To help us preview Liberty’s game with Longwood, we connected with our Palmetto & Pine Sports Network colleagues from LancersBlog to talk about the upcoming matchup.
1. It’s the 2nd season in the Coach Gee era, what is the general consensus about Lancer fans on the job he has done so far?
You’re seeing the semblance of a real program now and for the most part the fans are very happy with Gee. We all knew last year was a wash because, lets face it, the cupboard was very bare. I think we’re really expecting a step ladder approach similar to Mike Jones at Radford where the teams improves, peaks, and hopefully sustains at the four year mark. This year has been rougher than expected thanks to some suspensions for Quincy Taylor and Jason Pimentel and the injury to Lotanna Nwogbo. A lot of youngsters are getting a lot of time and it was really tough to look over on the bench on Wednesday and see Nwogbo in street clothes along with three talented transfers in Pimentel (ODU), Khris Lane (Drexel), and Tra’Vaughn White (Duquesne). There is just so much talent that can’t suit up right now. Gee’s energy has really revitalized the fan base but we need to see things start progressing on the court.
2. Nwogbo’s out 4-6 weeks with a thumb injury, what does his loss mean for the Lancers?
It’s huge. Nwogbo started conference play like he wanted to be a Big South first teamer and was probably the most pure post presence in the league. His production is almost impossible to match since Pimentel is not suiting up. Longwood now has to rely on Damarion Geter and freshman Victor Dorsey to step up. It also forces Shaq to play the four and takes him away from being the best on-the-ball defender on the perimeter. With Nwogbo I thought we could be a .500 team in the Big South, without him it’s going to be really, really rough.
3. Quincy Taylor and Shaq Johnson are dynamic players. What do they bring for Coach Gee and Longwood?
Quincy has a fifth gear in his game but it never seems to kick in until very late. He’s a leader on the court and is always a serious offensive and defensive threat. A lot is asked of Quincy and he’s finished in double-digit scoring in every game but one this year. Shaq has to be the best athlete to ever put on a Longwood uniform. He’s a high flyer that has a little bit more of a shooters touch than we were expecting. He also gets asked to do a lot like switching from being an inside player to a perimeter defender. He’s been letting it fly lately and needs to be a little more consistent but his explosiveness is unmatched in this conference.
4. Speaking of Johnson, he’s had his fair share of run ins with the law including one during his short time at Longwood, does the Longwood community mind bringing in athletes with off-court issues?
I think people recognize if you want to get talent into a program that has been so abysmal for a decade that you have to take a gamble on some kids like Shaq. Personally, I think Shaq gets a bad name and his “issues” are blown a bit out of proportion. Shaq was kicked off the team at Auburn for weed and Nick Marshall did the exact same thing on the football team and got a game suspension. The truth really hasn’t come out about Shaq’s “incident” at Longwood but let’s just say there is a reason why the case was thrown out and the “victim” never even showed up to court.
Pimentel’s indefinite suspension has been the most disappointing and has really hurt the team from a depth perspective. I think what makes the big difference and offsets what Gee is doing is the quality of young men he brought in as freshmen. Ryan Badowski and Kanayo Obi-Rapu aren’t only great players on the court they are also two of the most incredible human beings that I’ve ever interacted with, both guys take class act to the next level.
5. Does Longwood look at Liberty as their biggest rival? Why/why not?
I’d say yes because it’s convenient. The schools are close and so different that it’s easy to poke fun at one another. The whole Willett Hall thing also plays into it and the fact that the games are always so close when they are at Longwood. I’d love to say Radford is our rival but their fan base just seems kind of apathetic. While Liberty has a national presence, Longwood is very much regional and most of us have known about Liberty our whole lives for one reason or another.
When you’re traveling around Division I for a decade you’re hungry for a rival and Liberty was one of the rare in-state teams that would play us and they were even doing home and home match ups with us for a couple of years. I feel like Liberty is the Dallas Cowboys of the Big South, they are polarizing. Like no one probably has a real problem with Gardner-Webb but everyone in the conference hates Liberty.
6. What is your prediction for Saturday night?
The streak always makes me nervous but I think Longwood is going to come out firing. I’ll say 73-69 Longwood for no real reason.
I also answered a few questions for LancersBlog, and you can read that Q&A here.
