MD MSU Game Thread

[sportsfan14]

Huuuge win for the Terps, but you guys need to temper you enthusiasm just a bit.

State was playing without their big guy, Goran Suton, and I think it's clear that that will be Maryland's weakness this year. I really wasn't that impressed with Dupree at all. He made a couple open layups on flex cuts, but it's not like he showed some good post moves or anything.

That said, I was SO impressed (and have been this whole year so far) by Adrian Bowie. That kid can play. You guys definitely have one of the better backcourts in the league, with Hayes, Vasquez, and Bowie, not to mention whatever Mosley can turn into (Haven't been that impressed with him either, but it's early).

IF any of the big guys can actually become ANY sort of inside presence, no doubt in my mind Maryland is a tournament team. That's a pretty big IF though, seeing as I haven't really seen anything from any of them that suggests that will happen. We'll see what happens this afternoon against a team with some good bigs (Daye and Heytvelt).

Yea, I agree with basically all of this. Obviously a huge win for MD, but the Michigan State team that showed up last night was nowhere near #6 in the country.

No Suton causes a huge mess for them. Roe is clearly not healthy yet. The Spartans had to go with basically an all-freshman lineup for some stretches.

More important than Suton possibly was the absence of Raymar Morgan. Not sure how that hasn't been brought up. Izzo seemed to send him a message leaving him on the bench that long. Anyone see where Izzo was yelling at him while he was sitting on the bench and he just rolled his eyes and said, "yea, ok coach"?

MSU perspective

At one point late in the first half, Izzo had Roe and fellow freshmen Draymond Green and Korie Lucious, redshirt freshman walk-on Austin Thornton and Walton on the floor at the same time.

"It was just a little confused," Izzo said. "We're not a top-five, 10 team, 20 team, 30 team with that lineup in there."

The situation kind of reminds of UCLA. Pre-season rankings are basically name recognition+last year's result+quality of incoming recruiting class. Doesn't really mean anything in terms of how good a team is in November. UCLA and MSU are clearly not top 10 teams right now. MSU struggled to beat IPFW (a team that is likely a good bit worse than Vermont). I'm confident that UNC will thump MSU next week in the ACC-Big 10 Beatdown.

Luckily for MD, I think it is pretty likely that MSU is very very good by March, and this win will look awesome.

Also, playing Gonzaga and Tennessee/Georgetown does a whole lot more for the SoS than Ok St and Wichita St/Siena.

[Mackus]

The best thing about last night is that MD is capable of playing a lot better.

I'm not so sure about that. The only person who didn't play a near optimal game was Tucker. They aren't gonna shoot 50% from the floor against that type of defense all the time.

I certainly think that this type of win proves to both the team and its fans that Maryland can be a better team than everyone expects, but I don't think it means we are definitely there. We've still gotta put the work in. The backcourt is going to be excellent, but the inside is still a major weakness. Dupree and Gregory played pretty well last night, but they weren't challenged all that much. Teams haven't really tried to pound it in on Milbourne yet either, which will be an issue against teams with multiple bigs.

There were 3 major things that led to the win last night, IMO. The team shot great from the field, the line, and the arc. Turnovers were very manageable, they protected the ball well. And MSU didn't attack the inside guys.

The way they shot and controlled the ball against a very good defensive team is incredibly encouraging. This can be a very good shooting team, but the lack of good bigs might keep the overall percentage down, but they got a lot of high percentage shots from the flex. The bigs played well enough to let the guards win it, which is all we need from them.

[EddieO's21]

Saw the score last night and was absolutely flabbergasted, I couldn't believe it. I think what is most important is Neal's 17 points. While he isn't going to be flashy, he is going to be crucial to the success in giving quality minutes this year. He is going to be downright frusterating at times, and while I don't expect him to be a 10 point guy each game, his post defense is the most crucial and what UMD lacks going forward. If this is somehow improved, I think the Terps could do far better than expected. They sure showed it yesterday!

[Pedro Cerrano]

Huuuge win for the Terps, but you guys need to temper you enthusiasm just a bit.

State was playing without their big guy, Goran Suton, and I think it's clear that that will be Maryland's weakness this year. I really wasn't that impressed with Dupree at all. He made a couple open layups on flex cuts, but it's not like he showed some good post moves or anything.

That said, I was SO impressed (and have been this whole year so far) by Adrian Bowie. That kid can play. You guys definitely have one of the better backcourts in the league, with Hayes, Vasquez, and Bowie, not to mention whatever Mosley can turn into (Haven't been that impressed with him either, but it's early).

IF any of the big guys can actually become ANY sort of inside presence, no doubt in my mind Maryland is a tournament team. That's a pretty big IF though, seeing as I haven't really seen anything from any of them that suggests that will happen. We'll see what happens this afternoon against a team with some good bigs (Daye and Heytvelt).

Lol, we beat them by almost 20! Gimme a break.

[Doyle Hargraves]

Those announcers were horrible. I think at one point they referred to Keith Booth as Kent.

They were definitely quite harsh on Neal. Now granted he's not the best player out there, but to flat out say he's no good and just rag on him on National TV was in poor taste if you ask me. The Mosley comments were pretty bad as well.

Didn't catch if it was Kurt or Kent, but it definitely wasn't Keith.

The announcers must have heard of Strawberry, they compared Bowie to him more than once.

Also, when discussing GWs success with lower-level recruits and the NC team, they salivated over Blake and Dixon, but I didn't hear them even mention Lonny Baxter.

Everytime I hear somebody diss Dave Neal, all I can think is how I would much rather have his high basketball I.Q and perceived lack of talent on the floor anytime over the supposed superior talent and and frustrating lack of basketball acumen that was Nik Caner-Medley.

[biggsy]

Didn't catch if it was Kurt or Kent, but it definitely wasn't Keith.

The announcers must have heard of Strawberry, they compared Bowie to him more than once.

Also, when discussing GWs success with lower-level recruits and the NC team, they salivated over Blake and Dixon, but I didn't hear them even mention Lonny Baxter.

Everytime I hear somebody diss Dave Neal, all I can think is how I would much rather have his high basketball I.Q and perceived lack of talent on the floor anytime over the supposed superior talent and and frustrating lack of basketball acumen that was Nik Caner-Medley.

Ha, I gotta agree with you there. After watching last night, with the exception of Vasquez, this looks to be one of Gary's smarter teams in a couple of years. Mosely, Hayes and Bowie all seem to have great basketball IQ's. If Vasquez can tame it down a little bit and play a little bit more in control, this team could be a very dangerous team.

[Mackus]

Vasquez was off, and as you said Tucker was a non-factor… Kim, Burney, and Goins chained to the bench…

Vasquez wasn't really off. He wasn't at his absolute best, but he was playing pretty well, especially during the most important part of the game, he was at his absolute best then.

I think any argument saying someone wasn't quite at their best is more than canceled out by the performance from Dave Neal. He obviously was playing at a level that he simply cannot reach most nights. If he gets 6 points and 4 rebounds he's had a nearly miraculous game, so him getting 17 is not gonna happen again.

I'm thrilled with the way they played, and I think it definitely does show that there is some hope for the bigs to play well enough that the rest of the team can make us a pretty good team that can make the tournament. But I really don't think there is a whole lot of room for improvement from this type of performance. They can be a bit better, but not "a lot better". They beat a top 5 team by 18 points. Its hard to play a lot better than that.

[Tank]

Great win. First game I've had a chance to watch on TV. Bowie is going to be a beast.

[YardBirds13]

Lol, we beat them by almost 20! Gimme a break.

So because they won by a bunch means there aren't problems lurking down the road for this team? Cmon Pedro, that's silly.

All I was saying is that they played a team without any inside presence, which is a great matchup for them. Not saying it's not a huge win to have on the resume, it definitely is. Just saying I still don't see anyone on their frontcourt that has stepped up, and that could be an issue down the road.

[Mackus]

So because they won by a bunch means there aren't problems lurking down the road for this team? Cmon Pedro, that's silly.

All I was saying is that they played a team without any inside presence, which is a great matchup for them. Not saying it's not a huge win to have on the resume, it definitely is. Just saying I still don't see anyone on their frontcourt that has stepped up, and that could be an issue down the road.

They weren't a team "without any inside presence". They've got a stud who played who came in averaging 20+ ppg a night. He didn't skip the game, he got into foul trouble, which happens. That was a pretty ideal situation for Maryland, but getting someone into foul trouble isn't the same as not playing at all. Getting someone into foul trouble is oftentimes a result of a team being aggressive or forcing the issue and making someone pick up quick fouls.

[Lucky Jim]

The team can play better - but that's only because Mosely (who I think will be starting by the end of the year or getting starter minutes) and others will step up.

I feel for Milbourne - I like him a lot, and think he's talented. He's really carrying a burden trying to work the 4 at his size.

I actually thought Dupree played pretty well last night - not great. But not the non-presence I expected. His hands betrayed him a couple of times.

Vasquez (of course) did a number of completely asinine things. But he was money down the stretch.

[Pedro Cerrano]

So because they won by a bunch means there aren't problems lurking down the road for this team? Cmon Pedro, that's silly.

All I was saying is that they played a team without any inside presence, which is a great matchup for them. Not saying it's not a huge win to have on the resume, it definitely is. Just saying I still don't see anyone on their frontcourt that has stepped up, and that could be an issue down the road.

No the point is you're trying to temper our enthusiasm by bringing up a few points which, in my opinion, are garbage.

Maybe if we had won by a bucket or two it would have some merit but we kicked their butts and any amount of enthusiasm about it is warranted.

Is MD a flawed team? Sure. But don't tell me that our win is any less legitimate because it's not.

[YardBirds13]

They weren't a team "without any inside presence". They've got a stud who played who came in averaging 20+ ppg a night. He didn't skip the game, he got into foul trouble, which happens. That was a pretty ideal situation for Maryland, but getting someone into foul trouble isn't the same as not playing at all. Getting someone into foul trouble is oftentimes a result of a team being aggressive or forcing the issue and making someone pick up quick fouls.

I was talking about Suton, who is their true inside presence. Yes, Morgan played, and him getting in fould trouble was a big part of the game, I'm not saying he skipped the game.

[YardBirds13]

No the point is you're trying to temper our enthusiasm by bringing up a few points which, in my opinion, are garbage.

Maybe if we had won by a bucket or two it would have some merit but we kicked their butts and any amount of enthusiasm about it is warranted.

Is MD a flawed team? Sure. But don't tell me that our win is any less legitimate because it's not.

When did I say it wasn't a great win??

It's a huge win, but it was, as Mackus said, an ideal situation for them to pick up that big win.

As you saw against Gonzaga, teams with size are going to be really tough for Maryland this year, that's all I was trying to say.