Previewing Liberty

First off, Seth Curry, who killed our guys last season, is gone (transferred to Duke) but I will say I would have liked to watch him in person at the Patriot Center this season just as a basketball fan. Not only did the Flames lose their best player and probably the best player in the Big South conference, but they also graduated their best all-around player and lost their head coach to UVA. I've seen the team picked to finish anywhere from 4th to dead last in the conference, so they are difficult to read this early on. New head coach Dale Layer is basically starting out from scratch with this year's team boasting 11 underclassmen and one returning player that averaged double digits in scoring, Kyle Ohman. Ohman started every game last season for the Flames and will look for help on offense from sophomore Jesse Sanders. Three-point shooting and guard play is what they will rely on again this year as they don't have any proven post players. They have some height on their roster with a few guys in the 6'9"-6'11" range but they play more like small forwards and will be no match for our front court.

If the Patriot's attacking defense gets going early it could be very difficult for the young Liberty squad to get anything going offensively. I would expect Pearson and Morrison to have big games and not really be challenged in the front court. Also they don't have anyone who could possibly keep up with Andre Cornelius if he starts running up and d0wn the court. He will be busy with Cam Long defending the perimeter as the Flames will launch a lot of three-pointers and it's an area they can't slack on despite the score. Hopefully we will get a lead and be able to give the freshmen a lot of minutes but don't be surprised if some careless turnovers or assignment miscues keep the Flames in the game early on.

Check out the video below of Flames head coach Dale Layer discussing the up-coming season: