MBB wins fourth straight, holds on to beat JMU 69-61

[mat1992 2,237]

https://towsontigers.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2019-20/james-madison/boxscore/15044

This was one of the strangest Towson wins I've ever covered. On the one hand, we shot 3 of 18 from beyond the arc. Played terribly in the first half, but defensively playe well. The negative things that stood out were Timberlake makes a great steal and on the break throws a 90mph fastball that Betrand can't catch and it goes out of bounds. Sanders is not a foul machine anymore, but still can be a turnover machine. Offense not moving as well and Fobbs struggling. Settling for three-point shots and not driving. JMU not bad defensively on the perimeter, but you do have to attack them because they don't have a rim protector. That was Game 1. Towson up 22-18 at the half.

On the good side, the beginning of the second half won the game. By going through Sanders, Fobbs got better looks at the basket and same with Betrand. Played two man game with Fobbs and Sanders. That was perfection until they changed their defense and took Dwight Wilson out (he's slow defensively. That was Game 2.

Game Three was Darrius Banks going nuts in the second half from three-point land. How did he constantly get up in the corner? Skerry said something to the effect that we'll be ready the next time we play them. He is a 33.9% three-point shooter and went 6 of 9. He must have made five straight at one point. That's the only way you let them back in the game. That and the turnovers. We had 12 and Dottin had three but it felt like more. Gibson got in foul trouble (one really silly one on a three-point shot), but he takes care of the ball. He had just one turnover and four assists. Even though he went 1 of 5 from the field, I thought he controlled the game well. I was worried about his matching up against Banks and Matt Lewis because they are both around 6-5. So he never really got a good look save for that last three in the corner. 

Game Four. Foul shots. We made 20 of 21. Gray missed the only free throw and Betrand's put back was huge (and one) as the Dukes were coming back. Betrand is really talented and when that three-point shot is not working, he can score in other ways. 

As for Fobbs, I thought he hunted some shots in the first half, but you have to give the coaching staff credit for that last offensive play of the first half. Getting the ball to Fobbs around the screen and him finishing the drive. Of course, if you're the D, you can't allow him to go left. When he goes right, he's still throwing up off-balanced lefty runners.

But Fobbs had 21 and AB had 16. But you're not winning that game without Sanders getting 15 and 7. He was huge for them. Got very little from the rest. Gray did have eight boards but his offensive struggles continue. I think he's 2 of his last 18 from beyond the arc. Looks very hesitant. I do like the way Timberlake is moving without the ball. They need to find him more and just rely on his three-pointer from the corner.

Dottin started driving, but you don't want him shooting 18-footers. He also needs to take care of the ball and manage the game when he's in. 

But overall, four straight wins and now 4-3 in the league. Drexel is now in third place at 5-2, tied with Charleston after they hammered W&M today at home by 27. That was shocking and shows you how good that team is at home. They hadn't really played anybody tough until today. But also shows you that our win over them at home looks more impressive. They probably just had a bad game, but they've won three straight since then.

On to Elon on Thursday and we need to care of business. Don't worry about W&M on Saturday.

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

Good grind  it out game. Ugly at the end when banks was open on numerous possessions in the corner. And we allowed 6-7 offensive rebkunds in two possessions 

Great ft shooting and pick and rolls in the second half.  Unselfish play the first 8 minutes. 

In a battle of the two worst coaches in the conference, skerry takes the first win of the year. 

[mat1992 2,237]

Comments from Skerry

Really good team win. I said this morning at shootaround that our defense would win us the game. Our offense would dictate by how much. Obviously our defense was outstanding. That was a high-powered offense. To hold them to 31% shooting, is really good. The first 10 minutes or 7-8 minutes of the second half, we played at a very high level. Then we hung on. I might have messed up our guys rhythm because usually I sub quick. We got going. We went a little bit longer. I might have messed up the rhythm and that's on me. These three guys are sensational (Sanders, Betrand, Fobbs). They got big baskets, free throws. Brian's defense. Naykye gave us a presence. Not many centers are doing what he does, rebounding, defending and passing it. These three guys that are playing at an all-conference level. Really proud of them.

On second half

We want to get him the ball (Sanders). He scores. He makes good decisions. He's tough. He's the heartbeat of the team. When he's scoring inside, I have these two wings that can guard, rebound, pass and score. We have a good inside-out balance.

On first half

I thought I did a bad job playcalling. We got some shots that we missed. In second half, we looked really in rhythm. The ball really started moving. It's fun to watch when you see that.

Sanders on first-half injury

I'm a tank. I just kind of brushed that off. The players found me. They knocked us out last year, so we remembered.

Fobbs on first half drive leading to better second half

I just had to keep attacking and stay aggressive. In the first half, my shot wasn't going in but that's fine. My teammates kept feeding me the ball. 

Fobbs on homestand

It feels good. We have a lot of energy in the locker room. We feel connected. If we can keep it going....

Skerry on Banks going off...

They made an adjustment that we'll be prepared for the second time around. They got him shots in the second half. We tried to adjust to it on the fly and that's hard to do. Credit to them.

On second half

We tried to stay consistent on defense. This is a really good group. What I like today, and I didn't like that we gave up the lead (nearly), we had a couple of big possessions. Allen had a big shot when they made a run. Those are big plays. I don't know early in the year that we were ready to make a play against a good team. I think we're now. I don't think we're winning this game going 3-of-18 from three and blowing a commanding lead. That's hard to do in this league. These guys are really coming together and getting a good feel for each other.

On free throws

We have a lot of gym rats. (Sanders) has really improved since we got him. That's a great luxury to have.

On offensive rebounding by Dukes in second half

They're a good team and they have some good non-conference wins. Fordham, ECU, ODU, Charlotte. We missed some blockouts. Guys try to leak out a little bit when you get a big lead. We still won by five on the glass. We're capable of better. Still a lot of basketball left. We'll try and get better next week. 

On W&M losing

We know it's a great league. We're just focused on how do we get better so we have a chance to win on Thursday night. If we can keep doing that, then the results will take care of itself. 

 

 

[mat1992 2,237]

8 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Good grind  it out game. Ugly at the end when banks was open on numerous possessions in the corner. And we allowed 6-7 offensive rebkunds in two possessions 

Great ft shooting and pick and rolls in the second half.  Unselfish play the first 8 minutes. 

In a battle of the two worst coaches in the conference, skerry takes the first win of the year. 

That's hilarious. You're putting the UNCW interim coach over Skerry.

[TSU88 1,074]

I thought Sanders was the key today. When he was stationed at the foul line in the 2nd half, and the offense went through him, we got good looks and built the lead. He’s an underrated passer. Him, Fobbs & Betrand is a nice triple threat. Didn’t get much out of anyone else today, but fortunately we didn’t need to. I knew JMU would make a run after we jumped out by 21, but it was frustrating to watch Banks drain one 3 after another. I dunno, how about doubling him? 

Great foul shooting today was the other key. 20-21 speaks for itself. 

Nice to go on the road with momentum. Need to avoid laying an egg vs Elon, & go into W&M at 5-3 in conference. 

 

 

[mat1992 2,237]

5 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

I thought Sanders was the key today. When he was stationed at the foul line in the 2nd half, and the offense went through him, we got good looks and built the lead. He’s an underrated passer. Him, Fobbs & Betrand is a nice triple threat. Didn’t get much out of anyone else today, but fortunately we didn’t need to. I knew JMU would make a run after we jumped out by 21, but it was frustrating to watch Banks drain one 3 after another. I dunno, how about doubling him? 

Great foul shooting today was the other key. 20-21 speaks for itself. 

Nice to go on the road with momentum. Need to avoid laying an egg vs Elon, & go into W&M at 5-3 in conference. 

 

 

Agree save for the doubling part. As Skerry sort of explained, they did something different to get him open (some back screen or something) and we never adjusted. If you double a shooter from the perimeter, you just leave everybody else open and that's not a one-man team. Lewis usually beats us and averages 18ppg. They took out Wilson and to me that was the biggest difference in their comeback. He slowed them down on both ends and then they ran plays for Banks. He's only a 34% three-point shooter. Just got super hot.

 

[mat1992 2,237]

One thing I do have to credit Gibson for is his defense. Now I think he was one of those guys trying to defend Banks in the second half, but I like the way he hung with Lewis and took a charge. He's not getting abused defensively. 

Also, his pass on the break on the oop to Tunstall was one of the nicest plays on the season in transition. 

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

25 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

That's hilarious. You're putting the UNCW interim coach over Skerry.

Full time coaches* sorry didn’t feel the need to specify for a coach 1 games in

[mat1992 2,237]

Just now, TuTigers2012 said:

Full time coaches* sorry didn’t feel the need to specify for a coach 1 games in

Right, so McGrath was better. I see.

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

9 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Agree save for the doubling part. As Skerry sort of explained, they did something different to get him open (some back screen or something) and we never adjusted. If you double a shooter from the perimeter, you just leave everybody else open and that's not a one-man team. Lewis usually beats us and averages 18ppg. They took out Wilson and to me that was the biggest difference in their comeback. He slowed them down on both ends and then they ran plays for Banks. He's only a 34% three-point shooter. Just got super hot.

 

Back screen?  He literally stood in the corner 3 straight possessions. We over rotated. He was wide open.