MBB drops 71-69 loss to Navy at home in overtime

[mat1992 2,235]

https://towsontigers.com/news/2022/12/11/mens-basketball-towson-mens-basketball-drops-71-69-overtime-heartbreaker-against-navy-on-sunday.aspx

Brutal loss. Not many ways to describe this. Top players have to come through in a game like this. There doesn't seem to be a killer instinct on this team. Last season, they had the chip on their shoulder and they would have taken an 8-point halftime lead and pushed it to 16. Not this team despite having mostly seniors and most of the same players. Hard to explain. Still, 8-3 but feels like 3-8 after this loss. Don't really care about the next two non-conference games. It's about preparing for the CAA.

More quotes later.

[TSU88 1,073]

In terms of losing to an unquestionably a inferior opponent, I’m trying to think of a worse loss in the Skerry era.

Inconceivable how with 8.2 seconds left in regulation, it’s not that we took a bad shot-we didn’t even get a shot off!!!

Pop quiz. There’s 10 seconds left in the game & we’re down by 1. We have the ball. Who do you want to take the last shot? Spoiler alert, it’s a trick question, because there’s no one on the team who’s going to make the shot, in all likelihood. Of course, this is a reoccurring theme under Skerry 

[TigerFan54 102]

Just so many missed opportunities to pull away throughout this game. It seemed like every time we had a fast break, we failed to convert (and missed subsequent foul shots). Given our track record thus far -- and I don't mean our W-L record -- I foresee us getting smoked by Charleston later this month.

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

13 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

In terms of losing to an unquestionably a inferior opponent, I’m trying to think of a worse loss in the Skerry era.

Inconceivable how with 8.2 seconds left in regulation, it’s not that we took a bad shot-we didn’t even get a shot off!!!

Pop quiz. There’s 10 seconds left in the game & we’re down by 1. We have the ball. Who do you want to take the last shot? Spoiler alert, it’s a trick question, because there’s no one on the team who’s going to make the shot, in all likelihood. Of course, this is a reoccurring theme under Skerry 

No alpha again. Cam is a good role player. Not a guard who Can take over. 25 a head case. 3 all caa players doing nothing.  
charleston Hofstra uncw Delaware head and shoulders ahead of us 

[TSU88 1,073]

Anyone here remember the 2017-18 season? It started with great promise-10-1, after winning the tournament in Florida and Belfast. Then, the wheels came off, starting with losses in Oakland U & Pitt, followed by 2 L’s to start conference play. I fear history may be about to repeat itself 

[mat1992 2,235]

Quotes from Skerry 

"Credit to Navy. Hard-fought game. Thought our guys played hard. To be honest, our stat line is not indicative of what we normally do to have success. We didn't guard, especially in the second half. We had a lot of unforced turnovers and didn't have a dominant effort on the glass. You play with fire you get burned. Things that we have to work at. Our execution from some of our veteran guys was just ok."

Last shot at regulation

"Disappointing. Tried to lob it to Nic. Have to put it up on the rim. I have to go back and watch it. More upset that we had eight points leads a couple of times. Kid made a tough 3, but that's a product of playing with fire earlier in the game. Every possession counts the same. Doesn't matter if it was the last possession. We have to finish better. Missed a lot of shots around the rim against a team that doesn't have a lot of shotblockers."

On Gibson and Hicks being out

"That's an excuse. We have veteran guys. They played the whole game. Charlie got in foul trouble, early again. Was a recurring theme. With those  minutes comes responsibility. Those guys know that. Have to take care of the ball. Need to get better defensively. I'm more disappointed in our defense the second half and the other night. It starts with our better players. It's my fault for playing them as much as I did. I'm gonna. They have to own that and be better. They are capable of being better. Their competitiveness causes them to lose focus whether it's a missed shot or a referee's call. THat's something that we have to get better at."

Second half

"I didn't like how we came back and then traded baskets. Can we buckle down? Nobody is trying to miss FTs. We're back, set defensively. I'd like to think up nine that we can get stops."

 

On expectations

"This year's team is ahead in some ways (from last year) had a better record at this point. We're both choppy. We started losing guys later in the season. Whatever expectations are, there are no higher than anybody else in that locker room have. Or what we're trying to demand expectations. Expectations are not going to matter if we don't improve. We have to learn from tonight. It certainly hurts. I don't want to discredit Navy. We had some interesting turnovers against zone. Not going to say that we practiced a lot. Had some guys out. Nygal Russell was sick yesterday and wasn't sure he'd play, but that's part of the deal."

On May and Biekeu

"Christian has played pretty good. Chris B. has had some good moment. I'm more about how do we keep Charlie on the floor. He has to rebound better. Twice he caught the ball in the lane and instead of catching and facing, he kicked the ball out. Have to coach them better. That's not what we work on."

On Timberlake and not having Gibson with him

"Everyone would like Jason on the floor. He has experience, intelligence and shooting. That's an issue for a talented and competitive player. as Nick is, that at this juncture, he can't worry about anything else other than execution. If our best guys can't do that, then we'll eventually fall short. If they can learn from this and perform better...It's not that he just didn't shoot the ball great. He gave up a couple of back cuts and got into with a ref. Had a silly foul. That's the difference between winning and losing. We're just not there yet."

 

[tualum 108]

Too early to panic. Close loss but will bounce back hopefully!

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

17-24 from the line at home 🫣

Only our 3rd home game and we….  ah to be a Towson fan. 

[TSU88 1,073]

16 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

No alpha again. Cam is a good role player. Not a guard who Can take over. 25 a head case. 3 all caa players doing nothing.  
charleston Hofstra uncw Delaware head and shoulders ahead of us 

Timberlake is particularly frustrating to me. A guy in his 28th year with the program (ok, I’m exaggerating a bit) and still sulks, pouts, makes boneheaded plays and takes head scratching shots.  Holden is a fine Swiss Army knife, but shooting just isn’t his forte. CT gets in early foul trouble, resulting in Paar coming in the game, which is painful to watch (Biekeu actually looked good in the 1st half, once Skerry couldn’t stomach Paar anymore). Poor Conway, maybe the best shooter on the team (I damn with faint praise) and he misses the 1st shot of the game, then commits a charge, and gets buried on the bench for most of the rest of the game. Sylla has no outside shot, and frequently gets caught up inside when he vainly tries to shoot over much taller defenders. Meanwhile, who knows if/when Gibson will be back. What a bunch of dreck. And we have what, another 5-10 years of this, after that brilliant 8 year contract extension Skerry got back in 2017

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by TSU88

[mat1992 2,235]

Poor effort overall IMO. When we're playing a less team without a lot of quickness, I want us to push the ball as much as possible. I thought we were way too slow at times and were taking some shots without about 5 seconds or less in the shotclock. Especially when you have May and Timberlake, who can run like deer. Timberlake's best attribute when he's shooting poorly, is his athleticism. Now finishing with contact is still a problem. But not having a point guard (again) is killing this team. Like Pat said, Charles gets the ball in the paint, about 3 feet away from the basket, and kicks the ball out. Yet a real point guard would penetrate and get him the ball or kick it out to Conway or Timberlake. Not saying Cam doesn't do that at times, but it seems like he's breaking down at times, maybe due to all the minutes and ballhandling. 

But enough of the excuses. There's a focus that we're just not seeing and maybe we were spoiled from the way they played in conference play (or that CAA is that bad). Time to show up against Northern Iowa in the next game. 

Only bright side was Biekeu's play in the first half and then he doesn't play in the second half because CT went the entire way.