Holden leads MBB over LIU 72-63

[mat1992 2,234]

https://towsontigers.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/liu/boxscore/22110

https://towsontigers.com/news/2021/12/2/mens-basketball-back-to-back-wins-for-towson-mens-basketball-with-home-victory-vs-liu.aspx

One of the rare times you'll see a Towson team win by nine and only go to the line 12 times (making 8), where LIU went to the line 19 and made 13. Cam Holden was the man again, scoring 21 points on 7 of 10 from the field, including 19 in the second half. He was sensational when it mattered and it did matter, because of all the fouling in the second half. I'll get to the quotes later, but to paraphrase Pat Skerry, he basically said he scheduled LIU before knowing that Isaac Kante (17pts) was going to transfer from Hofstra. If he had known that, he wouldn't have scheduled them.

Ball movement was very good. We had 11 assists and that should have been at least 15 had we made open passes on great looks from Holden and Nolan in the first half. Also, Gibson, Gray and Rizzuto just got back to practice this week. Nolan's GF had a baby earlier in the week. So a lot of things going on off the court and the team is still trying to get cohesive in terms of the rotation.

I thought Hicks sputtered at times tonight. His defense was good, but not great. He also struggled a bit with the press, but we needed him against the press. Once he came out and Nolan was the point guard, we lost that quickness factor. But even though Hicks is struggling to shoot the long ball (0-2), he turned the ball over once. That's what you want out of a freshman point guard. The rest will come through later.

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

Hicks makes it tough for the opposing guard to bring up the ball and I love that. 

Our bigs played well.   We knew Long Island was brutal from beyond the arc. 
 

Cam does it all..  hustles his ass off. 
 

5-3 going on the road.  Hoping for a split!
 

 

[mat1992 2,234]

Yes, three-point shooting is still a concern. I would think that Rizzuto (1-2 tonight) and Gibson (0-1, 3 minutes) will help once they get back in the rotation. Juwan Gray (0-3), Nolan (1-5) and Hicks (0-2) probably shouldn't be taken many threes. We saw the ability of Nolan to get to the rack and finish. He doesn't need to shoot five threes. Timberlake hit six 3s against New Mexico and had a four wide open looks tonight and went 0-4. Again, I would like to see him take the ball to the rim with authority as he did tonight in the first half. But I can't blame him for taking those 3s. Have to make at least one.

[TSU88 1,073]

A few random thoughts: the officiating was brutal. It really makes it hard to enjoy watching the game when their idiotic calls destroy the flow.

Timberlake leading the team in shots no es bueno. I think tonight’s Timberlake is closer to what we’re going to get from him, as opposed to the one we saw vs New Mexico. But a tip of the cap to him for 11 boards.

Nice to see Thompson & Paar combine for 21 points.

Hopefully Gray, Rizzuto and Gibson will contribute more going forward, after knocking some rust off tonight.

Holden continues to impress. He’s really, really good. 

 

 

 

 

 

[mat1992 2,234]

Charles Thompson on defending Kante in the second half

"Early work. Don't let him catch the ball in the post. First half he was bullying us in the paint. It's weird seeing him in a different jersey. It's awkward."

Cam Holden

"We started slow. We start slow against almost every time, kind of like Monmouth. We have a bunch of veteran guys. No need to panic."

On second half

"Let the game come to me. I think I missed a couple of shots in the first half I should have had. Coach called some plays for me down the stretch."

About Las Vegas

"Time was a bit different. We played a great San Francisco team. We played them well, even though we didn't win. The way we came out and played against New Mexico, is the way we want to play all the time. We had great energy on both ends. We had some pros and cons in Vegas. It really helped us."

Skerry opening

"I'm proud of our guys. LIU is good. There aren't going to be many teams in their league better talent-wise. Penn, Flowers and Kante could play for any team in our league. They played Fresno, UConn, Delaware tough. We got down early. It wasn't the start we wanted. Then we played good basketball. Then we couldn't shake them. Our defense was good. We rebounded it. It's a hard team to turn over. We got great play out of the five spot tonight. Cam was sensational in the second half. At some point, we'll make shots. I know I keep saying that. I thought out ball movement was really good in the first half. We just didn't make any. It's been a really tough week. Congrats to Terry (Nolan) and Sharia. They had a baby girl about 5am Tuesday morning. We didn't have him this week. Jason came back yesterday after a couple of weeks. Antonio came back Tuesday after a couple of weeks and Juwan came back Monday. So we're not there yet and we will get there. At some point, we have to practice and get better."

On rotation

"I wouldn't read too much into that. These guys didn't practice. We were waiting for them to get cleared and once they were cleared, we were ready to go. You are playing a good team. We went through this last year three different times. You don't do anything for 10 days, 2 weeks. It's just hard to do. We have a big stretch coming up. You can make an argument with Darrick Jones (playing). It's a long year and I'm still figuring things out.  Holden and Nolan and Timberlake are playing at a high level. It's hard to take players off the floor when they are playing at a really high level."

On fouling in the second half.

"I have to coach them better. Statistically, we are fouling too much. We have to do a better job of teaching that. I feel like in the half court, we're a hard team to score against. The fouling kept them in the game."

On Kante

"I thought he was the best big guy in our league last year. I scheduled the game before they got him. I'm not sure I would have scheduled the game if I knew they got him. Flowers is a big-time player at UMass. Trey Wood had a good game. We tried to recruit him out of high school, he went to UMass. He hadn't made a three-he makes two. Kante makes a there.  What I like is that sometimes you can get deflated by that, but our leadership in our huddles was really good. We just couldn't shake them. That was a credit to their talent. Flowers was held tonight (2-14) and credit goes to Terry Nolan."

On what Vegas trip meant

"San Francisco is really good. I would have liked to play them with everyone. I really liked how good we were against New Mexico. We got out there last Tuesday at 4:30amET. We played Thursday night, Friday night. Left Saturday. National TV is great for our school. We're the only sport that can get on national TV in the regular season. It's great for us to play against those teams. I wish we had more bodies out there. We have to get to 8 or 9 guys."

[mat1992 2,234]

Just to add and PS was right about the center play tonight. They were going up against a very good big man in Kante, who let's face it, in a league of guards in the CAA, he stood out as a quality big man and it looked like he was going to go for 25 and 15 after a great first half. But Thompson and Paar really stepped up. Both guys, when they are finishing well, and rebounding give you a physical presence at around 245 and 255 respectively. There's not wrong with using that weight and I don't mind physical fouls. Paar just has to limit the moving screens (none tonight) and the silly reach-in fouls. But I love when it's Holden, Nolan, or Hicks with the ball, Paar is setting a screen and he's rolling to the basket. Especially, if it's Holden, he's going to see so much attention (he did tonight) and Paar rolled to the hoops and finished strong. Who wants to get in the way of 6-10, 255?

Gray seemed very rusty. His shots were not close and he looked very good in two games before that injury. I like that he has some bounce coming off an Achilles' injury, but he's also stronger with a little added weight. I'd like to see him get down low at times against other four men. He can be a really nice 10-12mpg power forward, who can play some small ball center, rebound, defend well. 

Rizzuto is sort of caught in a numbers game. I think he played 17 minutes tonight and he doesn't seem 100% right, having some knee issues. But with Timberlake playing well defensively and rebounding like a monster, it's tough to get playing time there. It will be interesting how much he, Gray and Gibson played the rest of the way. As Pat said in the comments, it's tough to take out Nolan, Holden and Timberlake. Those guys are going to play 25+ minutes (Holden 30+).  But we will definitely need Rizzuto to pop some 3s in every game and play strong D, even if it's just 15mpg. I think even though Hicks didn't play a great game tonight, I don't know where Gibson plays. Maybe some 1 and 2 with Nolan or Rizzuto. The rotation is still in flux as the three guys are just getting their feet under them.

But I think Paar, Rizzuto, Gray and Gibson provide a very experienced bench. A lot depends on Hicks. If he gets better offensively (just needs to give us 6pts, 3asst, 1 TO, 2spg) and if he gains confidence, the team will get better offensively. I think there were some sets tonight where we completely shut them down defensively, but then fouled in the last second. It's sort of a Catch-22. You can play the better shooters and I think if Rizzuto were healthy, he'd be starting over Timberlake. But I can't take away from Nick's athleticism and he's becoming more fearless. He doesn't really have a floater, so why not just try and dunk over everybody. Anyhow, wish I had those springs when I was younger. But I digress. Kent State on Monday night and Rob Senderoff is going to be a tough one followed by an ok Ohio State team on Wednesday that just beat Duke on ESPNU.

[mat1992 2,234]

 

[TuTigers2012 1,063]

Choppy game against a bad team. Left some people open for shots last night. Just missed them.  
Rebounded well and defender better in the second half. Shooting will continue to be the Achilles heel of this team/program.  Need to stop chucking up the long balls. Liu is a weird team with 3 forwards and 2 guards who up until last night did nothing on the season. 
 

thank god for cam!  Opened the second with a very nice stretch.  Rotation issues will work themselves out. Having depth doesn’t hurt cause as we know someone at my moment can get hurt, sick or transfer …

[mat1992 2,234]

 

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

1 hour ago, mat1992 said:

 

Best highlights I’ve seen thus far…  they always say bigs take a little longer to get going and CT/Paar really look more comfortable rolling to the basketball and more importantly knowing where the ball is coming from.  Keep attacking the rim. 
I really like these pieces we have cause after 8 games they truly fit together unlike seasons past.   Cam took only 3 shots in the first half and then had 19 points in the second half.  He is truly the best thing to happen to Towson basketball..   He’s gonna account for 3-4 wins come conference play.