Mark Turgeon Expects Alex Len to be Able to Play vs. Duke
by Ben Broman on Jan 23, 2012 2:58 PM EST
in Basketball
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PrintMaryland doesn't have a great chance to beat Duke on Wednesday. If they were without Alex Len, as raw as he may be, that chance would probably shrink to nil.
Good news, then: Mark Turgeon expects that the big Ukrainian, who injured his ankle on Saturday against Temple, will be ready to go.
"We'll see when practice comes around today if he's able to go," Turgeon said. "He's a little sore and got treatment yesterday and is in class all day today. I expect him to play Wednesday. How much and how healthy he is, well see. That will change between now and Wednesday."
Of course, it does sound like there's quite a bit of wiggle room - maybe his ankle is more limiting than expected and he can't go, or something like that. Still, it's a lot better than hearing "No."
Len has plenty of flaws in his game, no doubt, but when facing the Plumlees and Ryan Kelly, all of which have size and athleticism, I'd much prefer him to, say, James Padgett on an island. The days of expecting Len to boss the ACC right out of the gates have probably died, but Maryland still needs his presence in the lineup, especially against teams with size like Duke has.
Again, not expecting an upset by any means. But if one was going to happen, a big performance by Len would probably be a requisite.
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Glad he's ok for the most part!
Just hope he watches out with the fouls. He’s been having to sit down on the bench for getting fouls early, and we need him pretty much throughout most of the game.
am i missing something?
classes don’t start till wednesday…
Most players take a J term class
to lighten their course load for the spring semester
right, i forgot about that
i thought there was something i was spacing on. thanks
This is like a three stroke engine with Weijs being the gasoline...need more fire from Pankey
In order to beat Duke we need all three of our main bigs to step up and bring it…Props to Padgett right now- I don’t even have to write this and I know he will absolutely bring the scrappy afraid of no one game…Len has the potential to be a complete difference maker in this game…the guy we need more consistency and determination from is Pankey…if he can find it than we’ll be set for the rest of the season down low…if he fades we lose a third of who we are down low. I hope what’s happening with Parker can happen to Pankey in terms of focus and all. Weijs is fun to root for and anything we can get from him at this level is bonus. Padgett and Len will get there we need a more from Pankey and we should be good!
tiers of the acc
This is how I vision the acc.
tier 1- UVA,PUKE,NC,FSU,NCST
tier 2-MD
tier 3-CLEM,GT,WF,BC,VT,MIA
I think we could or even should beat all the teams below us. If we can get a few wins against that upper tier it will add to the colorado and notre dame (looks pretty good) wins. This game against Duke is a perfect oppurtunity IMO. Im going to remain positive but its still a long shot to be dancing this year
by proudterp on Jan 23, 2012 4:14 PM EST via mobile reply actions
virginia?
Do you think we will be able to beat Virginia? We’re both tied 2-2 in the acc, but their overall wins are higher than ours. They just lost to virginia tech. I think we could get them.
probaly split the two games
Were going to have to work for our points against UVA with there suffocating defense. As long as we close out on their sharpshooters and have some inside presence we should shut their offense down so its about equal.
Maybe the question this year is will we become a team that is more of a tier 1 team or will we dip down and end up being a tier 3 team...
Everybody is quick to jump on the “just happy to be improving” or emphasize “young team rebuilding” which although true seems a bit protective at times in terms of what this season really has for us as far as potential (good or bad) and ceiling. If Peshon can gain confidence at the top and Len gain confidence down low I can see this team can really taking some serious strides, but we could end up in tier 3 because of a milleui of typical reasons we’ll probably end up talking about individual improvements and what next year may look like etc.
no bad losses
is why I didnt put md as a tier 3 team
by proudterp on Jan 24, 2012 7:40 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Would move Clemson and Miami up to TIer II with Maryland
I hate to say it, but we have a terrible record against Miami and VT since they have joined the ACC. The Hokies swept us last year, and will give us trouble with their defense on Saturday. I actually believe that Gary Williams had a losing record against all three expansion schools after they joined the conference in 2004-2005.
Regardless of the Duke result, the Terps better come ready to play against the Hokies. In addition, we have not played well at Little John in recent years, and Clemson is a completely different team on their home court than on the road.
UVA is a good offensive team, but struggles to score in most games. I think we could easily split with them.
clemson and virginia tech are unpredictable
VT has lost to teams like BC and WF, but they did beat OKST x2, UVA and hung with UNC. Clemson lost to low majors like coastal carolina and charleston but hung with Puke and beat FSU badly. Unsure where to put them because I thought MD has the talent to be tier 1 yet they play like a tier 3 alot
You are right. There is a lot of overlap between the tiers.
There is a lot of parity which should make for an exciting ACC regular season.
It is young player league and 8 of the coaches have three years or less at their respective schools.
tier 2 and 3
both of these tiers are hard to figure out because teams are so incosistent
by proudterp on Jan 23, 2012 10:29 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Unreasonable optimism
I dunno… I usually try to temper my expectations on stuff like this, but it seems like just about every time we come out of scares like this just fine—Mosley had one of his best nights when we first found out about his ankle problem, and Stoglin powered through back spasms ok too. The Kool-Aid Man in me is going to be focused squarely on the big Ukrainian this game.
GO TERPS!
SIze will be important, but...
Duke still lives and dies by the 3 point basket. Our perimeter defense will also need to be at its best. I expect Duke to use a very similar game plan to Temple where they spread the court on offense and try to drive with Rivers and Curry. We must keep Duke off of the offensive glass. Their bigs are notorious for batting the ball back to the guards and re-setting the shot clock for a second chance opportunity.
In addition to Stoglin, Howard and Mosley must put pressure on Duke’s defense.
Duke is a solid team, but they are very beatable. The key is not to get behind early and don’t hang your head when Duke makes a run. Most importantly, we need to eliminate the silly turnovers that are almost certain to lead to easy baskets.
I will be watching at my home in SC and am hoping that Dookie V does not call the game.
Or Dookie Jay Bilas
He’s the biggest blowhard on ESPN. I’d rather have Digger Phelps tudor me on how to live in the slums of Jersey than listen to Bilas.
by Snappin Terp on Jan 24, 2012 5:44 PM EST up reply actions
I actually don't mind Bilas.
Much better than Jay Williams or Hubert Davis by miles.
by 1 proud terp on Jan 24, 2012 10:12 PM EST up reply actions
We will beat Duke Wednesday
I’d be surprised if it wasnt a close game. I expect the dirty terps to win a great one, Duke know comcast is a tough place to win, theyre coming in intimidated. Though Duke doesnt usually lose back to back games, they will come Wednesday. And this win along with a 9-7 or even 8-8 ACC record with a win in the ACC tourney could get us in the dance. I mean we already have more signature wins (Notre Dame) than we did all of last season. Our big dance hopes are far from over.
a win would be huge
it would back up those colorado and notre dame wins. We must beat every team that were supposed to beat this year since we dont have alot of quality wins.
by proudterp on Jan 24, 2012 7:43 AM EST via mobile reply actions
One of my my Predictions for the game
I predict that if Alex is in their in a limited amount, this game should turn into a “Hack a Mason” game. I would not be surprised to see Auslander get some time if JP, AP, and Weijsy get in some foul trouble. And you will see Auslander getting his money’s worth putting MasonPlum on the line.
Mason – 47/108 – 44%
"A new era has dawned in Maryland Athletics..."
you know Shaq
will be watching this game…hope Len gives him a couple big dunks – something for him to fantasize about for when he comes here and does the same!
dont see auslander playing
too big of a game to be playing walk ons. Weijs i think will get 5-10 mins to help when guys are in foul trouble
by proudterp on Jan 24, 2012 3:22 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Weijs may be hacking away at Plumlee any minutes he gets - just a hunch
I was a little extreme suggesting Auslander – I’m not sure how foul trouble will pan out, but if Auslander just came in to give a few fouls on Mason Plumlee in just a few minutes of play, it would be advantageous.
"A new era has dawned in Maryland Athletics..."
by bball purist on Jan 24, 2012 8:28 PM EST up reply actions
Important to remember:
Duke is as beatable as they’ve been in years…if Rivers gets frustrated early, Len is able to give the Plums trouble, and someone other than Stoglin is able to go off I see no reason why we cant beat this team (granted that’s a lot of If’s)
also, no way auslander plays what are you thinking
Just watching Alex Len block one of the Plum's and ram it down their throat
will send the little Pukies scurrying to the bench to hide behind ratface.
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