MBB takes down Coppin State 70-49

[mat1992 2,237]

After going 0-5 from three-point range in the first half, Towson made six threes in the second half, including three from freshman Tyler Tejada as the Tigers cruised to an easy 70-49 win at Coppin State on Thursday night. Tejada led the team with 14 points, while sophomore Christian May added 12 points and nine boards. Charles Thompson struggled offensively with seven points on 5-of-13 shooting, but he did have 12 rebounds. The Tigers outrebounded the Eagles 51-20.

(BTW. These box scores are wrong on ESPN.com and Coppin's box. May had 12 and hit a 3 but they gave the 3 to Tejada because they kind of look alike)

 Skerry from TowsonTiger.com
"We started making some shots to get separation. We eventually will start making shots. l I thought our defense and rebounding was Towson level and then some.

"Good environment tonight. Good team win. We fought some foul trouble. Disappointed in 2nd half the other night Good to see Messiah (Jones with 11 pts, 10rebs.) get going. May and Tejada need to get shots. Good win. Hopefully we get a great crowd on Sunday night. Robert Morris would be a good CAA team.

"The only thing that hurt us in the first half was that we fouled too much and that's how they were scoring. We got out in transition and the ball moved better in the second half." Have to stop fouling. Keep the ball hot. 63% of our shots were from within 8 feet and we only hit 37% of them against Colorado."

[mat1992 2,237]

Ok, here are my thoughts and I think all of us need to understand that this team is going to be a work-in-progess. We have three guys out that could help our backcourt in Watson (ACL), Jaiden Cole (leg) and Tarke (eligibility). If we can just get two it will make us so much better. 

Let's start with Radhir Hicks. Yes, he blew a layup early and picked up two quick fouls. And we desperately missed his playmaking. He was terrific in the second half when he made the open 3, pushed the ball when needed and a nice little lefty runner in the lane. Had 2 assists and 1 turnover. Needs to score some to keep D honest. Same with Williamson, who led with four assists and had just one turnover. I think Hicks is the better point guard and defender, but Williamson has the higher upside because he can take people off the dribble. Didn't shoot great (2-for-7) but played a pretty good floor game.

I still think Charles is trying to do too much. If we want him to be successful late in games and not be gassed, I'd prefer him to not dribble the ball up the court so often. Put him in the high post as the screener and let him or Messiah post up. Don't love starting to post up from 20 feet away. Move the ball and post near the paint. Not near the 3-point line. Still some issues with both finishing down low with contact. Jones and Sulaimanl love the contact. I can't believe Tomiwa had just 3 rebounds. He was always near the ball. Didn't like his post up game as he was very slow to recognize the double. His handle is also very shaky. I want him defending and rebounding. Needs to take that open 3. Seems like a lot of guys were tentative early on. They really haven't played together in real games. Practice is fine, but they've only played two games of real ball. Jones was a monster on the boards by the way. He's not going to be a great finisher just because he's only about 6-5 and is not a great leaper. 

As for Lowery, he's going to help defensively. You could see against Colorado when he got his hands on the ball early. Just has to limit the fouls. They were playing their best ball with Tejada, Hicks and Williamson on the floor. I'd actually consider playing some four guards with Jones at center and May or Tejada at the 4. Spreads the floor better and you have your best three shooters on the floor in Tejada, May and Williamson. Even Jones can make a 3 and I know he bricked one tonight but hit one against Colorado.

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

Went to the game. Agree on a lot of these.  This is a bad offensive team but can get to average or slightly above with some help and improvement. 
Defense was fantastic. Coppin isn’t Kansas but we rarely left people open. Contested shots and had active hands. Defensive rebounding was extremely good. If we are going to win, it’s gonna be ugly. 

Posting up far from hoop and too many fouls.
Everyone who played scored and contributed a bit. Even Coleman and parr.  

[mat1992 2,237]

https://towsontigers.com/news/2023/11/9/mens-basketball-towson-mens-basketball-earns-31-rebounding-margin-in-win-at-coppin-state.aspx

https://towsontigers.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=28110

Again, May hit a three. Even the announcer (ESPN+?) thought it was Tejada and corrected himself that it was May. So it was May with 12 points and Tejada with 14. Yes, don't want Thompson, Jones and Sulaiman backing in their man from 20 feet away or CT bringing the ball up unless there is pressure. Let Hicks run the show though I'd prefer Williamson with Hicks. Tejada off the bench as a sixth man because when and if Tarke returns, that's what he'll be.

[mat1992 2,237]

https://x.com/baltcosun/status/1722826881995522143?s=46&t=nScacl1TWT-KyOwj5stBaw

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

I do like mats points (he mentioned a lot in the chat)  about having may run around screens like nick did, from time to time. Our spacing wasn’t great and hopefully gets better with more reps.  I worry that a team zones us all game and we end up in the low 40s. 
Didn’t seem to me that we overrated a lot of defense which used to get us killed with good ball movement. Again it’s Coppin but I was impressed with the effort and physicality on defense and the board.  A little 3 minute stretch where they hit 3s or so was alittle dicey 

[TSU88 1,074]

Walking the ball up the court is a recipe for 50 point games, As invariably this results in someone going 1-on-1 and chucking up a dubious shot as the shot clock runs out. When we get a defensive rebound I would much prefer that we try to push the ball and attack the rim. We seem to have the athleticism to go up tempo. Obviously this can’t be done on every possession, but when the opportunity is there, we need to take it.  Otherwise, I see a lot of stagnant possessions.  When we are in a half court situation, we need quick passes, better spacing and, as others have suggested, some screens to try and get our shooters some decent looks. Easier said than done. Some reinforcements would be nice

[mat1992 2,237]

May is too big and athletic to just stand at the three point line. In the second half, he was moving well without the ball. I think without Cam and to a lesser extent Tarke, and it’s early, we’re trying to find a rhythm on offense and it’s going to look ugly. A lot of times, the offense will go through Charles and he just needs to have faith in his guys as he did in Nick to get them the ball.

We do have to score down low and that’s probably why we played so slow in the first half. But I prefer throwing it into the post and throwing it back out if there’s not a good matchup. It’s up to the post guys to be more unselfish and to move the ball better to find our three shooters in May, Tejada, and Williamson. That will take time and reps to improve. 

[sr16 161]

Think if all 20 of us email the NCAA about Tarke that does anything? 

[TuTigers2012 1,071]

2 hours ago, TSU88 said:

Walking the ball up the court is a recipe for 50 point games, As invariably this results in someone going 1-on-1 and chucking up a dubious shot as the shot clock runs out. When we get a defensive rebound I would much prefer that we try to push the ball and attack the rim. We seem to have the athleticism to go up tempo. Obviously this can’t be done on every possession, but when the opportunity is there, we need to take it.  Otherwise, I see a lot of stagnant possessions.  When we are in a half court situation, we need quick passes, better spacing and, as others have suggested, some screens to try and get our shooters some decent looks. Easier said than done. Some reinforcements would be nice

Yeah that would be ideal considering what we have, but playing fast leads to mistakes and out of position. Don’t have many ball handlers.

When our strength is packing it in and playing defense and offensive rebounding, I don’t see us trying to push it much currently