UNC UMD Thread

[BaltimoreTerp]

You can tell it's a low time in CP when we're getting excited about a 17 point loss at UNC.

So...you didn't watch the game?

[YardBirds13]

I think they can start playing like a team that deserves to be in the NCAA tournament down the stretch.

However, I don't think they can do enough to overcome the huge hole they put themselves in with the Morgan St, Miami, Florida St, and perhaps BC losses (or at least all of them combined, needed to win against Morgan and at least 2 of those ACC games).

Disagree here. They can do enough to get back in. Most teams play their way out of the Dance in February, so if MD can put together a nice run, they could easily slide into the dance, or at least put themselves in a position to get in with an ACC Tourney win or two.

at GT, VT, at CLEM, UNC, DUKE, at NCST, WAKE, at UVA.

First off, they have to win the 3 road games at the bottom feeders. Absolute must wins. They lost any of those 3, and it's over (Unless they do something like win all 3 against the big guys at home, but come on.)

Then, they gotta split the VT/CLEM games. Get 1/2 and I think you are ok.

Then, you gotta beat one of the 3 big boys at home. Just get one of them. Getting one of them, and doing the things I mentioned above, puts you at 8-8 in the ACC, with a win over Mich State and one of the big 3 ACC teams, along with a solid OOC schedule, a nice win over Michigan, and a couple wins over ACC bubble teams (Miami and the VT/Clemson win).

Win your first round game and you are dancing, IMO.

Win against Clemson and VT, PLUS knock off one of the big boys? NCAA.

The interesting thing would be if they can beat VT AND Clemson, but can't beat any of the 3 big guys. They'd be at 8-8, but without the big time win in conference. I think they would need to win 2 ACC Tourney games and get some help in that scenario, but again, MD, if they play like they did for much of the game tonight, can certainly do enough to get a shot at the Dance.

[Pedro Cerrano]

UNC showed tonight why they're the best team in the country, but you can't be too pleased about giving up over 90 points to MD at home...the D needs to get better in Chapel Hill.

[beaner]

UNC showed tonight why they're the best team in the country, but you can't be too pleased about giving up over 90 points to MD at home...the D needs to get better in Chapel Hill.

No doubt about that.

[Guest Sailor Jerry]

Maryland scored 91 points and wasn't even in the game once they got about 6 minutes in. The offense actually looked good but man, UNC hit eeeeeeverything. To get to the tournament, Maryland has a biiiiig hole to climb out of. I'm not sure they can do it.

[Baltimore Chop]

UNC showed tonight why they're the best team in the country, but you can't be too pleased about giving up over 90 points to MD at home...the D needs to get better in Chapel Hill.

Have to disagree with you here (about the bolded part).

UNC shot unbelievably well, however had they played some D, they should have won by 40-50. Now I haven't watched much of UNC this year, but if this is their A game, they are a Sweet 16 team. No team is going to regularly shoot 64% behind the arc on a regular basis -- that's just not realistic.

UNC allowed a LOT of fast breaks, and allowed MD to get entirely way too many rebounds and second (and third) chances. Considering how undersized MD is, there was frankly no excuse for that.

Ultimately, lack of defense is what is going to sink the Heels.

[Three Run Homer]

I agree with the sentiment that the Terps actually played pretty well, despite the final score. But I don't agree that the Terps get a free pass on North Carolina's shooting behind the arc. The Terps have allowed too many opponents to shoot the lights out from three this season, and it cost them big time in the Morgan, Miami and BC games.

Why do the Terps have such a hard time defending the three? It seems like there are two possibilities:

(1) The Terps have to double team and sag down low because of their lack of interior size and strength. Inevitably this leads to open looks.

(2) The Terps lack the intensity or defensive awareness to challenge three point shots in a timely way.

I'm not enough of a student of the game to tell which explanation is correct, just based on my viewing of the games. Maybe someone else here could offer some analysis.

A couple of other observations:

(1) Glad to see Tucker getting some playing time and doing something with it. Where the heck has this guy been all season? He was just as promising as Adrian Bowie last year as a freshman but he has been buried on the bench all season. I sure as heck would rather see him playing than Dave Neal, even if it meant having 4 or 5 smallish guys on the floor at once.

(2) Jin Soo Kim really should be redshirting this year. He is built like a whooping crane: tall, long arms but he looks like a strong gust of wind would blow him away. He's not physically strong enough to compete on the inside on either end of the floor right now, and since Gary won't let him concentrate on what he does best right now (catch and shoot) he's not really helping the team at all. It would have been better to let him spend this season in the weight room bulking up.

[Mackus]

(1) The Terps have to double team and sag down low because of their lack of interior size and strength. Inevitably this leads to open looks.

(2) The Terps lack the intensity or defensive awareness to challenge three point shots in a timely way.

I'm not enough of a student of the game to tell which explanation is correct, just based on my viewing of the games

This is a pretty obvious question to answer.

Just look at it this way:

Despite their struggles, has lack of heart and effort been a problem this season? Or have all the problems all season been just snowball effects of the main problem, the complete lack of size.

I agree with you its nice to see Tucker contributing, he has been terrible all year after being pretty solid last year. He was better than Bowie last season, so it will be nice if he can start bouncing back. If not, I think he'll be on the short list of guys they ask to take their game elsewhere (with Dupree and Burney). Also agree Kim would've been better off redshirting this year, especially so if the academic suspension ends up sticking.

[inmn]

I agree with the sentiment that the Terps actually played pretty well, despite the final score. But I don't agree that the Terps get a free pass on North Carolina's shooting behind the arc. The Terps have allowed too many opponents to shoot the lights out from three this season, and it cost them big time in the Morgan, Miami and BC games.

Why do the Terps have such a hard time defending the three? It seems like there are two possibilities:

(1) The Terps have to double team and sag down low because of their lack of interior size and strength. Inevitably this leads to open looks.

(2) The Terps lack the intensity or defensive awareness to challenge three point shots in a timely way.

I'm not enough of a student of the game to tell which explanation is correct, just based on my viewing of the games. Maybe someone else here could offer some analysis.

A couple of other observations:

(1) Glad to see Tucker getting some playing time and doing something with it. Where the heck has this guy been all season? He was just as promising as Adrian Bowie last year as a freshman but he has been buried on the bench all season. I sure as heck would rather see him playing than Dave Neal, even if it meant having 4 or 5 smallish guys on the floor at once.

(2) Jin Soo Kim really should be redshirting this year. He is built like a whooping crane: tall, long arms but he looks like a strong gust of wind would blow him away. He's not physically strong enough to compete on the inside on either end of the floor right now, and since Gary won't let him concentrate on what he does best right now (catch and shoot) he's not really helping the team at all. It would have been better to let him spend this season in the weight room bulking up.

You also need to note that most of GW's past teams have benefited from having a weakside shot blocking presence so there was less need to double team-this was pretty much a GW trademark, something that he was willing to sacrifice rebounding for (can't block out if you are trying to block a shot).

He has had to make big changes on the defensive side and has really done a good job disguising many of their weaknesses.

Mack-I think you brought up the roster composition previously. One of the issues with this team is that all their best players are swingmen-small forwards or 2's without range-Milbourne, Vasquez, Tucker, Kim, Mosley, and to a certain extent Gregory and Bowie. Simply not enough minutes to go around. You could actually make the case that their three best players play the same position (Milbourne, Vasquez, Mosley).

[Mackus]

Mack-I think you brought up the roster composition previously. One of the issues with this team is that all their best players are swingmen-small forwards or 2's without range-Milbourne, Vasquez, Tucker, Kim, Mosley, and to a certain extent Gregory and Bowie. Simply not enough minutes to go around. You could actually make the case that their three best players play the same position (Milbourne, Vasquez, Mosley).

I definitely agree their best players are far too similar. Vasquez and Mosley definitely are both 2's, Vasquez is too wild with the ball to be a 1 and Mosley doesn't have the handle for it. Milbourne I think is great as a 3, although ideally he'd have a bit more range. He is quite deadly from 18 feet and in with the jumper though, he's been the most enjoyable guy to watch all season. If he can go back to the 3 next year, I think he'll have a monster year.

[PaulBako]

This is a pretty obvious question to answer.

Just look at it this way:

Despite their struggles, has lack of heart and effort been a problem this season? Or have all the problems all season been just snowball effects of the main problem, the complete lack of size.

I agree with you its nice to see Tucker contributing, he has been terrible all year after being pretty solid last year. He was better than Bowie last season, so it will be nice if he can start bouncing back. If not, I think he'll be on the short list of guys they ask to take their game elsewhere (with Dupree and Burney). Also agree Kim would've been better off redshirting this year, especially so if the academic suspension ends up sticking.

Tucker does well when he gets playing time.

[Mackus]

Tucker does well when he gets playing time.

This isn't a chicken/egg situation here.

He's played pretty poorly even when he's gotten playing time this season, most of it early.

He played great yesterday, and that will get him more playing time, hopefully he can run with it and get back to playing at the high level he showed hints of last year. But don't say that the reason he hasn't played well this year is because of lack of playing time. Its simply not true. He's been pretty mediocre all year long. He's had a couple nice moments, but nothing consistent until last night.

[Three Run Homer]

This is a pretty obvious question to answer.

Just look at it this way:

Despite their struggles, has lack of heart and effort been a problem this season? Or have all the problems all season been just snowball effects of the main problem, the complete lack of size.

There have been comments from Gary and players after games suggesting that the Terps' effort has been inconsistent at times this season on the defensive end. And even when the effort is there, the Terps may not always be playing smart on defense--Gary commented after the BC game that the Terps struggle on defense when they are on the end of the court away from the team bench, because the coaching staff can't help out with instructions.

Even in past years when the Terps have had better interior defense, it seems to me that 3 point shooting defense has been an issue for this team.

[inmn]

There have been comments from Gary and players after games suggesting that the Terps' effort has been inconsistent at times this season on the defensive end. And even when the effort is there, the Terps may not always be playing smart on defense--Gary commented after the BC game that the Terps struggle on defense when they are on the end of the court away from the team bench, because the coaching staff can't help out with instructions.

Even in past years when the Terps have had better interior defense, it seems to me that 3 point shooting defense has been an issue for this team.

Perimeter defense has been a recent issue because they have size but lack perimeter quickness. Hayes and Vasquez specifically have to guard against dribble penetration-especially this year with no established shot blockers.

[The Rick]

So...you didn't watch the game?

I did watch the game, and I agree they played better. However, my point was that it's telling how far we've fallen when we're getting excited about a 17-point loss to UNC.

I'm not saying we shouldn't be encouraged from last night's aberation, but it's hard to argue my main point. But if you want to, it wouldn't surprise me, and have at it.