mat1992

I'm not saying this is the perfect team, but they are enjoyable to watch and as PS said, even in the Drexel loss, they get a ton of open looks. They just didn't make them. What we need now are healthy guys. When Rizzuto (3 treys) makes three-pointers, it really opens it up for everything. Sure, you are going to have nights where everybody is off, but if you can just get two, you have a good shot of winning like tonight. You get three, then it's over. Cam Holden is the straw the stirs the drink. He's a unicorn. I don't think I've ever encountered a player like him in my 31+ years of covering the program. Dude is 6-5 and maybe 210 playing power forward. With a fractured jaw, that kind of limits what you can eat. But he's out there, with no Terry Nolan, running the offense down the stretch with a mask. Making a key 3. Hitting his FTs. All with the mask on that probably doesn't help your peripheral vision. He compared it to a football face mask and in some respect, he's like a dual-threat quarterback. Running the show and hitting open guys because bigger guys are defending him. So they often need help and other guys leave their man. That leaves a ton of guys open. It's nice to have somebody smart enough to recognize the difference between a scorer and a playmaker. His IQ is off the charts. Watching him live do his thing in this era of a pandemic where you don't know who's going to play from game to game is a pleasure. I hope people will go out and get a chance to watch this team play and Cam do his thing. Even in games where we don't play our best. he's going to deliver passes to open guys and may not get the assist, because the recipient throws an extra pass. They may not make half of even 1/3 of their shots from 3-point range, but this is what we wanted. Teams that will shoot 3s a decent amount, pressure the ball some and have good guard play. We're moving forward not backwards with most of these core guys returning next season (hopefully) and some additions that will mirror this new philosophy. Nobody is perfect. If we expect perfection as fans, we set them up to fail. These are college kids, going through a pandemic, trying the best they can to win games. Hopefully, the end result will be what we hope for. But even if it doesn't, I think we're on the right path with the right type of players. Until then, as BAT says: "Enjoy the ride". It will be bumpy at times. There will be some big highs and tough lows. That doesn't just mean wins and losses. A victory for me is to somehow get through this season playing every game with healthy players. This team really does like each other and wants to win. When your best player is not just about stats and doesn't care if he's going to be all-conference (he will if he stays healthy), we're in good shape. Perfection. We all strive for it, but it's not attainable. I just wish this team can remain healthy as possible. As PS said and I know this is the times we live in, but for just a few weeks of having everyone healthy (in the rotation) at the same time. Preferably in late February.

Yes, quite interesting when there was no 16-minute media timeout and no 12 minute TO with Speedy calling a timeout at around 10:30. You rarely see guys play through two media timeout without stopping play. Yes, it was refreshing to see the officials just let them play in the second half. Nobody was in foul trouble. That kind of happens when you have two perimeter-oriented team. Did I say that? We're perimeter-oriented. Well not completely, but it's nice to guards playing that well.

Pat Skerry opening comment "Really proud of our guys. Beat a very good, well-coached Hofstra team. Our defense was very good in the second half. Our staff deserves a lot of credit. Parfait had the scout and Kevin (Clark) got into some of the guys at the half and challenged them. Nick and Juwan were excellent and Pat (O'Connell), who handles our defense did a good job. Hofstra is a hard team to guard. They have so many guys that can take you." On Jalen Ray "Try to make him take tough shots. He's like Jason in Friday the 13th. That guy has killed us so many times. I think Nick's effort was really good on him. He tried to make him take hard shots. They are well-coached and know how to play. We didn't change anything. Juwan's length bothered some guys. The staff got those guys ready to play." On Nolan and Hicks Hopeful. We want have Radhir this weekend. Terry is possible. We had some wacky games last week where they struggled with shortness of breath and light-headedness. Happened at Drexel and again Saturday. Strange times we're living in. We have really good medical people and we're just trying to make sure they are ok. Terry is really good and such a great leader and infectious personality. He's trying to coach out there." On playing without them It's a little bit easier knowing that you weren't going to have guys then all of a sudden in the middle of the game. The other night, Radhir had to go to the hospital in the middle of the game (Drexel) and Terry had to have tests in the last game. That's tough. Guys have to do their job and just be ready to play. Everyone is going through that. It's been an odd year, but these are some awesome guys to be around. We haven't had everyone together a lot. It's not because they didn't do what they were supposed to do. Just some crazy stuff. Hopefully, at some point we'll have a 2-3 week stretch where we have everyone. On his team that shares the ball "By far best team we've had (sharing the ball). We've never had a year where we said don't move the ball. Their intent is really good. We had a couple of nights where we haven't shot the ball well. We didn't shoot it well against Drexel, but we got some good looks. If we keep moving the ball, we'll get open looks. Jason looks like Steph Curry. We've had other teams where it's like running in the mud. It's just fine. It's a lot easier when the ball goes into the basket. We've had a lot of teams that couldn't....not going to say. On Cam "He's playing with a broken jaw and a mask. He's about as complete a guy as we've had since (JB). He practices like that. Pat O'Connell recruited and found him. Kudos to him. Good players make you look good as a coach." On Jason Gibson It's toughness. Had major back surgery, then he broke a bone in his hand and missed all of preseason. Then go Covid. Keep him healthy. He helps us. On unselfishness and shooting "We've had a lot of teams that took shots. They just didn't make them a lot. These guys can make them, which helps. We have a lot of guys that can shoot. We've tried to make adjustments in recruiting and offensive stuff. The disaster that we had last year gave us a chance to get ahead of that. Change things philosophically. Get ahead of the portal. Hopefully we can keep them afloat. It's good shooting, but good passing. That will help you get good shots. Juwan Gray Proud of him. Achilles. Good student. Good ambassador. Good guy. Experienced. Playing well. He probably could be starting. He's not saying anything. It's easy to root for a guy like that."

Cam Holden As a team, we played through the hot guy. Any night it could be Terry, Jason, it was a huge night for Jason. We have a bunch of unselfish guys. Even though I lead in points and rebounds. Jason was scoring. I don't mind giving him the open pass if I have a shot because that's the way we play. That's part of our success. I got energy when he was scoring because has had a game besides Coppin where he was in a rhythm. Credit to Hofstra. I feel like they took away my post game tonight and made me feel uncomfortable. Gibby did a great job of taking us over the hump. On playing with the mask "I feel a lot more comfortable (since Drexel game). I feel more natural. A lot of people call me Bane from Batman. I kind of take it in and embrace the mask. At first, I used to bite it a lot. I can't play in it. I got very upset on the bench one time and Coach O'Connell took me and said I have to embrace it. Thanks to him, I have to embrace it. I hate it, but I have to play with it to win." "Playing the game the right way. I'm not very big on accolades. I got first-team, second-team all-conference before. I'm just all about winning. I came to Towson to win. It doesn't matter how many shots I take. As long as we win, I go to the locker room smiling. If we lose, I'm not going to be smiling. My shot attempts.....if I see my guy open, I'm going to pass it to them. I don't have the problem making the extra pass. If they miss, I'll go rebound it." On lack of turnovers "Credit to the staff. When they see a mismatch, they feel I can make a play. I can take advantage of so I get going or get guys involved. Charles is a great post guy, so when he rolls and the shooting we have with Gibby, Antonio and Juwan. Me making the decision with a big slow guy on me. I like the decision with three minutes to go to let me close out. It's a big time transition by making a post guy guard the ball screen. I'll make the right decision." On Jalen Ray going 2 for 10 He's a great scorer and great shotmaker. Estrada. He's a problem. He had a big night. We knew Ray could have a big night. Tough defense and our hedging bothered him (Ray). The way we play defense is a bit different than the other teams in the conference. They guard the ball screen a little different than what we do. We tried to bother him and I'm sure he'll adjust when we go there."

Jason Gibson "Hofstra is a great team. Very well coached. Luckily we made shots and defended, rebounded. A team win tonight." On playing 39 minutes without Nolan My wind was good. I felt good. I knew that I was going to have to step up and play more minutes tonight and I was prepared to do that. A team win. We all contributed big to rebounding. It wasn't just me hitting shots. I was hitting open shots and we defended well in the second half. " On back issue "That was big for me. To do that in the offseason (surgery). To be able to lift and do the normal things." On scoring 26 a career high "It was my teammates giving me confidence. Just told me to keep shooting. Reload the gun. I was ready to shoot and my guys found me and I made a lot of open shots." On new faces compared to last season "Team chemistry. We're a lot more connected than we were last year. We're just grateful to be playing and practicing. Staying in a routine. That's been big for us. We have good guys on the team that will make the open pass and will defend for each other. That's big and that's a difference for this year." On reputation as a 3-point shooting team "We have a lot of good shooters (laughs). We like to hang our hat on defense. When we're not making shots and we have nights like that, we have to defend. " On depth "We have multiple people who can shoot. Radhir can come in and give us good defense. The amount of depth is one of the differences from last season." We're just going to go into every game trying to execute the gameplan. We have to make shots, defend and rebound. We're going to keep it going and keep defending. That's big for us. We have to defend."

Juwan Gray "We played how we knew were capable of. The ball movement was key. We were able to hit our shots and in the second half. We picked up our defense. We held them to 33% shooting in the second half. That was key for us." I feel great. My last go-around. I'm enjoying every moment. Great group of guys to be around. I felt like a lot of stuff off the court, helps us gell on the court. We all get along well. It's always great to be around the guys, which makes it easier to be on the floor. We're all very unselfish. We're willing to make the extra pass to get an open look for my teammates. On playing without Nolan and others "Terry is an intricate piece to our team, but our mantra all year. 'We all we need, we all we got.' Come game time, that what we're going to use as the challenge to beat the other team." On defending Estrada the second half "Just to be more aggressive in the ball screens. They were hitting the short roll a lot and hitting a lot of passes out of the hedge. Coach emphasized be more aggressive on the ball screen and have high hands so they can't skip it around."

No Nolan or Hicks

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=370333 Cam Holden scored 18 points and grabbed 10 boards to lead Towson (1-1 CAA) to their first conference win of the season over a depleted Northeastern team on Sunday afternoon. The Huskies were playing without head coach Bill Coen and most of his staff along with Shaquille Walters (12.9ppg, 5.1 rpg) and Tyreek Scott-Grayson (12.3ppg, 5.3rpg). Towson lost starting point guard Terry Nolan early in the game (he played five minutes) for an undisclosed injury. Holden, Juwan Gray (12pts, 7rebs) and Charles Thompson (13pts, 7 rebs) stepped up as the guard play was erratic with Nolan out. The Tigers had just nine assists and 13 turnovers with Nolan getting two of the assists. Senior guard Antonio Rizzuto, who missed the Drexel game, had seven points in 25 minutes, but went just 1-of-8 from three-point range. Towson had another poor three-point shooting night (6-of-20). Defensively, they held the Huskies to 40% shooting and outrebounded them by five. Here are some quotes from head coach Pat Skerry after the game on FloSports: "No easy nights in this league. They are missing guys. We lost guys. Crazy times. Billy Coen, not sure if he's sick. Hope he's ok. Guys hung in there. Charles and Cam were terrific around the rim. They are big. We did do a good job on rebounding." "We have to play better for longer stretches. Play when we're tired. We have to better job trailing screens. Esp when we lose bodies. No easy ones. We didn't kill it from 3 and had a lot of good looks. Holden gave us a great spurt in the second half. We can't lose him, tell you that. (Holden). Good win. Going to be a quick turnaround. Hofstra is small, fast. We have to lean on our guys that have been here. Juwan was good. We have lean on older guys." On veterans "Nick has to be locked on in both ends of the floor. That has been subpar the last couple of games. He's capable of doing it and did in the first group of games (non-conference)."

One last thing. If Nolan is not on the floor, or even if he is, try and get the ball into Gibson's hands late in the game when you are up 10 or less with under a minute left. Best foul shooter on the team. I don't want Cam with the ball in that situation with the mask on or even without it. He was around 69% from the line before the fractured jaw. Nolan was worse. Timberlake had it and was waiting to get fouled. Then he lost the ball. He's a fine FT shooter, but give Gibby the ball in all those situations. He's our Four.

Nick needs a guard like Nolan getting him shots. That's what Gibson has to do more of is create shots for others, though he's better when he gets the ball near the 3-point line and has the open look. Nick's biggest issue, other than fluctuating confidence on offense, is his inability to create off the dribble. It's a shame because he can dunk on some people, but he doesn't have a crossover to create separation and drive by people. He has to use his athletic ability and cut to the basket to get easier looks. Or run off screens. PS loves the kid, but he did mention him in the post game interview. He rarely does that after a win or even a loss.

I think Paar has had issues off the floor that are probably hindering his confidence on the floor. He's capable of 5 and 5, though he's not going to average 18mpg. He just needs to play and produce what he can. To me, offensive production is about the guards. The bigs just need to defend, rebound and score when it's available. https://gwsports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/chase-paar/7280

Just had two bad games. Not sure if he's pressing. Played very well in non-conference play. Rizzuto is certainly capable and I'll give him some of the benefit of the doubt considering he missed the Drexel game.

Hicks is not there for his scoring. I thought he was terrific on D. Paar has to stop turning the ball over. Had three in the first half when he put the ball on the floor and none in the second, but he is certainly capable of 5pts and 5rebs. If not, go with Biekeu. I don't know what the issue was with Nolan. We certainly need his playmaking ability. He has been incredible with his assist-to-turnover ratio. You just don't get that from Gibson or Hicks. He's 18th https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1/current/individual/473

BTW. Thoroughly enjoyed the women's broadcast today in their dominance of W&M. The guard duo of Aleah Nelson and Kylie Kornegay-Lucas is going to be great in the CAA. They've lost just once this year and that was to NC State.

Domination

Right, James Madison.

VMI transfer 6-4 285

https://towsontigers.com/news/2022/1/7/womens-basketball-riveras-season-high-23-points-lifts-towson-over-elon-in-caa-opener.aspx