Second Summer Practice Update

[mat1992 2,238]

Before I get to the quotes, let's talk about one of the last practices Towson MBB had until they leave for Canada next week. Tyler Coleman (back) was out as was Ryan Conway and Cole Paar.

Let's talk about Mr. Marcus Watson. He's 6-6, 212 and he's one of the most physically gifted guards we've ever had. Doesn't mean the best player or he will be great, but he's very talented. Unlike at NC A&T, where Kam Woods was the top option and had the ball a lot, he'll be the top option here. He's super athletic, but has a nice mid-range touch and his three-point shot looks a lot better than his numbers last year (28%). I think shot selection and last-second shots before the clock ended contributed to the low numbers. He should easily lead the team in scoring. I think the most underrated part of his game is that he can really pass the ball. He'll see a lot of attention so when he drives, he's looking for May on one side or Williamson/Hicks on the other.

It's not over yet, but I think Hicks starts and Williamson will play almost as many minutes. The question is whether he plays down the stretch where he has the ability to break down the defense, Hicks hit three straight threes to start out the 5-on-5. He's a solid guy who won't turn it over a lot. But he's not going to blow by you off the dribble or create his own shot. DWill can do that. Defensively, he's a bit below Hicks.

Other than Watson, the guy who really impressed me was Mekhi Lowery. He's up to 200 pounds at around 6-6, but he's very long and super athletic. May and Watson tried to shoot over him and he altered both shots. He also blocked a Chase Paar dunk attempt. His three-point shot has improved as he's gained 13 pounds. Not much of an offensive player yet, but he can grow into a 3-and-D guy. I also think he can help some at the 3 off the bench, especially if they pressure the ball some (they will).

Good news was that Jaiden Cole (leg) was back out there. Not quite 100% but he's ahead of schedule and will be back well before fall practice. He was shooting in the drills, but was not going to go through the five-on-fives.

Charles continues to work on his jumper. I don't see him becoming a 3-point shooter. But he's improved his form and I think that will help his free throw shooting and he'll take a mid-range jumper here and there. But what I love the most was his passing. He's the perfect leader for a team that has many new parts.

The only player who hasn't impressed me in two practices is Sulaiman. He's built like Moto, but offensively he has struggled to adjust to the quickness and size of D1 players. I do think he can help defensively off the bench and on the boards. I don't see much of a perimeter game, but I've been told he's improved that aspect of his game. I just haven't seen it.

On to the quotes.

[mat1992 2,238]

Skerry

"I like the ground and how hard they worked. They are connected. They haven't had a guy late for one day this summer. Does that win a game? You don't get a win for that, but it's building the right kind of habits. I credit that to guys like Charles and Radhir. The new guys like Messiah Jones, Tomiwa, Marcus and the freshmen. They've been off the charts. It will be a good reward for them to play next week (in Canada)."

What he'd like to accomplish next week in Canada (5 games)

"It's a reward to go to two good cities. From a coaching standpoint, can we execute under game pressure, lights, all that stuff. Gives us a chance to re-evaluate stuff that we're not good at. Pat O'Connell will coach the games and I'll watch and take notes."

"We won't do any prep work. The good thing about the Canadian teams is that they are already practicing. Their school has already started. They usually show up and live scout you the day before. For us, it's a chance to adjust to that. Everyone will play, but not in every game because five games is a lot. I'll get a chance to see some different guys."

On Cole Paar

"He's been through the entire summer without missing practice (save for today). He's re-proportioned his body. He's a good player. He's a massive guy. He loves basketball, which is nice. "

The key for the new guys

"Take care of the ball and keep spacing. This will be similar to the last group of teams. Our ball movement needs to define us. That's a change that we made a few years ago from some of our earlier teams and it's enjoyable to coach and to watch. Still have to make enough shots and that remains to be seen. But our ball movement needs to define us."

On Cole

"We thought we had him back in the middle of October and our trainer says we should have him by the second week of September. I didn't think he'd be doing any workouts on the court until we'd be back from Canada. He's getting extra shots. That's encouraging. He has good size and can shoot the ball. The difference is that he's lived away from home for two years. He's pretty mature. Getting healthy will be key in the fall."

On improvements

"Both freshmen-Tejada and Lowery-those guys have really improved. I'd probably say Tomiwa Sulimain and Tyler Tejada are as good a gym rats in getting extra shots that we've ever had. I'm a little bummed out that hopefully we'll have Tyler Coleman (back) next week. He's really worked at it. They think it's all muscle. It's fun getting Marcus (Watson) here. He's had two full weeks of practice. He's talented. He's intelligent and knows how to play. He's a scorer with great physical tools. Take care of the ball and play hard on defense and we'll let a guy like that go on offense. He's more of a guard and is capable of putting the ball down. We have big long guards. He's a gym rat. Great kid. He can make shots. His catch and shoot were pretty good, but took a lot of shots late in the shot clock. We play a little differently. We try and get everyone touches early. We just don't play off a drag ball screen, not that it's bad. In the last few weeks, we've used a 24-second clock. On offensive rebounds, we've re-set the clock to 14. We've done no live play against zones or pressure. Eventually we'll play some games and people will do some things that we haven't seen. Can we adust on the fly."

On Sulaiman

"He's really good defensively. He has to take care of the ball. He moves and has been well coached. He and Messiah Jones have grown men bodies and will play together. He can slide down and play the wing. Any new guy, it's all about ball security. That's the biggest adjustment on the offensive end."

On Dylan Williamson

"He's going to play. He'll play with Radhir together. Can't do it in practice because we don't have a ton of bodies. Just be committed defensively. Run the team. He's really become a better shooter. Can make plays off ball screens. He's dynamic. He's going to play. He's confident and a good teammate."

More on Marcus

"He's capable. We play a little differently. He's done a really good job of making the right play. We have some specials that when guys don't see the ball, make sure that you get the ball to the right guy and play off it."

On Chase

"He's in great shape (down to 252). He's had some good weeks where he's getting through the whole practice. He was so banged up last year. His highest weight was 274. We're going to try and keep him lean so it keeps some stress off of him. He gives you skill and IQ. We're going to be a deeper team."

"I like our bodies and unselfishness. We're going to have a little more versatility. Some of that is going to take more time as we move guys around. Keep it simple. Limit turnovers. This could be one of our best rebounding teams. We had some guys who played heavy minutes last year and we didn't guard as well as we needed to. This group could be really good defensively due to our size, length and strength. The better we guard, the more we're going to get out and play. Lowery is going to play because he's so active. We haven't put in any secondary defenses yet. Pressure. Not for the summer. It's early. Fun group. The court looks good. New logo. "

 

[Blounge 521]

Interesting Pat O’Connell is gonna coach and Pat Skerry will Watch. O’Connell interviewed for a head coaching job at Hopkins so this is good experience for his resume, but could it be that he is looking to move on to a new program at the helm?

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

1 hour ago, Blounge said:

Interesting Pat O’Connell is gonna coach and Pat Skerry will Watch. O’Connell interviewed for a head coaching job at Hopkins so this is good experience for his resume, but could it be that he is looking to move on to a new program at the helm?

I think this is great and I don’t read into it too much.  This is about Skerry getting a difference perspective of this team.  You see things differently at times away from the bench. 

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

Awesome job as always Mat.  Let I remind everyone that back in the day we never had insights to our team like this.  👏

My only concern is that Conway wasn’t playing… hope nothing significant of course. 
With Watson now it is so key to have Conway healthy and ready to knock down open looks. 

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

5 minutes ago, Bay Area Tiger said:

I think this is great and I don’t read into it too much.  This is about Skerry getting a difference perspective of this team.  You see things differently at times away from the bench. 

Exactly. Doing these exhibitions are a great thing. More practice. Competitive environment. Team building. Chance to try different things. Assistants are the ones doing the scouts, and making up a lot of the strategy throughout. It is just another mouthpiece to listen to 

 Hopefully we make the dance and he does get a job elsewhere. For the 500000th time, coaches shouldn’t stay at Towson for a long period of time. It’s not good on either end of the spectrum!

[mat1992 2,238]

Going into Canada, I think the strengths of this team thus far are pretty glaring. They are much more athletic than in the past, they have a lot more length than last season (Lowery, Tejada, Watson, Cole when he is ready). They should be an even better rebounding team with guys who are built like tanks in Sulaiman (6-5, 220ish), Watson (6-6, 210), May (6-5, 212), Thompson (6-7, 250), and M. Jones (6-5, 230). We need to push the ball in transition to take advantage of our athleticism. I also like the fact that we have more guys that can create off the dribble: Watson and Williamson. Maybe Cole when he gets healthy.

The concerns are also glaring. We have three freshmen and three transfers. One redshirt freshman in Dylan Williamson has never played in a game before, but has practiced. So chemistry could be an issue early in the season and certainly in Toronto and Montreal. The other concern is three-point shooting with Timberlake and Gibson gone. May can shoot it along with Conway, but questions about Watson (28%), Williamson, Hicks (not good last year), etc. To me, Tejada has looked like the best 3-point shooter aside from May, but I doubt he plays much. Watson will need to improve that number by at least 5% to be effective. 

 

[Blounge 521]

They should be an even better rebounding team with guyswho are built like tanks in Sulaiman (6-5, 220ish), Watson (6-6, 210), May (6-5, 212), Thompson (6-7, 250),and M. Jones (6-5, 230).
 

don’t forget chase parr 6-10, 252!

Could be reminiscent of the Jerelle Bennimon era of dominance on the boards!

wonder if we’ll be able to gamble on DraftKings the Canada tournament

[mat1992 2,238]

1 hour ago, Blounge said:

They should be an even better rebounding team with guyswho are built like tanks in Sulaiman (6-5, 220ish), Watson (6-6, 210), May (6-5, 212), Thompson (6-7, 250),and M. Jones (6-5, 230).
 

don’t forget chase parr 6-10, 252!

Could be reminiscent of the Jerelle Bennimon era of dominance on the boards!

wonder if we’ll be able to gamble on DraftKings the Canada tournament

Yeah, though we don’t have a Benimon. More of a John Davis in Messiah Jones. Watson is slightly reminiscent of Moto with a better touch. CT has improved slightly as a shooter. Sulaiman is a beast, but more of a defender and rebounder. Chase is big and we will need him against Brzovic from Charleston and Williams from Drexel. Both are 6-10.

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

2 hours ago, Blounge said:

They should be an even better rebounding team with guyswho are built like tanks in Sulaiman (6-5, 220ish), Watson (6-6, 210), May (6-5, 212), Thompson (6-7, 250),and M. Jones (6-5, 230).
 

don’t forget chase parr 6-10, 252!

Could be reminiscent of the Jerelle Bennimon era of dominance on the boards!

wonder if we’ll be able to gamble on DraftKings the Canada tournament

Rebounding and defense will win us games. But we have always rebounded well. 
If we get anything from paar that’s a bonus. Would love for his gw numbers but we just need his 5 fouls and 8-10 mpg and 3-3. 
 

we hear this every offseason. Hype of freshmen. New strategy. Pushing the pace.  Lip service until we actually see it