MBB Collapses in 2nd half against Charleston 83-75

[AtlantaTiger 202]

Just thinking back to the Clemson game and how some people were fuming over that loss because they felt as though that could factor for a potential At-large bid for Towson to the NCAA Tournament.  At-large....that's cute.  🤣

#PatSkerrySquads

[Tiger93 299]

What a waste of a brilliant offensive night by Timberlake! Holden was trying to be the second scorer, but overall that was probably the worse game in a big moment we have seen from him. I am probably only grabbing this off the top of my head and there is no way it is correct, but it feels like Cam is a 30% free throw shooter on front-ends of a one-on-one. His stroke is fine and I don't get his free-throw struggles, it really feels all mental (which I guess is mostly what free throws are).

I really didn't like the last 8-10 minutes how it felt like all we were doing on offense was trying to get the ball the Timberlake. It was very limited and Charleston was able to take advantage of the fact that we really didn't have a Plan B.

On defense this felt a lot like the Hofstra road game. We came out with intensity and did a pretty good job against them for 25-30 minutes (although some of that was them missing open shots). However, the last 8-10 minutes, they either scored or got fouled. They had completely figured out our defense, our guys looked tired, and they were energized by the crowd. Unlike the Hofstra game, Skerry did actually throw a couple of possessions of zone out there and some pressing to mix it up, but nothing worked and I get the feeling he doesn't trust the players enough to mix up defenses when things aren't working. That is indictment on both him and the players. 

I know Charleston has been doing this all year, but that was in incredible stat line of five guys scoring 12 points and another scoring 13. They are doing what we did last year with balanced scoring at a higher level. We always have the criticism here of not having a go-to player on Towson, but Charleston doesn't really have a go-to player and it works for them. 

As much as I appreciated Timberlake's offensive effort and guts today, we will never win against top teams when two players take more than half our shots (especially when Cam is as bad as he was). We are at our best when everyone gets involved on offense, but those nights are hard to find because outside of the main three guys we are pretty limited on guys who can score with consistency. 

Finally, the fact that we shot 11 less free throws than Charleston did and scored 15 less points is pretty much the game right there. We can talk all about Skerry's history in the conference tournament, but nights like this where we shoot 14-24 from the FT line and turn the ball over 16 times are why we won't go far if we play like that. Skerry gets some blame for that, but these players are capable of doing better and I think they know that. Doing better for three straight games is the type of consistency we haven't seen this season, and why all of us have trouble envisioning three or even two high quality efforts in a row in the tournament. 

I still stand by the statement that we will beat UNC-W, who struggled to shake Stony Brook at home last night, on Saturday. Not that it really means anything, except grabbing wins against everyone in the league except Charleston. There is also part of me that would rather be the No. 4 seed because I think we match up better with Hofstra than Charleston. 

[TSU88 1,070]

29 minutes ago, Tgr4life said:

Just enough wins to get a coaching extension, but not enough to matter....That is this teams MO

I’m sure this has been commented on before, but we’re stuck in this weird kind of twilight area where he wins enough games not to get fired, but not enough to get us over the hump. It’s like having to watch a movie you’ve seen countless times and you know how it ends, but you’re not allowed to get up and walk out

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

34 minutes ago, ReverendRemulak said:

I know we aren't supposed to be positive about anything related to this team, so I apologize in advance 2012, but Nick has been awesome lately. I think he has 25+ in 5 of our last 7? Most career 3 pointers is pretty cool and he has a shot at the single season record as well. 

Moving beyond the positive from the game, I've said it before and I'll scream it over and over - if CT or Cam could consistently step up and play to even 50% of their potential, we would be a threat to make a run. Maybe if we don't foul so much (they shot 35 free throws!) or could hit our free throws (even the worst FT shooting teams can manage to shoot above 58%) we're feeling better today. I'm fully aware that if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas so it doesn't really matter. Just extremely frustrated. It was said over and over that this game didn't matter and I get that. I didn't expect us to win. It's just so annoying when we go out and do the Towson thing of almost getting there and falling apart. 

The program feels stuck. We aren't the 1-31 team anymore, but we aren't doing much more than 19-20 wins and an early exit from the tournament at best. I'm sick at the idea of looking back at this team and the last two years and having very little to show for it. Here's hoping I'm wrong. 

Nick has been terrific. The lone positive. He did that last night against the best defensive player in the conference.  He can catch fire with the best of them and really goes on nice stretches. But then when the shots stop falling, it’s tough because he’s basically just a shooter at this point. We ride him for his hot stretch and the rest of the team is standing around not doing anything. See last night and Hofstra.  Any other player who could step up slightly, and we are playing for the regular season title again on Saturday.
 

We are a 17-19 win team more often that not. It’s the ceiling. (Well next year if we win 5 it’ll be surprising!) 

3 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

What a waste of a brilliant offensive night by Timberlake! Holden was trying to be the second scorer, but overall that was probably the worse game in a big moment we have seen from him. I am probably only grabbing this off the top of my head and there is no way it is correct, but it feels like Cam is a 30% free throw shooter on front-ends of a one-on-one. His stroke is fine and I don't get his free-throw struggles, it really feels all mental (which I guess is mostly what free throws are).

I really didn't like the last 8-10 minutes how it felt like all we were doing on offense was trying to get the ball the Timberlake. It was very limited and Charleston was able to take advantage of the fact that we really didn't have a Plan B.

On defense this felt a lot like the Hofstra road game. We came out with intensity and did a pretty good job against them for 25-30 minutes (although some of that was them missing open shots). However, the last 8-10 minutes, they either scored or got fouled. They had completely figured out our defense, our guys looked tired, and they were energized by the crowd. Unlike the Hofstra game, Skerry did actually throw a couple of possessions of zone out there and some pressing to mix it up, but nothing worked and I get the feeling he doesn't trust the players enough to mix up defenses when things aren't working. That is indictment on both him and the players. 

I know Charleston has been doing this all year, but that was in incredible stat line of five guys scoring 12 points and another scoring 13. They are doing what we did last year with balanced scoring at a higher level. We always have the criticism here of not having a go-to player on Towson, but Charleston doesn't really have a go-to player and it works for them. 

As much as I appreciated Timberlake's offensive effort and guts today, we will never win against top teams when two players take more than half our shots (especially when Cam is as bad as he was). We are at our best when everyone gets involved on offense, but those nights are hard to find because outside of the main three guys we are pretty limited on guys who can score with consistency. 

Finally, the fact that we shot 11 less free throws than Charleston did and scored 15 less points is pretty much the game right there. We can talk all about Skerry's history in the conference tournament, but nights like this where we shoot 14-24 from the FT line and turn the ball over 16 times are why we won't go far if we play like that. Skerry gets some blame for that, but these players are capable of doing better and I think they know that. Doing better for three straight games is the type of consistency we haven't seen this season, and why all of us have trouble envisioning three or even two high quality efforts in a row in the tournament. 

I still stand by the statement that we will beat UNC-W, who struggled to shake Stony Brook at home last night, on Saturday. Not that it really means anything, except grabbing wins against everyone in the league except Charleston. There is also part of me that would rather be the No. 4 seed because I think we match up better with Hofstra than Charleston. 

There’s pros and cons on playing cougars vs pride.  Like you said, they don’t have a go to guy and rely on depth. Pride have two of the best scorers in the league and while more depth than in years past, still not a lot. I’d take Charleston than Hofstra (but asking us to win 2 games when we will be lucky to get 1, it’s moot)

[Blounge 520]

https://twitter.com/towsonhorse/status/1628943225019826176?s=46&t=QXrON-aw3yF1Uw9rtQtc1Q

 

[Tiger93 299]

27 minutes ago, AtlantaTiger said:

Just thinking back to the Clemson game and how some people were fuming over that loss because they felt as though that could factor for a potential At-large bid for Towson to the NCAA Tournament.  At-large....that's cute.  🤣

#PatSkerrySquads

I don't think that is true. We had already lost to Fairfield and our computer numbers were not anywhere close to what they were last year. Plus at that point, Clemson's numbers were terrible too. Very few if any had those thoughts at the time. It was a good opportunity to improve those numbers and we were all pissed that it was another missed opportunity at a Power 5 win, but I don't think anyone was thinking at-large after the Fairfield loss. I also didn't realize at the time that it was going to lead to a stretch where this team completely unraveled for 4-5 games.  

Edited February 24, 2023 by Tiger93

[TuTigers2012 1,061]

2 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

I’m sure this has been commented on before, but we’re stuck in this weird kind of twilight area where he wins enough games not to get fired, but not enough to get us over the hump. It’s like having to watch a movie you’ve seen countless times and you know how it ends, but you’re not allowed to get up and walk out

People are happy with it. Towson where we accept mediocrity 

[AtlantaTiger 202]

4 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

I don't think that is true. We had already lost to Fairfield and our computer numbers were not anywhere close to what they were last year. Plus at that point, Clemson's numbers were terrible too. Very few if any had those thoughts at the time. It was a good opportunity to improve those numbers and we were all pissed that it was another missed opportunity at a Power 5 win, but I don't think anyone was thinking at-large after the Fairfield loss. I also didn't realize at the time that it was going to lead to a stretch where this team completely unraveled for 4-5 games.  

Unraveling over a 4-5 game stretch is a given with all Pat Skerry teams.  This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who follow Towson hoops. 

Let's all pray this team somehow defies the odds and finds a way to put together their best run of the season in D.C.

I desperately want to eat crow about Pat Skerry.

[sr16 158]

33 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

I don't think that is true. We had already lost to Fairfield and our computer numbers were not anywhere close to what they were last year. Plus at that point, Clemson's numbers were terrible too. Very few if any had those thoughts at the time. It was a good opportunity to improve those numbers and we were all pissed that it was another missed opportunity at a Power 5 win, but I don't think anyone was thinking at-large after the Fairfield loss. I also didn't realize at the time that it was going to lead to a stretch where this team completely unraveled for 4-5 games.  

I def just wanted the power 5 win lol 

[sr16 158]

Also, flowers to Nic for sure. Most 3's in the program ever is no small feet. But we need Charlie to play smarter. Whole team needs to chill with the fouling. Please bring Gary Neal back to teach the team how to shoot a FT.