1491 Days

[tualum 108]

2 hours ago, Chris Datres said:

Where I stand...

I'll start by saying that despite the mess this season was and the no-show today in Harrisonburg, I don't feel like anyone should lose their job after the circumstances of this season.  The fact we actually finished the season after three (!!) pauses is a credit to the players and the staff for keeping it together.  But that's pretty much where my 'praise' ends.

Let's start with Skerry.  He's a great guy, very personable, changed the culture with Towson basketball especially academically, and I think he could be an asset as an assistant for a program.  But let's face it, this program is bottoming out.  The peak ended when we lost to W&M in the semis with Benimon and the second smaller peak was after we won in Belfast to start that season 11-1.  Since then, we're 40-62 with 4 straight one-and-dones in the CAA Tournament.  That's not continuing to build a program.  That's having it infested with termites and mold and watching it fall apart.  The reason for this is simple -- recruiting and scheme.  Skerry has one way to play and that's defense and rebounding.  Unless you're Michigan State or Virginia or Texas Tech (among others), you're not gonna get away with that philosophy with too much success for too long.  The modern game has changed too much and we have failed to adapt.  As a result, we have NOBODY who can reliably create their own shot and when we do have drive-and-kick situations, it leads to various clanks and clangs from the 3-point line.  While Gibson and Timberlake are serviceable players, they are wildly inconsistent from a scoring standpoint.  Would they start elsewhere?  Highly doubtful.  That's not to slight them.  But to even an untrained basketball eye, they are not the players you build your team around.  Let's look at the transfers that we've brought in -- Holland was a waste for this year and maybe altogether if he doesn't stick around.  Allen was very meh.  Victor didn't show all that much promise either.  We sit in a very fertile HS basketball area between Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia, Philly, and Central Pennsylvania.  Surely, we can get into the living rooms of players who are stars on their high school teams rather than taking players who are on nobody's D1 radar.  We're a school that the expectation should be come March, they should be one of the three favorites to win the conference tournament EVERY YEAR.  With the exception of maybe 2 of those Marchs, we haven't been able to say that.  Hell, we're just hoping to stay out of the play-in game.  More importantly, let's look at the transfers under Skerry.  We've lost Four (grad transfer), Zane (should have never taken him back this year, which I said when it first happened), Gorham, and Betrand.  I know there are others but these are the main ones I want to focus on.  When you lose players like these, guys who were starters and key contributors, there has to be an underlying reason besides 'I want to play in a bigger conference'.  And you look at what happened with Betrand last year with him torching Drexel in Philly and then going completely AWOL on the court the rest of the way, how does that occur?  I suspect it all comes back to the leader of the program and the schemes involved.  So, it's time for Skerry to be put on notice and if there isn't a significant improvement in 21-22, it's time to eat that buyout and find someone a little bit more dynamic who can inject some life into the program and whatever is left of the fanbase.

I'm not gonna stop there.  @Royal Tiger brings up a terrific point about the administration.  Certainly, I don't even pretend to know the goings-on in the department but if a coaching change is made, I don't really think I want Tim Leonard making that hire.  He has gotten women's basketball, women's lacrosse, and volleyball right and extending Nadelen on the men's lax side was the right move.  But if you truly want to bolster this athletic department, you have to hit a home run with a hire in your two big-revenue sports.  When fans return to games (hopefully next school year), what is going to give anyone any incentive to come to SECU?  The athletic department has largely failed at getting people into the seats and it's truly pathetic that a state school with the enrollment that Towson has can't regularly get 60% capacity in a 6,000-seat arena.  And before we start with the 'oh there's other stuff to do blah blah blah', go talk to some friends at Grand Canyon and ask them how they do it.  I know I've harped about GCU before but their results both on the court and in the stands support my argument.  If you can improve the product on the court, you will improve the attendance in the stands and the excitement within the program.  But as Royal asked, do they even care?  If they don't, then we might as well be Kennesaw State or Delaware State or Mississippi Valley State -- teams that put warm bodies in uniforms with the school name on it and trot them out to get slaughtered on a nightly basis.

The title of this thread is 1,491 days.  What it should be is 10,950 days....the length of time since we were in the NCAA Tournament.  That's a little more than a week short of *30 YEARS*.  I've tried to be patient and see the bright side of things because I know how tough it is in a one-bid league, especially with the amount of luck involved in the conference tournaments (look at what happened to both Vermont and UMBC today).  But I'm sick and tired of getting to March and having virtually nothing more than a mathematical chance to win the conference and get our name called on Selection Sunday.  It's time that this school shares my frustration and gets serious about its basketball program and makes significant improvements.

Finally seen the light my friend. Good post..

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

2 hours ago, Chris Datres said:

Where I stand...

I'll start by saying that despite the mess this season was and the no-show today in Harrisonburg, I don't feel like anyone should lose their job after the circumstances of this season.  The fact we actually finished the season after three (!!) pauses is a credit to the players and the staff for keeping it together.  But that's pretty much where my 'praise' ends.

Let's start with Skerry.  He's a great guy, very personable, changed the culture with Towson basketball especially academically, and I think he could be an asset as an assistant for a program.  But let's face it, this program is bottoming out.  The peak ended when we lost to W&M in the semis with Benimon and the second smaller peak was after we won in Belfast to start that season 11-1.  Since then, we're 40-62 with 4 straight one-and-dones in the CAA Tournament.  That's not continuing to build a program.  That's having it infested with termites and mold and watching it fall apart.  The reason for this is simple -- recruiting and scheme.  Skerry has one way to play and that's defense and rebounding.  Unless you're Michigan State or Virginia or Texas Tech (among others), you're not gonna get away with that philosophy with too much success for too long.  The modern game has changed too much and we have failed to adapt.  As a result, we have NOBODY who can reliably create their own shot and when we do have drive-and-kick situations, it leads to various clanks and clangs from the 3-point line.  While Gibson and Timberlake are serviceable players, they are wildly inconsistent from a scoring standpoint.  Would they start elsewhere?  Highly doubtful.  That's not to slight them.  But to even an untrained basketball eye, they are not the players you build your team around.  Let's look at the transfers that we've brought in -- Holland was a waste for this year and maybe altogether if he doesn't stick around.  Allen was very meh.  Victor didn't show all that much promise either.  We sit in a very fertile HS basketball area between Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia, Philly, and Central Pennsylvania.  Surely, we can get into the living rooms of players who are stars on their high school teams rather than taking players who are on nobody's D1 radar.  We're a school that the expectation should be come March, they should be one of the three favorites to win the conference tournament EVERY YEAR.  With the exception of maybe 2 of those Marchs, we haven't been able to say that.  Hell, we're just hoping to stay out of the play-in game.  More importantly, let's look at the transfers under Skerry.  We've lost Four (grad transfer), Zane (should have never taken him back this year, which I said when it first happened), Gorham, and Betrand.  I know there are others but these are the main ones I want to focus on.  When you lose players like these, guys who were starters and key contributors, there has to be an underlying reason besides 'I want to play in a bigger conference'.  And you look at what happened with Betrand last year with him torching Drexel in Philly and then going completely AWOL on the court the rest of the way, how does that occur?  I suspect it all comes back to the leader of the program and the schemes involved.  So, it's time for Skerry to be put on notice and if there isn't a significant improvement in 21-22, it's time to eat that buyout and find someone a little bit more dynamic who can inject some life into the program and whatever is left of the fanbase.

I'm not gonna stop there.  @Royal Tiger brings up a terrific point about the administration.  Certainly, I don't even pretend to know the goings-on in the department but if a coaching change is made, I don't really think I want Tim Leonard making that hire.  He has gotten women's basketball, women's lacrosse, and volleyball right and extending Nadelen on the men's lax side was the right move.  But if you truly want to bolster this athletic department, you have to hit a home run with a hire in your two big-revenue sports.  When fans return to games (hopefully next school year), what is going to give anyone any incentive to come to SECU?  The athletic department has largely failed at getting people into the seats and it's truly pathetic that a state school with the enrollment that Towson has can't regularly get 60% capacity in a 6,000-seat arena.  And before we start with the 'oh there's other stuff to do blah blah blah', go talk to some friends at Grand Canyon and ask them how they do it.  I know I've harped about GCU before but their results both on the court and in the stands support my argument.  If you can improve the product on the court, you will improve the attendance in the stands and the excitement within the program.  But as Royal asked, do they even care?  If they don't, then we might as well be Kennesaw State or Delaware State or Mississippi Valley State -- teams that put warm bodies in uniforms with the school name on it and trot them out to get slaughtered on a nightly basis.

The title of this thread is 1,491 days.  What it should be is 10,950 days....the length of time since we were in the NCAA Tournament.  That's a little more than a week short of *30 YEARS*.  I've tried to be patient and see the bright side of things because I know how tough it is in a one-bid league, especially with the amount of luck involved in the conference tournaments (look at what happened to both Vermont and UMBC today).  But I'm sick and tired of getting to March and having virtually nothing more than a mathematical chance to win the conference and get our name called on Selection Sunday.  It's time that this school shares my frustration and gets serious about its basketball program and makes significant improvements.

What he just said!!!  
And as a 96’ grad who arrived the Fall after our last Dance in 91’ I want to add...   we have been in a non NBA market this whole time and we built a sparkling new Arena and yet we still can’t return to the big Dance 30 years later!!??

I have said this before..  credit to PS for getting us out of the cellar early on but it is time for the next man up to take us farther..    EG/. Rex Walters to Kyle Smith here in San Francisco.  
 

PS is a great guy and this was such a mess to deal with this season.  Come 21’-22’ he’s gotta make changes to his staff and he’s gotta land some bigger name teams to come to SECU so fans have a reason to come to games. 
 

Love Towson and understand all the frustration.  
Juan Dixon winning at Coppin State... Juwan Howard at Michigan..  hmmmm

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

33 minutes ago, Bay Area Tiger said:

What he just said!!!  
And as a 96’ grad who arrived the Fall after our last Dance in 91’ I want to add...   we have been in a non NBA market this whole time and we built a sparkling new Arena and yet we still can’t return to the big Dance 30 years later!!??

I have said this before..  credit to PS for getting us out of the cellar early on but it is time for the next man up to take us farther..    EG/. Rex Walters to Kyle Smith here in San Francisco.  
 

PS is a great guy and this was such a mess to deal with this season.  Come 21’-22’ he’s gotta make changes to his staff and he’s gotta land some bigger name teams to come to SECU so fans have a reason to come to games. 
 

Love Towson and understand all the frustration.  
Juan Dixon winning at Coppin State... Juwan Howard at Michigan..  hmmmm

We can’t get anyone besides goucher to come visit us lol. 
blah blah blah. Come on! Make changes now. He is a shit coach. Clark. OConell, motos  brother, all need to be fired immediately. 

[griggey20 178]

I am generally a Pat Skerry defender but all of the points you have all made, even you 2012, are totally fair.  I am also growing tired and want to see improvement.  But let's be honest, this isn't rock bottom.  Go look at the Mike Hunt era, that was rock bottom (3 years- 23-63 total, 12-42 CAA, 1-3 CAAT).  We have had 5 winning seasons under PS.  Before he got here our last was the '95-96 season.

Anyway, this season was BRUTAL, COVID-19 or not, I am struggling to see guys playing hard for PS and that's my biggest concern.  I go back and forth regarding the recruiting...we have had guys come in here and be successful, but nothing to the level of JB since he left.  Morsell, Zane, Gorham and Betrand were All-CAA type players.  Unfortunately only 1 of them stayed all 4 years.  We got a guy like Fobbs who was a JUCO transfer, was really good and could score but he wasn't developed in the program. There is a reason they all aren't staying and it may be Pat.

I do think PS does a pretty good job of developing guys from the Freshman-Sophomore year.  You see the improvement in their bodies and in their skill set.  CT is a great example of that. But for some reason they don't take that next step to being a "stud".  Is that because they aren't good enough to be? Or are they not being coached to be? A combination of both?  Not sure, but once again not good enough.  

While I still am a believer in PS and this program, I am definitley losing faith.  I remember thinking from 2002-2006 when I was an undergrad...."just be relevant, over .500, this 4-24 shit stinks".  Now that we are there, it's not good enough.  If things don't get significantly better (roster not showing it) in the 2021-2022 season, I will be fully on board with you all.  I do really appreciate PS getting us back to a place where we are competitive in most conference games, we have a chance to win 18+ games a season and we are getting better talent.  At the same time I am in agreement that it's not good enough anymore, we need to get consistently to the NEXT step; going to the CAA finals, making the NCAA tournament and winning the CAA regular season.   I'd love it if PS was the one to do it but I am losing faith. 

[Blazer49 184]

This might be the best Thread this site has seen at least as far as I can remember.  This thread is not the knee jerk reactions of yet another game we just threw away, it is a collection of frustrations seeing the same bad movie season after season after season.  I found myself nodding my head throughout this thread.  Valid points that continually hit the nail on the head.  As much as the way this game is played now annoys me even I will admit you have to adjust to the new way to play.  We are in the age of positionless basketball where there is no 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 positions on the floor.  As a lower mid-level conference we will never get an old school dominate post player anyway so why not just recurit shooters?  Put 5 guards on the floor have 2 or 3 that can create their own shots and then a few others that just stand in the corner and drain threes?  Now I know I am simlifing things put I think we all get the picture.  I would have no issue with a "Three and D philosphy"  Anything is better than what we are doing now.  

 

I never like or advocate for coaching changes as I never like to see anyone lose their job, but this cannot go on any longer.  PS will probably keep his job this year but like Chris said in his post.  PS needs to be put on notice and that cnversation should have been had before they even left the arena on Saturday.

[TSU88 1,070]

12 minutes ago, Blazer49 said:

This might be the best Thread this site has seen at least as far as I can remember.  This thread is not the knee jerk reactions of yet another game we just threw away, it is a collection of frustrations seeing the same bad movie season after season after season.  I found myself nodding my head throughout this thread.  Valid points that continually hit the nail on the head.  As much as the way this game is played now annoys me even I will admit you have to adjust to the new way to play.  We are in the age of positionless basketball where there is no 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 positions on the floor.  As a lower mid-level conference we will never get an old school dominate post player anyway so why not just recurit shooters?  Put 5 guards on the floor have 2 or 3 that can create their own shots and then a few others that just stand in the corner and drain threes?  Now I know I am simlifing things put I think we all get the picture.  I would have no issue with a "Three and D philosphy"  Anything is better than what we are doing now.  

 

I never like or advocate for coaching changes as I never like to see anyone lose their job, but this cannot go on any longer.  PS will probably keep his job this year but like Chris said in his post.  PS needs to be put on notice and that cnversation should have been had before they even left the arena on Saturday.

I’ve been wishing, hoping, begging and praying for years that Skerry would just go out and recruit kids who’s strong suit was shooting, even if they’re not as adept on the defensive end. After years of waiting in vain, I’ve come to realize that it is hardwired into Skerry’s DNA to not recruit this type of player, as I believe he remains steadfast that he can win with defense and rebounding, even though his record of never winning either a regular season title or conference tournament clearly suggests otherwise. 

It’s like the Hofstra coach said after a game versus us in the 19-20 season; “they’re (meaning us) best offensive play is a missed shot.” If we know it, and the opposition knows it, it begs the question why Skerry doesn’t know it. I suspect he knows it, but refuses to adjust. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, that doesn’t work, over & over, and expecting different results. 
 

Edited March 8, 2021 by TSU88

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

1 hour ago, griggey20 said:

I am generally a Pat Skerry defender but all of the points you have all made, even you 2012, are totally fair.  I am also growing tired and want to see improvement.  But let's be honest, this isn't rock bottom.  Go look at the Mike Hunt era, that was rock bottom (3 years- 23-63 total, 12-42 CAA, 1-3 CAAT).  We have had 5 winning seasons under PS.  Before he got here our last was the '95-96 season.

Anyway, this season was BRUTAL, COVID-19 or not, I am struggling to see guys playing hard for PS and that's my biggest concern.  I go back and forth regarding the recruiting...we have had guys come in here and be successful, but nothing to the level of JB since he left.  Morsell, Zane, Gorham and Betrand were All-CAA type players.  Unfortunately only 1 of them stayed all 4 years.  We got a guy like Fobbs who was a JUCO transfer, was really good and could score but he wasn't developed in the program. There is a reason they all aren't staying and it may be Pat.

I do think PS does a pretty good job of developing guys from the Freshman-Sophomore year.  You see the improvement in their bodies and in their skill set.  CT is a great example of that. But for some reason they don't take that next step to being a "stud".  Is that because they aren't good enough to be? Or are they not being coached to be? A combination of both?  Not sure, but once again not good enough.  

While I still am a believer in PS and this program, I am definitley losing faith.  I remember thinking from 2002-2006 when I was an undergrad...."just be relevant, over .500, this 4-24 shit stinks".  Now that we are there, it's not good enough.  If things don't get significantly better (roster not showing it) in the 2021-2022 season, I will be fully on board with you all.  I do really appreciate PS getting us back to a place where we are competitive in most conference games, we have a chance to win 18+ games a season and we are getting better talent.  At the same time I am in agreement that it's not good enough anymore, we need to get consistently to the NEXT step; going to the CAA finals, making the NCAA tournament and winning the CAA regular season.   I'd love it if PS was the one to do it but I am losing faith. 

Good post. The issue is, it is the same every year “let’s see how next year goes and judge, etc”. Another excuse from the current regime pops up. Transfers, injuries, Covid etc. Guess what every other team deals with that as well.
 

How many more “next years” are we going to put up with? Who on this team is good enough to play significant minutes at a mid major? 32 probably. That’s about it. Talent and development isn’t there. Look at every other caa program and how the develop talent. It’s far better than what we have done. You can only get so far grinding out possessions and hoping for 5 offensive rebounds each trip. 
 

Pat is 134-132 since his first year..

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

Current CAA Coaches Records In CAAT

Towson 2-9

NE- 18-12

Hofstra 9-6. + (1-0 interim coach)

Charleston 9-6

Elon 4-1. That’s double the wins as skerry in 370 days vs 3650!

Drexel 3-4

Delaware 4-5

UNCW 0-1

JMU 0-1  who fired a coach with more than PS

WM 0-2  who fired a coach with more than PS

 

since pat took over every caa team made the final except 2... us and Elon (could make it tonight)

VCU Delaware Charleston Hofstra UNCW Jmu and NE have all won it

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

Elon destined to win it!

[TSU88 1,070]

24 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Current CAA Coaches Records In CAAT

Towson 2-9

NE- 18-12

Hofstra 9-6. + (1-0 interim coach)

Charleston 9-6

Elon 4-1. That’s double the wins as skerry in 370 days vs 3650!

Drexel 3-4

Delaware 4-5

UNCW 0-1

JMU 0-1  who fired a coach with more than PS

WM 0-2  who fired a coach with more than PS

 

since pat took over every caa team made the final except 2... us and Elon (could make it tonight)

VCU Delaware Charleston Hofstra UNCW Jmu and NE have all won it

Look, this post really drives home the point. In 9 years (remember, we weren’t CAA tournament eligible in Skerry’s 2nd season) EVERY other team in the conference, with the exception of Elon (which could end tonight) has at least made it to the conference title game. What’s more, we are DEAD LAST in this 9 year period as far as W’s in the conference tournament. Even with a pass for his 1st conference tournament appearance, the infamous 1 W season, we’re not talking a small sample size, but instead a clear pattern