MBB falls to Pepperdine, 74-65 in Bahamas

[mat1992]

Tigers committed 25 turnovers. That's all you need to know.

https://towsontigers.com/news/2018/11/16/mens-basketball-edged-vs-pepperdine-to-open-in-bahamas.aspx

[El Tigre Oro]

Would say we are rebuilding, but we never really built anything.

[TSU88]

I’m trying not to read too much into 1 game. But, against what appears to be a below average mid-major in Pepperdine, we shot less than 40% from the field & a miserable 3-16 from 3. Not to mention a mind numbing 25 turnovers. If tonight was a true barometer, it’s going to be a long, long season.

Here’s what I find particularly troubling. In 3 games so far, we’ve been torched by an opposing guard on 3-pt FG’s. The top three 3-point shooters in our 3 games so far are shooting 23-41, for a smoking 57%. Meanwhile, in those same 3 games, our entire team is 15-54 from 3, for a pitiful 28%.  

The college game these days is all about shooting 3’s. Not only can’t we shoot them, but we can’t defend them. This is a recipe for disaster. (Don’t even get me started on our complete failure in recruiting a quality PG for so many years that I’ve lost count).

[mat1992]

It's a guards league and our strength is our frontcourt. And it's really not that good of a frontcourt but it's better than our backcourt. 

The good news is that you would expect Timberlake (who has shown flashes) and Betrand to get better as the season goes on but Rome wasn't built in a day. Dottin is aggressive as hell but not super athletic, just strong. Howard was rough tonight to be nice. If he struggles like this all year, we're in trouble You can't expect Dottin to be the starting point guard by conference play though it appears we might be headed in that direction if Howard doesn't get any better. I didn't see the game tonight so I don't know why there were defensive struggles but I agree with what Skerry said in postgame that's it's tough to judge the defense when you have 25 turnovers. That puts the defense in horrible position when they are scoring off the miscues.

McNeill also needs this tournament to get back in shape. I know there's only so much you can expect from him because he's been a role player. He can't get his own shot. Nobody really can on this team so they need to go inside-out. Try and develop a low-post game with Sanders and Thomas, who showed a little offense tonight. Hope that you get some doubles and that would leave the shooters open. If Fobbs, Howard, McNeill and Timberlake can't make open shots, it's going to be a very long season. Maybe Drayton will get more time on Saturday against FAU but he also has to play defense. 

[TSU88]

It’s not a good sign when we’re hoping that the return of McNeill to the lineup will provide a spark. Thomas probably had one of the best offense games of his career tonight. Tunstall had 8 boards & some blocks, & Timberlake & Fobbs show promise. Beyond that, I don’t know. 

[mat1992]

16 minutes ago, TSU88 said:

It’s not a good sign when we’re hoping that the return of McNeill to the lineup will provide a spark. Thomas probably had one of the best offense games of his career tonight. Tunstall had 8 boards & some blocks, & Timberlake & Fobbs show promise. Beyond that, I don’t know. 

Way too early to make assumptions about the new guys. Let's give them time, even Fobbs and Howard, who are trying to find their way in D1. Howard seems to suffering from a crisis of confidence. Dottin at least is aggressive. I'd like to see Timberlake do what he did against Virginia and attack the basket more. It was good see him get a few on transition because he's really fast. If you put Dennis in the lineup (maybe down the line, and not the tournament), you can also get fastbreak points when we press.

I think Sanders can help but you are forcing him to play power forward and then posting him up on offense with Thomas in the high post, where he's not a threat. Then you post Thomas and Sanders is no real threat to score from 15 feet. We could go small again with Fobbs at the 4 but I'd rather start Dennis over Thomas. At least he's going to rebound and block some shots, while scoring on put backs. Sanders is going to befuddle all year, whether it's fouls, the turnovers, or foul shooting. Again, play him at center and put Tunstall at the 4. You have too many foul-prone guys who can't really defend if another team's bigs can shoot. The problem with Tunstall is that he keeps getting lingering injuries.

Skerry is brutally honest and he basically said turnovers were a problem in practice, against Virginia, in the scrimmages. Some of that is having so many new pieces but to me, it starts with Sanders. Put him the low block and let him work at the 5. We obviously don't have a true power forward ready to go unless we can somehow get Juwan Gray eligible.

[tualum]

8 hours ago, El Tigre Oro said:

Would say we are rebuilding, but we never really built anything.

For some reason this made me chuckle... Btw.. Is that 50 cent in your picture? lol

[tualum]

But not surprising. Turnovers, lack of shooting, FT woes. Sounds like typical Skerry ball to me. But I recall someone saying the latter was just due to UVA's tremendous D...

[TuTigers2012]

Jeez everyone overreacting. I felt between 7-10 wins would be realistic. 

Skerrys teams are always front court loaded (in a guard oriented lead. Shit I’ve been saying that on here forever but we still have some here who are ennemored with sanders and Solomon as big time players) 

his teams also don’t shoot well, don’t pass well, turn it over a good bit and when we can’t get out and run, the offense is a mess due to his style. Why would anyone expect anything different?! It has lead us to 4 of 5 years with 18 + wins...

 

we litrally have 4 players who have played d 1 basketball before and 3 of those were suspect before the season...  

[TSU88]

So you’re saying we have a chance?😊