First scrimmage update

[mat1992 2,231]

About that scrimmage, the first this fall with referrees. Gibby had a minor injury. They hope he's back next week. Chase Paar and Cole Paar are both dealing with injuries. Chase should be back on Monday.

I think despite Paar's (6-10, 250) size, that Chris Biekeu (6-7, 235) is likely to be the backup center. It's tough to play Chase when he's constantly nicked up and it's a shame, because he has dropped a lot of weight. Biekeu wasn't bad today. HE had 11 points and a few boards in my unofficial count. They played 3 12 minutes-periods or halves.  
So scimmage-wise, first with refs this fall. They started out very slow. Switched around the lineups a lot.

CT looked good. I had him for13 points, had a bunch of boards. and four turnovers. At least he hit 3 of 4 FTs
A slight surprise was that Tyler Coleman was effective. He dropped a lot of weight. Had 11 points. Has an ugly set shot for a 3-pointer similar to Cam, but he's more of an inside player at 6-6, 220ish. He thought he was nearly as good as Sekou Sylla, who is basically John Davis-lite. I haven't seen him show mid-range or a 3-ball. Had 11 points. Defensively, he has issues and isn't the quickest or most athletic. But if he's JD-lite, he can help off the bench.

  
Cam was Cam. Made just one 3 and missed his first two FTs. But was exceptional as a passer with eight unofficial dimes and had 17 points

Redshirt freshman Ryan Conway is an incredible shooter. Not sure about whether more scorer or shooter yet, and he's a 6-1 shooting guard. But I had him for 5 of 9 from 3 with 19 points. The dude can flat out shoot and made some contested threes. 

With only one, Radhir Hicks and Dylan Williamson played the point on both teams. Though when Cam is on the floor, he's basically the point. Gibson will probably run point and some two when he gets back, though what is a point guard when Cam is on the floor? The closest we have to a pure point guard is Hicks, who continued his improved play today with 10 points and four assists. He made the right play most of the time and I don't think he had a turnover. We know he can defend, but is an improved 3-point shooter (2-4 today). 

 
Didn't see much from freshman Christian May. Had 6 points and two assists. All six of his shots were 3-point attempts. With that size (6-6, 200), you'd like to see him attack the basket and cut more to the hoop, but he's just a frosh.

I do like Nygal Russell, He's coming off a foot injury and will give the team a nice 3 and D player. Had 7 points on 2 of 4 from 3pt.

More later with quotes from PS.

[tu_fan 110]

Conway will be the starter, right?  5 of 9 from 3 is music to my ears.  

[mat1992 2,231]

20 minutes ago, tu_fan said:

Conway will be the starter, right?  5 of 9 from 3 is music to my ears.  

Probably not. Not a great defender. I think it's Gibby, Hicks and Timberlake with Cam and CT up front. Nygal Russell is also in the mix at the 3 because of his 3 & D type of play at the wing. Hicks should start at the point or the 1 since Holden is really the initiator and we need Hicks' defense. A healthy Hicks could have helped against Delaware and Nelson in the tournament. If you have Russell, Timberlake, Hicks and Holden with Charles, it's not a big lineup, but it's a lineup that can pressure, rebounds and defender and you bring Gibby and Conway in or both for a spark off the bench. Then Sylla can play the 4 or 5. He can score down low like JD. Biekeu for 10 minutes is fine. Maybe Chris May sees time in non-conf. play. He can shoot it from deep and is a great athlete. You want to get him some minutes because he might start next season, though Tyler Coleman is better suited for the 4. Nice depth. 

 

[mat1992 2,231]

Finally have transcribed the interview I had with PS after practice.

 

Pat Skerry on first scrimmage with refs

My initial thought is that we played really hard and we showed some flashes with the ball movement. We’re getting there defensively. We’re still looking for that fine line of competitiveness and leadership. I love these guys. I want us to be edgy and alert. It’s always different when you are the hunted.”

 

On point guard?

When number 55 is on the floor, he basically is the point guard. Rad (Radhir Hicks) is going to play a lot. He has shot the ball well and has taken the right shots through nine practices before today. We’re going to get Gibby back and he’ll play a lot. He’s been shooting a high percentage of threes. Not taking a lot, but shooting it well and getting to the rim a lot. He’s taking a big step. With those four guys back, I’m excited about Nygal Russell. Coming back from injury. He has a Big East body. He plays really good defense. He can shoot it. The one he missed, he’s taking the right kind of shots. Sekou is going to play a lot because he’s JD (John Davis). He’s a good cutter, has great hands, finishes well. He has to get there defensively in terms of positioning. If not, he’ll get in foul trouble. We’re messing around with him playing at the 5 (center). The whole thing of that we might be giving up this, but what are you going to do to guard us down on the other end.

Tyler Coleman. The last couple of weeks. He got himself in terrific shape. He’s dropped like 25 pounds. The last two weeks, he’s really starting to practice well. He’s not doing anything crazy. Solid D, rebounding, cutting. We don’t need a lot of guys doing a lot. That’s what your young guys need to know.

Conway can really shoot. A lot of those were contested. You can’t live on contested shots, though he can make them. But he has to learn to guard. He has to learn how to play with others. He’s not a point. He’s a talent. He’s the best shooter we’ve had. He works incredibly hard. It will take some time but he will get there.

It’s important for our older guys like Timberlake and Holden to bring along these other guys. Timberlake and Holden. What makes them great players is their competitive spirit. There’s a fine line between competitive spirit but also remembering to bring young guys along. It’s their team but you have to figure out that they have to do their job and help bring others along. That’s still a work in progress. The back end of our roster is better. Williamson and May are going to be good. Biekeu is getting better. I don’t have Chase Paar (injured) out there. We had a couple of good teams the last couple of years, but the end of the roster wasn’t very good. These guys can become good. There’s not a ton of minutes right now.

 

Starting rotation

Gibby, Russell, Sylla. Russell is going be a big factor because he’s coming off an injury. Gibby and Hicks will play together. Last year, Hicks guarded the kid from New Mexico, Penn, when he was healthy. He just came back and played little due to illness. He’s a really good guy defensively that (we missed last year). Holden has gotten better on the perimeter defensively. Charles is a killer. Chris B. is just has to do a couple of things and do them well. He’s ahead of Chase because he hasn’t practiced much due to injuries. Got a bone bruise in his knee. Gibby has never looked this good physically. Will be back next week. Being cautious with Gibby. Accepting roles. Do we play the more talented guy or the guy that fits in with the other guys.

On what they need to improve on

Two things we have to do that we did at an elite level last year. 1)We didn’t commit live-ball turnovers. We were 7^th in the country with fewest times the ball were taken from us. 2)We were ninth in offensive rebounding percentage.

Those two things affect transition defense. We’ll have La Salle (closed scrimmage) before St. Joe’s.

On recruiting (they should sign at least two in the early signing period)

We’re still on two good players right now and we would take 1 or 2 of them. One has visited and one we’ll probably bring in. We want good players and good kids. Some of these guys could still be back. We won’t address that until after the season. I like our young guys. They have to keep getting better. Me and my staff have to do a great job with the young guys. They could go from spot minutes to playing a lot.

On winning regular-season title helping out recruiting 

It has. We’re chasing a better-level player. Because of all the changes in leadership over the year, we haven’t been appreciated for our consistency this decade. I also feel that this is the healthiest the program has ever been. I hope we continue to invest in it.

On the first home game

Those are all litmus tests. We retained them. We scheduled aggressively. We’re going to have a banner night in the opener. I’ve been really happy with Steve (Eigenbrot). Everyone else has to have the same mindset. We’re the only sport with the potential for a return on investment. If we’re not going to do it now, when? When I’m gone? You can get a new coach to do it. Same issues. I’m extremely confident. We can’t win the league and be 8^th in attendance. Something is missing there. We’re not the only ones in the league with long mini-mesters. That’s not acceptable. We shouldn’t be 8^th any year. We have teams in the league playing 2 or 3 non-D1. What only matters is the league record and the conference tournament. I just want to be in position to win every year. We need to be a top 3 program and then finish the job. I don’t want to be on the bottom of the league and hope we have success in the tournament. I wish today, we’re going to be as good as will be on March 8. On Nov. 7, I want us to be as good as we’ll be on March 8. But we probably won’t. We have to shoot for that.

[TSU88 1,070]

14 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Conway can really shoot. A lot of those were contested. You can’t live on contested shots, though he can make them. But he has to learn to guard. He has to learn how to play with others. He’s not a point. He’s a talent. He’s the best shooter we’ve had. He works incredibly hard. It will take some time but he will get ther

Sounds like coach speak, which translates in English to “Conway might not play that much, at least at first.”

Some interesting quotes about the program not being appreciated for its consistency; hoping the school continues to invest in the program; being the only sport with the potential for a return on investment (sounds like a dig at the football program. Is there some tension there, or is Skerry just wanting a bigger piece of the financial pie for his program, and trying to protect his turf, knowing football is on the cusp of a new coach); and obvious disenchantment with attendance. 

[mat1992 2,231]

1 hour ago, TSU88 said:

Sounds like coach speak, which translates in English to “Conway might not play that much, at least at first.”

Some interesting quotes about the program not being appreciated for its consistency; hoping the school continues to invest in the program; being the only sport with the potential for a return on investment (sounds like a dig at the football program. Is there some tension there, or is Skerry just wanting a bigger piece of the financial pie for his program, and trying to protect his turf, knowing football is on the cusp of a new coach); and obvious disenchantment with attendance. 

I think he just wants the school to invest in the basketball program because yes, basketball can make more money than football and sure football is going to get more people because it's outdoors, tailgating, better weather, etc. Was hoping maybe we try something at the Towson Center before hoops games. Kind of a mini-tailgate. Kind of tough to to do that during mid-weeks games, but maybe just on weekends.

Do we think that winning the CAA Tournament is all of a sudden going to be a magic elixir for all the fans to come to SECU? I thought so 32 years ago and then 31 years ago and attendance didn't go up much despite winning two tournament titles and going to two straight NCAA trnys. Now there wasn't the internet, social media, etc. There's no excuse not to market the shit out of this basketball team and I think it's a solid move to shoot for the moon and try and get a sellout against Albany. It's not likely to happen so maybe we 3,500 instead of 2,000? Why could we not get 1,000 students in there or more? Let them see the banner ceremony. Maybe pick a few students and have them help raise the banner.

 

[TSU88 1,070]

10 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

I think he just wants the school to invest in the basketball program because yes, basketball can make more money than football and sure football is going to get more people because it's outdoors, tailgating, better weather, etc. Was hoping maybe we try something at the Towson Center before hoops games. Kind of a mini-tailgate. Kind of tough to to do that during mid-weeks games, but maybe just on weekends.

Not trying to stir the pot, but my 2nd hand interpretation of what he said goes something like this-“I don’t get enough credit for taking a program that was a joke and making it a consistent winner. And if the school doesn’t invest more money into my program, instead of the money pit that is the football program, and if attendance doesn’t improve, I might look to move on.”  I mean, I think you can read between the lines when he talks about when he’s gone, and the new coach 

 

[mat1992 2,231]

3 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

Not trying to stir the pot, but my 2nd hand interpretation of what he said goes something like this-“I don’t get enough credit for taking a program that was a joke and making it a consistent winner. And if the school doesn’t invest more money into my program, instead of the money pit that is the football program, and if attendance doesn’t improve, I might look to move on.”  I mean, I think you can read between the lines when he talks about when he’s gone, and the new coach 

 

Sure, you can read that he's not happy with the way the school markets his program. Not having Dan Crowley around and the fact that the top two administrators under TL and SE are gone is probably not helping matters. Steve has quite a few things on his platter right now. I'm sure he's thinking hoops, but he can't just throw away football and the fact that Homecoming is around the corner. It's a Catch-22. Basketball coach wants more attention and he deserves it. You can't ignore trying to get hundreds of football alums and donors back to the program. Now there's that the NIL thing. I wouldn't want to be in Steve's shoes right now but that's why they hired him. Try and keep everybody happy when you know that's impossible.

[TSU88 1,070]

3 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

Sure, you can read that he's not happy with the way the school markets his program. Not having Dan Crowley around and the fact that the top two administrators under TL and SE are gone is probably not helping matters. Steve has quite a few things on his platter right now. I'm sure he's thinking hoops, but he can't just throw away football and the fact that Homecoming is around the corner. It's a Catch-22. Basketball coach wants more attention and he deserves it. You can't ignore trying to get hundreds of football alums and donors back to the program. Now there's that the NIL thing. I wouldn't want to be in Steve's shoes right now but that's why they hired him. Try and keep everybody happy when you know that's impossible.

See, here’s the thing, call what Skerry said a challenge, or what you will (maybe even a bit of an ultimatum, if you like), but, by my way of thinking, for him to really have any real leverage, he’s got to win the conference tournament come next March. If he does, then maybe he will have other options to explore, if he feels the program is not getting the support it needs. On the other hand, if we come up short again, I don’t see where he’s going to realistically find a place where the grass is greener. 

[tu_fan 110]

8 hours ago, TSU88 said:

See, here’s the thing, call what Skerry said a challenge, or what you will (maybe even a bit of an ultimatum, if you like), but, by my way of thinking, for him to really have any real leverage, he’s got to win the conference tournament come next March. If he does, then maybe he will have other options to explore, if he feels the program is not getting the support it needs. On the other hand, if we come up short again, I don’t see where he’s going to realistically find a place where the grass is greener. 

Good for Skerry.  He's right.  We should invest heavily in hoops between TV rights, attendance, the $ associated with making the tournament, etc., this is the sport that needs to be prioritized within the university.  While it is probably not popular wihtin this board, I'd be fine with investing less in football & dropping baseball if it meant creating a sustainable hoops program.  I recall PK stating how underfunded the program was, making it nearly impossible for any coach to succeed.  I assume we invest more these days, but am not sure.  I think Skerry should have a ton of leverage- we were literally the worst D1 basketball program in the country for years (how many losing seasons in a row did we have?  shitty APR rates, scant attendance) and we ended the year close to top 50/60 in Net rankings.