Maryland vs. Notre Dame

[Oriole4Life]

Big Ten/ACC Challenge game.  Notre Dame is led by two seniors, John Mooney and T.J. Gibbs.  They have another senior forward Juwan Durham.  I think our young bigs will be challenged this game, I'd like to see the Mitchell twins give us some good minutes along with Lindo.  Of course Jalen Smith needs to step up. 

Game is at home at Xfinity Center.  Terps are 9 point favorites.  Let's go!  I'll be recording this game but will watch when I get home later tonight.

[jarman86]

No. 1 ranking possibility next week gives me this pit in my stomach that the Terps will blow it tonight.  Here is hoping I am wrong, but with our first "big" game of the year I'm looking forward to seeing the actual rotation.

[MurphDogg]

1 hour ago, jarman86 said:

No. 1 ranking possibility next week gives me this pit in my stomach that the Terps will blow it tonight.  Here is hoping I am wrong, but with our first "big" game of the year I'm looking forward to seeing the actual rotation.

Marquette on Sunday was a bigger game.

[Tony-OH]

0-for-10 from the 3 point line through the first 10 minutes.

Gotta make some adjustments.

[Finisher]

36 minutes ago, vatech1994 said:

And Stix just can’t score with his back to the basket against a 5.  He just can’t do it.

Dude has the worst touch.

Anyway, we should pull away in the second half. Talent differential is pretty obvious.

[ArtVanDelay]

This is first time I’ve had a chance to sit down and watch a game this year.  Very impressive so far!

[ChuckS]

9 minutes ago, vatech1994 said:

The thing that could really make a difference is the defense.  This team has multiple players that can really defend on the ball and on the cut.  They hand off pretty well and are talented enough to switch without really giving up a ton.  They play the pick and roll pretty well most of the time.

Say what you will about Turgeon, but his teams generally defend really well.  Morsell is a stopper.  Ayala and Wiggins aren't bad either.  

The more I watch Wiggins the more I think he could be declaring pro after this season.  He's got length, athleticism, and can really shoot the ball. Last season he just seemed like a three point shooter without much of a handle or driving ability.  Most improved player. 

Ayala is still my favorite player.  So consistent.  Might be the best player on the team even though he can't take over a game the same way Cowan can. 

[ChuckS]

My favorite lines from tonight:

Stix Smith: 15 points, 16 rebounds, 5 blocks

Maryland: (only) 7 turnovers

[Finisher]

11 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Say what you will about Turgeon, but his teams generally defend really well.  Morsell is a stopper.  Ayala and Wiggins aren't bad either.  

The more I watch Wiggins the more I think he could be declaring pro after this season.  He's got length, athleticism, and can really shoot the ball. Last season he just seemed like a three point shooter without much of a handle or driving ability.  Most improved player. 

Ayala is still my favorite player.  So consistent.  Might be the best player on the team even though he can't take over the game the same way Cowan can. 

LOVE Ayala. For some reason he wasn't starting earlier in the season, but they started him last game and tonight and it makes a big difference. Just really strong defense and great driver to the hoop. Also takes smart threes.

Agree with you on Wiggins. Hope we get one more year out of him, but can definitely see him bolting depending on how his game is looking at season's end.

I will never trust a Turgeon team but this team actually plays defense and is extremely deep.

[ChuckS]

This is such a deep squad.  Even though we will lose Cowan after this season and potentially Jalen Smith and Wiggins as well (those two are far from a sure thing to leave), should have a very good team returning next season.

I'm not sure if Chol Marial is going to return from injury to play this season, but I would prefer to red shirt him at this point with as deep as the talent is this year.  Next season you could be looking at:

• PG: Ayala
• SG: Morsell
• SF: Scott
• PF: Makhi Mitchell
• Center: Marial

That may be too big of a lineup for the modern game, so maybe you move Hart or some hot shot freshmen into the starting lineup and move one of the bigs to the bench.  And if Smith or Wiggins (or both of them) return, forget about it.  It will be another season of insane depth.  You could see players like Lindo and Serell Smith transfer due to lack of available minutes.  

[Tony-OH]

3 hours ago, ChuckS said:

Say what you will about Turgeon, but his teams generally defend really well.  Morsell is a stopper.  Ayala and Wiggins aren't bad either.  

The more I watch Wiggins the more I think he could be declaring pro after this season.  He's got length, athleticism, and can really shoot the ball. Last season he just seemed like a three point shooter without much of a handle or driving ability.  Most improved player. 

Ayala is still my favorite player.  So consistent.  Might be the best player on the team even though he can't take over a game the same way Cowan can. 

They do defend well, no doubt. Once they heated up, the talent really shown through tonight. That dunk from Wiggens after he missed his three was amazing.

[Oriole4Life]

That play at the first half by Wiggins was ridiculous. I can't remember the last time I saw a player miss a three and finish their own rebound with a dunk. Maybe never.

I love Morsell. He is a creator. He consistently penetrates the lane and either creates his own shot or opens up a play for someone else. 

Ayala plays strong. He isn't afraid. He's the one guy that can drive and score almost at will. Plus his shot is money.

I wish Stix had better footwork. He may have bulked up his upper body, but he still looks awkward sometimes in the post. Needs to strengthen his core. Gotta love his size though, grabbed tons of rebounds tonight.

Lindo looks bigger and stronger. He didn't play much tonight but I noticed that.

Team rotates on defense very well.

[Satyr3206]

Footwork has nothing to do with core strength. It's repetition. Somewhat like an offensive lineman.

[Oriole4Life]

True. I just think he can work on all of it. I've never seen a big guy throw up so many awkward looking shots near the basket. Like if you compare how Bruno looked in the post and Jalen, it's completely different. Footwork for sure. At least he hit some jumpers tonight including some threes. If he's gonna keep taking them he might as hit them haha. He has a good looking shot. He's the one who hit the big 3 against LSU last year. 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Oriole4Life

[MurphDogg]

On 12/4/2019 at 9:45 PM, ChuckS said:

You could see players like Lindo and Serell Smith transfer due to lack of available minutes.  

Not sure what is going on with Lindo and Serrel Smith. Both were playing big minutes earlier but in the last 4 games they each played a total of 10 minutes with DNPs against Marquette. Lindo played 13 minutes against George Mason and 21 against Fairfield right before that. Smith played 10+ minutes in 4 of the 5 games before that.