MBB edges Albany 67-62 in a sluggish opener

[mat1992 2,231]

 

[mat1992 2,231]

Nick had several wide open corner threes that he makes with his eyes closed in the first half. We should have been up by 25. But the second half was a shitshow. Eight turnovers. Two three point shots. Bad shot selection. Few extra passes. Guards not helping enough on the boards. To Albany’s credit, they moved the ball extremely well and were getting countless open shots.A lot to fix, but it’s all fixable. Sometimes being the hunted is a lot more difficult than being the Hunter.

[Tiger93 299]

10 hours ago, TSU88 said:

Just got home from game.  Ok, super small sample size, but what I saw was unsettling. First, I’m baffled why we only played 7 guys. It’s not that Conway, Paar, Biekeu, May & Williamson only played a few minutes, none of them played even 1 minute. I can’t imagine we’re going to have a successful season with a 7-man rotation.

Shooting was dismal and I think we might have broke even on the boards. I paid close attention to Hicks, and saw absolutely nothing to suggest he’s made the freshman to sophomore season leap we were all hoping for. As for the vets, CT missed multiple gimmes; Timberlake continues to let his emotions get the best of him and inexplicably fouled a guy near the end of the game on a 3-point shot. My seats are very close to the Towson bench and I noticed a lot of bad body language from Holden. Some fan near me was berating him at one point for distancing himself from the team huddle during a timeout.

My biggest question that I came away with tonight is are we athletic enough & big enough? To me, we look plodding and I don’t see anyone who was able to create their own shot off the dribble. Kudos to Sylla and Russell. Without them, we get blown out tonight. 

 

 

Only the first game, but I was wondering about playing only seven players as well. I saw in the quotes that Mat posted that Skerry referenced the Benimon teams having a pretty small bench. I just don't think this team is built that way, and we are going to need 9-10 guys playing productive minutes. There is no star, but a bunch of quality players who really clicked at times last year.

Again, only one game but one of my concerns going into this year was having a player like Nolan Jr. who helped us move the ball around, apply pressure effectively and was another player who could catch fire from three-point land. he was so inconsistent last year, but when our team was clicking it was when he was playing well. There are hopefully still candidates to do this, but it worries me that none of them played even a minute last night. As several others have mentioned I worry about getting beat up physically by other teams and not being super athletic. There are guys who didn't play last night that I think can help with that. I also think it would allow our top guys to stay fresher. 

On to the good, we have to be pretty happy with Sylla and Russell's debut. I always worry about transfers and how they will translate to the team. Last year, we hit the jackpot with Nolan Jr. and Holden. Hopefully Sylla and Russell can be consistently good this year, and Thompson, Gibson and Timberlake can play in roles where they can do what they do well and not have to be overly featured in the offense. Thompson, Gibson and Timberlake all can be really good offensive players within the flow of the game, but things don't go well when any of them goes outside of the flow to force their shots. 

I think we will be fine, but definitely questions about our depth. What is the status of Chase Paar? I know he wasn't great last year, but he was a body who could at least make the other team work. It also feels like Chris Biekeu needs to get some time, and I was surprised he didn't play one minute. Obviously, we have talked quite a bit about Conway heading into the season and it sounds like he has to work on some defensive stuff to get decent minutes. However, he seemed like another player that should at least get 5-10 minutes in an opener. 

I trust Skerry has a plan with these guys and understands we can't go with an iron seven all year. In the meantime, as many alluded to, UMass will be a very difficult game. I will be at the Palestra on Sunday and am looking forward to seeing the team play so I can wash out the bad taste of my last in-person viewing of the team in the semifinals of last year's conference tournament. 

[Tiger93 299]

11 hours ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Ugly game. Awful effort, or we just suck?  A game like this should not happen. We had another stinker against saint joes last week. Maybe this team is better as the hunter?

some are ECSTATIC over tonight’s win. But the caa doesn’t run through York road  

Quite a pronouncement after one exhibition game and a season opener. No doubt, there were a lot of concerns and while I always happy to win there is a ton to work on moving forward. I think once the season starts preseason predictions go out the window. Based on the opening night, seems like Hofstra was pretty solid in its win against Princeton, Charleston's win against Chattanooga was solid, and UNC-Wilmington seemed like the stuck with No. 1 UNC for a decent part of the game. This all means very little as to actual conference play, but I do think all three of those teams are formidable opposition even if we play better. Should make for an interesting season. 

I think your first description of ugly game is the best one to describe this opener. They have a lot of ways to get better in the two games this week. Hopefully, we will see some of those put into play. 

[Moleman1 43]

Good point Matt - Danes' passing was at times really formidable; I think they turned out 2B a stronger test than anyone expected. I'd give credit for the win to our defense in the final 6mins which gradually closed its Tiger jaws on these fast-paced Albany dogs.. One needed improvement - if Hicks can ever provide some offense, it would be helpful; but i have faith in his future with the team. 

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

8 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

Quite a pronouncement after one exhibition game and a season opener. No doubt, there were a lot of concerns and while I always happy to win there is a ton to work on moving forward. I think once the season starts preseason predictions go out the window. Based on the opening night, seems like Hofstra was pretty solid in its win against Princeton, Charleston's win against Chattanooga was solid, and UNC-Wilmington seemed like the stuck with No. 1 UNC for a decent part of the game. This all means very little as to actual conference play, but I do think all three of those teams are formidable opposition even if we play better. Should make for an interesting season. 

I think your first description of ugly game is the best one to describe this opener. They have a lot of ways to get better in the two games this week. Hopefully, we will see some of those put into play. 

Probably a bit over the top. But even in the first half when we were up 10-15 we didn’t look good. the entire game we looked like the less athletic, less quicker and younger team. That can’t happen. Especially at home with that crowd. Now I will say, 99% of those in secu had no clue about the team or expectations so they probably thought that was a good game and big win 😂😂
 

the top of the caa is going to be tough. But Hofstra and uncw both have a go to guy at the end of the game that can take over and score 10 in a row to close it out. 

[sr16 158]

Its game 1. A lot of conclusions already being made about this team... Lets give them atleast a handful of games to see what we are working with. 

[mat1992 2,231]

 

[Tiger93 299]

2 hours ago, sr16 said:

Its game 1. A lot of conclusions already being made about this team... Lets give them atleast a handful of games to see what we are working with. 

Agreed. We played the opener yesterday, and have two more games this week. Let's at least get that sample set under our belts before going overboard with pronouncements. On the other hand this is a message board, so I do think some of what we are talking through i.e. rotation depth, athleticism, size, consistency and effort are all worthwhile topics, despite being knee-jerk reactions on very little data. 

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

3 hours ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Probably a bit over the top. But even in the first half when we were up 10-15 we didn’t look good. the entire game we looked like the less athletic, less quicker and younger team. That can’t happen. Especially at home with that crowd. Now I will say, 99% of those in secu had no clue about the team or expectations so they probably thought that was a good game and big win 😂😂
 

the top of the caa is going to be tough. But Hofstra and uncw both have a go to guy at the end of the game that can take over and score 10 in a row to close it out. 

Isn’t Cam our go to guy?