to attain superiority. As one of the few people still around who saw first hand how he lived his life and what his priorities were, I call on that.

One of his favorite stories was about the time a wealthy supporter of the ministry gifted him a pair of beautiful purebred Irish Setters with a list of the choice cuts of beef he should feed them. "As soon as they left, I went out and bought a 50 lb bag of Purina, and sure enough, they wouldn't eat it....................................... 4 days later they did." Did he have the money to feed the dogs what was on the list? Sure. But he also knew that they could do as well or better on a quality commercial dog food.

He preached stewardship constantly, and was a huge critic of other televangelists who lived and flaunted an extravagant life style. If he were still with us, I'm sure he would want to take a strategic approach toward being competitive without throwing the Lord's money around just because we were blessed with it.

Because you think it's bs, doesn't make it true. From their journal articles to statements out of their mouths, they claim this through and through with what they are building. Being the best university and wanting to be the likes of Norte Dame and BYU is preaching being at the top or superior in those categories. Depends how the word is used and it was used to promote being one of the biggest and best Christian University plus be in the likes of top schools. So again, it's not overused in any way. You don't have to agree, you have the choice to do so.

[Humble_Opinion]

You guys are missing the important context. You have to ask yourself with every given situation whether or not it's a true benefit to LU to use the statement "If it's Christian it ought to be better."

Construction and new buildings? Absolutely.
Endowment growth and management? Applies.
Athletic performance on the field? 100%.
Dedication by the faculty/staff? YES.
Athletic Coaches pay? Yes.
Faculty/staff pay? Nope. It does not apply.

I understand things have gotten better since JFLJR and his crony Laura Wallace left, but I'd bet there are still some discrepancies in pay in places as compared to industry averages for regular faculty/staff.

[paradox]

Possibly taking some of this stuff a little too seriously

[paradox]

Those who can stay focused on the task at hand, tend to get things done.

[paradox]

…

…Owen…

The game itself always matters most. Reduced minutes. Less shots. Gone.

[olldflame]

I'm starting to read people resurrecting Doc's saying "If it's Christian, it should be better" as if it implied that cost is no object to attain superiority. As one of the few people still around who saw first hand how he lived his life and what his priorities were, I call on that.

One of his favorite stories was about the time a wealthy supporter of the ministry gifted him a pair of beautiful purebred Irish Setters with a list of the choice cuts of beef he should feed them. "As soon as they left, I went out and bought a 50 lb bag of Purina, and sure enough, they wouldn't eat it....................................... 4 days later they did." Did he have the money to feed the dogs what was on the list? Sure. But he also knew that they could do as well or better on a quality commercial dog food.

He preached stewardship constantly, and was a huge critic of other televangelists who lived and flaunted an extravagant life style. If he were still with us, I'm sure he would want to take a strategic approach toward being competitive without throwing the Lord's money around just because we were blessed with it.

I do think it should be Christ like. IMO this don't mean spending x amount on players. If LU has kids that are led by the example of Training Champions for Christ, you figure out a way to keep them and not low ball them and I think this is why some of the kids leaving are leaving in the spring portal & MBB like Owen. Just my thoughts.

I'm going to reserve judgement on whether we "low balled" Aquino and Bush until we know where they end up and have an idea of how much they got. I believe it is going to get better in the next couple of years, but right now there are some situations where we simply cannot compete financially.

[olldflame]

The analogy I made with the story about Doc and his Irish Setters (absolutely gorgeous, show quality dogs BTW) was specifically directed toward who we go after in the portal, not how much we spend to keep players who are already in the program. From a cost perspective, a player like Corey Camper is choice beef while Harper is Purina. Big difference in price, but maybe not so much in what they can do for us on the court.

As you can well imagine, the "4 days later they did" line got maybe the biggest laughs I ever heard at TRBC.

[jcmanson]

If Owen goes somewhere and makes $1M next year, good for him. It doesn’t mean Liberty lowballed him.

[olldflame]

If Owen goes somewhere and makes $1M next year, good for him. It doesn’t mean Liberty lowballed him.

Right now, I'd probably say the same for half of that.

[LU Armchair coach]

If Owen goes somewhere and makes $1M next year, good for him. It doesn’t mean Liberty lowballed him.

I wish Owen well and hope he gets a 2 mil. So, can we agree that any player that's getting NIL money is getting what Liberty GM/HC's/President/Board Members thinks they are worth?

[LU Armchair coach]

I'm starting to read people resurrecting Doc's saying "If it's Christian, it should be better" as if it implied that cost is no object to attain superiority. As one of the few people still around who saw first hand how he lived his life and what his priorities were, I call on that.

One of his favorite stories was about the time a wealthy supporter of the ministry gifted him a pair of beautiful purebred Irish Setters with a list of the choice cuts of beef he should feed them. "As soon as they left, I went out and bought a 50 lb bag of Purina, and sure enough, they wouldn't eat it....................................... 4 days later they did." Did he have the money to feed the dogs what was on the list? Sure. But he also knew that they could do as well or better on a quality commercial dog food.

He preached stewardship constantly, and was a huge critic of other televangelists who lived and flaunted an extravagant life style. If he were still with us, I'm sure he would want to take a strategic approach toward being competitive without throwing the Lord's money around just because we were blessed with it.

I do think it should be Christ like. IMO this don't mean spending x amount on players. If LU has kids that are led by the example of Training Champions for Christ, you figure out a way to keep them and not low ball them and I think this is why some of the kids leaving are leaving in the spring portal & MBB like Owen. Just my thoughts.

I'm going to reserve judgement on whether we "low balled" Aquino and Bush until we know where they end up and have an idea of how much they got. I believe it is going to get better in the next couple of years, but right now there are some situations where we simply cannot compete financially.

How can that determine if they were chasing $$$$. Have you ever packed up and left, it's very hard. I believe for the most part with these 2 we are talking about they're good kids. Which makes me believe it more than money especially with Bush. I think Owen got an agent mid-year for whatever reason. If the $$$$ was comparable with other players on the teams, they play I don't see this as an issue. And these players are happy here from what i have seen after school activities.

[olldflame]

If Owen goes somewhere and makes $1M next year, good for him. It doesn’t mean Liberty lowballed him.

I wish Owen well and hope he gets a 2 mil. So, can we agree that any player that's getting NIL money is getting what Liberty GM/HC's/President/Board Members thinks they are worth?

The issue really isn't what they think the players are worth. It's what they think we can justify paying them while exorcising good stewardship with the Lord's money.

[LU Armchair coach]

…

…Owen…

The game itself always matters most. Reduced minutes. Less shots. Gone.

The game itself does matter the most reading these LU Armchair coach's post. Reduce minutes, Less Tackles = Gone for Bush also?

[cruzan_flame13]

You guys are missing the important context. You have to ask yourself with every given situation whether or not it's a true benefit to LU to use the statement "If it's Christian it ought to be better."

Construction and new buildings? Absolutely.
Endowment growth and management? Applies.
Athletic performance on the field? 100%.
Dedication by the faculty/staff? YES.
Athletic Coaches pay? Yes.
Faculty/staff pay? Nope. It does not apply.

I understand things have gotten better since JFLJR and his crony Laura Wallace left, but I'd bet there are still some discrepancies in pay in places as compared to industry averages for regular faculty/staff.

Hear hear! There is.

[LU Armchair coach]

If Owen goes somewhere and makes $1M next year, good for him. It doesn’t mean Liberty lowballed him.

I wish Owen well and hope he gets a 2 mil. So, can we agree that any player that's getting NIL money is getting what Liberty GM/HC's/President/Board Members thinks they are worth?

The issue really isn't what they think the players are worth. It's what they think we can justify paying them while exorcising good stewardship with the Lord's money.

Oldflame, I totally agree with this you on this and believe you are a very sincere person. But since you brought that up my question is do you think the powers to be over these NIL problems (Coachs, AD, GM's, President, Board Memebrs) or anyone else are good stewards or just saving what they can for a rainy day?

[paradox]

All this fuss over one guy who left after he was facing a significantly reduced role?

[LU Armchair coach]

No fussing we are doing church, asking questions, playing LU Armchair coaches. Seems like you think he was getting reduced minutes are you a LU Armchair coach also?

[paradox]

Was he not facing a pronounced reduction?

[olldflame]

Was he not facing a pronounced reduction?

Define "pronounced".
Once Ihnen went down last year, Owen's competition for minutes was basically Zander Yates. I don't count Cleveland because he was going to pretty much get max minutes regardless. Next season he would have been sharing time with Ihnen and Smith, so yes, he would have needed to step up big or his role would be reduced.

Looking ahead to our inside rotation next year, we lose Aquino and gain Ihnen and Smith. Net plus IMHO, and the guy we signed to fill Owen's scholarship (Jones) gives us another big who can stretch the floor, and is bigger and more athletic than Yates.

[LU Armchair coach]

Was he not facing a pronounced reduction?

We LU Armchair coaches don't make 1.6+ million to determine his playing time. Are you saying HCRM told him his minutes were being reduced from last year's overall minutes of 862, which averaged out to 24.6 per game, and conference minutes of 466, averaging 25.9 per game?

Ihnen played in 11 games, averaging 18.2 minutes per game, which is 6.4 minutes less per game than Owens.

How can you determine this based on what? Other than being another LU Armchair coach! My thoughts are Owen might be better with an Ihnen or a Smith playing beside him. As I remember from this past season, his early numbers back this up.

I would've thought more experience in the front court is better, especially in the HCRM system, which is complex. They only really run a set at the beginning of the game, maybe after timeouts or halftime. Hey, that's just this LU Armchair coach's thoughts, just like your LU Armchair coaching thought that Owen was having reduced minutes.

[LU Armchair coach]

Was he not facing a pronounced reduction?

Define "pronounced".
Once Ihnen went down last year, Owen's competition for minutes was basically Zander Yates. I don't count Cleveland because he was going to pretty much get max minutes regardless. Next season he would have been sharing time with Ihnen and Smith, so yes, he would have needed to step up big or his role would be reduced.

Looking ahead to our inside rotation next year, we lose Aquino and gain Ihnen and Smith. Net plus IMHO, and the guy we signed to fill Owen's scholarship (Jones) gives us another big who can stretch the floor, and is bigger and more athletic than Yates.

I can see it now LU Armchair coach oldflame!

[LU Armchair coach]

Jones played in 5 games and tallied 11 minutes. All 5 games were blowouts either way:

Penn State: 2 minutes
USC Upstate: 1 minute
Delaware State: 2 minutes
NC A&T: 3 minutes
St. Joseph: 1 minute
This LU Armchair coach sees Jones as another project but a better athlete. If he struggled to play for a team we beat in the last 2 out of 3 secret scrimmages, and I was told if we play 6-7 players, we win all 3. How will Jones take minutes from the departing Aquino?

[paradox]

Not sure why you’re choosing to complicate something that’s not complicated at all?