Liebs playing with tenacity! The Road Warrior???

[Cosmic Cowboy]

At what point do we quit poop on Jeremy Lieberman and start pointing out that this kid has been playing with guts, fire, and tenacity. He was the one showing a big time pulse at UNLV and Fresno. Got sick, looked rough as hell in limited minutes against Nevada. Then came out on the road again with what looked like his best game in the Brown N Gold. I agree with coach Shyatt on that one I'm really liking what he's been bringing to the table. Even look back to his gritty game against USC. He played with heart even with that L hanging heavily on him with those 2 final plays.

Is he like our poor man's Steve Wojciechowski? Man I hated Wojo and always hated Duke but I'd take any player that plays with intensity, grit, and pride like that on my squad even if lacking the greatest athletic talent. I hate to make that comparison because I like Lieb's style WAY more then Wojo. Liebs is bringing the most energy some games and I think he needs to continue to set this tone. Never get out gunned because of lack of effort and pride. He's earning minutes imo

He is also playing his best on road lately too. We desperately need this as we have looked sluggish in our road losses. I can't wait to see what he brings into the Pit. I hope he sets that tone up top again and the team follows behind him. Of course its about to get a lot rougher against UNM. The team needs him at the level he's been showing.

[.44caliberkiller]

The kid plays hard I will give him that, and he can be a pest on defense. But most nights when he is afraid to shoot he is a liability on offense and it truly feels like were playing 4 on 5. He may play point guard but he rarely creates offense for himself or teammates. And while he can be a pest on defense because of his shear tenacity he still is a mediocre defender because he can be beaten off the dribble easily by any above average slasher. Plus he isn't much of a threat to get a rebound. There have been plenty of nights where Lieberman and Kelley have gotten significant minutes and have barley registered a stat. I would much rather play the guys who have a much higher overall ceiling and let the chips fall where they may. Having said all that I hope Lieberman proves me wrong and becomes an all mountain west type player because I have no doubt that Edwards will continue to play him.

[LanderPoke]

The kid plays hard I will give him that, and he can be a pest on defense. But most nights when he is afraid to shoot he is a liability on offense and it truly feels like were playing 4 on 5. He may play point guard but he rarely creates offense for himself or teammates. And while he can be a pest on defense because of his shear tenacity he still is a mediocre defender because he can be beaten off the dribble easily by any above average slasher. Plus he isn't much of a threat to get a rebound. There have been plenty of nights where Lieberman and Kelley have gotten significant minutes and have barley registered a stat. I would much rather play the guys who have a much higher overall ceiling and let the chips fall where they may. Having said all that I hope Lieberman proves me wrong and becomes an all mountain west type player because I have no doubt that Edwards will continue to play him.

+1

[stymeman]

i'll stop once he starts scoring more often, he should have 8-10 pts per game, sorry never been a fan at all since day 1

[DVDA]

The kid plays hard I will give him that, and he can be a pest on defense. But most nights when he is afraid to shoot he is a liability on offense and it truly feels like were playing 4 on 5. He may play point guard but he rarely creates offense for himself or teammates. And while he can be a pest on defense because of his shear tenacity he still is a mediocre defender because he can be beaten off the dribble easily by any above average slasher. Plus he isn't much of a threat to get a rebound. There have been plenty of nights where Lieberman and Kelley have gotten significant minutes and have barley registered a stat. I would much rather play the guys who have a much higher overall ceiling and let the chips fall where they may. Having said all that I hope Lieberman proves me wrong and becomes an all mountain west type player because I have no doubt that Edwards will continue to play him.

There's a lot of truth to this, but he earns some minutes when he plays like he did vs SJSU. His defense was good against a pretty bad point guard. He won't get that SJSU player every game which is where he needs to be better at not getting crossed over by better players and creating a 4v5 on defense. He is still a non-threat from 3 as he shot 1-5 on the SJSU game and had zero assists from someone who is supposedly a "point guard." That position no longer exists. It's silly for Edwards to stick to that old ideal by putting guys on the court simply because they're short. I complain about Lieberman as much as others, but he played well vs SJSU. UW really needs him to be solid since Edwards is obviously going to play him even when he doesn't deserve the minutes.

[TSpoke]

I think Liebs gets too much poop on here too but I won't go as far as the OP did. He plays good perimeter defense and is a veteran presence leader out on the court. He has struggled offensively but I like how he busted out early last game. I seem to remember last year he started off slowly but later in the conference season he picked his game up on the offensive side. I hope last game is a sign of things to come and he continues to play like that on both ends.

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

He is a tale of two Liebermans. Liebs #1 has great play with his steals, ball handling, and his scoring. Then there is Liebs #2 (where the public opinion sways on Liebs) when he is careless with the ball and when he takes shots deemed outside the scope of his position. His defense has never really wavered. He is a underrated defender and has always been stout in his defensive play. When he takes care of the ball and scores he is a welcome change and more than deserves his time. When he makes careless mistakes and misses shots and keeps jacking them up thats when the saltiness shows back up. For the majority of this year, he has been Liebs #2 which is why the opinion of him has been so low but over the last 3 or so games we are starting to see more and more of Liebs #1. Its been refreshing.

[Cosmic Cowboy]

Well I think the key to Liebs is that at the PG position he can be the 5th scoring option on the court. I honestly have always been a fan of PG's that run the O through the team and get everyone involved. I like unselfish PGs but yes I do like a starting PG to be able to drop 8+ a game. Do you want ever one of your PG's to be like Magic, Stockton, Westbrook, or Penny? YES but players like that don't come along often even in the pros. I think it helps to look at it through the college bball perspective. I talked about Wojo up top and yeah he wasn't the greatest or on the greatest Duke teams but he was on Duke tourney teams. He often set the intensity for the squad but look at his stats.
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pla ... ski-1.html

I'm stoked that Liebs is stepping up during conference play. Def rooting for him to continue. Chances are pretty good people might be talking poop on him again in this thread It's always going to be a dogfight for him against top 100 teams. UNM is listed at the 101 slot and we're ranked 135 on current Saragrin ratings. Let's see what this kid brings again in the Pit. It's not gonna be EZ but I just want him to be a tone setter that plays heady bball.

[Cosmic Cowboy]

Nice to see the Road Warrior strike again last night!!! f-word Liebs y'all putting the screws to Air Force in Rado. Honestly I've got Liebs in my starting 5 at this point, I think its critical he's on the court with all units, and you can always count on balls out hustle from this kid. He's kind of a notoriously slow starter but he's finishing STRONG again Keep on gunnin playa!!! I love that he's picking his spots to score perfectly like a true PG.