MBB routs Delaware 89-73 to go 3-3 in CAA (story)

[mat1992 2,235]

https://towsontigers.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2019-20/delaware/boxscore/15043

 https://towsontigers.com/news/2020/1/11/mens-basketball-balanced-towson-roars-past-delaware.aspx

Ball movement (18 assists), taking care of the ball (9 turnovers), shooting 48% from the field and 9-of-23 (39.1%) from beyond the arc. Didn't expect such an easy win. Delaware has some great shooters in Darling (16pts, 5-14) and Ryan Allen (6-14, 15pts) and they weren't big factors. 

Great performance by the bench (41 pts) led by Juwan Gray 13pts, 3 blocks) and Nick Timberlake (14pts, 5rebs). Timberlake's two three-pointers in the second half were huge daggers because the Hens could have made a comeback. Fobbs played 28 minutes and shot just 3-of-11 with 12 pts. AB with another big game with 18 points and five boards in 26 minutes. He's getting close to becoming a big-time player.

You can't win and put up 18 assists without good point guard play. Dottin and Gibson combined for 16 points, seven assists and no turnovers. 

[TuTigers2012 1,070]

Great win. Everyone contributed.  First half was probably better than Thursday. Delaware’s 1-5 is solid. They have no depth though and we took advantage. 

Extra passes and moving the ball was key. If it’s not stuck on a player we actually get good looks.  Broke the press and went to attack again. Shot good from the ft line.

defended darling really well and didn’t get sucked into the chippyness that they play. 

[mat1992 2,235]

Comments: 

Skerry opener

Proud of our guys. Great effort this week. Guarded at a high level. Ball moved. Tonight, we have a lot of guys that can start games and finish games. At times, I haven't gotten them enough minutes (Gray and Timberlake are at podium). These guys shot the ball well. Not a surprise. Same with Gibson. These guys have been living in the gym. It's been such a good group to be around. There have been so few bad days with this group, so you know what they can become. You get frustrated at times because you know what they could become. Really proud of our guys. These guys were spectacular.

Difference?

Our depth and defense. When the energy is good like that, the ball moves. We got a lot of wide open shots. Sometimes the game is as simple as making shots. We've had a lot of good shots this year. I told these guys that you are going to make me look really good by March. We have some really good shooters. You miss shots for a couple of games and you want guys to stay aggressive. Keep shooting the ball. 

Timberlake on erratic play

More a mental thing. Some nights I'm not shooting it well and it's in my head. Other nights the ball is going in.

Skerry on Nick

I thought his defense was outstanding tonight on their perimeter guys.

 

[TSU88 1,073]

Whatever it is Skerry is doing in practice the last week, bottle it.

Oh yeah, the players. How nice is it to win comfortably when Fobbs only shot 3-11? Betrand has really made a quantum leap from his freshman to sophomore year. 

35 assists in the last 2 games. Wow. Dottin with 5 dishes today; nice to see Gibson drain open 3’s today. Sanders with a solid game, but my main kudos today go to Timberlake & Gray. 27 points, 8 boards and 4 assists between them. Timberlake looked good knocking down 2 threes as well as running the floor. I suspect this is the guy they expected to get when he signed here. And Gray looked really good driving to the basket. Forget standing passively outside the 3-point line & chucking up outside shots. I think he should drive more often. 

Now a week off until JMU at home next Saturday. Win that one, & we’re 4-3 in conference play, with a good chance to get to 5-3 with Elon up next on the road 

 

 

[mat1992 2,235]

More comments

Skerry on Gray

He's a hard guy to guard. Had a big block. Might be our best defender. We have so many good guys at practice, anybody could start. That's the strength of our group. We hope that pitching beats hitting. We pride ourselves on that.

Gray on assists

That's big time. We're a good group and we like being around each other so when we're sharing the ball, everybody eats. The bench gets excited when people make a three off an assist. It just shows how special this team can be when everybody plays together.

On slow start at 0-3 and now 3-0 in CAA

Feel like a mental thing. (Bad coaching Skerry says). Everybody understood that we can lose games. We tightened up on being focused for the next games.

Skerry

I thought we had one bad week. One bad week doesn't define our team.

On Fobbs and without Fobbs

His defense has been pretty good. We all look better when guys make shots. To win this thing in March, everybody has to stay healthy and we rely on our strength, which is our depth. 

On point guards

We were playing three freshmen a lot. That doesn't happen much in this league. We don't treat them like freshmen. That's what they're supposed to do, They are quarterbacks. Don't throw interceptions. These guys will get a lot of time off now with (no game until next Saturday). 

 

 

[TSU88 1,073]

8 of our 9 regular rotation guys had at least 1 assist today. 5 guys scored in double figures & Sanders, with 9 points, almost made it 6 guys. 

[mat1992 2,235]

We could have easily scored 100 points had we buried some bunnies. We missed at least 7 near the rim. There was one pay on a break where Nick laid it up softly and missed. He should have tried to dunk. Even if he missed it, that would send a message. But if you saw his comments, exactly what I've been saying about him. It's all mental. He might never be as good as AB on both ends of the floor but he could be a very valuable rotation player if he defends, rebounds, plays with energy, can make a three-pointer or two and can get out on transition.

Gray is tough to figure out. I now like what he brings us defensively. Sure, he'll struggle against bigger post players and he's not DT on the boards. But he can block shots. Had three today. As for driving to the basket. It depends. If he has a bigger guy, he has to do it more. Again, maybe it's a confidence thing, especially since his three-point shot has fallen off badly. 

Not sure the week off is good, but I'm sure the players are happy.

[mat1992 2,235]

 

[FLXballer 4]

Great team win! Contributions from everyone except Dennis. Is he ok?

[mat1992 2,235]

4 minutes ago, FLXballer said:

Great team win! Contributions from everyone except Dennis. Is he ok?

I don't think he was hurt or sick. I just think Pat went with a lot of Gray and some Thompson. Gray played 28 minutes, DT played around 12. He also picked up his third foul early in the second half and didn't return. I think if the game was closer, he would have gone back in.