As a wise man once said "Luck is just another way of saying we are skilled in ways his model hasn’t figured out how to model yet"

Sent from my VS500 using Tapatalk

(01-14-2018 01:34 AM)Tribal Wrote:  We are 5-1 in the conference and could just as easily be 3-3. None of us thought we'd have this record so be encouraged by what we've been able to do so far and get ready for another fight.

One slip in the CAAT and its all over. Again.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Well, that depends. One advantage of actually finishing #1 during the regular season is picking up the auto berth to the NIT.

That's worth something considering we know W&M won't participate in anything else.

So while we all want the big one, I'm also pulling for a top finish and the auto bid as a backup. It makes any slip on the tourney a bit easier to digest - knowing it's not over. Particularly if we ever managed a home game.

(01-13-2018 05:56 PM)Tribal Wrote:  Classy of them to not hang 100 on us

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I'm guessing they don't have a deal with the Towson Taco Bell for free tacos when they break 100.

I agree with all those who said it was just one of those nights (or afternoons...), but, man, I hate (for some weird reason) losing to someone at our own game.

We are the team that is supposed to shoot lights out from deep, run the fast break and do so with so many different guys making buckets that the opponent doesn't know who to guard next, which then opens up the inside for easy buckets from the big guy.

Towson is supposed to beat you to death with stick backs, second chance points, strong physical defense and rebounding. Yesterday, they played our game, played it better than we did and kept us from playing it they way we should. I don't mind if they beat us in traditional Towson fashion, but man, yesterday was not fair.



(Like I said, it was just one of those games, but now I feel better. - Sometimes, I just need to vent.)

As someone else mentioned, Towson came in with their backs against the wall, already three games behind the Tribe in the standings. They played like it.

We have become the hunted in the last two games. We need to adjust mentally and in our prep to that.

Tribe remains alone in 1st place going into week 3. Still in good position. We play Northeastern at home and Elon on road - keep winning and keep the pressure on those behind us.

(01-14-2018 10:00 AM)billymac Wrote:  I agree with all those who said it was just one of those nights (or afternoons...), but, man, I hate (for some weird reason) losing to someone at our own game.

We are the team that is supposed to shoot lights out from deep, run the fast break and do so with so many different guys making buckets that the opponent doesn't know who to guard next, which then opens up the inside for easy buckets from the big guy.

Towson is supposed to beat you to death with stick backs, second chance points, strong physical defense and rebounding. Yesterday, they played our game, played it better than we did and kept us from playing it they way we should. I don't mind if they beat us in traditional Towson fashion, but man, yesterday was not fair.



(Like I said, it was just one of those games, but now I feel better. - Sometimes, I just need to vent.)

Was thinking the same thing as the game progressed when they made shot after shot (mainly threes).....hey, that is our thing....

(01-14-2018 10:16 AM)TribeNomad Wrote:  Was thinking the same thing as the game progressed when they made shot after shot (mainly threes).....hey, that is our thing....

Yeah, and just to be clear, hats off to Towson. They were the better team on Saturday... but, hey, that's our thing.

(01-14-2018 09:19 AM)Sitting bull Wrote:  That's worth something considering we know W&M won't participate in anything else.

One can only hope that, with Samantha at the helm, this, too, will change.

It is beyond ridiculous that this program is shackled to (a) CAA tourney win and (b) regular season first place finish ....

instead of the joys of a (a) winning season, (b) 15-19 win season, or © 20 win season, and then looking at the options for post-season play.

Who shackles themselves like that? This is self-imposed, unwanted, and unwarranted pressure, pure and simple.

Post-season play ... regardless of the letters in the alphabet ... it's post-season play.

There's a value to that.

(01-14-2018 12:03 PM)nj alum Wrote:  One can only hope that, with Samantha at the helm, this, too, will change.

It is beyond ridiculous that this program is shackled to (a) CAA tourney win and (b) regular season first place finish ....

instead of the joys of a (a) winning season, (b) 15-19 win season, or © 20 win season, and then looking at the options for post-season play.

Who shackles themselves like that? This is self-imposed, unwanted, and unwarranted pressure, pure and simple.

Post-season play ... regardless of the letters in the alphabet ... it's post-season play.

There's a value to that.

Meh. There is an enormous difference between the NIT and the various tournaments below it. An NIT berth (for this program) means something. I could care less about the other tournaments, other than whatever development value it would have. If it's a situation where the team feels like it would make them better for the future, then all for it. If not, better off saving the money for the recruiting budget or an overseas trip or something. Either way the actual result itself means nothing to me. They are moneymaking entities (for the organizers) and nothing else.

agreed. Anything other than the NCAA or NIT does nothing for me. Extra pay to play tournaments may bring more games for the fans/players, but I don't think that they advance the program. They aren't being seen or respected nationally and I suspect our modest budget could be used more effectively to help the program. Use the money for early season tournaments which build chemistry. Use the money to expand recruiting. I get wanting to reward players and fans for a great season, I just don't fell the return on investment is there.

I'd use any potential pay to play money and use it next season to go to a real tournament as a tune up for conference play. As a fan it's always fun to keep watching, but for the players, once we're out of the NCAA or NIT, it's time to move on to next season and for the seniors to move on to life after college

My issue is that right now we are neither participating in "pay to play" tournaments nor spending the money elsewhere for the program. As useless I believe the CBI, CIT, etc. to be, it would at least signal a commitment to the program.

Sent from my VS500 using Tapatalk

(01-14-2018 05:34 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  My issue is that right now we are neither participating in "pay to play" tournaments nor spending the money elsewhere for the program. As useless I believe the CBI, CIT, etc. to be, it would at least signal a commitment to the program.

Sent from my VS500 using Tapatalk

I'm not aware of extra pay to play money for pre or post season tournaments. It seems like most seasons the program is squeaking by financially. Am I wrong?

The operating capital from the college is minimal at best. Additional basketball income may come from ticket sales/concessions, booster donations, and TV money from conference deals.

The big return comes from ncaa/nit appearances- which we rarely see.

(01-14-2018 08:24 PM)mrjoolius Wrote:  

(01-14-2018 05:34 PM)zablenoise Wrote:  My issue is that right now we are neither participating in "pay to play" tournaments nor spending the money elsewhere for the program. As useless I believe the CBI, CIT, etc. to be, it would at least signal a commitment to the program.

Sent from my VS500 using Tapatalk

I'm not aware of extra pay to play money for pre or post season tournaments. It seems like most seasons the program is squeaking by financially. Am I wrong?

The operating capital from the college is minimal at best. Additional basketball income may come from ticket sales/concessions, booster donations, and TV money from conference deals.

The big return comes from ncaa/nit appearances- which we rarely see.

Yeah my post wasn't very clear. I didn't mean to imply that there was some big pool of money that the AD is hoarding rather than spending on basketball. I meant that finding a way to secure that money would signal a commitment to the program.

Sent from my VS500 using Tapatalk

The players themselves have voted against playing in these "pay-in", contrived "tourneys" each of the past three seasons. Whether the College would have overruled them if our administration wanted to go is something else, but the fact is that it wasn't even considered after the players--unanimously last year I'm told--gave a thumbs down!

I haven't read all of the thread so forgive me if this is redundant. Like some have said, it would have been best had Shafer had benched Knight after his second foul. Knight has a history of letting his emotions take over after he is whistled for a foul he disagrees with as was clearly the case here.

In retrospect, I would have loved to seen Tony have taken Knight out of the game and gone with the small line-up he used toward the end of the JMU game to apply pressure and make offensive/defensive substitutions as he did vs. JMU toward the end of that game until half time. At that point we had gone from a 33-19 lead to a 1 point lead, giving up 13 points of differential to Towson. It was time to shake things up.

I believe the turning point of the games was after Cohn made the 3 point basket that gave us the lead and he made a head jig and smirk at the Towson team as if taunting them as they came back up the court. This seemed to fire up Towson and they responded with their play, which is the proper re-action to such an action.

All this being said, I believe that Towson is a horrible match up for us, the worst in the CAA. I believe that Skerry's departure at Tony's arrival at W&M may also give him a bit more motivation than usual in preparing for us.

(01-15-2018 08:56 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  I believe the turning point of the games was after Cohn made the 3 point basket that gave us the lead and he made a head jig and smirk at the Towson team as if taunting them as they came back up the court. This seemed to fire up Towson and they responded with their play, which is the proper re-action to such an action.

YES. That was definitely the turning point, and it was playground bull**** and David should be smarter and better than that crap.

It is a move David has done before and often serves to fire up some of our fans. At the time, he was massively on fire from the field and also was coming off of an emotional comeback on Thursday. I think we are overreaching when a team beats you 80-40 over 30 minutes of basketball. Towson is traditionally a bad matchup for us, but they were a bad matchup for everyone on Saturday. We were never going undefeated in the league and we had a terrible 30 minutes Saturday. Tony and the staff will likely use this for continued motivation and the "chip" we have used so well will be back. As for Nathan, yes he should have come off the floor with 2 fouls. But, he has come a long way this season and I am sure will continue to improve. The team will get a chance to prove that Saturday was an aberration on Thursday and when we play at Towson soon.

But, no win in the league is easy. JMU has blown 3-4 leads already, UNCW won at Elon and nearly won against Northeastern Saturday(Losing in OT). There are no free wins against anybody, even at home.

There were definite lessons to be learned Saturday for the team, the coaches, and all of us as fans, too. Let's just hope that Saturday was the worst 30 minutes by far we have the rest of the year. Towson would have destroyed any team in our league Saturday. They are not 6-0 though, so they can be beaten.

I just hope we can get Connor, Matt and Justin going. We pretty much know each game what we will get with everyone else. But, when Justin is everywhere, Connor is hitting and Matt plays his all around game, we are very hard to beat.

(01-15-2018 08:56 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  I believe that Skerry's departure at Tony's arrival at W&M may also give him a bit more motivation than usual in preparing for us.

Yes, and they had four days to get ready for us...just as we did for them.

I understand the argument that Shaver should have sat Knight the rest of the 1st half when he got his 2nd foul, but the 3rd foul he committed was such a dumb foul. He played good defense and forced the guy to take a low percentage shot, but swung his arm towards the player when contesting the shot instead of just leaving his arms straight up. He has to have better awareness than that.

I think even if Knight didn't get his 3rd, this game still would have been a blowout with the way Towson shot.