Bring on the Terps

[Pedro Cerrano]

They're letting these guys play which I appreciate and they finally whistled Paulus for an arm check (something he ALWAYS does). I just wish the refs would be as strict with Sheldon as they are with Ibekwe on the traveling calls. I'm also happy with our free throw shooting.

[drarray]

How many 18/10 guys are there in the league (if Boozer is even one, which I dont think he's proven consistently yet)? Compare that to how many 24/10+ guys there are.

Brand is much better than Boozer.

Especially when one considers their injury history and the fact that Brand is a proven comidity whereas Boozer still needs to get back to where he was pre-injury, which is a huge question mark now.

[Sports Guy]

THis game reminded me of the game at Maryland a few years ago.(last time i saw Duke at MD)

Duke had a solid working margin all game long and the Terps could never get a lead.

Sheldon and JJ dominate again and Dock and Paulus give great contributions as secondary players.

[DuffMan]

I'm not going to say the refs cost the Terps the game, but I do think they did a poor job of officiating. They were so inconsistent in their calls. Down in the post you could mug a guy and not get called for a foul, but out on the peremiter if you even breathe on someone there was a whistle.

[Sports Guy]

I'm not going to say the refs cost the Terps the game, but I do think they did a poor job of officiating. They were so inconsistent in their calls. Down in the post you could mug a guy and not get called for a foul, but out on the peremiter if you even breathe on someone there was a whistle.

What are you talking about? They were consistent.

They allowed muggings down low and called touch fouls up top. That is how the game was called all day long.

I thought the officiating, because of the consistency, was well done.

It is like an umpire calling a ball on the outside a strike...It is not really a strike but if he calls it consistently, you have to adjust.

[amoly22]

I agree that the calls were consistent so I don't think you can blame the refs. However, I will say that the way they were calling the game did favor Duke since Maryland likes to try to draw more fouls inside and since the key for Maryland to beat Duke was getting Williams in foul trouble.

[Sports Guy]

I agree that the calls were consistent so I don't think you can blame the refs. However, I will say that the way they were calling the game did favor Duke since Maryland likes to try to draw more fouls inside and since the key for Maryland to beat Duke was getting Williams in foul trouble.

True but if they had called it normally, everyone down low for the Terps would have fouled out, so it would not have mattered.

[Sports Guy]

BTW...Very nice game for NCM...Maryland did a poor job of not getting the ball to him enough early in the second half...By the time they decided to give it to him, the game was over.

[Mackus]

Key to the game was the first few minutes of the second half. We ended the first half great and then gave back everything we did in the first couple minutes. The game was real even from then on, we just couldn't overcome that hole.

[Mackus]

True but if they had called it normally, everyone down low for the Terps would have fouled out, so it would not have mattered.

I don't think so. There were a few things I noticed going uncalled against us, but much moreso against Duke. With McRoberts doing a fine Shavlik impression, had the officiating been tighter inside I think Duke would have been in big trouble, as Sheldon was the only thing working for them inside. If he had to spend half of the second half on the bench, Ibekwe and Gist would have dominated in there.

The officiating wasn't unbalanced, but it was horrible. I do think that they clearly were letting Williams get away with offensive fouls and travels almost every time he touched the ball. Paulus also would be completely useless if they ever called him for pushing off with his off-hand; he does it every time he dribbles.

[amoly22]

SG, my point is that Maryland has more depth down low than Duke so fouls on Williams and McRoberts would have been more costly.

[Sports Guy]

I don't think so. There were a few things I noticed going uncalled against us, but much moreso against Duke. With McRoberts doing a fine Shavlik impression, had the officiating been tighter inside I think Duke would have been in big trouble, as Sheldon was the only thing working for them inside. If he had to spend half of the second half on the bench, Ibekwe and Gist would have dominated in there.

The officiating wasn't unbalanced, but it was horrible. I do think that they clearly were letting Williams get away with offensive fouls and travels almost every time he touched the ball. Paulus also would be completely useless if they ever called him for pushing off with his off-hand; he does it every time he dribbles.

McRoberts was probably fouled 10 times today and none were called. No officiating bias today although i am sure you Terps fans will try. You were at home in a must win game and you could never manage to even get a lead at any point in the game.

[Sports Guy]

SG, my point is that Maryland has more depth down low than Duke so fouls on Williams and McRoberts would have been more costly.

And that's true and i am not disagreeing with you but MD would have lost players with foul troubles too. So, that being the case, you have to question how much they would have been able to dominate down low when their better players would have been out of the game as well.

It is amazing that the refs let so much stuff go...But at least they were consistent about it. I guess thats all you can ask for.

[wnst listener]

Way too much analyzing. The bottom line is Puke I mean Duke has an All-American interior player and an All-American perimeter player and MD has neither. Go back to when we won the title, best big man in the ACC in Baxter, best perimeter in Dixon, and one of the 5 best point guards in the land that year. We've been able to replace Dixon's outside scoring and occassionally we've had decent point guard play but we've yet to get a back to the basket inside player to replace Baxter. Gary's offense is at it's best when it pounds you inside in the 1st half and then get's open 3's in the second half. Since Baxter and Wilcox left we've been strictly a perimeter team. Add in the fact that these players have some of the worst basketball IQ I've ever seen and it's a miracle Gary's even gotten them to play this well.

[amoly22]

SG, I completely agree that it was consistently called so you can't blame the refs. However, fouls on Duke's players down low are more costly than fouls on Maryland's players down low. Duke without Williams is a very very beatable team. Maryland without Ibekwe doesn't lose that much because we can put Garrison or Bowers right in.