TSU88

I suppose the easy way to analyze this L is to say that Riller was the difference. While that’s true to an extent, I think it goes deeper than that. Absent two 3-pointers in garbage time, we had 6 players (Gibson, Dottin, Tunstall, Timberlake, Gray & Thompson) who combined for 12 points the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the lowest scoring C of C starter had 10 points by himself. I don’t see how you can win when 6 of the 9 guys in the rotation simply aren’t good scorers, outside of an aberrational game here and there. Mat, you described 3 guys (Fobbs, Gibson & Gray) who “are usually good shooters” who struggled from long range. The numbers however suggest they are all anything but good shooters. Fobbs is barely 40% on the season, & is a miserable 19-75 from 3 (26%). Gray might have been a good shooter at some point, but he needs to go back to San Diego to retrieve his touch-he’s a 40% shooter on the year & 12-35 (33%) from 3. Meanwhile, Gibson is a putrid 33% on the year, and even worse from 3 (16-59, for 27%). He’s jacking up way too many shots, & getting very few assists. Absent his games vs GW & Kent State, it’s fair to say our PG problems still persist. Maybe he’ll make a leap between his freshman & sophomore seasons, but right now we’re going into every game at a major disadvantage at PG.

2 advantages W&M has, despite the mass exodus from their program after last year: (1) Nathan Knight, the best player in the CAA IMHO, returned for his senior year; and (2) they had a transfer, Van Vleet, who’s playing well. That being said, they look light years ahead of us, with almost an entire turnover in their roster, having lost Pierce, Milon, Audige, Owens and Cameron Brown, their top incoming recruit.

The issue isn’t Pat Kennedy. To somehow rationalize the state of the program the last two years by trotting out the hoary “it was worse under Kennedy” is to ignore the real issue. 2010 just called & said Kennedy has been gone for a decade now. And just where are we a decade later? A regular season conference title? Conference tournament final game? Conference tournament semifinal game? NIT? The dance? And comparisons of where we are now, versus a decade ago must, as other posters have pointed out, factor in that GMU, ODU & VCU are not in the CAA anymore. If they were, the records of some of Skerry’s teams might only be marginally better than that of his predecessor

On December 20, 2017, we rolled into a road game vs Oakland with a 10-1 record. With the loss in that game, we are now 24-43 since that evening, including 14-26 in conference play. With today’s L we have lost 7 conference games in a row, going back to last year

We’re up by 12 early in the 2nd half, only to be out scored 47-27 the remainder of the 2nd half. This team can’t play with a lead. Unfortunately, this team can’t play from behind either. Gray & Timberlake with 22 points combined in the 1st half, and, wait for it ... ZERO combined points in the 2nd half. How is that conceivable? Our “best” player has 15 points total in our 1st 2 conference games. Tunstall with several wide open jumpers at the elbow, which he missed. Thompson & Dottin combined for zero points. It was a treat to see Nate Archibald in his prime though (KC-Omaha Kings-old school, the year he lead the league in scoring & assists). Oh wait, that was Buie from Hofstra, with 35 points today. Anyone think our PG problems are solved, please raise your hand. Dude just drained another 3 from the team bus But hey, we did out rebound them!! I would like to hear from anyone on this board who, notwithstanding the small sample size of 2 games, thinks our ceiling is higher than 6 conference wins.

Dare to dream TUTigers2012. In the private sector, these type of dismal results would result in change, but I can’t think of anyway around that contract extension he got a couple years ago. I think he’s here until what, spring, 2027? And if you think things are bad so far, wait until next year

Look, by any objective standard, he should be fired. Overall mediocre record, lack of impact HS recruits, futility in conference tournament play, inept offense, year after year. What, if anything, can we, as the few of us who are passionate about TU basketball do about this? Voice our displeasure to the university president? I guess, but that & 50 cents will get you, well, I don’t know what it will get you, but I don’t think it will get us a new coach. The harsh reality is that the contract extension several years ago is an albatross that will hang around our necks until spring 2027. If anyone has any PLAUSIBLE suggestions how to effectuate regime change I’d love to hear it

We need a donor with incredibly deep pockets to buy him out. Translation-this is our reality until spring, 2027. Let that marinade for awhile & tell me how it makes you feel

I know the protocol is to wait until the 1st post goes up, with Skerry’s postgame presser comments, but I felt compelled to jump the gun. On a day in which we had a chance to establish momentum with a W at home in the conference opener, today’s performance was nothing short of depressing. Over the years, the players change, but the one constant during the Skerry era is the scoring desert. Today, it lasted about 10 minutes in the 1st half & by the time it was over, so was the game. Why do these deserts persist? Because the coach either can’t or won’t recruit skilled offensive players. In this years 9-man rotation, we have 4 players who, absent the odd outlier game, basically bring little or nothing to the table offensively (Dottin, Gray, Thompson & Tunstall). I believe the 4 of them scored a total of 2-4 points today. Gibson & Timberlake are slightly ahead of those 4, which is faint praise. Then there’s Sanders and his idiotic fouls and atrocious foul shooting. I thought, before today, we might be middle of the pack in conference play (sad, that that’s our best case scenario). While it’s only 1 game, after today I’d say we’re destined for the bottom of the conference. This team, as with most Skerry teams, is joyless to watch. Every offensive possession is a death struggle to get off a shot-there’s never an easy look, and there’s plenty of bricks, offensive fouls and turnovers. I’m at a point where I’m pretty much ambivalent about the basketball program. Skerry ball has pretty much extinguished my passion. During the game today, my mind drifted to thoughts about the weather, dinner tonight.... That is, until I left with about 8 minutes left in the game.

Your comment makes a lot of “since.”

How long will it take Mom Mitchell to mature?

I wouldn’t touch these guys for all the tea in China. First, I’m not sure they’re even that good, but 2nd, is Mom Mitchell. Thanks, but no thanks. Also read they went to 5 different high schools. Can you say major red flags 🚩? I did read the current Morgan State coach recruited them when he was at MD, so maybe they wind up there.

You know the worst part, we’ll be posting these same type of comments up until spring 2027, when Skerry’s contract runs out, assuming any of us still give a damn at that point. Isn’t the thought of 7 more seasons of this depressing?

Haven’t had a 1st team CAA player since 2013-14 season. 2013 just called & said Benimon ain’t coming back. Moto I think made 2nd team. Not sure if Morsell did. Fobbs was pre-season 1st team, but is unlikely to actually be on the 1st team when it counts, at the end of the season. Still haven’t won more than 1 game in any CAA conference tournament. 1 impact HS recruit-Morsell, who scored about 1,500 points, putting him in the top 10 in school history Still waiting for a quality PG after 9 years A revolving door of players who for one reason or another clang up one brick after another. A half court “offense” which repeatedly devolves down to running the shot clock down to 5 seconds & throwing up a prayer. Coming up small at the end of close games; games where we struggle to score 40 points. Have I left anything out? Call it Groundhog Day, call it rinse, wash and repeat, call it insanity (doing the same thing over and over & expecting a different result). I call it dreck

tu_fan with the post of the year So, I took a sneak peek into next year’s incoming class and here’s what it revealed: Biekeu, the Canadian kid, is shooting 37.5% from the field, based on box scores posted on the twitter account of the team he plays for. Barnes, the G out of DC is avg 10ppg, per max preps website, while Jones, the Oak Hill kid, is avg 5 ppg (disclaimer-the stats on Barnes & Jones are not 100% up-to-date). What about the 2 transfers (Victor U & Mims) who are sitting out this year? The former should be a major presence on D, but if anyone is expecting him to score 15-20ppg, you may be sorely disappointed. There’s nothing in his 2 years on the bench at USC to suggest he’s that guy. He appears to be rail thin, and it’s fair to ask what kind of coaching, that will benefit him on the offensive end, is he getting here. As for Mims, he’s prototypical Skerry-a high flyer athlete not known for his jump shooting prowess. So, if you like the 2019 TU team, that has already had 2 games of scoring 45 points or less, you’ll probably love the 2020 version

Won’t be much of a home court advantage vs Hofstra. With 2pm start time on a Monday, I would guess attendance will be 200 or so

You know what else is depressing. There are 2 threads about today’s game, with a total of 7 posters. 7 posters.

I thought Skerry was channeling his inner Dean Smith today, when he brought in 4 subs at once, early in the game. What was the nickname when Smith used to do that at UNC, the “blue team,” or something like that?

Let’s be honest, how many of our 9 players in our rotation would be starters on other mid-major teams? Dottin: No Betrand: borderline Tunstall: No Sanders: No Fobbs: Yes (though he’s had some stinkers this year, like today for example. Maybe feels the pressure of being the only legit option on offense) Thompson: No Gibson: Shows some potential, but probably not a starter, at least not yet Timberlake: the one vs Tulane, sure. Otherwise, No Gray: No. Super disappointed in his lack of offensive production

Any idea if Murphy is playing for them tomorrow? I believe our chances of winning tomorrow go up substantially if he’s out of the lineup. He’s missed some games with an injury.

Toews killed us last year as I recall. However, his playing time this year was probably reduced, as UNCW brought in a U of Florida transfer PG & a freshman we offered named Shykeim Phillips, who is averaging about 9ppg, & had 6 assists last Saturday vs Vanderbilt

Hate to be the glass half empty guy, but I have to agree that close games don’t favor us. We beat Tulane in OT, but the game only went to OT due to us yakking a 9-point lead. Then there was Kent State, Buffalo & Florida. Of course, all of them are better than us, but still the common thread between all 3 of those games was our inability to pull each game out at the end. I don’t know about anyone else, but, when we have a 8+ point lead, the 1st thing I say to myself is that the other team has us right where they want us. Seems like we play not to lose, rather than to win. I also have zero confidence in us getting off a good shot coming out of a timeout at the end of a close game. I’m not talking about making a shot, I’m talking about even getting a shot off

We beat Transfer U, er I mean Tulane U, after yakking away a 9-point lead in regulation. As the previous post points out, Transfer U beat Utah earlier this season, so they’re no cupcake 🧁. Major kudos to Fobbs with a double/double & clutch foul shooting. I’ve been hard on Timberlake, but I was glad to eat crow today. I hope this was his coming out party. Props also to Betrand, who bounced back from some poor games with a really nice game today. Gray is a huge disappointment by my way of thinking. Today, he missed multiple wide open 3’s. Don’t know how many points he scored today, & I think he had 3 points yesterday. Sanders with an incredible low basketball IQ play, when he committed a foul, to allow an and-1 3 point play to tie the game at the end of regulation. Also interesting that Dottin barely played in the 2nd half. Game should have never gone to OT, but at least we didn’t sulk & quit in OT. The real season starts a week from today, with the conference opener, at home vs NE

Btw, metro was safe, clean & efficient. The Congress Heights stop is literally a stones throw from the arena. I preferred the metro rather then driving.

I drove to Greenbelt & took the metro from there. The venue is satisfactory. It’s not a great neighborhood, but DC cops had a presence and I felt safe. Helluva lot more than I can say for when I’m in Baltimore.