Vs VCU

[psudragon]

Not looking good for the Terps. Down 69-63 with under 4:00 to go.:002_sconfused:

[psudragon]

73-66 with 2:08 to go.

Shuler has absolutely torched us. You would think someone would start guarding him.

[glenn__davis]

Looks like a loss with 50 seconds left. Very dissappointing, but not really unexpected. We just suck in this event and in that building in general.

[BaltBird 24]

Turnovers, turnovers, and turnovers.

And does Vasquez even think when he plays?

[Sports Guy]

So, yet another miss oppurtunity to beat a quality teams on a neutral/road court.

Not a good loss at all.

[Sports Guy]

The Illinois win was big but this loss negates that IMO.

[Sports Guy]

Nah, does not negate the Illinois win.. that win still exists.. but the point was Illinois will be their only OOC win vs a major conference win... so to help the OOC resume, they needed this.. and will need the wins at Charlotte, and against Holy Cross.

What it does mean is that a 500 record, or even 9-7 in conference will have them rightfully sweating out Selection Sunday.

They get to 10-6, and they will be in comfortably.....

Just showed immaturity tonight.... couldn't carry it over after a big win...

Will probably happen several times this year where they have a good win, and then lose where they should not.

Another loss OOC would put MD in a very tough position though.

How big is the Charlotte game?

[ccbird]

We'll see if VCU should even be considered a quality team. They were 3-3 coming in and aren't the favorite to win their mid major conference. Either way this was a bad loss. Way too sloppy again. I said it after the Illinois game and I'll say it again Vasquez is a liability on the court right now. Lazy pass after lazy pass, horrible shot selection, slow on defense and plays out of control. Got to get the ball out of his hands bringing the ball up the court right now.


Now that my Vasquez rant is over some more observations and not just from tonight but as a collection from all the games I've seen so far.

- Gist like I suspected is a good complimentary player but isn't a go to guy. He does a lot of things good but nothing great.

- We aren't great finishers around the basket. Too many layups or chippies near the basket missed. Good teams finish at the rim and besides Gist nobody on our team is a very good finisher.

- We are a slow team, especially our starting guards. This is the one thing that is usually never the case with a Gary Williams team but it is this year. It seems we are always a step slow on loose balls and to passing lanes. We've almost always been a league leader in steals and had good quick athletes but that isn't the case this year.

- It goes against the prevailing thought and what everyone expected but Osby is our best all around player. He is limited and there are players with more potential but he is playing the best and most consistent basketball of anyone right now.

[Mackus]

Turnovers killed tonight. Vasquez had an absolutely awful game.

Only player who actually played well was Osby. Just a hideous game.

[DuffMan]

I totally forgot that they were playing and maybe that was a good thing for me....

[Ruzious]

Terps just got beaten badly in the backcourt. Maynor and Schuler are a great experienced college backcourt, and our guards were just totally outclassed by them. That's disappointing, because I thought going into the season that Vasquez and Hayes would have the advantage over most teams. Maynor was especially impressive in running the team - I'm surprised I hadn't heard of him being an NBA prospect, because he's definitely got what it takes.

[calsmanystances]

I will continue to question why GW plays Greivis as our primary PG instead of Hayes. It makes no sense. GV is wild, out of control, makes careless decisions with the ball (That to with about 57 seconds left boggles the mind. What exactly was he doing?) and looks to score. Hayes is calm and cool, plays much more under control and he would much rather set up his teammates than look for his own shot first (which also argues against trying to force his conversion into a SG).

GV can still make his occasional great passes playing SG, but continuing to play him as the PG 30 minutes a game is counterproductive.

[Mackus]

I will continue to question why GW plays Greivis as our primary PG instead of Hayes. It makes no sense. GV is wild, out of control, makes careless decisions with the ball (That to with about 57 seconds left boggles the mind. What exactly was he doing?) and looks to score. Hayes is calm and cool, plays much more under control and he would much rather set up his teammates than look for his own shot first (which also argues against trying to force his conversion into a SG).

GV can still make his occasional great passes playing SG, but continuing to play him as the PG 30 minutes a game is counterproductive.Grevis is playing badly so far this season, but he played a great PG the entire second half of last season. If he's playing at that level, we're better with him running the show, if he's playing like he is now, we're better with Hayes.

Hayes is a solid player, but he's not as good as Vasquez. Once Vasquez gets out of his funk, we'll be in much better shape. I do like using Hayes as the primary press-breaker though, and also like having both of them on the floor at the same time. Hayes just needs to learn to get his shot off quicker.

[Bmo24Ph]

If we don't have an amazing game from the line, we get blown out. Start Tucker over Vasquez. He needs to sit and realize he is an average ACC players and NOT Kobe.

[calsmanystances]

I felt this way about GV and Hayes last year. GV's play this year simply reinforced what I saw last year. Although I never played or coached in college, I did play and coach in HS and I see a gunner and unpredictable player in GV. He can certainly make spectular plays but he also makes way too many mistakes. That's not what I want from my primary ballhandler and offensive initiator. It would be one thing if he was our only option at PG, but he isn't. Hayes is a heady, cool and pass-first player. Someone reluctant to shoot first. Sounds like a PG and not a SG.

GV can still get some time at PG (8 minutes or so), and it's nice to have him in there as our secondary ballhandler should Hayes be denied the entry pass in an in-bounds situation. However, his days as the primary PG should be over.

[OregonBird]

Has there been a basketball program that has done as little with their National Championship as the Terps? AND......They get a state of the art arena.

All that and they can't real in some top recruits or at least good ballplayers w/real basketball IQ?

[Pedro Cerrano]

Has there been a basketball program that has done as little with their National Championship as the Terps? AND......They get a state of the art arena.

All that and they can't real in some top recruits or at least good ballplayers w/real basketball IQ?

Actually the class right after the NC had a lot of highly ranked recruits. It just didn't pan out.

[OregonBird]

Actually the class right after the NC had a lot of highly ranked recruits. It just didn't pan out.

You'd think we'd be able to milk it for a few years, wouldn't ya?

[doggiedogma]

I like Tucker alot and really think he should be starting over Milborne or Vasquez. I like Dupree but his conditioning is not what it should be right now and he can't play long minutes. I also like to see more Walker minutes over Osby. The team has alot of potential, it is just getting them to play to it and finding the right mix.

[Bird_Man]

Looks like a loss with 50 seconds left. Very dissappointing, but not really unexpected. We just suck in this event and in that building in general.

I've always found that mindset by MD fans troubling.

Both the Final Four teams went 6-0 in that building. Stevie Francis led team won both games and they beat #2 Kansas one year.

The recent failings by the Terps to win in that event or building are more a function that the teams haven't been as good.

To try to imply that it has anything to do with the event or building is kind of lame. If Duke fans ever tried that, Terps fans would be on them like white on rice.

[glenn__davis]

I've always found that mindset by MD fans troubling.

Both the Final Four teams went 6-0 in that building. Stevie Francis led team won both games and they beat #2 Kansas one year.

The recent failings by the Terps to win in that event or building are more a function that the teams haven't been as good.

To try to imply that it has anything to do with the event or building is kind of lame. If Duke fans ever tried that, Terps fans would be on them like white on rice.

Not sure why you'd find it so "troubling". I'm blaming nothing on the building or the event, I'm just saying the team hasn't performed well there lately.

[Bird_Man]

Not sure why you'd find it so "troubling". I'm blaming nothing on the building or the event, I'm just saying the team hasn't performed well there lately.


OK.

Not so much you then, but a lot of MD fans on other boards do seem to blame the building or the event itself.

It might be different if our good teams in the past had lost there too, but thats not the case.

For those fans, I don't think its productive to make such lame excuses as it is a form of denial of the actual problem.