Terps vs. Ramblin' Wreck

[Pedro Cerrano]

Currently in sole possession of 4th place in the ACC....

[EddieO's21]

Currently in sole possession of 4th place in the ACC....

who would have thought after those losses to American, Ohio, and VCU that they would be sitting at 4-3 in the conference right now

[Lucky Jim]

Well, he had about that many the other day and was only credited (debited?) for two. I went back to look at the play-by-play to figure out why. Basically, the scorers kept giving his turnovers to the guys he was throwing it to because they touched it. This despite the fact that the decision was terrible and the root cause of the TO. Gist got three of them that should have been given to Vasquez.

If you went back and watched the play-by-play you ARE a Vasquez-hater. Don't pretend otherwise.

That said, what are you going to do? Not play him? He's still far more of a positive than a negative. Though I wish Gary had been this patient with Mike Jones.

[Lucky Jim]

It hasn't really been noted, but Maryland's bench did a great job today. They actually looked more stable, at times, than the starters.

[Fairfax Bird]

It hasn't really been noted, but Maryland's bench did a great job today. They actually looked more stable, at times, than the starters.

The bench didn't play a whole lot today, but I agree with you. Actually, with Dupree and Walker on the floor the Terps pushed their lead from 4 to 10. They didn't do much, but they didn't hurt them either.

Vasquez is a spaz. He had 8 turnovers today and was terrible when the clock was winding down or we had to have a free throw. That said, I agree he is the best we have and should be out on the floor. My only gripe is that Hayes should be playing point primarily and Vazquez the 2.

Osby has really turned up his game. He keeps playing like this and we are a very dangerous team. I full expect we will be 6-3 the next time we face Duke, and 10-6 in ACC play.

[Ruzious]

Vasquez just has to get more efficient and cut down the turnovers and 5 of 15 shooting daze. If he does, the Terps are a top 20 caliber team, imo. If he doesn't, they don't make the NCAA Tournament. Gotta love Milbourne's continued improvement along with Tucker and Bowie contributing nicely. Bowie should play more to save Vasquez' energy for later in the game. Boom - what can you say? He got better and better last season, and he's doing it again. Yeah, he's going to make to's. I can accept his more than Vasquez'. Nice win Terps!!!

[Lucky Jim]

The only problem with this scenario is that Hayes shoots from the outside much, much better than Vasquez. I don't trust Vazquez from beyond the arc. On the other hand, Vasquez would get more slashing drives from the off guard spot and he could pass back to Hayes for shots.

Also, Hayes drives well, but doesn't appear to enjoy just dribbling as he runs the offense from the top. The pressure seems to annoy him.

I think that'll come around.

[bbasal]

who would of thought a month ago we would be back to being excited about this team. Gary needs to get alot of credit from all you people calling for his head a month back. Vasquez needs to run point to keep getting hayes the ball for 3's. He is so calm some time and other times he just flies off the handle. Lets remember we are dealing with a sophomore.

Milbourne is really starting to impress me. He's becoming a big time offensive rebounder and can hit a 3 every once in awhile. nice slashing guard along with tucker.

i'm really excited and really think we have a tournament team now. a win vs duke and 9-7 gets us in. 9-7 without duke win puts us square on the bubble.

10-6 hands down we are in.

we have to protect our home court for the rest of the year.

[Lucky Jim]

How much does Osby look like the Incredible Hulk in this pic?

Hulk.

[Fairfax Bird]

The only problem with this scenario is that Hayes shoots from the outside much, much better than Vasquez. I don't trust Vazquez from beyond the arc. On the other hand, Vasquez would get more slashing drives from the off guard spot and he could pass back to Hayes for shots.

Also, Hayes drives well, but doesn't appear to enjoy just dribbling as he runs the offense from the top. The pressure seems to annoy him.

The Terps run a number of plays to get the 2 open on the curl and to get the one open on the perimeter. That shouldn't be a problem. I dare say he will handle the pressure better than Vazquez.

[calsmanystances]

The Terps run a number of plays to get the 2 open on the curl and to get the one open on the perimeter. That shouldn't be a problem. I dare say he will handle the pressure better than Vazquez.

It doesn't make sense to keep playing GV as the primary PG. Aside from what our eyes tell us, the stats evidence that Hayes should be the PG.

Hayes has a 2.77 assist/TO ratio. Vasquez has a 1.48. That's a huge difference. I know the argument that since Hayes is the better 3-point shooter he must be the 2. I don't get it. Playing point means he won't shoot 3's anymore? PG's have been the best 3-point shooters on teams before. It has happeend. And as it stands now (with Hayes at the 2), GV is averaging 13 shots per game; Hayes is at 8.4 a game. The move will also play to GV's strength running the curl and hitting the FT floater (which he does very well).

I simply think that GV is too unstable and make too many poor decisions (aside from all the TO's, that foul on Singletary during the in-bounds with less than a minute left v UVA might have been the dumbest foul I have ever seen in college basketball) to be the point over Hayes.

And please don't think I am bashing GV. I think he would make a very good SG and he provides a variety of plusses as a player on this team. He just currently happens to be playing the wrong position which exposes his weaknesses.

I don't want a player as unstable in his decision making and shot selection playing the point. Especially when you have such a capable and calm guy like Hayes waiting in the wings.

[Mackus]

The only problem with this scenario is that Hayes shoots from the outside much, much better than Vasquez. I don't trust Vazquez from beyond the arc. On the other hand, Vasquez would get more slashing drives from the off guard spot and he could pass back to Hayes for shots.

Also, Hayes drives well, but doesn't appear to enjoy just dribbling as he runs the offense from the top. The pressure seems to annoy him.

Vasquez is actually just as good of a 3-point shooter as Hayed when he takes his time. Its the rushed, off-balance threes that he never makes. My guess would be he's about a 40-50% shooter when he sets and shooters, and about 5-10% on the rushed ones. He's just gotta settle down and stop shooting those stupid dumb three's.

[Lucky Jim]

Vasquez is actually just as good of a 3-point shooter as Hayed when he takes his time. Its the rushed, off-balance threes that he never makes. My guess would be he's about a 40-50% shooter when he sets and shooters, and about 5-10% on the rushed ones. He's just gotta settle down and stop shooting those stupid dumb three's.

Besides the fact that you can't eliminate shot selection when you're defining someone's ability as a "shooter," I simply don't think it's true that Vasquez is as good a shooter as Hayes. While Hayes's release isn't uber-quick, his stroke is fundametally sound, he's balanced, and he's highly accurate. His reputation as a shooter is long-standing. It's not just bad shots that account for Vasquez's low %s, though. He misses plenty of open threes as well. He's not terrible, absent the ill-advised shots - but certainly not in Hayes's class.

[Mackus]

Besides the fact that you can't eliminate shot selection when you're defining someone's ability as a "shooter," I simply don't think it's true that Vasquez is as good a shooter as Hayes. While Hayes's release isn't uber-quick, his stroke is fundametally sound, he's balanced, and he's highly accurate. His reputation as a shooter is long-standing. It's not just bad shots that account for Vasquez's low %s, though. He misses plenty of open threes as well. He's not terrible, absent the ill-advised shots - but certainly not in Hayes's class.

I would say Vasquez's percentage on "smart 3's" is about the same as Hayes' overall percentage, inlcluding his rushed or ill-advised shots (much, much fewer, but occasionally he's gotta throw one up there). For any particular shot attempt, I'd rather have Hayes shooting it than Vasquez for sure, but my main point was that when he plays intelligently and doesn't throw up hail mary's, Vasquez is quite good from the outside. Now if we could just get him to stop throwing up those bricks 3-4times per game...

[Lucky Jim]

I would say Vasquez's percentage on "smart 3's" is about the same as Hayes' overall percentage, inlcluding his rushed or ill-advised shots (much, much fewer, but occasionally he's gotta throw one up there). For any particular shot attempt, I'd rather have Hayes shooting it than Vasquez for sure, but my main point was that when he plays intelligently and doesn't throw up hail mary's, Vasquez is quite good from the outside. Now if we could just get him to stop throwing up those bricks 3-4times per game...

Fair enough. I certainly don't think Vasquez's shooting is a liability when he plays within himself (for instance, he's much better than Strawberrry at the same age). But I actually have a lot of confidence in Hayes when he squares up.

That said, if Hayes continues to perform at this level, and GV stabilizes a bit, they form a pretty good backcourt.