MBB falls flat in CAA opener to Northeastern 61-45 (story up)

[mat1992 2,235]

https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/basketball/bs-sp-bkc-towson-northeastern-20191228-ev5cknfgynf6pacvdwf2a2dcv4-story.html

https://towsontigers.com/news/2019/12/28/mens-basketball-betrand-leads-towson-in-caa-opener.aspx

There's no Good, Bad, and Ugly. Only Ugly. Horrific shooting performance. Defense wasn't bad when you hold Roland to 14 points and 0-5 from 3pt. Got outrebounded by 8 against a team with no starter taller than 6-6. Had just four offensive rebounds. How the eff is that possible when you miss so many shots?

Don't like the early sub patterns. Why sub out four players two minutes into the game when it's 6-6? How do you get any flow? With Sanders being the only low-post threat, this team has no chance when he puts up games like he had today. He actually played a much better game against Florida and Blackshear, the 6-10 Va. Tech transfer. Smaller guys? They seem to bother him because they don't go for his lower the shoulder spin moves. Of course, he missed 2-3 layups. Dottin had one near the up and shot an air ball. Passing? Sanders leads the team with three assists. When he's your best passer, you're in trouble. Guard play was a mess. 15 turnovers against a team that plays solid defense, but they don't press. Most of the turnovers were self-inflicted. Ugly.

Comments coming up.

Oh, forgot to mention. Two other reporters were at the press conference and everybody's favorite, Joe D.!

[Royal Tiger 57]

Future of towson basketball looks very bleak

[mat1992 2,235]

Opening comments

"We played poorly. That doesn't discredit Northeastern. They're a good club. They were more ready to play than we were. We were just so bad on offense. We turned it over. We missed layups. Our worst performance of the season in a big game. It's more numbing that our defensive numbers were pretty good against a good shooting team. We have to watch the film. I'll try and reserve judgement. We're' not a good team when the ball doesn't move. We just don't have enough one-on-one play to make things happen. Thought we got frustrated. The ball stopped.  Reflective in our shooting. We turned it over 21% of our possessions. That's never good."

On the droughts

"Nothing will change unless we do. We have some guys that I like and are pretty good players. When the ball sticks in Fobbs' hands, good things don't happen off of that. In the first half, we gave up an alarming amount of points off of turnovers. Maybe it means a lineup change. Normally I'd go into tomorrow...with fourth game in eight days, have to be worried about contact. We clearly have to practice tomorrow. I don't know any other way to get better at things. I believe we're better than what we showed on offense, but we certainly didn't show that today."

On Fobbs

He has to play better. He had a hard 4-5 minutes sitting on the bench at the end of the game. We have to get tougher. That's on me. I don't think we were tough enough today. A lot of that has to do with mental toughness. Follow our training when things aren't going great. We had the old, when it rains it pours. You steal the ball a couple of times and miss layups like a third-grade game. Guys aren't trying to do that. They got frustrated and upset, but it's not a good formula for success."

On rebounding

I'm surprised they shot that poorly. I don't think we did well in any area. When you don't great shots, you hurt your ability to get offensive rebounds. Some perimeter guys took some quick shots. They didn't give our guys to go get a chance on the glass.

On Nakye

We love him and need him. Wasn't his best moment in a Towson uniform. Our seniors played very bad today. There's no other way to say that. If we do that, we're probably not going to be good. Monday is now a must-win game. You can term it pressure or whatever you want, but we have to figure out how to play better on Monday.

On practice

You can't have everything. We have to get better. What I didn't like about us wasn't an effort thing. When it didn't go well for us, we have to be tougher. The better teams we've had were a little tougher when things aren't going well. We don't miss a layup of bobble the ball. Don't give up a three at the end of the clock and look over (towards the bench). That's what good players do. We have to practice and get better. Doesn't have to be long. Execute better. NE is a good club. We knew that. Wasn't anticipating 6 or 7 guys playing that poorly. When that happens, you get taken to the woodshed.

[Tgr4life 169]

I thought I read this last year.

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Skerry is a nice guy but a TERRIBLE coach

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

1 hour ago, mat1992 said:

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=282549

https://towsontigers.com/news/2019/12/28/mens-basketball-betrand-leads-towson-in-caa-opener.aspx

There's no Good, Bad, and Ugly. Only Ugly. Horrific shooting performance. Defense wasn't bad when you hold Roland to 14 points and 0-5 from 3pt. Got outrebounded by 8 against a team with no starter taller than 6-6. Had just four offensive rebounds. How the eff is that possible when you miss so many shots?

Don't like the early sub patterns. Why sub out four players two minutes into the game when it's 6-6? How do you get any flow? With Sanders being the only low-post threat, this team has no chance when he puts up games like he had today. He actually played a much better game against Florida and Blackshear, the 6-10 Va. Tech transfer. Smaller guys? They seem to bother him because they don't go for his lower the shoulder spin moves. Of course, he missed 2-3 layups. Dottin had one near the up and shot an air ball. Passing? Sanders leads the team with three assists. When he's your best passer, you're in trouble. Guard play was a mess. 15 turnovers against a team that plays solid defense, but they don't press. Most of the turnovers were self-inflicted. Ugly.

Comments coming up.

We had 2 offensive board on the first possession. Zero effort and intensity.  Give coen 8 days in prep for a skerry coaches team isnt fair. Ones a coach the other pretends to be one. Getting blown out at home by an average undermanned team is embarrassing. 

So many turnovers. Defense overrates (what else is new). Can’t finish with contact. This team is a paper tiger and soft like usual. Sanders blowing that wide open layup and not running back would be grounds for benching for the rest of that game. Skerry and this team is a joke 

[mat1992 2,235]

1 hour ago, TuTigers2012 said:

We had 2 offensive board on the first possession. Zero effort and intensity.  Give coen 8 days in prep for a skerry coaches team isnt fair. Ones a coach the other pretends to be one. Getting blown out at home by an average undermanned team is embarrassing. 

So many turnovers. Defense overrates (what else is new). Can’t finish with contact. This team is a paper tiger and soft like usual. Sanders blowing that wide open layup and not running back would be grounds for benching for the rest of that game. Skerry and this team is a joke 

I don't agree with everything you said but I would have benched Sanders after that. You have no chance of winning so send a message. And yes, the team is extremely soft. Or at least plays that way. All that weight room muscle doesn't always translate on the court (Ask Maryland). More mental and some physical. Northeastern didn't have a starter over 6-6. Nobody weighed over 225 (at least according to the roster). Outhustled. Outskilled. Outmuscled. 

[TSU88 1,073]

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 

[mat1992 2,235]

Well, Gray was a starter as a freshman for San Diego. He took one shot today. I know he's not super-aggressive but still. He's not Tunstall. Get him a look from 3 off a screen.

The bottom line is that you change lineups on Monday. Sanders and Dottin sits. I think we've seen enough of Jakigh to know that he's a backup at best. If you can't shoot and can't finish underneath, you should be a defender and energizer off the bench. Start Gibson. He may not be ready but at least he can score some. Let him play more with Betrand and not just Timberlake. I think he'd fit Betrand better as well because he might be able to help overcome his lack of D (though he's at least adequate).

I don't know who starts for Sanders, because I know he's our only low post scorer. Start Thompson or go smaller with Gray. Sanders can still play 20mpg. Playing him off the bench will allow him to play a little more freely and not worry about fouls.

And let these guys play for four minutes until the first timeout. Stop pulling them early and I mean two minutes into the game.

[TSU88 1,073]

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?