2019-20 MBB Analysis

[mat1992 2,233]

First of all, I want to thank everybody who participated on the board in football and basketball this year. There's not a lot left to talk about outside of recruiting and we'll get to that in another thread (unless MBB wants to play in postseason, but I doubt it). We're not done in lax and hopefully we turn in around in conference play, but in reality, we're just a bad team right now. Hopefully WBB wins on Thursday and maybe they make a run after a very inconsistent regular season.

But in MBB, we've seen this script before. I thought we had a chance at the tip, but wasn't going to shocked if NE had won it. I just didn't see them going up by 16 at one point in the second half, esp. with Roland sitting due to foul trouble.

One thing I would hope that PS and his staff does is change up things. Whatever they are doing, it's not working. I'm not just talking about the practice before the game. If you are a man team, come out in a 2-3 zone. If you are a zone team, coming out in man. If you are a pressing team, don't press (unless it works). Do something different and dictate the pace and what you want to do the opponents. Don't just come out in a predictable way. Your opponent has seen you two other times this season. Show them something different (how about not hedging).

Personally, the one thing I noticed why we continue to falter in the tournament and goes back to guard play. Yes, PS is responsible for recruiting them and two of our three starting guards (AB, JG) struggled big-time when we needed them most.

I also noticed after watching all these teams 3+ times this year is guard play still rules, but athletic guard play is even more important. Even Elon has them in the Hunters and Sheffield. They aren't great defensively and they should struggle against Northeastern, but they matched up pretty well against W&M's guards, who are average at best. Gibby has played well at times on defense this year and I'm talking about not getting beat too often off the dribble or being caught on screens. He's had some bad defensive games as most freshmen do. Unfortunately, that one took place on Sunday night. But what is Betrand? At 6-5 shooting guard in this league faces a lot of guards who are 6-2 or 6-3 tops. Assuming he returns (who knows), you move him to the three. He's playing guys more his size. Mims, some grad transfer/juco or even Timberlake moves to the 2. Maybe the electric Darrick Jones Jr. can start, though freshmen have such a tough adjustment. Personally, I want to see more quickness in the backcourt and I think we'll see more up front. I'll explain my thoughts on the loss of Sanders in a second.

So, while I'm not going to paint an incredible scenario about next season, I'm also not going to give up. I never will. Anybody that can get through Jazz, Hunt and PK, can watch pretty good regular season play and witness disappointing tournament results. But for success to happen, IMO, the next transfer pickup is huge and there needs to be some fine-tuning style and postseason play. It's why I continue to harp on pressing if you have the athletes and depth. It's why we also missed Gray for his D and not his O. We can't afford to add a sit-out guy (unless NCAA changes the transfer rules for next season though it's getting late). 

Ok, long-winded intro and now to the player analysis. First the seniors.

Some team states. Towson shot 43.9% from the floor and 34.4% from 3-point range. Also shot 77.1% from the line. Defensively, they allowed teams to shoot 41% from the field and 32.3% from beyond the arc. In conference play, they actually shoot better from three (36.5%), but also allowed 33% shooting. Towson offensive rating was 108.0, good for fourth in the league. The defensive rating was 101.7, good for third behind NE and Hofstra. Our pace was last at 64.8. They ranked first in offensive rebounding percentage at 32.1%.

Nakye Sanders. Everybody seemed to like him and he definitely went through some tough stuff, but I'm talking on the court. He averaged 9.2 points and 6.4 rebounds on 48.6% shooting (68.6% FT). Here's what hurt him on offense. Tunstall starting meant that the power forward could slump off of DT and double on Sanders. Sometimes, you didn't really need to double Nakye, because he was his own worst enemy. He turned the ball over 52 times compared to 25 for Tunstall. He had 52 turnovers and Gibson had 44 in three more minutes per game. Strengths: Toughness, passing, rebounding, post defense. Weaknesses: Finishing inside, lack of athleticism, foul-prone, awareness. Don't want to bring up the turnover on Sunday when he decided to start his own fastbreak. That wasn't the first time he tried that this season, but it was the last. I've gotten on Nakye, but he gave what he had and he certainly improved his D and FT shooting. But the fouls and turnovers were mind-boggling and really hurt the team. 

Dennis Tunstall. I liked Dennis and give him a medal for lasting five years with the program. Unfortunately, he struggled offensively in his senior season, averaging just 4.4 points and 5.8 rebounds. He did lead the team with 41 blocks in 32 games and was on the All-Defensive team twice. My only issue was starting him with Sanders gives you little balance on offense. Gray should have been the starter from jump, but unfortunately, he struggled with his shot and we'll get to him. Strengths:Tenacious on boards. Shotblocker. Defender: Weaknesses: Shooting (7 of 27 from 3pt). Handle. 

Brian Fobbs. No offense to the other two, but we're not going to have a thread on this board on replacing DT or Nakye. After a really slow start, Fobbs was the best player on the team on both ends in the last half of the season. He might have been affected by the new three-point line early on and at one point, was shooting around 20%. He wound up shooting 34.2% from long range, 83.3% from three-point and 43.2% overall. He also added 4.9 rebounds. He's a good you root for if he decides to go overseas. Strengths: Fearless, strong shooter. Hard worker. Solid defender. FT shooting. Weakness: Off-hand. 

Now onto the returning players on the next part.

[mat1992 2,233]

Allen Betrand. The sophomore made third-team All-CAA and looked like a potential star who averaged 13.6 points on 38.7% three-point shooting, 44.1% field goal shooting and 2.7 rebounds. Led the team with 77 turnovers and had just 44 assists. Since scoring 31 against Drexel in his hometown, Betrand had 8 against Regent, 12 against JMU, 9 against W&M (3-13), 12 against Elon (2-9 FG), 14 against Hofstra, 8 against NE (3-9) and 2 against NE (1-7 FG) in the finale. Strengths:FT Shooting (88.6%), solid three-point shooter, can slash. Weakness: Decent but not great athlete, motor isn't always on, should rebound more for his size, body language.

Jason Gibson. The freshman finished rough, but had a very good season all-around. Is he a one or a two? He shot 38.1 from the field and 36.6% from long range. But in CAA play, he shot 41.4% from long range. Avg. 1.9 assists per game and had just 44 turnovers. Obviously would like to see the assist numbers go up. Defense was better than expected, but with more size and strength, he should improve. Strengths: Long range shooting, makes good decisions with ball, good passer. Vision. Weaknesses: Defense was inconsistent, started out slow and went scoreless for three games, mid-range and drive with a floater needs work. 

Nicolas Timberlake: The redshirt freshman guard won Sixth Man of the Year and showed a lot of energy off the bench. His defense got better as the season went on and his two blocked shots in the tournament, showed off that leaping ability. But those two blocks were nearly half of his five for the year. He can do more than just dunk and finally displayed that on Sunday. He averaged 6.1 ppg and 3.5rpg. Shot just 32.9% from beyond the arc and 36.8% overall (65.8% FT). Strengths: Great athlete. Has great motor. Good in transition. Good rebounder for guard. Weaknesses: Handle. Mid-range shot. Three-point shot other than the corner (he must have close to 40% from the corner). FT shooting needs work. Confidence. Defense improved but still needs to be better.

Jakigh Dottin: The sophomore started the year at the point and then came off the bench for Gibson. Has the size (6-2, 210) to play shooting guard, but is not a good enough shooter (40.2%, 6-18 3pt) to start. Avg. 4.0 ppg and led team with 69 assists and had just 30 turnovers. So assist/turnover ratio was good, but he only ended up playing 17.8mpg. When pressured, he seemed to give the ball too easily. At one point, wasn't sure he was returning. Now, not so sure. He has that bulldog mentality that Skerry likes and as somebody brought up on the chat yesterday, there is a little Ralph Guthrie in his game. He can provide a spark. Honestly, I think he's almost too big at the point and could shed a few points. He's certainly not fat but maybe too bulky. Strengths: Very strong. Defense, rebounds (3.0rpg), Stays in zone. Rarely takes bad shots. Weaknesses: Not super quick with ball. It's why he suggested he should lose a bit to get to the lane. Shot is not great but improved some. Decision-making shaky at times, esp. against pressure.

Juwan Gray: The junior transfer from San Diego was supposed to be the stretch 4 Towson has been waiting for. He started off well, but really struggled with his shot in conference play. His season ended at Delaware when he scored four points in his home state and then broke his hand and never returned. For some reason, played in 24 games and started zero. He shot 41% from the field and just 29.5% from long range. Also averaged just 4.3 rebounds in 22.2 minutes. Strengths: Has good length and athletic ability at 6-8, 225. Had 14 blocks in 22 games. Solid perimeter defender. Weaknesses: Lost confidence in his three-point shot as the season went on. He went through a terrible slump at one point going 0-for -12 against NE, Hofstra, Tulane, Charleston and UNCW to in Dec-Jan. Doesn't rebound well enough for his size. Not a post defender. Not very physical.

Charles Thompson: The freshman had to step up with Gray out and did a nice job. He's a physical big, probably undersized at 6-7, 235 for a five-man, but makes up for it with length and is a decent athlete. He averaged 3.2ppg and 3.7rpg on 50% shooting and 46.2% FT. Strengths: Physical defender and rebounder. Weaknesses: Very raw on offense. Very methodical in his moves. Very poor form on FT shooting. Not a threat as a shooter so tough to play him at the 4 next to Victor U. or whomever plays center next season.

The rest

Near-impossible to get a read even on the guys sitting out: Wing Demetrius Mims (6-6, 190), Solomon Uyaelumno (6-7, 230) and Victor U. (6-11, 230). Or jucu newcomer from Canada and two freshmen guards. Will need to replace the Sanders toughness and Tunstall defense and board work. Athletically, this should be a major strength of the team along with length. Whether that's good enough to be better than last season remains to be seen.

 

[TSU88 1,073]

I wish Sanders & Tunstall the best. Each had there moments & Tunstall is the only player I can think of in the PS era who was a 5th year senior (feel free to correct me if I’ve forgotten anyone). No one is irreplaceable, & these 2 young men definitely fall in that category. I’m glad I’ve seen the last of Sanders dropping his shoulder and picking up an offensive foul & him doing the 12 basic ballet steps in the lane, only to have the defender step back, at which point Sanders fell on his ass. Sanders had to lead the country in falling on his ass.

One thing became abundantly clear to me after watching Walker from NE last night. We desperately need a guy who can get into the lane, break down the D, & dish to a big for an easy look. I’m not sure Gibson is that guy, at least on a consistent basis.

A lot of role players coming back next year; Dottin, Timberlake, Thompson, Gray. Betrand...well, who knows. My spidey senses tell me he might not be back, but I’m just speculating. If he does come back, who are we getting? If it’s the guy from the Regent game, going forward, that’s problematic.

 

[mat1992 2,233]

19 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

I wish Sanders & Tunstall the best. Each had there moments & Tunstall is the only player I can think of in the PS era who was a 5th year senior (feel free to correct me if I’ve forgotten anyone). No one is irreplaceable, & these 2 young men definitely fall in that category. I’m glad I’ve seen the last of Sanders dropping his shoulder and picking up an offensive foul & him doing the 12 basic ballet steps in the lane, only to have the defender step back, at which point Sanders fell on his ass. Sanders had to lead the country in falling on his ass.

One thing became abundantly clear to me after watching Walker from NE last night. We desperately need a guy who can get into the lane, break down the D, & dish to a big for an easy look. I’m not sure Gibson is that guy, at least on a consistent basis.

A lot of role players coming back next year; Dottin, Timberlake, Thompson, Gray. Betrand...well, who knows. My spidey senses tell me he might not be back, but I’m just speculating. If he does come back, who are we getting? If it’s the guy from the Regent game, going forward, that’s problematic.

 

Gibson is the point guard for the future, but your two doesn't have to be a 6-6 power guard. He can be that penetrating 6-2 two guard or combo guard where Gibson can play off the ball. I think Gibson will get better once he bulks up some in terms of getting in the lane and either scoring with contact or dishing off. Timberlake doesn't do any of that in this stage of his career. He just can't break people down and Betrand for whatever reason, maybe it's his off-hand, struggles to get in the lane. We need more explosion in the backcourt. Guys that can create. If you look at the two guards (Juco and Gage), those are the type of players we need, even if it's one or two years. Quick guards who can penetrate and defend quick guards, and can shoot some. Gage obviously isn't a great shooter but looks like he can play both positions.

[TuTigers2012 1,062]

88 you have McNeil too who was also forgettable

good write up mat. Again, we differ on our opinions on TU athletics and can piss each other off. We all appreciate the information and running of this board. We got 12+ pages on the tournament. That’s a start.

we need to run better offense. Getting a good loon early in a set. We run so much clock with movement that produces/goes nowhere. We have depth and athletes and shouldn’t be taking the air out of the ball. We have always worked SO Fing hard to get a looks where as other teams move it two/three times and bang good look. Ball movement is always slow and stagnant. Post entries are poor too. We look scared trying to feed it in. More backdoor cuts and movement is needed too

Shakeup in assistant coaches is needed. Message is stale. I’d like more discipline in warmups. Tonight the 4 teams warmed up in positions and worked on fundamentals. Not dunking and layups. The small things matter. 

We wasted a Golden opportunity last night to make the finals. Someone on the tourney thread said skerry looked defeated and has no energy. He used to. Wish we had the crazy cussing skerry from the early years. 

[TSU88 1,073]

23 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Allen Betrand. The sophomore made third-team All-CAA and looked like a potential star who averaged 13.6 points on 38.7% three-point shooting, 44.1% field goal shooting and 2.7 rebounds. Led the team with 77 turnovers and had just 44 assists. Since scoring 31 against Drexel in his hometown, Betrand had 8 against Regent, 12 against JMU, 9 against W&M (3-13), 12 against Elon (2-9 FG), 14 against Hofstra, 8 against NE (3-9) and 2 against NE (1-7 FG) in the finale. Strengths:FT Shooting (88.6%), solid three-point shooter, can slash. Weakness: Decent but not great athlete, motor isn't always on, should rebound more for his size, body language.

Jason Gibson. The freshman finished rough, but had a very good season all-around. Is he a one or a two? He shot 38.1 from the field and 36.6% from long range. But in CAA play, he shot 41.4% from long range. Avg. 1.9 assists per game and had just 44 turnovers. Obviously would like to see the assist numbers go up. Defense was better than expected, but with more size and strength, he should improve. Strengths: Long range shooting, makes good decisions with ball, good passer. Vision. Weaknesses: Defense was inconsistent, started out slow and went scoreless for three games, mid-range and drive with a floater needs work. 

Nicolas Timberlake: The redshirt freshman guard won Sixth Man of the Year and showed a lot of energy off the bench. His defense got better as the season went on and his two blocked shots in the tournament, showed off that leaping ability. But those two blocks were nearly half of his five for the year. He can do more than just dunk and finally displayed that on Sunday. He averaged 6.1 ppg and 3.5rpg. Shot just 32.9% from beyond the arc and 36.8% overall (65.8% FT). Strengths: Great athlete. Has great motor. Good in transition. Good rebounder for guard. Weaknesses: Handle. Mid-range shot. Three-point shot other than the corner (he must have close to 40% from the corner). FT shooting needs work. Confidence. Defense improved but still needs to be better.

Jakigh Dottin: The sophomore started the year at the point and then came off the bench for Gibson. Has the size (6-2, 210) to play shooting guard, but is not a good enough shooter (40.2%, 6-18 3pt) to start. Avg. 4.0 ppg and led team with 69 assists and had just 30 turnovers. So assist/turnover ratio was good, but he only ended up playing 17.8mpg. When pressured, he seemed to give the ball too easily. At one point, wasn't sure he was returning. Now, not so sure. He has that bulldog mentality that Skerry likes and as somebody brought up on the chat yesterday, there is a little Ralph Guthrie in his game. He can provide a spark. Honestly, I think he's almost too big at the point and could shed a few points. He's certainly not fat but maybe too bulky. Strengths: Very strong. Defense, rebounds (3.0rpg), Stays in zone. Rarely takes bad shots. Weaknesses: Not super quick with ball. It's why he suggested he should lose a bit to get to the lane. Shot is not great but improved some. Decision-making shaky at times, esp. against pressure.

Juwan Gray: The junior transfer from San Diego was supposed to be the stretch 4 Towson has been waiting for. He started off well, but really struggled with his shot in conference play. His season ended at Delaware when he scored four points in his home state and then broke his hand and never returned. For some reason, played in 24 games and started zero. He shot 41% from the field and just 29.5% from long range. Also averaged just 4.3 rebounds in 22.2 minutes. Strengths: Has good length and athletic ability at 6-8, 225. Had 14 blocks in 22 games. Solid perimeter defender. Weaknesses: Lost confidence in his three-point shot as the season went on. He went through a terrible slump at one point going 0-for -12 against NE, Hofstra, Tulane, Charleston and UNCW to in Dec-Jan. Doesn't rebound well enough for his size. Not a post defender. Not very physical.

Charles Thompson: The freshman had to step up with Gray out and did a nice job. He's a physical big, probably undersized at 6-7, 235 for a five-man, but makes up for it with length and is a decent athlete. He averaged 3.2ppg and 3.7rpg on 50% shooting and 46.2% FT. Strengths: Physical defender and rebounder. Weaknesses: Very raw on offense. Very methodical in his moves. Very poor form on FT shooting. Not a threat as a shooter so tough to play him at the 4 next to Victor U. or whomever plays center next season.

The rest

Near-impossible to get a read even on the guys sitting out: Wing Demetrius Mims (6-6, 190), Solomon Uyaelumno (6-7, 230) and Victor U. (6-11, 230). Or jucu newcomer from Canada and two freshmen guards. Will need to replace the Sanders toughness and Tunstall defense and board work. Athletically, this should be a major strength of the team along with length. Whether that's good enough to be better than last season remains to be seen.

 

Here in lies the problem, as it relates to “the rest;” I’m concerned that it’s a bunch of role players. Victor should be an impact on D, but maybe not on O. Mims-an excellent HS player, but, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out for him at Long Beach. Can he replace Fobbs’ points? Maybe, but I’m going to have to see it to believe it.  Jones, the freshman? Uber athletic, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to think he’s going to light the scoreboard up as a freshman. Maybe we’ll strike lightning like we did with Fobbs, & get a scorer with the last open ship.

Bottom line-who in the returning group and/or the newbies is going to be a 17-20ppg scorer, and the alpha dog/put the team on his shoulders guy? I’m not seeing anyone yet (on paper). I’m just seeing a bunch of role players 

[mat1992 2,233]

4 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

Here in lies the problem, as it relates to “the rest;” I’m concerned that it’s a bunch of role players. Victor should be an impact on D, but maybe not on O. Mims-an excellent HS player, but, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out for him at Long Beach. Can he replace Fobbs’ points? Maybe, but I’m going to have to see it to believe it.  Jones, the freshman? Uber athletic, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to think he’s going to light the scoreboard up as a freshman. Maybe we’ll strike lightning like we did with Fobbs, & get a scorer with the last open ship.

Bottom line-who in the returning group and/or the newbies is going to be a 17-20ppg scorer, and the alpha dog/put the team on his shoulders guy? I’m not seeing anyone yet (on paper). I’m just seeing a bunch of role players 

I think we'll bring in two players. My guess is a grad transfer and a juco. A combo guard and a 3 or 4.

[TSU88 1,073]

Well, for that to happen you obviously subscribe to the belief (as I do too) that one of the retuning players ain’t returning 

[TuTigers2012 1,062]

8 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

Here in lies the problem, as it relates to “the rest;” I’m concerned that it’s a bunch of role players. Victor should be an impact on D, but maybe not on O. Mims-an excellent HS player, but, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out for him at Long Beach. Can he replace Fobbs’ points? Maybe, but I’m going to have to see it to believe it.  Jones, the freshman? Uber athletic, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to think he’s going to light the scoreboard up as a freshman. Maybe we’ll strike lightning like we did with Fobbs, & get a scorer with the last open ship.

Bottom line-who in the returning group and/or the newbies is going to be a 17-20ppg scorer, and the alpha dog/put the team on his shoulders guy? I’m not seeing anyone yet (on paper). I’m just seeing a bunch of role players 

Next year could be rough. Victors stats at usc were not good to be nice. He can’t shoot. Any team with good coaching (the other 9 caa coaches!) would be wise to hack him.

Mims got little run at lbsu so it’s hard to judge. 

Pat is stuck in 90s world. A 4 now a days needs to be able to shoot and spread the court. Having two bigs who clog the paint is counter productive. Ne elon play small ball. Wm has big whose shoot. Jmu drexel Hofstra Del have 1 big who can’t shoot outside the paint. 

[TuTigers2012 1,062]

7 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

I think we'll bring in two players. My guess is a grad transfer and a juco. A combo guard and a 3 or 4.

A grad Transfer to being leadership would help. We need an alpha leader and scorer who says follow me and isn’t scared to take and make the big shot. Closest we ever had was mike.