Ready for the rematch

[Sports Guy]

Come on Saturday night!

Not sure what to expect in the Duke-MD game this weekend.

Duke just had a huge win against Carolina(I know BEaner and ND are happy bout that.. ) and certainly looked good on the road recently at Wake. However, did they expend too much energy tonight, especially mentally?

Now, of course they want redemption for the game earlier this year but that atmosphere, with the ESPN college gameday crew there, and being a national night game, will be tough to handle for the hated Devils.

MD, as we all know, is capable of both losing to and beating anyone at home.

So, how will this play out?

One thing is for sure, Duke has to shoot better and not hurt themselves as much as did in Durham.

Hopefully, this game will be like last years game in MD, where Duke was never really in jeopardy of losing.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Duke came within a Raymond Felton brain-fart of losing at home to their biggest rival, so who knows if that will affect them and to what extent.

The Terps need Ibekwe healthy to come off the bench. Bowers has looked better and better every game, and he did a good job against Williams last time, so we'll see what happens there.

The keys are basically the same as last game: get an inside game at least established and fouls on Williams and Randolph, while getting good perimeter defense on Redick. Plus, they can't let Duke go on a run and take the crowd out.

Another win against Duke would be absolutely huge; we could essentially lose out afterwards and probably still have at least a really good shot at the NCAA tournament.

I'll say Maryland wins, 79-70.

[BmoreBoy]

I'm excited about the game. Duke looked pretty good tonight and unfortunately I didn't see Maryland on Tuesday so I still have the bitter taste of 2 back to back loses in my mouth. Since our ACC tournament win last year I don't know what to expect out of this team. For all I know we could crush Duke (I doubt it but won't say it's impossible), but I have a feeling it will be a tight game.

[Tank]

Maryland wins 80-77. I expect a closer game this time around.

[sangell2007]

Whatever the score, if anyone is going, I want to make sure you look for a few things.

First, I will be sitting behind the Maryland bench (hopefully, assuming I can get my seat in time), but where ever I sit, I will have the picture of Ken Griffey with his swollen head and a Sheldon Williams jersey on .

Second, there is a group of students in the pep band who formed a group called the Byrd's 11. For the Florida State football game, they snuck into Byrd and put up a giant banner that said "We will protect this house." Any students on campus might have seen it that morning, but Ralph ordered it down by mid-day.

Well, for the Duke game, they got organized and got the approval of the Athletic Department to post pro-Maryland stuff around Comcast. One of the leaders of the Byrd's 11 lives on my floor, so a bunch of us just got back from spray painting plywood that was put up along the student bridge, next to the Campus Rec Center. Right now, it just says "Fear the Turtle" in a cool design, along with the outlines of two block M's, but we're going to go back tomorrow night after the women's game and add a lot of stuff around those words. We've also spent the last week working on two giant (about 45'x40') banners that will hang off Lot 6, the parking garage next to Comcast Center. There is one for men's basketball that is a designed like a yellow roadside warning sign. It reads "Now Entering Garyland." There is also a women's one which just says "Maryland Women's Basketball," but it has a really cool design.

They've also planned a few things for inside Comcast. Anyone who's been to a Maryland game knows that the students hold up newspapers during the visiting team introductions. There will be Byrd's 11 representatives (most likely not me, though) standing at each vestibule to give out newspapers to all the fans, students or not.

Finally, right after the Duke introdutions, when the lights go off for the Maryland introductions, the students on "The Wall" will be have been given red and white placards. These placards will form a giant M. It should look...really awesome.

Oh, and if you are on campus and have been noticing the "At 3:00PM on February 13, you will not be standing here" signs, we put those up (and in the Diamondback) too. That's to advertise for the women's game against Duke the next day. Although all of us think it is just a little bit weird. That was one of the things the athletic department requested that we do in return for their cooperation with the rest of the stuff.

So if you're coming, check out as much of our stuff as you can. If you see the plywood graffiti on the bridge, I did the "he" in "the" and the "u" in "Turtle." On the Women's Basketball sign, I did the second "a" in Maryland, and on the Garyland sign, I did the "ring" in "Entering." Go Terps!

[longflyball]

The Terps need Ibekwe healthy to come off the bench.

Ibekwe doesn't plan to play on Saturday.

Which makes it difficult to envision a Maryland victory. His 15 points and 9 rebounds were critical in the first game, and the hodge podge lineups Gary's been fielding in his absence aren't likely to fly against Duke. Caner Medley will need to have a monster night.

But I'll be doing my part to give MD a great homefield advanage. From behind the visitor's bench no less.

[photoman]

Ibekwe doesn't plan to play on Saturday.

Which makes it difficult to envision a Maryland victory. His 15 points and 9 rebounds were critical in the first game, and the hodge podge lineups Gary's been fielding in his absence aren't likely to fly against Duke. Caner Medley will need to have a monster night.

But I'll be doing my part to give MD a great homefield advanage. From behind the visitor's bench no less.

McCray needs a monster nite, and Garrison needs to show up, if nothing more then to beable to use 5 fouls. McCray has to shoot the ball. Medley needs to pack it in with the lowpost, so he dont have to take the ball from 15 feet everytime from the right base.

Garrison needs to get his head out of his ass and realize the combination of him, Bowers and Gist can be potent also. Lately hes been doing the early season Gilchrist, with the confused look on his face. To watch a guy 6-8 weighing about 240 being a nothing on a basketball team is frustrating.

Theres no reason why Bowers and/or Garrison should be passing the ball into McCray or Gilchrist, or throwing alley-oops to Gist. With a PG like Gilchrist whos constantly moving and constantly dribbling, lowpost players need to be constantly jockying for position, and not standing around the perimeter, or just standing around.

Marylands game is close to how they played VT. But that consisted of McCray shooting the ball and opening up everything else. Maryland can beat Duke. 79-70 I say 68-65, if they play smart. If they play dumb they lose 95-70. McCray dont shoot they lose anyway.

[Mackus]

Of all the teams where we would really need a healthy Ibekwe to beat, Duke isn't one of them. They only have two guys who can even be considered interior players in WIlliams and Randolph, and Randolph still doesn't look like much of a threat. Having Ibekwe would give us an advantage inside, IMO, but not having jut makes the matchup neutral, assuming Garrison can pull his head out of his a**. Williams is a force inside, and is better than Gist, Bowers, and Garrison, but I think each of those guys, including Bowers, is playing better than randolph right now.

The key will be the big guys playing well as a group and McCray playing amazing defense on Redick again. McCray will be expending tons of energy defensively, so you can't count on him for lots of offense, so Nik and Gilchrist will need to carry the offensive load. I expect Mike Jones to get a lot of PT and offensive looks as well.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of 3-4 guard sets, with lineups like Gilchrist, McCray, Jones, Caner-Medley, and Gist/Garrison on the court for extensive minutes.

[Sports Guy]

Randolph still remains a big key for Duke, Mac.

He is playing better and better but he still makes ridiculously stupid fouls and is now just getting back into full strength from the mono.

Based on pure talent, none of those guys are as good as Randolph however, he is lacking in confidence and strength right now.

But remember last year, in the UCONN game, Randolph was better than every big man on the court when he was in the game. Of course, he was in foul trouble, so he was only in there for like half the game.

I am interested to see how in does now, in the second half of the season.

Also, was last night Nelson's coming out party? If it was, look out because all of a sudden Duke has a good bench especially when Love and McClure come back.

[Sports Guy]

Just read an article on ESPN about Duke and there big win last night and Redick talked about the MD game and how they are coming off of 2 big wins, just as they did heading into the last game with the Terps, and how they can not afford the same let down.

They seem like they will be ready.

Should be a great game. Go Duke!

[Krimka]

Whatever the score, if anyone is going, I want to make sure you look for a few things.

First, I will be sitting behind the Maryland bench (hopefully, assuming I can get my seat in time), but where ever I sit, I will have the picture of Ken Griffey with his swollen head and a Sheldon Williams jersey on .

That's really cool. I'll be sitting across from the Maryland bench, in the 1st/2nd row, closer to the edge of the announcer's table. I believe my friend and I will be holding up signs, so just look for the guy in an all-black Ibekwe jersey.

Duke is an inside-out team, and disrupting that will be the key in stopping them. McCray will have to shadow Redick, and hopefully neutralize him, while Bowers AND GARRISON have to keep Sheldon in check. If Williams is able to go off inside and pick up cheap fouls (*cough* Travis *cough*) on our guys, then we stand no chance. Gist is not large enough to guard their center, so it really comes down to Will and Travis. Once Sheldon is kept in check, Duke will have no other option than to drive into traffic or force threes, which really plays into our favor.

If we can keep either Redick or Ewing to 15 or less points, and hold off Sheldon inside while keeping our bigs out of foul trouble, then we should win. Expect to see a starting lineup of Bowers, NCM, Jones, McCray, and Gilchrist to combat Duke's 3 guard lineup. This will also spare Garrison for the first 3-5 minutes so he doesn't pick up any quick fouls.

[Max Power]

I really hope the Ken Griffey Jr sign makes it on to tv.

[glenn__davis]

SG, as a Duke fan, do you get up for the MD game more than other ACC games, with the exception of UNC? I know Duke-UNC is the rivalry as long as both teams are good, but do you see Duke-MD as a rivalry too, and if so, do you think you would if you weren't from this area?

[Sports Guy]

SG, as a Duke fan, do you get up for the MD game more than other ACC games, with the exception of UNC? I know Duke-UNC is the rivalry as long as both teams are good, but do you see Duke-MD as a rivalry too, and if so, do you think you would if you weren't from this area?

Here is the thing...For a rivalry to be a rivalry, doesn't the other team actually have to win?

Duke has beat UNC 15 out of 17 games and like 10 of 11. Thats not a rivalry now, is it?

MD/Duke has clearly been a better rivalry so far this decade and yes i do get up for this game big time because of course all my friends are MD fans so that adds to the fire.

Now, that being said, thew Duke/UNC rivalry i somethign that none of us up here probably truly understand. I mean last night was the 133rd consecutive game between those 2 were at least one team was ranked. Thats amazing. IN the last 24 final fours, 18 of them have had at least one of the schools in it.

These 2 schools have dominated college bball since the early 80's.

They are only 8 miles apart. They have great coaches. It is just as good as it gets in sports. Give me UNC/Duke over any rivalry in any sport.

[mweb]

Here is the thing...For a rivalry to be a rivalry, doesn't the other team actually have to win?

Duke has beat UNC 15 out of 17 games and like 10 of 11. Thats not a rivalry now, is it?

MD/Duke has clearly been a better rivalry so far this decade and yes i do get up for this game big time because of course all my friends are MD fans so that adds to the fire.

Now, that being said, thew Duke/UNC rivalry i somethign that none of us up here probably truly understand. I mean last night was the 133rd consecutive game between those 2 were at least one team was ranked. Thats amazing. IN the last 24 final fours, 18 of them have had at least one of the schools in it.

These 2 schools have dominated college bball since the early 80's.

They are only 8 miles apart. They have great coaches. It is just as good as it gets in sports. Give me UNC/Duke over any rivalry in any sport.

Wow, so in the same post you basically say UNC/Duke isn't a rivalry because one team wins all the time, MD/Duke has been the better rivalry lately, but UNC/Duke is the best rivalry in any sport. Very interesting.

Anyway, I know we all hate both teams, but Yankees-Sox is the best rivalry in American sports right now. It was at least as good of a rivalry before this postseason, but after that incredible comeback, that rivalry easily wins out. Especially since the Sox did what UNC hasn't been able to, and that is beat their arch rival, and when it counts the most nonetheless.