eagle88 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 ORU is a 4.5 favorite. I know Liberty is good and has a very good point guard but the way we have been playing and being at home I predict ORU by 7. 85-78 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 This would be a coin flip on a neutral court. Definitely glad we get them at Mabee Center! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Here is the link to the game thread on the Liberty Flames message board. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Liberty plays a deliberate style - very different from ORU. I think it is very difficult to speed the game up if your opponent is determined to slow the pace. I expect them to milk the clock and make us play defense for close to 30 seconds on every possession. Doc says that Liberty (at least in the past) plays a pack-line defense: The 'Pack Line' defense is a variation of man-to-man defense. The biggest difference between the two is that instead of the off-ball defenders being out pressuring their player and denying the pass, everyone except the player guarding the ball must be inside an imaginary line 16 feet from the rim. This 16ft line is know as the pack line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 If they stay within 16 feet of the rim this could turn into a "bomb's away" situation for us. It would take discipline on our part to not start chucking "threes" every time we bring the ball up the court. No offense but if that is the case don't let a certain player of ours to have the ball because I could see him not even attempting a pass to anyone else, just chucking threes all night long. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Liberty's coach used to be at Virginia and they played the pack line defense. It makes good sense, since the Flames are a smaller team. ORU will need to hit some threes to open that defense up. Then they can feed Connor or have Carlos post up. It should be an interesting game of contrasting styles. Will we also see how Max matches up with Magee, which are two of the top scorers in college basketball the last few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 I don’t know enough about Liberty to make any kind of prediction, but this just feels like an ORU win if the Flames have been properly scouted. I’ll take high-volume offense over “playing defense with your offense” any day. Now, it Liberty is athletic enough to actually play defense against ORU’s length on the front line with Mwamba and Weaver, that’s a whole different story… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 TheEagleman watched Liberty a few weeks ago when they lost to Northwestern....honestly they looked slow, mechanical and basically terrible.....probably not the best sample but a look at their record indicates 6-3 with a several non D-1 wins like ORU.....and Liberty also on a four game win streak like ORU....their most impressive victory was vs. Bradley which isn't the basketball school it used to be.....look, I like Liberty and root for them especially in football.....agree with the comment above that I might be worried if this game were in Lynchburg but it's at Mabee Center....in short, expect the Flames to be extinguished tomorrow night.....ORU is a small favorite around -4 or so which TheEagleman doesn't see as a problem....ORU has to be disciplined and not chuck up a bunch of early 3 balls.....Liberty will try to suck the air out of the ball and keep this game in the 60's.....but I don't see that happening....Max seems to be back on his game and he will score at least 25 and send the Flames heading home disappointed....hoping that Vanover has a double digit scoring night as well......and the Good Guys will come away with a double digit victory.....ORU 80 Liberty 68.... GO BLUE!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Liberty's top two players in minutes played are both listed at 5'9". Liberty also relies on McGhee quite a bit where ORU has more balanced scoring. Height MPG PPG Darius McGhee 5'9" 28.6 21.2 Colin Porter 5'9" 25.1 6.2 Kyle Rode 6'7" 24.6 7.8 Shiloh Robinson 6'7" 23.4 7.6 Joseph Venzant 6'3" 20.3 5.3 Brody Peebles 6'2" 18.2 12.1 Isiah Warfield 6'5" 16.2 1.8 Height MPG PPG Max Abmas 6' 32.9 19.0 Kareem Thompson 6'5" 27.5 9.2 Issac McBride 6'2" 27.3 11.3 Connor Vanover 7'5" 24.9 12.1 Carlos Jurgens 6'5" 24.4 10.2 Patrick Mwamba 6'7" 18.6 8.1 DeShang Weaver 6'7" 17.2 8.5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 ORU is much bigger than Liberty, may not say that again this year! The Flames can hit the threes, so ORU will need and try and run their shooters off the line. Who ever heard of a D1 team that has two 5'9 guys that play the most minutes on their team? That is almost unheard of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 I would like to see Connor get the ball in the post several times in the first 5 minutes. He will be 10 - 8 inches taller than the defensive player guarding him (depending on if Liberty goes big with one of their 6'9" players). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Seems like the packline defense would be very vulnerable to three point shooting. If we're hitting on Monday night like we did on Saturday night, we should be effective against this defensive strategy. I may be wrong, but it does not appear as though, when stricty applied, this defense is drawn out by excellent three point shooting. It appears the whole goal is to clog the lane against dribble drives and backdoor cuts. Midcourt Max, if he's on tomorrow night, may be the bane of the packline defense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 1 minute ago, tmh8286 said: Seems like the packline defense would be very vulnerable to three point shooting. If we're hitting on Monday night like we did on Saturday night, we should be effective against this defensive strategy. I may be wrong, but it does not appear as though, when stricty applied, this defense is drawn out by excellent three point shooting. It seems that the whole goal is to clog the lane against dribble drives and backdoor cuts. Midcourt Max, if he's on tomorrow night, may be the bane of the packline defense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 ORU vs. Liberty does seem like an old Bracketbuster......what great memories!.....ORU has dropped to -3.5 which TheEagleman finds kind of insulting....that's a lack of respect for the Good Guys at Mabee Center.....ORU needs to send a message tonight with a solid home victory..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU40 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Just a quick word of caution regarding the "Max is back" narrative based on the last 2 games, we should be careful about declaring that Max has turned the corner based on 2 games against very inferior talent. Let's also be cautious about our expectations in these "top guards in the country" matchups as Max has not fared well in those- see Marcus Sasser and the Houston backcourt rout as an example. We have played 3 good teams this year: St Mary's Max was 4-11 FGs for 14 points and 3 TO's, Houston= Max was 1-13 FGs for 3 points and 3 TO's, and Utah St.- Max was 5-12 for 17 points with 5 TO's. That's 28% from the field for 11.3 points and 3.66 TO's per game against good competition. If we want to consider Max one of our All-Time Greats he needs to play well against the good teams, not just pad his stats against the inferior ones (let TP do that). He had a great 6 game run 2 seasons ago that put ORU basketball back on the map, for which we are all thankful but he's a senior now and needs to step up and lead this team and not just against the weak opponents! To be considered one of our "Greats" with Roberts, Acres and Fuqua, Max needs to play his best against the best!! It's time to stop trying to win the social media games and outsmart the NET scores and KenPom rankings and get it done on the court!! The pinnacle of Coach Wooden's pyramid of success is "Competitive Greatness", being at your best when your best is needed!!! Tonight, is a great opportunity for Max to play well against a good guard and for us to beat a good team... Go Eagles!!! 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Spot on and well stated, ORU40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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