The Odds: Liberty

[UD '01 grad]

Hens a 12- to 12.5-point underdog for tomorrow's game vs. Liberty.

KenPom
George Washington - 78
Liberty - 85
New Mexico State - 176
UTEP - 283
Hens - 291
DelState - 357

https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaab-gam ... 62706#odds

[hoopster]

Great first half for the Hens!

[Hens79]

Hens up at 30-29. Pretty good half.

I can’t believe Liberty, with their puny lineup and almost no inside game is 18-3. It look like all they have is 3s. Too bad the Hens bench is so depleted and they are forced to play a lot of zone. An athletic team would really bother Liberty.

[Hens79]

And that’s pretty much it. Just not enough guys. Playing with Kazanecki and Tayloe due to Emory fouls trouble on the court at the same time is a killer

[Info Hound]

They battled. The problem we have is not coaching. Martin is not a "stiff", like the last two head coaches.

It's all about the money, and frankly, I prefer that football remain (as it always been), the priority.

I'll do what I can, but it's not enough.

[GVHen87]

Need to discuss the offensive foul call against Bliss at the end of the game. Admittedly, my seat is on the other end of the floor and on the other side of the court, but it didn't look like an offensive foul in real time to me. And during the one quick replay that was shown on the scoreboard, I didn't see Bliss push off. But did anyone get a good look at it, or did they show replays on it on ESPN+? If it was a defensive foul, a Bliss free throw cuts the lead to one which gives UD a shot. Even a non-call brings the Hens to within two.

The ref that made the call also seemed to make a horrible call against UD earlier in the half too. I know for certain that the "kick ball" near the end of the game was definitely not. Sure, Liberty gets the ball no matter what, but with the kick ball, they get 20 seconds put on the shot clock.

[DaveB]

Bliss clearly pushed off however, the Liberty defender was grabbing Bliss as well. Call could go either way

[rooneyguy]

Bliss clearly pushed off however, the Liberty defender was grabbing Bliss as well. Call could go either way

I generally agree, but that is not the way this particular game was being called. The refs were calling defensive fouls all night long in similar situations. Seemed like a strange time to make a call that went the other way.

P.S. It's tough to win a game like that when only four guys score. If only we had a guy like Reilly to help out a bit, but that ship has sailed.

[Hens79]

There was a lot of tough officiating last night. We’ll see how Liberty makes out if they make it to the post season and they play an athletic team that can pressure them and the refs let them play. They were a really annoyiny, whining team.

Also, does anyone think CUSA isn’t as good as they thought it would be? While there doesn’t appear to be really lousy teams (except the Hens) like the CAA, the top of the league isn’t as good as the CAA in my opinion. I just think the good Charleston, UNCW and even Hofstra teams are better than Liberty and surely anything else I have seen in CUSA. It’s too bad the Hens are so depleted. They could have fared fairly well.

[Hens79]

Bliss clearly pushed off however, the Liberty defender was grabbing Bliss as well. Call could go either way

I generally agree, but that is not the way this particular game was being called. The refs were calling defensive fouls all night long in similar situations. Seemed like a strange time to make a call that went the other way.

P.S. It's tough to win a game like that when only four guys score. If only we had a guy like Reilly to help out a bit, but that ship has sailed.

My view on all points. And when one of the scorers goes to the bench with foul trouble, and Kazanecki and Taylor are on the court at same time, it really hurts. Those two played a combined 46 minutes and scored 0 points. And they really don’t rebound much or play good defense either. They are two guys that would be getting minimal minutes as freshman on a less depleted roster.

It is what it is. But the team does play hard.

[Info Hound]

I just think the good Charleston, UNCW and even Hofstra teams are better than Liberty and surely anything else I have seen in CUSA. It’s too bad the Hens are so depleted. They could have fared fairly well.

I would agree with that. Before the game, I assumed LU would run us off the court. Instead, to our credit, it was a battle throughout.
Unless LU wins a game or two in the NCAA, CUSA and CAA are not much different to me.

[GVHen87]

Bliss clearly pushed off however, the Liberty defender was grabbing Bliss as well. Call could go either way

I generally agree, but that is not the way this particular game was being called. The refs were calling defensive fouls all night long in similar situations. Seemed like a strange time to make a call that went the other way.

Agree and very reasonable. I also mentioned in my post a "what if" about a non-call. My feeling is that was the right thing to do in that situation. That bald ref was bad. But I also need to say irrespective on my comment about that one bad ref, that my seatmates and I strongly believe the refereeing in C-USA is light years better than the CAA.

And that serves as a good lead in to discuss an earlier post about the level of play of C-USA vs CAA..... *Perhaps* the teams at the top are fairly close. However C-USA hands down is the better conference top to bottom over CAA and the teams that have been added over the last few years.

[Caribbean Hen]

Bliss clearly pushed off however, the Liberty defender was grabbing Bliss as well. Call could go either way

I generally agree, but that is not the way this particular game was being called. The refs were calling defensive fouls all night long in similar situations. Seemed like a strange time to make a call that went the other way.

Agree and very reasonable. I also mentioned in my post a "what if" about a non-call. My feeling is that was the right thing to do in that situation. That bald ref was bad. But I also need to say irrespective on my comment about that one bad ref, that my seatmates and I strongly believe the refereeing in C-USA is light years better than the CAA.

And that serves as a good lead in to discuss an earlier post about the level of play of C-USA vs CAA..... *Perhaps* the teams at the top are fairly close. However C-USA hands down is the better conference top to bottom over CAA and the teams that have been added over the last few years.

One could make that same observation for football and not be wrong