Hampton and Maryland Battling

[YardBirds13]

Game over...Why was this game so close? That is ridiculous.

Turnovers, really. Actually, if Hampton made some more free throws early in the game, this could have been alot worse for MAryland.

Maryland has nobody besides Gist who can score inside. They need one of those big young guys to develop quickly, or they are gonna be in some trouble.

[Sports Guy]

What happened to Dupree tonight?

Thought he was looking so good?

Maryland will be fine...Seems like they always have a close call game early on at home.

BTW, where were the students?

[Jenius]

Let's put the meltdown on hold for a minute (and I'm kindof talking to all MD fans, since I know this is tempting for all of us). Yes, we played poorly, and no, it shouldn't have ended that way when we led by 14 with less than 10 minutes to go. And I agree that we need someone else to step up and score in the post for us if we're going to have success. Osby looks terrible right now.

But...and I know this may be shocking to some of you, since they are techincally a low-major team playing in the MEAC: but actually, Hampton is quite good. They just spanked Tulsa last night by 15, and that would be a Tulsa team that was borderline NCAA-worthy last year, playing competitive and close games against Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Memphis (twice), and should be even better this year. Hampton has a legit NBA prospect (Pilgrim, who was a huge part of the late comeback), a legit shooter/scorer who could play for any D1 team (West), and as much team athleticism as you will find anywhere. That's not an exaggeration. I will be surprised if this team doesn't dominate the MEAC and get an easy automatic bid. And no one will want to play them in the tourney. I know they play at UVA this season, so that might be a good barometer for us to measure this game by.

Not to mention, the weaknesses evident for us in this game now can be worked out in the context of a win, and a probable opportunity to take on UCLA. I was frustrated by this game, but no one should be shocked that Hampton played us tough.

[YardBirds13]

Let's put the meltdown on hold for a minute (and I'm kindof talking to all MD fans, since I know this is tempting for all of us). Yes, we played poorly, and no, it shouldn't have ended that way when we led by 14 with less than 10 minutes to go. And I agree that we need someone else to step up and score in the post for us if we're going to have success. Osby looks terrible right now.

But...and I know this may be shocking to some of you, since they are techincally a low-major team playing in the MEAC: but actually, Hampton is quite good. They just spanked Tulsa last night by 15, and that would be a Tulsa team that was borderline NCAA-worthy last year, playing competitive and close games against Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Memphis (twice), and should be even better this year. Hampton has a legit NBA prospect (Pilgrim, who was a huge part of the late comeback), a legit shooter/scorer who could play for any D1 team (West), and as much team athleticism as you will find anywhere. That's not an exaggeration. I will be surprised if this team doesn't dominate the MEAC and get an easy automatic bid. And no one will want to play them in the tourney. I know they play at UVA this season, so that might be a good barometer for us to measure this game by.

Not to mention, the weaknesses evident for us in this game now can be worked out in the context of a win, and a probable opportunity to take on UCLA. I was frustrated by this game, but no one should be shocked that Hampton played us tough.

I'll be sure to remember how legit Hampton is when they play at UVa. We'll see.

I think you're reaching.

[Eight]

What happened to Dupree tonight?

Thought he was looking so good?

Maryland will be fine...Seems like they always have a close call game early on at home.

BTW, where were the students?

Dupree has not played well at all this year and has been the big disappointment. Students were there in fairly good numbers for an early season game and were quite loud for good portions of it. The other folks...not so much.

Jenius is right, this Hampton team is not some garbage team. They thumped a pretty solid mid-major in Tulsa. Rashad West and Matthew Pilgramage are legit players. No doubt the Terps played poorly for about ten minutes in the second half, but this is a team should be competitive with the Virginias, George Masons and VCUs on their schedule.

Vasquez needs to get his head on straight soon because the constant turnovers are just not working. That said, you have to expect some games like this based on the type of player he is. Gist had an outstanding game, and will be the best player on this team. Osby struggled on offense big time, especially at the line. I think he'll be fine in the long run.

The biggest thing we need is to have someone emerge as the third or fourth big in the rotation. Possibly losing Neal for a while hurts. He won't play much in the ACC where he's going to be too physically overmatched on most nights, but against lesser competition his fundamentals will make him a valuable contributor while the freshman adjust to the college game.

[AgentOrange]

I'll be sure to remember how legit Hampton is when they play at UVa. We'll see.

I think you're reaching.

There have been quite a few ranked teams lose to lower level teams this year early in the season. It is very early in the season, teams are going to struggle. We also have some younger players play big minutes. That is going to happen this year. The growing pains will start early and often this year.

[glenn__davis]

I'll be sure to remember how legit Hampton is when they play at UVa. We'll see.

I think you're reaching.

UVA might kill them, but then UVA might struggle with a team that MD romps up on.

It's early in the season, I'm not at all concerned with the game last night.

[Flosman]

Vasquez played the worse game of his career. He was forcing passes all game and had trouble against pressure. He played like he was trying to make a highlight reel. That being said I am not too worried about it. He has proven he can be effective in the ACC he just needs to calm down some. Gist I thought showed alot. He can really shoot now. Gist is going to really extend defenses this year and if the young guys can score they should be a pretty good team.

I hope Boom figures out his problem on the line, if not it will be a huge problem for the terps.

I thought Hayes and Vasques looked good shooting. Milbourne looked like a player for the first 4 minutes of the game, then mysteriously dissappeared????

All and all it was a win against a decent team. Something to build on, however if they play that way against UCLA they lose by 30+.

[Ruzious]

What happened to Dupree tonight?

Thought he was looking so good?

I was thinking the same thing. If he can't step in and play reasonably well - as people were touting him to - Maryland is not going to be the team I thought they were going to be.

[AgentOrange]

I was thinking the same thing. If he can't step in and play reasonably well - as people were touting him to - Maryland is not going to be the team I thought they were going to be.

Wow, tough crowd around here. The Kid has played 2 games, give it time.

[Mackus]

Wow, tough crowd around here. The Kid has played 2 games, give it time.

Why should we give it time? Rushing to judgement and assuming the worst is so much easier!

[Sports Guy]

The reports were that Dupree looked very imrpessive in practice and was destroying Osby...Yet Osby starts and Dupreee didn't do anything against a low mid major school.

Just wondering why, that's all.

[Flosman]

The reports were that Dupree looked very imrpessive in practice and was destroying Osby...Yet Osby starts and Dupreee didn't do anything against a low mid major school.

Just wondering why, that's all.

Well it could be a simple has Hampton had a pretty impressive front line for a small school. Maybe Gary was just not comfortable with Dupree being responsible for keeping Pilgram in check (who looks to be a very good player). Gist did not run wild against their bigs either, like you would expect facing a MEAC school. All and all I think it is hard to say what MDs young big men are all about. We really did not see MDs guards effectively get the ball down low the entire game. I personally felt that alot of that was the guards fault not the big guys. I think MD's guard did not show much patience during most of the game and tried to make highlight reel passes instead of just running the offense.

BTW you had to be impressed with Gist. He may very well be MD's best three point shooter this season. But if he were to get hurt this team is in big trouble I think.

[Jagwar]

And that’s what happened….. But nobody said Dupree would be the starter from day one.

I've been leading the Dupree charge, and I have at least 5 posts on this board saying he likely would not be the starter prior to conference play.

If by ACC time, Dupree is not a viable starter, I will be dissapointed.

I expect him to avg 10-12ppg, with 6 to 7 rebounds during ACC Play.

I'm not saying that is impossible, but that is a long way from where he is right now.

I'm just guessing, but I have to think that it is rare for freshmen to have those kind of numbers in the ACC.

[Jagwar]

After watching the first two games, here is my two cents on the team

- Every night Greivis is going to look like an all-ACC hero or a goat. He had 8 turnovers last night, and it took a long 3-pointer in the final minutes to make him a hero. He is going to be infuriating sometimes

- Hayes has to look for his shot more, and get to the FT line more

- I know Gist can make the three, but this team needs him to be a force down low.

- Once Tucker gets a few games under his belt, he is going to be on the floor a lot. IMO he is going to be the best player in his class.

- Of the freshmen players, Tucker and Bowie look ready to contribute. The rest still look so raw.

- This is going to be a fantastic defensive team.

Bottom line: I have no illusions, my expectations are for 8-8 iun the ACC. If the freshmen grow up fast, I can see 10-6, but a lot is going to have to go right for that to happen.