Elon Postgame

[mat1992 2,237]

I would think that we overanalyze things at times but that's why we have this board. These are kids though the problems really appear to hit the four seniors. Average to slightly above average teams think about stats over team (unless you have NBA prospects). That's tough for coaches to find a balance. "Sacrifice" was supposed to the theme this year but tell that to college players who are 0-6 from the field not to slump their shoulders or to try and get back on defense, find their man or stay disciplined on defense. That's tough but maybe they are too comfortable. Skerry has gone with the same lineup for 23 straight games. It's time for a change not only in the lineup but in the rotation. Some guys should get less minutes than they normally get. The problem is finding somebody on the bench who is ready for more minutes. Other than Gorham and maybe Tunstall, who is limited due to an injury, it's tough. My guess is Gorham will start and McNeill (if he's healthy) will get more minutes. I'm all for Justin getting the starting job. He's leading the team in rebounds off the bench. They could start him for Alex or even go with Tunstall and Gorham but I think he's better off at power forward for EK. McNeill should be shooting more but he's spending too much time at the point. He's not a good shooter off the dribble as we know. He's better catching and shooting, especially that corner jumper. He's shooting 49% overall and 42% from 3pt. Problem is he's not going to play a lot 3 unless Morsell is dreadful. He's not going to play barely any 2 with Zane there and he has 16 assists with 19 turnovers so we know he's not a productive backup point guard. The other option to get him on the floor more is to put Mike at the 4 and go small. They've done that occasionally. I'd like to see a pressing lineup with Mike, Jordan, Dennis, Zane and Starr/Morman. Get your best athletes on the floor and play up-tempo at least for 5-10mpg. Of course, depends on the matchups but I think we need to go back to be an aggressive defensive team that tries to force turnovers. Seems like we're just back on our heels too much.

Not sure major changes are going to work but you have to at least try. Somebody who doesn't get too fazed by bad shooting performances is Zane. He scored 2 points in the first half and went 0-6 from the field. He scored 30 in the second half to become the first Towson player to have back-to-back 30 point games since Gary Neal in 2007. Unfortunately, the loss took away from that and of course, he had the green light to jack up shots to get us back in the game.

 

 

[TSU88 1,073]

I got caught up in the euphoria of the 10-1 start, but reality is this is an average team. Average teams will occasionally play great; average teams will occasionally play lousy. This is an average team.

Regardless of the circumstances, ZM scoring 30 in one half is impressive. Had we not buried ourselves in a 19 point hole, we might have pulled out a W yesterday.  Now we find ourselves in a battle to stay in the top 6 of the conference.

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

2 hours ago, TSU88 said:

I can say this-I’ve been to all home games, with the exception of 2, & one thing that strikes me is I frequently see a few of our players gesturing in an animated fashion & seemingly jawing at Skerry when they are taken out of the game. It might be heat of the moment stuff, but I don’t see that similar behavior with players on the opposing teams, although I concede I’m not watching the opposition sideline.

It really does beg the question in my mind whether some sort of disconnect exists between Skerry & some of the players

I don’t think so. I’m harder on skerry than most but that all seems heat of the moment things. 

We don’t have leader on the court which is an issue

also I can definitely see atleast one player who is significant transferring after the season...

[Blazer49 186]

Seems to me instead of having a positive effect starting 10-1 May have hindered this team and caused them to get all caught up in the press clippings instead of building off of what got them to 10-1 to begin with

[TSU88 1,073]

Are you just theorizing about someone transferring, or have you heard something?

i wonder if Prophete will be back. He is hardly a significant contributor this year. I just wonder if there’s a spot for him next year. 

Frankly, as long as ZM is back, I think we could survive any other departure. We will already have a ton of new faces next season as is (Sanders, the Duquesne transfer, Drayton, who is a redshirt this year, the 3 incoming freshman, plus there are still 2 scholarships open. That’s 7 new players next year, unless he sits on one of the open ships and uses it for a transfer, who would have to sit out next season).

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

2 hours ago, TSU88 said:

Are you just theorizing about someone transferring, or have you heard something?

i wonder if Prophete will be back. He is hardly a significant contributor this year. I just wonder if there’s a spot for him next year. 

Frankly, as long as ZM is back, I think we could survive any other departure. We will already have a ton of new faces next season as is (Sanders, the Duquesne transfer, Drayton, who is a redshirt this year, the 3 incoming freshman, plus there are still 2 scholarships open. That’s 7 new players next year, unless he sits on one of the open ships and uses it for a transfer, who would have to sit out next season).

No. But it’s easy to see the frustration this player has with skerry. Every single game.  Hope I’m not right because he is a good player and will be better

[TSU88 1,073]

I assume you’re assuming Gorham. I’ve never really noticed ZM appearing frustrated. Those are the only 2 major contributors I can think of this season who aren’t seniors

[tualum 108]

21 hours ago, Blazer49 said:

Seems to me instead of having a positive effect starting 10-1 May have hindered this team and caused them to get all caught up in the press clippings instead of building off of what got them to 10-1 to begin with

With the exception of myself and perhaps 1 or 2 other people who have watched Skerry's team this year or over the past few years knew that 10-1 start was fool's gold. Beating up on inferior competition doesn't bode well for conference play. Pretty much same issues that plagued the team for years now. My major complaint is how soft Morsell is. I was expecting a lot more from him after seeing him his freshman year. Boy was I wrong...

[TigerFan54 102]

After the successful trip to Canada last summer, the team seemed to be bonding very well. The 10-1 start and two tournament trophies would seem to have cemented that bond. But now I wonder if these guys have had too much togetherness (we all know what familiarity breeds). Whatever it is, we don't have much chemistry at a stage where it should be peaking.

[Chris Datres 423]

6 hours ago, tualum said:

With the exception of myself and perhaps 1 or 2 other people who have watched Skerry's team this year or over the past few years knew that 10-1 start was fool's gold. Beating up on inferior competition doesn't bode well for conference play. Pretty much same issues that plagued the team for years now. My major complaint is how soft Morsell is. I was expecting a lot more from him after seeing him his freshman year. Boy was I wrong...

I didn’t think 10-1 was fool’s gold at all.  Yes, we had wins against 2 D2 teams that were scrimmages.  The way they won games against GA Southern, LaSalle, and Manhattan, I thought they were building well.  The way we played the last 28 mins vs W&M there and the 2nd half vs Elon at home are glimpses of what they can do.  Problem is, we haven’t really put a complete game together in a while.  So instead of building on 10-1, we fall on our face at Pitt and Elon and now been stuck in an inconsistent cycle.