Maryland Rebounds With Dominating Win Over Virginia, 85-66
by Ben Broman on Feb 15, 2010 9:58 PM EST
in Basketball
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PrintMaybe we just witnessed the power of homecourt. Maybe we just witnessed a return to strength after a bad game. Maybe we just witnessed a determined team eager to make up for a disappointing loss. Maybe we witnessed what the presence of Vernon Davis, Steve Francis, and possibly even Wale does for a basketball team. Or maybe we just witnessed all of the above. (Okay, probably not that last one.)
Whatever the reason, we certainly witnessed a statement game and an offensive demolition. Maryland came out after a rough loss to Duke in which they never got on track offensively, and they never seemed to get off it against the Cavs. They shot 53% from the field, and an unbelievable 70% in the first half, in which they scored 52 points. Greivis Vasquez scored 25 in said first half, and Maryland simply never looked back. Even though Vasquez would score only 5 more points in the game, others picked up the second half slack and Maryland coasted to an easy home win, 85-66.
One of the big keys for me in the preview for this game was how Maryland would deal with the Duke loss. It was a test of their mettle, and I can say with full confidence: test passed. They came out and punched UVA in the mouth. You couldn't ask for a better response.
After missing every open shot they had against Duke, the rims proved significantly kinder at home in the Comcast Center. They aren't as good as they were in the first half, just like they weren't as bad as they were against Duke, but wow: this was the statement game they were looking for.
Nearly everyone was impressive in this game, but three players really stood out, in addition to Vasquez's dominance: Jordan Williams, James Padgett, and Cliff Tucker. Jordan had another double-double against moderate competition, and looked great doing it. His hands, post moves, and rebounding are well ahead of his years.
Padgett was surprising. He played early and often - no, really - and actually got into double-digits in minutes. He had his problems, especially in looking rather tentative, but once he got into the flow of things he showed why Gary and others really liked his grit and determination. He only had 5 points and 1 rebound, but that's miles ahead of where he was just a few games ago. If he can start to steal minutes from Dino, this team is all the more dangerous.
Tucker nearly out-minuted Sean Mosley - partially due to Mosley's foul troubles, sure, but Tucker looked better in his time than Mosley did in his, and really wasn't even that close. I'll hit on Mosley's troubles later, but this is Tucker's time: he had some great moves in transition, and was smart with the ball and with his shots. If he can bring solid decision-making into the equation, he looks a lot more complete.
While those stood out, almost everyone else looked good. Landon Milbourne ended up with 14, as did Eric Hayes. Both shot better than 50%. Dino Gregory had 7, and everyone made some kind of contribution.
One thing that will go unnoticed is how rough a game the formerly unstoppable Sylven Landesburg had for UVA. He was averaging 18 a game in ACC play, but was held to just 12. That was a solid performance all-around defensively, too - more than one guy guarded him man-to-man.
The only negative, if you could even call it that, is Mosley's performance. He has unquestionably hit a wall in ACC offensively; he still provides a lot in terms of defense and intangibles, but in a game where even Ersin Levent scored, Mosley couldn't find the bottom of the basket. Like I said earlier, he provides a lot more than scoring, and scoring isn't the problem with this team, but the more of a liability he is on the offensive end, the more playing time Tucker will net.
That was it, though. This game was a dominating performance, and any doubts created after the Duke game were answered and obliterated. Maybe we can't glean too much from it in terms of strategy and what worked/what didn't, but it was a great game to watch and as reassuring as it could've possibly been.
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2 quick points
1.) I don’t think it would have mattered when this game was played, we are a bad matchup for them. I just wish it was played as scheduled last week so that we would be entering the Duke game with this feeling or something close to it. This momentum would have certainly helped in that game. Watch out for a let down against N.C. State (fatigue).
2.) I hate Jeff Jones. Didn’t he commit to MD and then decommit?
Wow
Anyone find it ironic that our amazing play actually took the fans out of the game? But, what a great game. 70% shooting in a half is simply amazing. Greivis literally had his way with Virginia in the first half. If he wanted to score, he was going to; end of story. Great win. Hopefully they can match that intensity (at least the 1st half intensity) against NC State.
Great bounce back game
The only thing about Tucker is that he is a little lazy on the defensive end. As many have noticed Mosley is pressing now since he is the 4th maybe even 5th option on this team when it comes to offense. So he is seeing far less of the ball and you can tell because he looks very tentative now whenever he is in possession. I believe Mosley will come good though.
Exactly what we needed
Now on to State. I don’t see a let down or fatigue here. We got the lead, got to share minutes as well as could have been scripted tonight, get a chance for another road win. I really don’t see us letting down – I’m more worried about State playing with nothing to lose. We need to bring it from the tip and not get the crowd into it (I actually live very close and may go – they were giving free tickets away where I work, but decided to take tickets for a weekend game instead – apparently plenty of tickets available). We need to hit them early and often. Actually, we just need to play how we’ve been playing (except for at duke).
NC ST
My brother lives in CAMERON, about a hr from Raliegh. He usually goes up for the game, but in IRAQ now. I hate NC ST, I’m from HAGERSTOWN, and they took Rodney Monroe from MD. They used to beat MD when they only took ACC champions to the TOURNEY.
DUKE is PUKE
WAKE is FAKE
But the one I really HATE
IS NC ST!!!!
Mosely
I am hoping this theory is correct… Mosely is focusing on D for the most part, andwhen the O is clicking he does not look for his shot. If we struggle on O and he is not in sync he often tries to force a shot or 2 – they don’t often fall when he is cold. As hot as our O has been he has not often looked for his shot recently and therefore we have seen him struggle on O – but he still does everything else and it seems all is good. Gotta play in the flow of the game but I hope he realizes we are better with him being somewhat involved in the O so we don’t have to worry about him getting cold – at some point this year and definitely next year we want him to feel comfortable in the O.
tucker
is electric in transition. He is impressively quick with the ball in his hands. Mosley will be alright…he is noticeably uncomfortable on offense currently but his D and rebounding is there. He was frustrating sylvan early in the game till cliff took over. How about vaz giving Stevie Franchise a high five after hitting that 3?? awesome.
ps
Burney put on a show in warmups…he threw down some dunks that were just as good as the (terrible)dunk contest.
MOSELY/ TUCKER
I love them both!! GW will play the right man, in the right situation.
Thats why he’s a HOF COACH.
GO TERPS!!!
wale
Wale was there indeed. In was at the gam and saw him. He kept popping in and out though, but talked to Greivis at halftime.
Damn I missed him...
Disappointed they didn’t show him on the jumbotron.
It’s too bad we can’t fuse Mosley and Tucker into one player. They both have competely different strengths and weaknesses. I liked seeing Padge get some minutes. He still looks incredibly awkward, but adds a real physical presence inside. He’s a major offseason project. The biggest downer has to be Bowie. He looks absolutely lost on the court. Here’s to hoping Stoglin comes in and makes it impossible for Gary to start Bowie at the point next year.
Just BTW. Maryland’s average margin of victory in ACC games is an astounding 16.3 PPG.
Great game
Great game, I think Ben stole the idea that we were playing so well because of Vernon and Wale being in the building from me but thats ok. Just wanted to point out: Someone mentioned how impressive Dino was at the stripe this year, and someone quickly shot him down saying Dino sucks and the numbers are inflated due to barely any attempts. Just wanted to say that since then ive been watching and Dino is definitely one of our best FT shooters nearly at 90% this year. He had a great game while in and i think down the strecth it will be great to have him in there to give JWill a rest, and if he just attacks the basket he can continue to get And-ones and just get to the line in general. Padge also showed up and although no one boxed him out he had a nice putback dunk. Vasquez was on a mission tonight and he showed everyone how dominating he can be lets hope he doesnt let up now. Also Tucker has shown how he can score and is closer to a complete player, but i think that is more of a reason we need him coming off the bench to light it up and keep Mosely starting for his defense and grit we dont need more scorers in our starting lineup now anyway
no really, Anthony will be fine...
He hit a wall last year. Actually, I think he was hot then hit a wall then played OK. There seems to be a lid on the basket for him at times, but his drives/slashes are impressive. The speed will adjust for him and those will start to drop. I remember at times last year thinking that he needs to drive A LOT MORE. He WILL get his mojo back. So many peolple count him out, not me. His speed can kill, as soon as it does not kill him.
Sean and Cliff did a great tag team on Landesburg tonight. They worked hard on D.
It was the best team ball I’ve seen Cliff play. Even his ballhandling and passing were excellent. He looks like he is taking his game to another level and what a great time to do it. I think he is the best option off the bench right now.
Greivis turned in the poorest defensive effort tonight. He is developing bad habits. (He did a poor job on Scheyer as well.) However, when you knock down 25 in the first half and do so many other things, it hard to be negative about his performance,
Johnny Rhodes was also in the house...
Kind of understated VasKWEZ’s performance tonight. Anyone know what the UM record for points in a half is? Him high 5’ing Stevie Franchise had to be the moment of the night. Why can’t they all be home games?
You're right about understating his performance. His offense and passing were almost flawless that first half.
My thoughts about his defense tonight are definitely a carryover for me from the Duke game. I have only seen Scheyer in the Duke games against NC St, Georgetown, and us. I wasn’t impressed. His importance to Duke doesn’t approach the value Greivis has to this team. Scheyer doesn’t have to create his shots in that motion offense. The way he gets assists in it doesn’t require Greivis’ skill in finding open players and completing passes. Even with the loss, I saw an opportunity for Greivis to beat Scheyer head-to-head by making him work for every point. Instead, Greivis tried to play the passing lanes while guarding him. Greivis was constantly out of position and a half-step behind when Scheyer got the ball. Scheyer took advantage of it.
I guess I just want Grevis ready for Senior Night.
cliff
after the performance tongiht i feel like tucker could step up in the offseason and do alot towards filling the void vaz will leave. he looked like he could take over a game and has showed a lot of confidence we will lose next year
CT
he showed this potential last year too, even if to a slightly lesser degree. This year’s team has 3 seniors and is mostly set on offense although he helps a little off the bench. I really do think next year he could step up and be our number one scorer. Let’s just hope something amazing happens to Anthony or Pe’ and Stogs can make a quick adjustment to the college game
If he's consistent the rest of the year, then yes
The only thing I’m afraid of is us going back out against N.C. State and he plays 8 minutes and doesn’t score and has 3 TOs. I think at this point Gary will start to extend his leash a little bit, which is good and should provide some security, but I need to see it from Cliff until I start to think he could be a major piece.
Who is this team?
The best average team of all time? We beat up on all of the teams ‘below’ and get hammered by the teams that are ‘better’. If we don’t beat Puke at home I am going to be very concerned for the ACC Tourny and NCAA Tourny.
"When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want them to bury me upside down, so that my critics can kiss my a**!"
-Bobby Knight
Honestly, is that worse than beating teams better and losing to teams worse?
It’s frustrating knowing there’s a ceiling, but would you rather have lost this game but beaten Wisconsin in Maui?
True, but it is frustrating when you think you should at least have a shot against those teams hanging around the ceiling. Just being within the spread would be nice. Getting blown out by Duke put up a lot of question marks in the confidence I had.
"When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want them to bury me upside down, so that my critics can kiss my a**!"
-Bobby Knight
by John Stephens on Feb 16, 2010 8:31 AM EST up reply actions
I understand where you are coming from
This teams biggest flaw is how un-athletic we are. Hayes and Vasquez are awesome basketball players but they are hideously slow being just one example. So because of that we are highly dependent on the proper match ups so we can succeed. Thats why a team like Cincinnati can defeat us then look so bad once they enter conference play.
great game rebound
very impressed and pleased that Coach W flushed that duke loss from the team’s memory… this game against Va. was very much needed as a boost, emotional win even more so than against an ACC oponent … although a win anytime , any opponent is sweet .I was holding my breath hoping the good terps would show up. NCState will not be a lay up but a focused first half like last night will allow the terps to refine and build CT AND Sean into their team roles and what they can do to help the team get better.
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