5 stages of grief...

[TigerFan54 102]

I get depressed listening to Skerry's postgame comments with Spiro. Instead of saying, "Maybe I need to alter my coaching philosophy," he says what he always says, "We need to defend better and rebound." Not only is this group not doing those things successfully, but the approach is built around the coach's deficiencies. It all but admits, "I don't know how to come up with effective offensive strategies." In other words, we're going to keep pounding our heads against the wall because we don't know what else to do." 

[tu_fan 110]

24 minutes ago, TigerFan54 said:

I get depressed listening to Skerry's postgame comments with Spiro. Instead of saying, "Maybe I need to alter my coaching philosophy," he says what he always says, "We need to defend better and rebound." Not only is this group not doing those things successfully, but the approach is built around the coach's deficiencies. It all but admits, "I don't know how to come up with effective offensive strategies." In other words, we're going to keep pounding our heads against the wall because we don't know what else to do." 

I had the same thought.  Just once can he lead off with steals and assists instead of rebounding and defense?  The other comment that made me roll eyes was around him calling Betrand a gym rat.  How about working on jump shots instead of non stop weight lifting.  I think this was in part why Hawkins left.  I’d give anything for a 140 lb weakling that could shoot 45% from deep, get 2 steals and 4 assists per game.  Unfortunately PS has no interest in having complimentary players 

[mat1992 2,234]

While I admit, there's not much substance to the offense and I don't want to keep defending PS, but do you really think an offensive genius can do a whole lot with this group? Let's say they run the Princeton offense, can you see Solomon, Sanders or Tunstall throwing backdoor passes or hitting from deep? Sure, if they had kept Yagi he might have fit into that type of system where you have quality passers from perimeter. We can't even make simple entry passes. It's freakin' embarrassing and I'm not talking about the freshmen. Now we only had five turnovers so that wasn't an issue but bad shots, off-balanced shots, missed drives, lack of head fakes, are nearly as bad as turnovers and they do lead to turnovers on the other end.

But when you give up 86 points at home, the first thing you do need to talk about is defense. I'll agree that when we put up around 60 points at home in conference play, it points to the offense. While scheme isn't great, it starts with recruiting. I think Timberlake would have helped some because he can pass it and has some scoring ability. He really was the best freshman recruit and not having him when we are very thin right now is not helping.

[mat1992 2,234]

7 minutes ago, tu_fan said:

I had the same thought.  Just once can he lead off with steals and assists instead of rebounding and defense?  The other comment that made me roll eyes was around him calling Betrand a gym rat.  How about working on jump shots instead of non stop weight lifting.  I think this was in part why Hawkins left.  I’d give anything for a 140 lb weakling that could shoot 45% from deep, get 2 steals and 4 assists per game.  Unfortunately PS has no interest in having complimentary players 

Nothing wrong with guys in the weight room but I agree, there's a little too much emphasis on what a guy benches, power cleans, squats and his vertical leap. How about working on ballhandling drills like Steph Curry does before every game? Some of these guys can shoot the ball but aren't great with the ball. But when we don't have guys that can get them ball or they can't create space. Betrand has a nice stroke. I said that from the beginning, but he needs to be set up and our offense is based on getting to cup and trying to draw fouls. Fobbs never kicks it out. Howard never passes once he gets into the paint. McNeill and Betrand are guys that need a little space and somebody to create for them. 

[TSU88 1,073]

As I watched the game last night, I was envious of the fact that Cornell’s 2nd & 3rd best players would be the best players on our time, probably far & away. All those guys did was shoot the ball well, pass the ball well & play solid, fundamental ball. But hey, our kids can probably outlift & outsprint them 😲. I couldn’t agree more with the poster above who lamented how we never seem to get that skinny kid, who doesn’t pass the eye test, but all he does is hit shots from the outside. If Skerry peruses this message board I can only hope he fundamentally changes his vetting of recruits, because unfortunately I think we’re saddled with him for the foreseeable future 

Edited January 11, 2019 by TSU88

[TuTigers2012 1,063]

3 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

As I watched the game last night, I was envious of the fact that Cornell’s 2nd & 3rd best players would be the best players on our time, probably far & away. I couldn’t agree more with the poster above who lamented how we never seem to get that skinny kid, who doesn’t pass the eye test, but all he does is hit shots from the outside. If Skerry peruses this message board I can only hope he fundamentally changes his vetting of recruits, because unfortunately I think we’re saddled with him for the foreseeable future 

Nothing will change, status quo. 

We will lose a lot of players off this team. Mass exodus of transfers is upon us

[TSU88 1,073]

17 minutes ago, mat1992 said:

While I admit, there's not much substance to the offense and I don't want to keep defending PS, but do you really think an offensive genius can do a whole lot with this group? Let's say they run the Princeton offense, can you see Solomon, Sanders or Tunstall throwing backdoor passes or hitting from deep? Sure, if they had kept Yagi he might have fit into that type of system where you have quality passers from perimeter. We can't even make simple entry passes. It's freakin' embarrassing and I'm not talking about the freshmen. Now we only had five turnovers so that wasn't an issue but bad shots, off-balanced shots, missed drives, lack of head fakes, are nearly as bad as turnovers and they do lead to turnovers on the other end.

But when you give up 86 points at home, the first thing you do need to talk about is defense. I'll agree that when we put up around 60 points at home in conference play, it points to the offense. While scheme isn't great, it starts with recruiting. I think Timberlake would have helped some because he can pass it and has some scoring ability. He really was the best freshman recruit and not having him when we are very thin right now is not helping.

Mat, your 1st paragraph is the perfect indictment of Skerry & his recruiting. Of course we couldn’t run the Princeton offense with Skerry’s players. Of course we struggle with even inbounding the ball with these players. The litany of crazy shots, mind numbing turnovers, no semblance of a half court offense...what’s the common denominator...these are the players Skerry has brought in. 

[TSU88 1,073]

3 minutes ago, TuTigers2012 said:

Nothing will change, status quo. 

We will lose a lot of players off this team. Mass exodus of transfers is upon us

If there’s a mass exodus, so be it. Might be addition by subtraction. The only players who MIGHT be legit contributors going forward are Timberlake, Solomon & maybe Betrand. The problem is not who leaves, but who Skerry brings in to replace them. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[mat1992 2,234]

17 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

If there’s a mass exodus, so be it. Might be addition by subtraction. The only players who MIGHT be legit contributors going forward are Timberlake, Solomon & maybe Betrand. The problem is not who leaves, but who Skerry brings in to replace them. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Fobbs is a good player. They have to coach him up. He has to have more faith in his teammates. The UMBC game was great but everybody scouts him and every defense tries to stop him. You really don't have to do anything special with the other players. Sanders can score some but when you double him, he turns it over.

[TSU88 1,073]

I totally forgot about Fobbs. Problem is he’s just a temporary placeholder, who’s gone after next season