MBB gives one away in Wilmington in OT

[mat1992 2,256]

http://towsontigers.com/news/2018/1/20/mens-basketball-towson-edged-in-overtime-at-uncw.aspx

 

I could say the obvious on this board, but I won't. Very disappointed and down about the team now but not shocked about them losing another game late due to turnovers, poor execution and missed FTs. These are college kids so I won't mention the "c" word but let's go to Skerry's comments first from the radio. Kind of sounds like a broken record at least in terms of Hofstra and Pitt. Elon was a combination of bad 3-point D and bad everything else.

"We had a ridiculous amount of foolish turnovers. Go to postups and guys are sloppy with the ball. Game we should have won.. Missed foul shots. Committed inexplicable foul in the backcourt. We just beat ourselves. Older guys have to play better.  We had a lot of open shots on some drive and kicks. When we were in the bonus, we settled. We took some foolish shots. Eddie was supposed to drive and launched a 3. Justin launched a 3. Had a point blank shot by Brian and he's missed several of them. First option was to get Zane on the run. That was a tough one. We didn't get it done"

 

 

[mat1992 2,256]

I really have almost zero confidence in this team in end of game situations up or down 1 or 2. Especially down. Look at Zane at the end of the half. Has last shot and dribbles it off his leg. At the end of the game, I guess was supposed to drive but he had very little time to go end to end and should have just hit that mid-range shot for the win. He hit the same shot in overtime that bounced in. But it never should have come down to that. Morman puts his fingers over his lips to hush the crowd and proceeds to miss about 3 of his next 5 free throws. A also wonder about Starr inbounding the ball to Morman. Really? How about the other way around? Or at least have Mike because Morman is reckless. Starr is now the best foul shooter in the league. Hard to believe but yes so he should have the ball in his hand in late-game situations to get fouled.

It's almost as if we need a huge lead to win these games.

[mat1992 2,256]

Also seems like we're forcing Gorham to become JD or Moto. He's not there yet. Nobody really is on this team. Al missed two or three bunnies and played just 7 minutes. We're getting nothing from him on the offensive end. Gorham was 3 for 9 and had 3 turnovers in 30 mintues with 7 boards. Did a pretty good job on Cacok who had 12 pts and 9 boards but Taylor, the Wichita State transfer, killed us with 20 points. Martin had 21 and 7 but three turnovers. Starr plays 39 minutes and has 0 assists and four turnovers. ZERO assists. We had 7 assists as a team which I can't say was just due to bad passing but horrendous shooting (35.5%). We outrebounded them by only five after it was 12 at the half. Part of that is Eddie fouling out in 23 minutes with 7 boards and we had to go four guards with Morsell at the 4 after he and Tunstall fouled out.

 

[mat1992 2,256]

One more thing. We have maybe the deepest team in the league with 9 pretty good players. All pretty athletic, esp. Morman and Tunstall and we gave up on the press. Not just occasional pressure. We gave up. UNCW presses and we had 18 turnovers. Most really not off the pressure but it helps some. Even W&M presses a little with no athletes. UNCW guards were small. They were turning it over a lot with a few traps in halfcourt. Could only imagine how much they would turn it over if we went back to some form of pressure. Maybe, we turn them over late and get a transition basket like Morman had with that slam.

[TSU88 1,074]

We are who I thought we are. A lead is like kryptonite to us. Mind numbing TO’s, head scratching shot selection, non-clutch foul shooting & another guy wrenching loss, from a senior laden team at that. Round up the usual suspects. If these flaws haven’t been rectified yet, what reason is there to think they’ll be rectified going forward?

We can’t win on the road with anything resembling regularity. Translates likely to a 4th or 5th place finish in the conference. I’d rather we lose by 20 than perpetually lose these punch in the gut games. Alas, I see little reason to be optimistic that this will be the year we cut the nets down at the conference tournament. 

 

[TSU88 1,074]

“Gut wrenching loss,” not “guy wrenching.” I’m so aggravated I can’t even type straight. 

[mat1992 2,256]

34 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

We are who I thought we are. A lead is like kryptonite to us. Mind numbing TO’s, head scratching shot selection, non-clutch foul shooting & another guy wrenching loss, from a senior laden team at that. Round up the usual suspects. If these flaws haven’t been rectified yet, what reason is there to think they’ll be rectified going forward?

We can’t win on the road with anything resembling regularity. Translates likely to a 4th or 5th place finish in the conference. I’d rather we lose by 20 than perpetually lose these punch in the gut games. Alas, I see little reason to be optimistic that this will be the year we cut the nets down at the conference tournament. 

 

They obviously have talent. Talent to get an 11-point lead late on the road against UNCW, a lead against Elon and Pitt on the road. A 26-point win against W&M isn't just a fluke. But you can almost say that about JMU, who has had many leads that they've blown this season. Talented team that doesn't know how to finish with mostly seniors on the floor. Something is wrong and there's not just one answer to this problem late in games. Time is running out for the coaches to figure this one out.

Also not having a low post offensive threat hurts. We don't have a Brantley, a Knight, a Cacok that can score down low or at least force a defense to double or play zone. Gorham is not there yet and Keith has been an offensive disappointment. He's forcing stuff that just isn't there and not making the extra pass. He's not Charles Barkley and until he realizes he's a role player, he's going to continue to force bad shots and commit charges.

[TSU88 1,074]

And I didn’t even mention the other senior who went 2-9 from the field, including 0-4 from beyond the arc.  

Part of me can’t help but wonder if next years team might be better with the subtraction of this years 4 seniors.

[mat1992 2,256]

Not sure why that first part was deleted because there was a duplicate. Anyways I agree to an extent, no matter how this ends, I'm not really down about next season. But he seriously has to find a backup point guard and a small forward. Jordan McNeill is not starting material and let's face it, neither is EK. He's a role player though his D has been pretty good. His role on offense should be as a creator, not a slasher.

I also have to look back at some of those passes to Morsell in the corner for wide open threes (he missed 3 in 2nd half). Not sure if Starr was the passer because maybe he set guys up well and they just missed shots. But no assists is not assists.

[AtlantaTiger 205]

Yet another concerning loss.  Per my post yesterday, at some point, coaching will have to come under the microscope. Coach Skerry has done a tremendous job getting this program to respectability and laying a foundation for future success but perhaps there’s something missing in his ability to draw up the right plays or play the right guys in clutch situations.