Rapid reactions following Liberty’s loss to Winthrop, 71-56, Thursday night:
- The loss drops the Flames to 0-7 in Big South Conference play. That’s the 2nd worst start to Big South play in school history. In 1998-99, Liberty started conference play 0-9 under first year head coach Mel Hankinson. They went on to finish that season 4-23 overall and 0-10 in Big South play.
- Liberty used their 10th different starting lineup this season. This was the 20th game. If you’re not good at math, that’s an average of a different starting lineup every other game. That’s not good for continuity.
- For the 2nd straight game, Liberty attempted a 2nd half comeback, and for the 2nd straight game, they came up short. The Flames got as close as 6 points with 5 minutes left, but were unable to overcome Winthrop’s 1st half lead which was as high as 21. Liberty trailed Longwood by 23 on Saturday before cutting it to 9 on a couple of occasions.
- James Johnson played terrible in the first half. He was so bad I had written a note at halftime that he should be benched. He was a turnover machine in the first half, but he had a 3-4 minute stretch in the 2nd half where he was very active. He drew several fouls and got to the free throw line. If he could bottle those 3-4 minutes up and play like that whenever he’s on the court, then Liberty would have what they thought they had when Johnson transferred to LU.
- Liberty had 20 turnovers and it didn’t even feel like a major storyline.
- The Flames made 0 3-pointers. Zero. The last time Liberty went without a 3-pointer was in 2005. Streak of 318 straight games with a made 3 is over.
- Liberty’s starting point guard finished the game with 1 assist and 5 turnovers. Peter Moller had 3 assists and 8 turnovers in his previous 3 games.
- Drew Smith had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
- That’s 5 straight losses by double digits.
- Is this the worst Liberty team ever? It has to be in the conversation.
I think more like the worst coached team ever
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