TSU88

With Rogers and Scott, C of C’s future looks bright. And given their deep NIL pockets, they’ll add more quality players. We really didn’t belong on the same court with them today. Best thing that could happen for us would be if they left the CAA, though I have no clue if that’s in the offing. As was mentioned above, we seemingly had no strategy on offense, but to run the shot clock down and chuck up a desperation shot. Or, if we actually had a different strategy, our players just weren’t good enough to execute it. It’s inconceivable how a guy who dropped 30 just the other night, takes only one shot in the first half today. I can only speak for myself, but it’s depressing to see the talent on some of the other teams in our conference, and then have to watch guys like Paar, Jones, Sulaiman and sadly, Tarke & May.

Not much that can be added. We were thoroughly outclassed on both sides of the floor. I’ve been preaching that we need scorers, and today was Exhibit A in that argument. Either our coach is unwilling, or unable, to adapt his strategy. You can only go so far with the “play hard D and crash the boards” strategy. (Frankly, I’m not sure how good the D has even been this year, but when you play as painfully slow as we do, the opponent’s ppg naturally will be low, simply because they don’t get that many possessions). This antiquated system is good enough to beat up on the Campbell’s and Stony Brook’s of the world, but that’s about it. We’ve got Williamson and Tarke going forward, as far as guys who’ve shown flashes on the offensive end. I’m not sure you can really count May, although in fairness I will say it took until Timberlake’s 3rd year until he avg’d in double digits. I’m of the mind that Skerry almost has to blow most of the roster up and bring in new players, except I have almost no confidence the new guys will be any different than the guys who depart-a bunch of guys who look imposing walking through the airport, but can’t throw a beach ball in the ocean. 4th place is slipping away, if it already hasn’t done so. Best case scenario on the upcoming road trip is a split, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we went 0-2. I’m resigned to a relatively quick exit from the tournament and then the Groundhog Day exercise of hoping we’ll finally have enough skilled offensive players to get to the promised land. I keep waiting, and waiting and waiting.

I think the highest attendance at the arena formerly known as SECU is 4,262, the night the venue opened (at least for MBB), vs Navy. Would be nice to surpass that tomorrow

Autism awareness day should result in fewer no shows. Also, senior day, good opponent, no weather issues and no football to compete with

Good suggestion, given the shooting struggles of May and Tarke. DWill runs hot and cold and CT is avg what, 8-9ppg? On a good night, Jones and Sulaiman might combine for say 15 points and Lowery, while a terror on D, isn’t at the point where he’s going to be a consistent threat on offense (though hopefully he works arduously in the offseason to develop a jump shot. If so, the sky’s the limit for him). Given these inherent limitations on offense, you have to overlook occasional defensive mistakes in the hope that he’ll make up for it on the offensive end

17-11. Notwithstanding the Hampton fiasco, we’re still in play for a top 4 finish. Not sure why you say the games against C of C & UNCW won’t be interesting in that regard. I’m not willing to bet the mortgage we beat C of C Saturday, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility either.

You stole my thunder on the unsung hero tonight, Lowery. I tried to pay special attention to how he played Rice on D, and I came away very impressed. Not enough accolades to describe Tejada’s performance. He was on fire 🔥. Wonder when the last time a TU freshman dropped 30? Certainly a 1st under Skerry. CT with a solid overall game (7 points, 7 boards and 5 assists) and Jones & Sulaiman combined for 17 points and 11 rebounds. Now, OTOH, May and Tarke shot a combined 2-12, for 9 points. Normally that’s not a recipe for success, but Tejada more than compensated for their scoring deficiencies tonight. Huge game Saturday vs C of C, before what should be a large, raucous crowd

Remind me again how you lost that job as a motivational speaker?🤔🤷‍♂️😆

I’m going to have to disagree with you that expecting to have made it to even just one conference title game, in 13 years, is unreasonable. I’m also going to have to disagree that fear of regressing under a new coach is reason to keep a coach who thus far, in not a small sample size, has proven unable to win when it most matters. CT spraining his ankle: C of C dropping 3’s (might as well add in the loss to W&M at the Baltimore Civic Center, when we had Benimon)…I’m sorry, but that’s losers talk. Results matter, and never having even made it out of the conference tournament semifinals in well over a decade isn’t good enough

This argument cannot exist in perpetuity, to justify keeping a coach with, by any objective measure, a DISMAL postseason record, can it?🤷‍♂️🤔

The year 2011 just called and it said while it’s grateful that Skerry pulled the program from the abyss, it’s also ok to hold Skerry accountable for never having made it to a conference championship game, if not, you know, actually winning such a game. It’s laudable he graduates players. Other coaches graduate players AND win conference tournaments and go to the dance. Graduating players is one metric; it’s not the only one. Serious question-let’s assume we don’t make it to a conference championship game this season, and the 3 after, which would take us to the end of Skerry’s contract, absent another extension. Notice I didn’t say he actually wins the game, but I set the bar at him simply getting us to the finals. Would you advocate that he get yet another extension?

To the 10 or so of us who post here, I pose the following questions: (1) If you’re a coach of another team, is there anyone on our roster you’re salivating over trying to poach? Tejada, maybe. May? Perhaps a lateral move, but would a bigger program covet him? My point is, we just don’t have an abundance of talent; (2) if you’re a talented scorer in high school or the portal, do you want to come play for a coach who is determined to play at the slowest pace in the country, and who’s track record of getting to his conference championship game is perfect, in a negative sense

Poor guy. Sorry to hear that, but maybe that’ll get him another year of eligibility this coming fall

Every now and then, one or more of our guys will pop & have a very good scoring game. Remember when DWill had a 26 point game a few weeks ago? But far too much inconsistency, especially from Tarke and May. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I’m not sure either of these guys are shooting 40% for the season. Bottom line-too many role players/B or C listers, and no A listers

You’re correct, that there are outliers, and Coen is a good example. The difference though is, unlike our coach, at least Coen has been to the dance. In such a case, if a coach wants to establish roots, it’s a nice feel good story. In our case, after 13 years of postseason futility, the expiration date on the milk carton has expired. Unfortunately, I fear it’ll eventually be 16 years of such futility. I assume Skerry will soon be lobbying for yet another extension, claiming his ability to recruit will be hamstrung if he’s a short timer. (A somewhat dubious claim, given that the advent of the portal has resulted in a pool of short term rentals). And of course, citing to the fact he graduates kids & they do community service. I can only hope our AD & new President don’t fall for this. If they do, they might as well just give him a lifetime contract and be done with it

You win the internet today, though I do disagree when you say that the decade of mediocrity has done no one any favors. It’s done Skerry a huge favor, by giving him airtight job security, earning him millions of dollars during this time. I could not agree with your “launching pad” statement more strongly. TU is not a place a football or basketball coach should get tenure. Either be successful and “ use” TU to leapfrog to a bigger & better job, or get out. It’s ok if we get “used” like that, as it means we achieved a level of success that enticed a bigger program to poach our coach. Then, with that degree of notoriety we achieved, we go out and hire the next go-getter, and hopefully it’s rinse, wash, repeat. Your post reminds me of a funny story I once heard. A reporter asked TB Bucs coach John McKay how long he felt it would take for him to make the Bucs a playoff contender. He answered, “5 years.” When asked why 5 years, he said, “because that’s how long of a contract they gave me.”😆

He’s played in 1 game for NM State, logging 6 minutes, with 0 points. Another brilliant recruiting decision by our staff.

Bingo. I’ve said it before, being one of the leaders in offensive rebounds is terribly misleading, because in addition to missing the first shot, more often than not we miss the second one (and even the third one) as well. Please bring in better shooters!!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread, I have serious doubts about the ability of this staff to develop the players they bring in.

Highly unlikely, given that we have 2 road games left, including vs a UNCW team that will be spoiling for revenge + playing for the top seed. In any event, I’m highly skeptical we can beat NCAT on the road. Our 2 home games are no walk in the park either

Your answer #1 is to my point. Tejada and May would seem to be the only players who might generate interest, and neither would be slam dunks, though Tejada’s size and scoring ability makes him the pick of the litter. But other than these two, the cupboard is pretty bare. I mean Lowery is a great defensive player, but can’t shoot. Anyone have any hope our coaching staff will develop him? I certainly don’t. Williamson has his moments, but he’s not really a PG, and too small for a 2 guard. Been down this road before, but at the risk of being redundant, too many marginal role player types (Coleman, Paar, Jones, Sulaiman, and maybe Cole, who I had such high hopes for). I’d count Hicks in this group, but I’m not sure he’s ever going to play again. This is a reoccurring theme-the roster turns over every year, but rarely are impact players onboarded. Correct me if I’m wrong, but what impact players have recently been brought in via the portal, other than Holden. Why will this offseason be any different?

What is there to say that would even possibly explain this debacle? I mean, he would say how he did a poor job of preparing them, blah, blah, blah. Just more words in the wind

When I wrote he’s not going anywhere, I certainly didn’t mean it in the context of another school poaching him, but rather that we don’t have the financial wherewithal to sack him, which I firmly believe is what needs to happen. And I don’t disagree-when you’re making near, or maybe more than, 500K a year, the buck stops with you. Other schools are able to bring in scorers, why can’t he?

Numbers don’t lie, not at this stage of the season at least. We are one of the worst teams in the country in 3-pt FG%; pace of play and FT %. And we’re nothing special in 3-point shooting %. In 7 conference road games, we have only scored more than 67 points 1X. We just lost to objectively 1 of the worst D1 teams in the country. Our ponderous pace combined with a dearth of good shooters is a recipe for what will likely be yet another desultory exit from the conference tournament. Skerry’s style of play is the textbook definition of insanity-doing the same thing over and over, and expecting (really, in our case, hoping) for a different result. And with our limited NIL, it’s hard to imagine any proficient scorers coming aboard next season. Skerry isn’t going anywhere, and that’s the problem. Players come and go, but the results are largely the same. We scratch and claw out a 16-20 W regular season, only to get summarily eliminated in the conference tournament.

Too thin skinned. As long as a post doesn’t cross certain boundaries of decency, it should be permitted. Put a better product on the court instead of engaging in petty censorship