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mat1992

Down but not out

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1 hour ago, Tiger93 said:

We'll get there. This past year was a good step forward in what we need to do better in the offseason. Hopefully, Skerry learned some lessons about roster construction and will continue to find shooters. As Mat mentioned several times, we also need an athletic wing that can create and get to the basket (easier said then done).

My hope is that a guy like Hicks is hungry for more after getting a small taste this season and can make a jump in his game. The seasons that Thompson and Timberlake had give me some level of confidence in our player development (although we need to see more success stories) and I hope this carries forward with other players on the roster. The right combination of player development and successful transfers is a must at our level (and pretty much any level at this point). I definitely agree that Stony Brook and Monmouth (who has a good shot to win the MAAC this year) will make this conference tougher in hoops next year. 

It is very important to build off our regular-season success and continue to set the bar high for this program. We can't waste this momentum. If we can keep building off what is going right (which no one can guarantee), we will get more shots to make it to the NCAA Tournament.

Right now, I think the checklist is go have an NIT run that creates a positive experience that will make the returning players hungry for more success, sort out departures, and navigate the transfer portal successfully (Skerry seems to be pretty solid at this). Skerry knows better than we do what he needs, but my offseason homework for him would be study what went right this year, figure out what you can replicate and what you need to adapt (defensively and gameplan wise to get better).

The biggest step (and I think he has referenced this before) is take a look back at the tournament games, tap some of his resources and connections in the coaching fraternity and do a deep dive on why his teams seem so little tightly wound come tournament time. Thompson getting hurt in the first game was an extremely unlucky break, so I make the tightness comment knowing that the combo of his injury and a bad shooting night was as much circumstance as something that the team or Skerry did wrong. Still, it all needs to go under the microscope if we want to accomplish what everyone on this board and the program wants to do. 

Need more depth. Guys get hurt. It would help if Paar hit the weight room, came back a different player with better fundamentals. We know losing a family member can be devastating for a young person to deal with. Also hear that his brother Cole (6-10, 230) is on campus and may play next fall.

The two freshmen we brought in should be an upgrade in May and Williams, but I don't expect them to be in the top eight in the rotation. So coming off a good season (unlike last year), I expect us to add 2-3 solid transfers and that Hicks could get more playing time. Maybe Coleman, because I hear he's coming on fast, But not knowing what Hicks is going to be and that Williamson is more of a scorer, we need an experienced point guard.

Also with some success, PS' name has popped up in certain jobs. Of course, the New England ones: UMass and URI.

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22 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Need more depth. Guys get hurt. It would help if Paar hit the weight room, came back a different player with better fundamentals. We know losing a family member can be devastating for a young person to deal with. Also hear that his brother Cole (6-10, 230) is on campus and may play next fall.

The two freshmen we brought in should be an upgrade in May and Williams, but I don't expect them to be in the top eight in the rotation. So coming off a good season (unlike last year), I expect us to add 2-3 solid transfers and that Hicks could get more playing time. Maybe Coleman, because I hear he's coming on fast, But not knowing what Hicks is going to be and that Williamson is more of a scorer, we need an experienced point guard.

Also with some success, PS' name has popped up in certain jobs. Of course, the New England ones: UMass and URI.

Need a true point guard. Back up big. And shooter/slasher.  Have to figure bikeu is gone. 
 

That’s funny. Both of those fanbases would have  a melt down(rightly so) if he’s hired there 

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15 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Need a true point guard. Back up big. And shooter/slasher.  Have to figure bikeu is gone. 
 

That’s funny. Both of those fanbases would have  a melt down(rightly so) if he’s hired there 

I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely Skerry gets URI, and unlikely he gets UMass. Let’s face it, he’s not a young up and comer anymore, plus he’s never even made it to a conference tournament championship game 

And you’re right, we need a PG, a guy who can get his own shot off the dribble and a big to help out CT. Mat seems to think Coleman might be back. That’s fine. If so, it doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out that between Gill, Jones and Bikeu, 2, if not all 3, might not be back. Still not sure why Gill was recruited in the 1st place; Jones is a great layup line dunker, but that’s about it, and Bikeu’s game is very limited. As far as Paar’s brother, if Skerry takes him as a walk-on, fine, but I certainly hope he’s not considering burning a scholarship on him 

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58 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely Skerry gets URI, and unlikely he gets UMass. Let’s face it, he’s not a young up and comer anymore, plus he’s never even made it to a conference tournament championship game 

And you’re right, we need a PG, a guy who can get his own shot off the dribble and a big to help out CT. Mat seems to think Coleman might be back. That’s fine. If so, it doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out that between Gill, Jones and Bikeu, 2, if not all 3, might not be back. Still not sure why Gill was recruited in the 1st place; Jones is a great layup line dunker, but that’s about it, and Bikeu’s game is very limited. As far as Paar’s brother, if Skerry takes him as a walk-on, fine, but I certainly hope he’s not considering burning a scholarship on him 

Coleman will be back.  Forgot about Jones. Hopefully we can get his scholarship Freed up as well. Yeah he needs to be a walk on.  

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1 hour ago, TSU88 said:

I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely Skerry gets URI, and unlikely he gets UMass. Let’s face it, he’s not a young up and comer anymore, plus he’s never even made it to a conference tournament championship game 

 And you’re right, we need a PG, a guy who can get his own shot off the dribble and a big to help out CT. Mat seems to think Coleman might be back. That’s fine. If so, it doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out that between Gill, Jones and Bikeu, 2, if not all 3, might not be back. Still not sure why Gill was recruited in the 1st place; Jones is a great layup line dunker, but that’s about it, and Bikeu’s game is very limited. As far as Paar’s brother, if Skerry takes him as a walk-on, fine, but I certainly hope he’s not considering burning a scholarship on him 

Lol what could these schools be seeing on his resume to even remotely warrant consideration over another candidate at a bigger program. I was shocked seeing this twitter talk today. I'm a skerry supporter, but even I can admit he doesn't deserve another job (he barely deserves this one). This was the first season out of 10 or so that you could call legitimately successful. 

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44 minutes ago, Royal Tiger said:

Lol what could these schools be seeing on his resume to even remotely warrant consideration over another candidate at a bigger program. I was shocked seeing this twitter talk today. I'm a skerry supporter, but even I can admit he doesn't deserve another job (he barely deserves this one). This was the first season out of 10 or so that you could call legitimately successful. 

I would say winning 18 games after winning one and 25 the following season and going to postseason was successful and his name was mentioned for other jobs. Sure, was younger and a hotter name back then, to say he wasn't successful from taking a program that had 15 straight losing seasons to winning 43 in the next two, not sure that's fair. 

Richard Pitino's name was mentioned as well after a 13-19 record at New Mexico in his first season. I get who his father is, but still. URI is just not a great job. It's fine. More money of course. Better league, but they are a two-bid league this year?

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39 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

I would say winning 18 games after winning one and 25 the following season and going to postseason was successful and his name was mentioned for other jobs. Sure, was younger and a hotter name back then, to say he wasn't successful from taking a program that had 15 straight losing seasons to winning 43 in the next two, not sure that's fair. 

Richard Pitino's name was mentioned as well after a 13-19 record at New Mexico in his first season. I get who his father is, but still. URI is just not a great job. It's fine. More money of course. Better league, but they are a two-bid league this year?

Uri fired a guy with a better win % than Pat.  
umass and uri are trying to win and relive their glory days.. Pat is not the guy for either of those jobs. If he’s looking for a final big payday those aren’t the places.. he would be gone in 3-4 years. 
He is under 500 in his career at Towson and 160-141 since the season.  More importantly, 3-10 in the conference tournament 

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8 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Uri fired a guy with a better win % than Pat.  
umass and uri are trying to win and relive their glory days.. Pat is not the guy for either of those jobs. If he’s looking for a final big payday those aren’t the places.. he would be gone in 3-4 years. 
He is under 500 in his career at Towson and 160-141 since the season.  More importantly, 3-10 in the conference tournament 

I said that he had some looks after he won 43 games in two seasons. That was considered successful nearly a decade ago. If they want Pitino after one poor season at New Mexico, go ahead. Tournament record isn't good obviously, but in the A-10, if he has a great regular season, he's in the NCAA Tournament. Other than money, that's why an Earl Grant takes a bad BC job. Go .500 in the ACC and you're in. Don't know why Coen wouldn't want to move on after his last CAA title. Even though the league finished 12th in RPI, it's going to be a one-bid league and no TV league for the near future.

If I'm a school that's down and out and I want a coach to rejuvenate my program, I'm also looking at PS. Not saying URI is down and out like a Duquesne. Now that's a tough job.

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2 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

I said that he had some looks after he won 43 games in two seasons. That was considered successful nearly a decade ago. If they want Pitino after one season at New Mexico, go ahead.

He’s probably worse of candidate. Wasn’t good at Minnesota 

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