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mat1992

Demetrius Mims transfers to Towson

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The signing of Mims suggests 2 things to me: (1) one reason to recruit kids you might not get on the front end is to, no pun intended, catch them on the rebound if things don’t work out for them at the school they choose originally; & (2) kids like Mims (& Victor U) are the types of transfers TU is generally going to get-kids who went to bigger programs than Towson, & when things (for whatever reason) don’t work out, they’re looking at a smaller program where they might be able to be a big fish 🐠 in a smaller pond. I just don’t see us getting transfers who’ve actually had success at the program they’re leaving, as I believe those kids are generally looking to move up to a program that offers more limelight 

Edited by TSU88

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Same CC that JJ Matthews  transferred to when he left here after the 2017 season. 

Edited by TSU88

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Doesn’t anyone get tired of telling us how good we will be two years from now. To quote Levi Stubbs, “It’s the same old song”.

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So much, this coming season & next, will depend on the quality of the PG play. With the talent drain that took place around the conference this offseason, who knows what to expect this upcoming season. At this very early juncture, I see us as a middle of the pack team. Now, if Gibson, Timberlake & Gray all meet or exceed expectations, and if Betrand & Solomon U significantly improve, and if Sanders can average around 12 & 7, then maybe we can move up in the standings. Personally, I think they’re are too many ifs, but that’s why the games aren’t played on paper. 

I’m not going to speculate on 2020-21 yet. Too many things can change, plus we don’t know what will happen with the 4 open scholarships that will be available after this upcoming season 

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I would say nearly every team in the CAA has those ifs with so many gone due to transfers and graduation. So while "next year" might seem to be our best chance of finally breaking through, I'm expecting a major improvement in 2019-20 due to several factors. Freshmen normally make their biggest improvements from the rookie to their sophomore seasons, the addition of Gray should be a solid addition (hopefully a lot better than Sanders) and Gibson.

There are two huge keys for MBB and one starts at point guard with Gibson. The other is with Gray. Neither has to be great but they do need to be productive. I've given up on Sanders producing 12ppg though 7rpg is possible. He shouldn't even be guaranteed the center job. If Tunstall is strong enough to play the 5, go with him, though you lose some in offense. If Charles Thompson is legit as a freshman and that's probably asking too much, then he should at least play minutes. He's big, strong and has great length. Hell, maybe Solly, if as Skerry says "has had a great offseason", can be an undersized 5, may the best center win. 

I just think having a 6-8, 225-pound power forward who can face the basket and shoot is a luxury we haven't had in many years. Actually never. We've had power forwards who can shoot but they weren't that big. For example, Brian Barber was only about 6-6, 210 but was long and athletic. Lawrence Hamm was about the same size. Both could face and shoot it decently though neither was a huge three-point threat. Actually, Barber never made a 3 and Hamm was about a 28% shooter. Benimon was 6-8, 250 and basically an old-school power forward with point guard skills. Not saying Gray is remotely close to JB but he's different than Moto as well, who was shall we say an erratic shooter. I would take what Moto did in his junior season and that was 13.9ppg, 8.3rpg and 29.3% 3pt, 44% FG. I expect better shooting numbers from Gray but fewer rebounds. Well, a lot fewer as he only averaged 4.7rpg for his career in about 25mpg. 

His numbers below are not eye-popping but look at his conference numbers in 2017-18. Shot 51.7% from the field and 36% from 3pt in just 21mpg with 6.8ppg. Probably not even their third option. Now he'll be the second option most likely. The bigger concern is FT shooting, which was only about 60% in conference play but around 67% overall. He doesn't get there a lot but likely will now that he's going to be a major focus of the offense.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/juwan-gray-1.html

I want to see these guys over the summer but watching drills won't be enough. I can basically see if guys like Timberlake and Betrand have gotten bigger and have improved their skill levels. Same with Dottin, who we know needs to shoot about 500 jumpers a day but also has to run the offense and manage the game better. I need to see them in October in 5x5. 

I've said this before about Timberlake. I want to see this kid come back (I know he's put on 12-14lbs), much more confident. If he's physically stronger, he should be able to put the ball on the floor and drive. We have him for four years. He can be as good as he wants because of his speed and leaping ability. I also think he can take some pressure of o Gibson because he has some PG instincts.

The good thing is that we have many options up front. Not as many in the backcourt though I think having T.J. Howard at the 2 allows him to come off the bench at the 1 or 2, depending on Timberlake and Dottin's progress. But these are huge ifs. Very few proven players means a mid-level prediction.

I really do want to see Gibson, Thompson and Gray play along with the two transfers and hope that Solly, Betrand, Timberlake and Dottin (or two of them) have made the next step.

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I don’t disagree with your analysis. In fact, if the stars align (Gibson seizes the PG job; Timberlake becomes a double digit scorer; Gray does likewise; Betrand & Solomon make the freshman-to-sophomore leap; Tunstall, Sanders & Thompson grab 20+ boards a game; Howard comes off the bench to drain a few 3’s; Dottin improves from being a miserable shooter to even an average shooter; & Fobbs avgs around 20ppg) we could be a sleeper this coming season. 

Problem is, I just think that’s asking an awful lot for all those things to go right. But every team in the conference, maybe with the exception of Delaware (though they did lose Eric Carter) has question marks, which is why handicapping the outcome with any degree of success might be a fools errand 

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28 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

I don’t disagree with your analysis. In fact, if the stars align (Gibson seizes the PG job; Timberlake becomes a double digit scorer; Gray does likewise; Betrand & Solomon make the freshman-to-sophomore leap; Tunstall, Sanders & Thompson grab 20+ boards a game; Howard comes off the bench to drain a few 3’s; Dottin improves from being a miserable shooter to even an average shooter; & Fobbs avgs around 20ppg) we could be a sleeper this coming season. 

Problem is, I just think that’s asking an awful lot for all those things to go right. But every team in the conference, maybe with the exception of Delaware (though they did lose Eric Carter) has question marks, which is why handicapping the outcome with any degree of success might be a fools errand 

I don't think we need every player to make huge strides but if Gibson is as good as we think he could be, he could make people better. Having Gibson, Gray and Fobbs on the perimeter with Howard/Timberlake is a lot better than having Thomas, Tunstall/Sanders and McNeill on the floor at the same time. When Fobbs was on the floor last year, we were still one of the worst shooting teams in the league. When he was off the floor, we were one of the worst shooting teams in the nation. 

We know Gibson can flat out shoot the ball and he can flat out pass. But can he run an offense? Does he need help initiating the offense? Can he handle traps and pressure? That will be a huge task, which is why Howard and Timberlake are so important. Dottin isn't going to become Steph Curry or even Seth Curry overnight or ever. We just need him to play headier as a PG. Same with Betrand, who needs to take his time when he's on the floor.They don't need to be all-CAA players. Just contributors and that's not too much to ask.

Let's face it. Al and Jordan were bad offensive players. Tunstall isn't much better but his D and rebounding makes him playable. There's no reason why this offense can't improve drastically due to the additions of Gibson, Timberlake and Gray and the losses of the two previously mentioned. Hopefully the other three freshmen can make contributions as well.

I think Skerry realizes that you can't just recruit great athletes or great defenders and hope they turn into good shooters. The need for more skill guys was never more evident after last season's debacle of an offense.

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