MBB Falls to Florida, 66-60

[TuTigers2012 1,060]

Good effort and hope they can use this as a positive.  Again late game situations we struggle.  It’s the same record over and over. Players come and go but there is one constant... and we all know what (who) that is...

the 3 line moved back about a foot right? That must be playing with Brian’s head. Damn 

[mat1992 2,228]

12 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

Unless there’s a booster out there with very deep pockets, Skerry ain’t getting bought out & in fact will be here for many years to come, by virtue of that screwy contract extension 2 years ago. 

It is maddening that we never seem to score a basket at the end of a half, after a timeout. Also maddening that we get achingly close to that signature W (MD a few years ago; Florida tonight) but can’t buy a basket in the last minute of these games 
 

 

 

I think Fobbs is really a 30-minute player. Playing him 35-40 minutes is tough. Hopefully when Timberlake comes back and starts playing 20mpg, you can move AB to small forward for Fobbs or even Gray. Betrand flashes at times that he can be special. Or he can be invisible. I think he showed tonight, that he should mix the slashing to the basket with the occasional three-point shot. Put 10 pounds on Gibson next season with Dottin, Betrand, Timberlake, etc. He's the dude who needs the ball in his hands. Maybe not now, as a freshman in his first road game and fourth game overall. But we're not used to doing that at the end of the games. It's either put the ball in Benimon's hands, Burwell's hands, Moto's hands, Keith's hands, Morsell's hands, and now Fobbs. None of those are point guards. At some point (pun intended), it's time to let one of the kids run the show.

[mat1992 2,228]

5 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Good effort and hope they can use this as a positive.  Again late game situations we struggle.  It’s the same record over and over. Players come and go but there is one constant... and we all know what (who) that is...

the 3 line moved back about a foot right? That must be playing with Brian’s head. Damn 

I think you are on to something. They did move the three-point line to the International distance of 22 feet and change. Wouldn't affect guys like Gibson, Gray seems ok with is. Even Tunstall is a better 3-point shooter. Howard wasn't impacted by it in practice when he was on the team. But yeah, Brian, despite his strength, might be....or he's just in a slump.

[TowsonTiger11 24]

42 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

I think Fobbs is really a 30-minute player. Playing him 35-40 minutes is tough. Hopefully when Timberlake comes back and starts playing 20mpg, you can move AB to small forward for Fobbs or even Gray. Betrand flashes at times that he can be special. Or he can be invisible. I think he showed tonight, that he should mix the slashing to the basket with the occasional three-point shot. Put 10 pounds on Gibson next season with Dottin, Betrand, Timberlake, etc. He's the dude who needs the ball in his hands. Maybe not now, as a freshman in his first road game and fourth game overall. But we're not used to doing that at the end of the games. It's either put the ball in Benimon's hands, Burwell's hands, Moto's hands, Keith's hands, Morsell's hands, and now Fobbs. None of those are point guards. At some point (pun intended), it's time to let one of the kids run the show.

All the names you listed proves skerry’s MO at the end of games. He’s too predictable and we don’t have a dominating player like that. Play what the defense gives you. 

[TowsonTiger11 24]

1 hour ago, AtlantaTiger said:

Obviously, tonight's performance and effort is encouraging.  In theory, if we can hang with the #15 Gators for the majority of a game, we should be able to compete with everyone in the CAA and ideally be in contention come conference tournament time.

However, there is NOTHING in our recent history (last 15-20 years) that suggests we'll rise to the top.  The sample size on Skerry is large enough now to know he's a very mediocre coach who will not be a positive difference maker in close games.

When will Towson ever get its epic victory??  Evansville got theirs earlier this week.  UMBC got theirs this past March.  App State got their back in 2007.  Since becoming a Towson fan as a freshman in 1996, I haven't had the pleasure of a true MAJOR win.  Getting to the FCS Football Championship game was fantastic (and I was in Frisco to cheer them on), but not having that one marquee, put-us-on-the-map win is soooooo incredibly frustrating.  We just don't seem to have it in us.

I think it's time to move on from Skerry.

Come on man. We just took #15 in the country to the wire. Give credit where credit is due. 

[TowsonTiger11 24]

Guys we have another couple big opportunities next week to still get that big win. Love the aggressive scheduling when we have a team that can make it a game with these kind of teams. 

[tualum 108]

Good effort by the team. Yes, Florida is overrated and it could have been a loss by double digits if they make layups and open shots. Nothing new regarding plays after a timeout (signature of Skerry ball). I'm not sold on Gibson yet even though it's my first time seeing him play live. Dottin made some good shots and had his moments..

[mat1992 2,228]

10 minutes ago, tualum said:

Good effort by the team. Yes, Florida is overrated and it could have been a loss by double digits if they make layups and open shots. Nothing new regarding plays after a timeout (signature of Skerry ball). I'm not sold on Gibson yet even though it's my first time seeing him play live. Dottin made some good shots and had his moments..

And he'll probably struggle next week against Xavier on ESPNU. I know you don't believe or agree with anything I ever say, so ask the rest of the board what they think about Gibson and his potential.

[Chris Datres 423]

Not sure where to start other than DAMN, that was a big opportunity that we missed out on as Florida was ripe for the taking and we just couldn't get over the hump.  

Offensively, I thought we worked really hard against that Gators defense and was able to find passes and were patient with what was given.  I thought if we shot 45% or better, we'd have a chance.  We shot 43.8%.  I thought if we scaled back on turnovers, we'd be in good shape.  We had 13 which is a touch above the average we've had in the first 3 games.  Lost in the stats was a couple of key putback misses by Gray and I think Sanders in the last 3 minutes as well as having a rebound secured but we were falling out of bounds and it ended up going to a Gator.  In games like this, one bounce here and there can be the major difference.  

Defensively, I thought they did an above-average job.  It helped that Florida was still subpar from the 3-point line but they did hit a couple of big ones off of terrific ball movement when we doubleteamed Blackshear in the post.  I was really surprised that Florida waited until the 10-minute mark of the 2nd half to really start pounding it down low.  Sanders, Thompson, and Tunstall did really nice work on Blackshear throughout the entire game.  And what we saw out of Sanders and Thompson is some of the potential that we hoped we'd see.  That has to continue.  Sanders had good control of his body after he got pulled in the first half, especially after the dumb moving screen on the post handoff.  He was in much better position in the 2nd half and he was rewarded with not having to get serenaded by the Rowdy Reptiles with a left-right-left-right chant to the bench.  

Last possessions -- I'm always a proponent of looking to penetrate and if available, kick for an open look.  On the first possession after Blackshear gave Florida the lead, we passed it around too much out front and Fobbs dribbled too much before hoisting.  It's the same thing that happened against Kent State -- settling rather than trying to work something inside.  And right now, he can't be shooting these shots unless it's off of a pass.  Unfortunately, he felt like he was the guy that had to take the shots and it didn't work out.  Down 4, you try to extend the game and get into the paint and instead, he's chucking up a 26-footer.  Now, Florida did a really good job of cutting off any driving lanes and they made it really difficult to take it into the lane if that's what we wanted to do.  But I'd hope someone like a Gray or a Betrand could find his way on a drive and maybe hit a 12 to 16-foot pullup.

Personnel -- Only complaint would be I'd have had Dottin out there for the final 4 minutes rather than Gibson.  The moment wasn't too big for Gibson but he wasn't having much success getting any sort of penetration and the way Dottin had played in this one, he could have slithered his way into the lane and found something.  If Dottin's shot continues to work like it did tonite, that's going to be a giant weapon to have and I would love to see a Dottin/Gibson combo where you can have a lot of drive & kick for open looks.

As for the naysayers and the haters out there, let's keep in mind that the other team is on scholarship too and we're not in the huddle when these things are drawn up.  As much as I'd like to have seen us go to the basket, Florida also stepped it up defensively and they're bit a longer than what we're used to seeing.  At least we got shots off and didn't kick it out of bounds or just toss it away.  But rather than giving credit to the other team or crediting our guys for a terrific game and Skerry for a solid gameplan, some of you are going to continue your hard-line approach against the coaching staff and frankly, I'm getting f'ing sick of it.  When some of you constantly use that as your go-to no matter what the sport, it lends credence to my belief that you don't know a damn thing about the sport you're commenting on and you're just looking to blame, bash, and complain.  I'm certainly no expert but I at least understand there are two sides to every game and a number of you on here don't see that.  You just want to push your agenda of getting a coach out of here.  I truly enjoy the discourse on here and wish we'd have even more participation but there are a number of days when I wish there was an 'ignore' feature so some of the stuff could be muted.

Rant done...On to Xavier next week.  I hope that we can carry what we learned from tonite over to Charleston.  If so, we might have a better result against X and maybe make a little bit of noise.  Either way, the amount of chemistry and production these guys continue to get are going to pay dividends in conference season.

[Tgr4life 167]

9 hours ago, AtlantaTiger said:

Obviously, tonight's performance and effort is encouraging.  In theory, if we can hang with the #15 Gators for the majority of a game, we should be able to compete with everyone in the CAA and ideally be in contention come conference tournament time.

However, there is NOTHING in our recent history (last 15-20 years) that suggests we'll rise to the top.  The sample size on Skerry is large enough now to know he's a very mediocre coach who will not be a positive difference maker in close games.

When will Towson ever get its epic victory??  Evansville got theirs earlier this week.  UMBC got theirs this past March.  App State got their back in 2007.  Since becoming a Towson fan as a freshman in 1996, I haven't had the pleasure of a true MAJOR win.  Getting to the FCS Football Championship game was fantastic (and I was in Frisco to cheer them on), but not having that one marquee, put-us-on-the-map win is soooooo incredibly frustrating.  We just don't seem to have it in us.

I think it's time to move on from Skerry.

The players did a great job...playing hard and playing well. 

The reason we lost is the same reason we have not won a close game of note in nine years. When you are tied or down a couple with a minute to go and you are coming out of a timeout any coach worth his salt can come up with something better than Brian Fobbs (or any player) dribbling around for 7-8 seconds and then heaving a 30 footer in a one on one move. And since that worked so poorly the first time we did it again. Those hours spent in practice seemingly can be put to better use. 

How can a coach, with a bench full of suited assistant coaches, not have a play in their back pocket to pull out when needed. The players did what they were told. They did their job. Why do you not, when down 4 with less than a minute to go try and get it in the lane to get a basket, forcing the other tam to make a play or free throws. 

The players are good. The coaching is atrocious. 

Let see if we can lobby to get him an extension so we can watch the same horrific coaching for an even dozen years.