What is the potential of this team?

[mat1992 2,231]

What are your expectations? Still looking at fifth, the spot I picked them at the beginning of the year. I know most on here will say, we need a quality win. Beating a 1-5 JMU team at home by nine is not going to open eyes. 

The problem? Bench is inconsistent. If Juwan Gray or Nick Timberlake could be a consistent 8-10 point scorer, I would feel more comfortable about this team moving forward. Can you really rely on Sanders to be a 15 and 7 guy the rest of the way?

Well, you can't. They won the last three games with him going 8 and 9, 7 and 7, 9 and 6. He's had double-figure scoring numbers just six times this season. But you can go through him on offense, especially when the long ball is not working. His passing this season has been the biggest surprise. It's nice to see that he's also shooting free throws better than he did at the beginning of the season. He's shooting around 67% and shot 69% last season after shooting just 43% at Duquesne in two years.

So where does that leave Dennis Tunstall? While Gray has been disappointing on offense, at least he's played pretty good D and does rebound ok. Tunstall's numbers are way down and he's only playing just 20 minutes per game after playing 26.7 minutes per game last season. It probably doesn't matter if he starts or not, but he's been to the line just 16 times and has just 43 offensive rebounds. Last year, he had 92 offensive rebounds and averaged 7.6 per game. This year, he's averaging 5.6 rebounds. I don't think there's an injury. He's just struggling on both ends compared to what we saw last year.

I think some people think I'm happy when we lose or content. That's BS. Am I thrilled we're on a four-game winning streak? I'm realistic because I know who we defeated, but I'm liking the WAY we're playing. Even though we struggled on offense today, at least we moved the ball. We had 11 assists and could have a lot more if we made three-pointers. 

Skerry talks about guys shooting in rhythm. I thought Timberlake had two looks and there were probably 5 or 6 misses where guys caught the ball and had separation. One was Gibson at the end. Then there were times we shot some contested shots that we not in rhythm. That's key for Fobbs and Betrand. I think AB has the tools to be something special. He now has scored 16 or more points in eight straight games. That's impressive considering he averaged 4.5 points and shot 28.3% from beyond the arc and 34.5% overall last season. 

I understand the frustration(s) and to not throw a party for a four-game winning streak, after we got eaten up by the top three teams in the league early on. I think we're waiting to see us steal one or two on the road against those elite teams (W&M would count). Beating up on the bottom-feeders on the road and at home is a start. 

Potential? I really don't know. We played so well against Delaware and Drexel that the first half was a big letdown. Then the first part of the second half was reminiscent of those games. Then we nearly gave the game away. Or they took it. 

In conclusion, take this one at a time and keep getting Sanders involved on offense. Let him touch the ball in the post, go 2-man game and maybe even go to him early.

[Chris Datres 423]

Given what we've seen with the inconsistency of this team, I don't know if you can really have any expectations.  If you take, for example, the JMU game where there were 4 games in one, that sounds like a microcosm of this season as a whole.  So we as fans truly have to take this on a game by game basis.  If we play like we did in the first halves of the Drexel and Delaware games for all 40 minutes, we can beat anyone in this conference.  If we play like we did in the first half of the Vermont game or much of the Charleston game, then we'd be 0-fer in the conference.  I'm done figuring out if these guys can build on positive performances because other than the Drexel to Delaware games, that flow hasn't really been there.  But the good news is that they have a nice little win streak going (doesn't matter who they beat or the quality of teams they beat, take the wins) and hopefully some positive vibes flowing throughout the team.  

[mat1992 2,231]

35 minutes ago, Chris Datres said:

Given what we've seen with the inconsistency of this team, I don't know if you can really have any expectations.  If you take, for example, the JMU game where there were 4 games in one, that sounds like a microcosm of this season as a whole.  So we as fans truly have to take this on a game by game basis.  If we play like we did in the first halves of the Drexel and Delaware games for all 40 minutes, we can beat anyone in this conference.  If we play like we did in the first half of the Vermont game or much of the Charleston game, then we'd be 0-fer in the conference.  I'm done figuring out if these guys can build on positive performances because other than the Drexel to Delaware games, that flow hasn't really been there.  But the good news is that they have a nice little win streak going (doesn't matter who they beat or the quality of teams they beat, take the wins) and hopefully some positive vibes flowing throughout the team.  

A good point. Temper expectations and try and enjoy the ride. But if UNCW can beat Northeastern in OT and Drexel can crush the Tribe, there’s a lot more parity than we thought.

[TSU88 1,070]

Wow, didn’t realize UNCW beat NE. Also, our W over Drexel is looking more impressive.

I’ll be the 1st to admit I wrote the season off after losing the 1st 3 conference games. Now we’ve won 4 in a row. I don’t care if 2 of those 4 W’s are vs UNCW & JMU (mystery to me how a team with the talent they have is 1-6 in conference). 

I’m still not sure I have a bead on this team. Let’s see where we are after the next 2 (road) games. If we’re 5-4 at the halfway point, I’d see us finishing between 4th-6th. OTOH, if we come home 6-3, well, that’s another story.

I like the “dynamic duo” of Fobbs & Betrand (after seeing a summer practice, I predicted Betrand would be the most improved returning player on the team). Sanders isn’t going to be a 15ppg guy, but 10 & 7 boards, with his passing ability, would be nice. I’m not a huge fan of Gray (I think his outside shot is pretty bad) but he can contribute occasionally inside, and with his D. Timberlake is frustrating. He throws in the odd 10-15 point game, and I think he’s about to become a consistent scoring threat, then he reverts to a game like today, where he shoots 1-4, missing several wide open 3’s. As for the PG’s, I think the Gibson/Dottin tandem is not bad. Not great, but not bad. Don’t have the stats in front of me, but they’re probably averaging about 8-9 ppg, 3-4 assists, and generally not too many TO’s. 

Bottom line: as Datres posted above, if we play like we did in the 1st halves of the Delaware & Drexel games, we can beat anybody in the conference. But, if we play like we did against NE & Vermont, we can lose to anybody in the conference. I’m skeptical that the inconsistency this team demonstrates (not from game-to-game, but within individual games) will result in 3 straight W’s come conference tournament time, but I’d love to be proven wrong 

 

[Blounge 520]

I think they willl finish in the middle of the pack. Consistently inconsistent. The same team that took Florida to the wire and has been up 20 at half time back to back games still struggles through seemingly endless scoring droughts. I think they key this year is gonna be the production we get from the guys outside of the big 3 scorers that are Fobbs, Betrand, and Sanders. You hope to get 10-12 points a game from all four of these guys Gray, Tunstall, Dottin, and Timberlake. Take it one game at a time. hopefully we will be firing from all cylinders come tournament time

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

They can win it all or crash and burn in the first round. Realistic 6-7 seed. If they take care of the Philly trip in 3 weeks then they will finish higher. 

[griggey20 178]

One of the things I have been happiest about (and we on this board have consistently ripped) is the assisted FGs.  I think that is a big part of how the team is playing together.  The last 5 games we have been assisting on about 50% of our made FGs and to me that shows this team is playing together.  I admittedly do not get to watch many games because I'm reffing my own game the time they are playing but I feel like the box score can paint a bit of the picture.  We have talked for years about need a PG to get this team together and to run stuff.  While I don't know how often that is happening it at least seems like these guys are playing together and for each other.  When doing that it makes it seem more realistic they can get a big win.  I hope this team continues to build that cohesion over the next 5 weeks and be ready to win a game or 2 in the conference tournament. 

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

Our foul shooting has been pretty damn impressive in this 4 game win streak.

14-22 then 13-15 then 19-21 then 20-21

This is a great sign going forward for Towson basketball. 
 

After beating this coach and team up early I truly think they’ve banded together and are gonna finish in the top 4 of the CAA