Tgr4life

The whole NIL and portal process makes you wonder what you are really giving money for. If you are from a P5 school, then you are "supporting" a professional team. In doing so, you have to think, do you just donate money to the Washington Wizards? P5 college athletics is another name for minor league professional athletes. If you are a mid-major (in basketball...since football already has the two setups FBS and FCS) you are giving money in hopes that once every 10 years or so, you hit a home run, get to the dance, get blown out by UCON and watch all of your players leave. 

I really don't know what I think the answer might be, but whatever it is, it something different than we are doing now. 

As was mentioned earlier, this is a temporary problem. Pretty soon the "Power howevermany" will get tired of sharing their money with the Mids and that will be the end of what we now know as March madness. The Towson of the world will wind up playing in some version of an NIT. Just as most folks don't know who won the FCS Bowl title, no one will care about the basketball title as well. 

I could be wrong, but it certainly is a significant possibility. Just hate where college athletics has gone. 

1 hour ago, TSU88 said:

Might be another way of saying that some of them know they would draw little to no interest in the portal, so why leave. 

I’m glad we’re retaining Tejada, Lowey and DWill. I’m optimistic, albeit cautiously, about the 2 incoming freshmen. I’m ambivalent as to whether May stays or goes. I’d like to see what Cole and Watson could do, but that may not be in the cards. The rest…I thank for their efforts and wish the best of luck in their future non-basketball endeavors, but I don’t want them back. 

Let’s not conflate inertia and success. So maybe its a nice little feel good story to some (admittedly not me) that almost is everyone back. I’m highly skeptical this is going to translate into meaningful success next season 

 

 

I agree...to keep the team in together that choked away the game against Charleston is a good thing?????????????????????????????  Not sure that I buy that. 

1 hour ago, Tiger93 said:

I mean at the end of the day you are right about the playoffs generally, but as an Orioles fan it was pretty damn cool to enjoy every game of the season where they won over 100 games for the first time since 1980. I didn't think at the end of the year this is a failure because we didn't win the World Series. I did think if I look back in 5-6 years and the Orioles haven't won the World Series I will be bitterly disappointed, and this is the beginning of the window (which is I guess where we are at with Skerry, which I understand).

Of course, sports is weird and things can always go wrong. You aren't guaranteed 100-win seasons every year or winning conference seasons. To me that is why you have to enjoy every season for what it is every year, and then shift to a postseason mindset and look back at the end of the year collectively as to whether you enjoyed it as a fan. I was seven the last time the Orioles won 1983, and I want to be on this earth when they win the next one. However, 1989, 1996, 1997, 2012, 2014 and last year were damn fun. Championship or not.

I still also enjoy the fact that Towson is one of the better teams in this conference. Do I want to see them make an NCAA Tournament (a real one before it expands) while I am on this Earth. Not only that, but I would like this program to be good enough to have a shot to pull and upset or two. I still demand that from this program. At the same time, whether it is the Orioles or Towson being a good team throughout the regular season is a helluva a lot more enjoyable than being bad.

Both the Orioles and Tigers have given me enough crap that while I don't accept just being good, but it is much better than the other option. What I don't think you guys understand about us quote unquote old timers is we demand every bit as much if not more than you guys do from this program.

To me there are levels of success we can get certain levels of satisfaction from. Being a program that consistently has a good record in conference is one of them for me. Am I fully happy with the program. No, it sucks watching the first week of the NCAA Tournament seeing teams do what I would us to do. That is where I want to be, but it is lot easier and realistic to accomplish that goal when you finish fifth, third or tied for first in the conference than it is when you finish eighth or lower (I know it is still possible). Just like playing well in non-conference play and conference play set us up to be a better seed in the NCAA Tournament so when the miracle of us making it actually happens we can be a 13 or a 14 with some change rather than lamb-to-the-slaughter No. 16 seed. All I am saying is all this stuff is inter-related and it is important to be good at all of it to maximize our enjoyment as fans. I don't really get why that seems like settling for mediocrity. 

You make several good points and I understand all of it. BTW, I am one of the "old timers" having been going to O's games since the mid 50's.......I still love the early 60's when they were chasing the Yanikees....but that was for them, a first step. My point here is that it is not Skerry's first step. I think we both are seeing the same thing, but one of us (and I congratulate you for being the one) is more tolerant than the other. ....lol

5 minutes ago, Chris Datres said:

So if the conference season is spring training, do we call the non-con season the Hot Stove League?

You can call it whatever you like. The bottom line is those games are fun to watch if you love the sport, but in the end, your season is judged by the playoffs. Advancing to the Regionals is what defines your season. 

9 hours ago, Tiger93 said:

If you really think that I am not sure why you watch any of the games until the conference tournament. That is 22 games over .500 in 54 conference games (70.3 wining %), which is over half (53.5% to be exact) the games we have played the last three years. I know it is not really a great version of the conference, but it is the one we compete in every year.

I don't say this to stick up for Skerry or try to give us moral victories. I say it because wining in conference play in the regular season is part of the equation for being a good program. I think it is noteworthy.  Not making an NCAA Tournament or having any significant non-conference wins are other parts of the equation, but you can't just ignore the fact that of all the good teams in our conference we are within three games of having the best record the last three years, and are one of only three teams to have finished first or had a share of first in one of those years.

If we hired a new coach would you want them to do well in conference play, or does it just not matter at all to you? I know the NCAA Tournament is what matters most, and that is true for everyone here. However, there are other aspects to being a good program. You can say this coach hasn't done enough to lean on those numbers and that is fine, but having a 70% winning percentage in conference games, which are the most important games we play outside of the conference tournament, does not equate to Spring Training. 

I watch games because I enjoy the sport. I go to watch two teams and see great plays and players on both teams. Of course I want a team I support to win, but that does not take away from the outstanding plays and players regardless of the uniform they wear. 

Last year the orioles won 101 games. They were that talk of the sport in Jume, July, August and September.....However, when they went to spring training this year, that talk was about making up for a poor showing in the playoffs.....not June, July, August or September.......that is the way sports works. You may agree with that or disagree with the importance of each portion, but in ten end, it is the playoffs that matter. In this case it is the conference championship that matters. That does not take away from good plays or players during the season, but what matters is....as mentioned before, the playoffs. That is where quality of players and coaches are measured. 

23 hours ago, Tiger93 said:

I don't think it is a bad graphic to use from the program's standpoint. I doubt very many people realize that we have a better record than Maryland during that span. This is a PR spin, and everyone does it. I agree with you both that it doesn't really amount to much, but you want marketing and PR to do their jobs. This is part of the PR spinning, and I enjoyed this part of job when I did it in my former position. Winning 66 games in three years and going 38-16 in conference play in that timeframe is not nothing. It just doesn't accomplish the ultimate goal of what any of us wants so I get the frustration and I have it too. I do think in general this is worth putting out there. On a sidenote, it really shows me that with Towson as my first team and Georgetown as my 1A team college basketball has not been kind to me as a fan recently. 

38-16 is equal to the Orioles dominating Spring Training....just something meaningless to talk about

2 hours ago, Tiger93 said:

I am stuck in the middle of the two arguments.

Greg Kampe is probably the best example and I was going to put the link to his bio for reference. He was in D2 for his 13 years and his team won never won more than one game in the conference tournament in six tries, and took until his 12th year to finish first in the conference. When they moved to D-1 in his 14th year, they weren't eligible to win the tournament for his four years. He did not win a conference tournament game in the first three years he was eligible and then in his 22nd year and 8th year in D-1 he made his first trip to the NCAA Tournament and won three conference tournament games. Since that trip, his team has won the conference tournament three more times and they got their first win in the NCAA Tournament this year. 

https://goldengrizzlies.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/greg-kampe/1764

It took Larranaga until year 15 to get to his first NCAA Tournament, but he did it in year two at George Mason so they didn't have to wait long. I didn't have the patience to dig back through the Bowling Green conference tournament record to see what he did there, but the one big difference is they pulled off a number of upsets and had Antonio Daniels play in the NBA. He was off and running once he made the NCAA Tournament the first time going to another one two years later and NITs in two of the following three years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Larrañaga

James Jones is actually a decent case study because in his first 15 season he had a below .500 record. When his team finished tied for first in 2014-15 Harvard went because of the tiebreaker. If we didn't have a conference tournament this would have happened in Benimon's last year with Delaware getting the tiebreaker. If we didn't have a conference tournament, Towson would have ended its drought in 2021-22 with the tiebreaker over UNC-W. Of course, we also would have been the Big South champs under Truax in 1994.

The next year Jones finally got over the hump. He has been three times since (would have been four if not for COVID). The big difference and probably benefit to Jones is there was no Ivy League Tournament to judge him on. It was all the regular-season and he generally finished in the top 3 or 4 in most of his first 15 seasons similar to Skerry. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jones_(basketball,_born_1964)

I say I am in middle because while I am not holding pitchfork asking to fire Skerry, he has several major differences to these guys that I see (although some of these will be generalizations that I am not sure I can fully quantify). The four things I am mainly critical of Skerry for is lack of getting to a conference tournament final, lack of a signature non-conference win in many tries, not seeing many of his players drastically improve while being here, and playing a style that at times can be tough to watch. 

I think the best argument for Skerry is the last three years. In a chaotic period of time in NCAA D-1 Basketball, he has turned over the roster a decent amount and done a solid job of roster management to pull in good transfers to keep us competitive. We have finished 1st, t-3rd and 4th, are 66-35 overall and 38-16 the last three year years. The last three years Hofstra is 41-13, Charleston and UNC-W are 39-15 and we are 38-16 in conference play.

I know it is relatively small progress, but we went from a no-show against Delaware in the 2022 semis, to hanging with a very good Charleston team in the 2023 semis for 33 minutes to blowing what should have been at trip to the finals this year. I know this isn't really a good thing, but this year was also the first time in Skerry's tenure we beat a team seeded higher than us in the conference tournament  (although we almost didn't get there with a bad performance against William & Mary to be fair). My point here is there has been some progress, and if you were Eigonbrot who has been around for a good part of this three-year period why would you contemplate firing Skerry. You wouldn't. 

My point in all this is I am very frustrated with what Skerry can't do and don't completely rule out the crowd that wants him fired now, but there is good and bad. This shouldn't stop us from trying to replace him if there ever was a desire by the AD to do so, but it wouldn't be easy to find a coach of his quality to replace him. He has been very solid. We need him to be better. He has taken small steps in the right direction the last three years, but there are a lot of ways and his previous years can be ammunition for and against his case. 

I think it would be pretty to find a coach of his caliber except I am not sure there is one who in 13 years has not been to a conference final.  A half million for a guy who cant even get to a mediocre conferences finals is not one worth retaining. 

Any thoughts on Tom Izzo suggesting removal of automatic qualifiers for Mid-Major programs. The beginning of the end?

Whoever UVA turns down....add them to the list

8 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Don't be so mean! This is Towson athletics, trying is as good as winning here!

I apologize......lost my head

If you watch all of Skerry's press conferences after losses, he starts out with "I love the effort of these guys". To quote the Stony Brook coach after the loss in the finals.....I try hard at golf, but don't get invited to the Masters.......effort is nice, but that is a minimum expectation of a scholarship NIL athlete. 

1 hour ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Up 7 with 3:30 left and the ball... 😣

so who was the moment too big for?

1 hour ago, TuTigers2012 said:

This just makes me sad

Stony Brook 40 -  CofC 35 at the half…….hmmmmmmm

21 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

I doubt that info is available to the general public. We need some guardian angels with deep pockets in the worst way 

We need to give them a reason to donate….and it is not mediocrity!

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39708158/missouri-state-fires-dana-ford-6-seasons-no-ncaa-tourney-bids

standard operation

You can talk all you want about NIL, Finances, Comparisons in those areas to others. Last nights loss to get to the finals was done with two simple words......BAD COACHING

21 hours ago, AtlantaTiger said:

This is where Pat can actually start to earn that extension he received. 

when you are given 13 years to reach a goal.........It would be great to win the tourney, but winning once in 13 years is not worthy of a total of 9 years of extensions.

1 hour ago, Bay Area Tiger said:

Game Day!!!   Apparently William and Mary will both be in DC today.   We scratch out a win today.  Tarke shoots it.  
May nails “5” 3’s.  CT collects 15 rebounds and has “4” blocks.  
Wear your gear proudly 🐯

Just remember the old saying "From your mouth to God's ears"

4 minutes ago, AtlantaTiger said:

That would be poetic, wouldn’t it!?

Also, I’m thinking our neighbors down the street at Loyola might be in the market for a new coach sooner than later….maybe they like what they’ve seen from PS over the years? 

Patsos does....ex Greyhound guy

3 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Pitiful

What happened to you, being so generous!

Matt, while I realize I do have an air of negativity regarding the coach and the program, I would like to thank you for your time, effort and tolerance. It makes a difference.

2 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

Skerry has always had “try hard “ guys, which has gotten us over a decade of early exits from postseason play, and a trophy case full of participation trophies 

You are 100% correct. “They played hard”…….big deal! You don’t get a medal for doing what you’re supposed to do…..and in the case of college athletics, getting paid to do.

8 hours ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Beat a bad team, something that wasn’t don’t enough this year. A game where our “bigs” could dominate their small front court. Charles played volleyball on the glass which is much needed. Running actual offense and passing helps (novel concept to this crew).  Atleast we are consistent now in no post game on the road! 
Aggies had a few guys out so that certainly helped. 
Move to 17-12 with uncw who, we very well may play again in 4-5 game 

it certainly appears that whether or not we win Saturday, in round 3 of the tournament, we will play UNCW. The only question is whether UNCW or Towson will have the bye in the second round, providing one more opportunity to lose to a poor team. 

Just now, TuTigers2012 said:

Stop moving the goalposts!! Haha. Just be happy Wit Da 17 winz a yer

If you want to see how much the regular season really counts.....read the Baltimore Ravens Fans page after the Chiefs game a month or so ago. That is how sports works.