In Which We Celebrate Cliff Tucker, Mr. Big Shot for a Day

by Ben Broman on Feb 20, 2010 7:57 PM EST in Basketball

Cliff Tucker has never been accused of being particularly clutch, probably because he's never been on the floor when the game was in question. Playing time had certainly been hard to come by for the up-and-down wing in the past, and being on the floor in a one-point game with a second and a half remaining was unthinkable for him not too long ago.

But, for whatever reason, he was on the court alongside Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez today when Maryland needed a big shot. And it was he that ran off a screen and found - and made - the best shot available, and the Terps walked away with a win.

Does him being on the court at such a crucial time say something about how far he's progressed and how Gary Williams sees him? Maybe - it was a guard-heavy lineup to be sure, and he definitely has a better jumper than Adrian Bowie. Still, he was on the floor before the timeout, and remained on the floor after it. There's probably a measure of trust there, and if there wasn't, there certainly is now.

[Note by Ben Broman, 02/20/10 10:01 PM EST - There certainly was a trust level there. Gary called the play specifically for Cliff. Wow.]

This probably won't be the deciding blow in the Sean Mosley-Clutch Cliff battle for minutes. It probably doesn't even swing the balance of power all that much, because Mosley equated to better rebounding. But Tucker, and to a lesser extent Greivis Vasquez, deserve recognition for pulling off the most difficult thing in basketball: the buzzer-beater.

There's also a stark and entirely unfair contrast with Mosley, who missed his buzzer-beater shot against Wake Forest. As the unrest about finding a leader for next year increases, it's certainly interesting to know that one top candidate took and made that shot. Again, it's unfair, because Mosley was an inch away from that shot going in, but it's worth the note.

Whether this translates into more minutes for Tucker, who clocked only 9 the entire game, I don't know. Whether it means he'll be The Man next year, I don't know. What I do know is that there are a lot of fans that probably like him a lot more right now than they did eight hours ago.

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I nominate Cliff Tucker to take over for President Mote now.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 20, 2010 8:08 PM EST reply actions

Tucker has certainly grown this year

Under Gary, he will likely have a great 2011.

Gary Williams for President!
Jordan Williams freshman Manbeast

by terp12 on Feb 20, 2010 8:39 PM EST reply actions

Maryland highlights led off SportsCenter tonight

by amoskowi on Feb 20, 2010 11:04 PM EST reply actions

We were on SC highlights 3 times

I will never get tired of watching that highlight. Especially when the announcer goes “Are you kidding me?!”

I hope Dino’s slam dunk made top 10 plays

by Bboydragon25 on Feb 21, 2010 12:12 AM EST up reply actions

Greivis 3 and Tucker 3 just made 2 and 1, respectively on SC TOP 10

MD is blowing up big time on ESPN…they’re loving us

by Bboydragon25 on Feb 21, 2010 12:32 AM EST up reply actions

ha

i made this post before yours haha

by amoskowi on Feb 21, 2010 2:07 AM EST up reply actions

I have a question that is lost in the amazing ending

Do the refs still get paid by Hewitt even though Tucker pulled off the impossible?

by terpfan2011 on Feb 20, 2010 11:15 PM EST reply actions

Rankings

With Wake losing, any chance we sneak in at #25 this week? Or do we need another sweep next week to get ranked

by amoskowi on Feb 21, 2010 12:00 AM EST reply actions

nope

by MurlandTerps on Feb 21, 2010 2:44 PM EST up reply actions

WOW

SportsCenter top 10. We got #1 and #2 plays. #2 was Vaz shot that got called off. #1 was obviously Cliff. Not to mention the countless Maryland comments and clips and everything all over ESPN all day and night. Great exposure. Don’t wanna say it but could Clemson be that game we could lose that would have really put us over the hump? I don’t think so, I think that game was GT. And we did something special and won. this team is different. watch out come march. this team is rolling

by amoskowi on Feb 21, 2010 12:31 AM EST reply actions

The most overlooked play of the game was Jordan Williams throwing himself on the floor to get a loose ball with a few minutes left. That was the play that stopped Tech’s momentun and gave Maryland a chance to win the game.

I love Jordan Williams.

And yep, I’m thinking #24.

by Go Maryland on Feb 21, 2010 8:52 AM EST reply actions

I dont want to be ranked. I feel like we dont play well when we have expectations put on us.

by MurlandTerps on Feb 21, 2010 2:46 PM EST reply actions

I think at this point we have to get over that

So you think we can win the ACC regular season or finish at 12-4 and not be ranked during the process? This team is stepping up and breaking bad habits, but we can’t expect to make any noise in the NCAA tournament if we can’t even win a game with the pressure of being ranked #20-25. I think it’s time to break through and play well WITH expectations, otherwise it won’t matter anyway

by amoskowi on Feb 21, 2010 3:19 PM EST up reply actions

Finer Point re: Mosely/Tucker

Cliff probably would not have been in if Sean didn’t make that poor pass to Grevis that was intercepted at midcourt (and kicked by GT player out of bounds). Cliff then hit a three pointer shortly thereafter and GW simply stayed with Cliff. I bet it was a gut reaction – that’s what good coaches do (r u reading this GW haters? Where are you all now?). It’s nice to see any number of players can step up big – it’ll help come crunch time. But don’t forget Sean will be there all year grindin’ – he’s been a big part of the team’s success this season.

by bball purist on Feb 21, 2010 9:48 PM EST reply actions