Maryland Starts Hot, Finishes Slow, But Holds Off Cornell for 70-62 Win
by Ben Broman on Jan 3, 2012 10:44 PM EST
in Basketball
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PrintMaryland's nervy 70-62 win over the Cornell Big Red was certainly a strange one; it included probably Maryland's best stretch of play in the season, as well as arguably their worst.
The Terrapins started the game on a 16-2 run, nearly blowing Cornell out of the building in the opening minutes. They held a 22-point lead just minutes later, and appeared destined to record an easy blowout in their final tune-up game before ACC play begins. There was some sloppy play just before the half that cut into the Terps' lead, but they still took a comfortable 41-26 lead into the break.
And then everything fell apart. This time it was the Big Red who opened up the half on a torrid run, even eclipsing Maryland's earlier stretch. The Terrapins literally couldn't hit a shot - they didn't make their first field goal of the second half until the 8:34 mark. At the half-way of the second half Cornell had gone on an 18-4 run and cut the lead, once seemingly insurmountable, to only a point.
Maryland's half-court offensive struggles are surely the main culprit in the breakdown, but some well-timed individual play by Sean Mosley, Terrell Stoglin, and particularly Alex Len down the stretch helped them hold off the surging Big Red. Cornell often made it an anxious affair, but Maryland had a habit of knocking down timely shots, and they never actually surrendered the lead, making it the Terrapins' second consecutive wire-to-wire victory.
There's a lot to digest in this one, which I'll be doing below the jump, but first, a quick thought: before this season, Maryland had escaped it's non-conference guarantee games without a loss only once in the last four years. Many teams better than this one fell victim on their own floor to teams like Morgan State and William and Mary. For all of the worrisome tendencies and tense moments Maryland saw in the past month, they didn't lose a game. And that's worth something. The Terrapins will enter ACC play at 10-3, and while that's hardly a breathtaking mark, it's also a perfectly respectable one. Take thanks in that much.
I'll start with the good, to keep things cheerful. First of all, Maryland got two absolutely immense performances tonight from Mosley and Len. Immense. Mosley looked like perhaps the best player on the floor despite a bum ankle that's forced him off the court for a few minutes in the first half. He was immeasurably clutch tonight, leading all players with 19 points and hitting any number of critical baskets. He's done well to let the game come to him all season - perhaps too much so, which has contributed heavily to his recent lackluster box scores - but he was front-and-center tonight, and responded. Maryland needed a scorer and a leader tonight, and Mosley stepped up. Major props.
The other big performer was Len (*insert size joke here*). It's incredible how consistently good his numbers have been: he hit his averages more or less on the money tonight, with 14 points and 9 rebounds. It's still a bit shocking just how much of an impact he has on the game thanks solely to his height; he was Maryland's offense at some points in the second-half, and was probably the biggest factor in their effort to hold onto their lead.
There are very legitimate concerns about his tendencies to foul - he jumped a lot at fakes and found himself with four fouls tonight - and that will be a worry come ACC play. But it's incredible how good he's looked in his first three games. He's almost always the biggest player on the floor by a huge margin, which he knows how to use to his advantage on the offensive end. Maryland needs to get him more touches consistently, or they'll be prone to slowdowns like the one they saw tonight. That said, a lot of his points came in James Padgett-esque garbage buckets, where he got second chances or worked hard on the glass. That effort and hustle is remarkable to see, particularly in someone of his size, and it's a real reason for optimism. (One note: what's up with his hands? One minute he can't catch a ball, the next he's wearing stickum. I guess it's just inconsistency based on inexperience, but I hope stickum-handed Olexiy is the real Olexiy.)
And, of course, the first 15 minutes or so of this game looked fantastic. Maryland's defense was good, their offense was able to penetrate Cornell's zone, and just about everything that could've gone right did go right. Perhaps the most impressive thing was the crisp movement, both off the ball and of the ball, that Maryland has struggled with all year. It was quite the impressive stretch, and Maryland looked like a tournament team during it.
Obviously, the next 25 minutes or so were a completely different story. I don't want to use bombastic language here, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I'm saying that the second half was a pretty disastrous showing. It was bad on both sides of the floor, but let's start on offense, where Maryland basically stopped running sets and started throwing the ball away at incredible rates. After only three turnovers in the first half, the Terrapins gave the ball away 10 times in the bad 25 minutes, many of which led to easy buckets for Cornell at the other end. And, naturally, much of the problems with shooting the ball and the huge scoring drought had to do with the offensive execution. The offense didn't run the same sharp sets we saw in the first half, were much sloppier generally, and took much worse shots - looking directly at Nick Faust on that last mark,given that he shot 1-11 today. They didn't value possession enough, either by avoiding turnovers or finding good shots.
That was probably largely a team failure, and it was fueled by Len and Stoglin being in foul trouble. I didn't think it was Pe'Shon Howard's best performance, though; he's supposed to be the guy who makes the offense tick, and despite being on the floor all game, it never really did. He did hit a big three-pointer, but had another four turnovers that really hurt. He needs to be smarter with the ball and tone down some of the more ambitious passes.
I was also disappointed just about across the board as far as individual performances go. Faust's offensive performance was a massive step back, and not just in his shooting form - he just continually took awful shots that killed Maryland's offensive rhythm. He needs to focus on getting in a rhythm by taking the ball to the hoop and trying to draw defenders to him or draw contact at the net. Ashton Pankey was just about invisible when he wasn't getting schooled by Eitan Chemerinski, and James Padgett was pretty much a non-factor in his 16(!) minutes.
The biggest disappointment is probably the general lack of focus and the inability to kill Cornell off when they were down. Maryland had this in the bag after about four minutes of play, but they never put their foot on Cornell's throat and finished the job. They let the Big Red back in the game, and it almost killed them. That seems like a combination of inexperience and a lack of mental toughness, both of which will be improved with game time. If they take the same nonchalant approach in an ACC game, though, their foe won't be as forgiving next time around.
It's important to note, throughout all this, that Cornell was probably Maryland's best tune-up opponent, and the Terrapins still won by 8. An eight-point win over Cornell isn't really a bad result. Yet I feel worse about this game than I did about any of the others. I'm guessing that's because we were this close to felling really good about Maryland heading into the ACC, and instead, despite playing at full-strength, we still feel about the same.
If they can figure out how to keep their foot on the pedal at all times, this team has some serious potential, as the first 15 minutes showed. But they aren't there yet. This sets an interesting stage for the rest of the season, and I wouldn't be surprised with quite a few interesting results - either good or bad.
Last word: Maryland's still 10-3. There were many times when it seemed they wouldn't be, but they eked it out. And given that many didn't expect them to be 10-3 right now, that's something in which it's worth taking solace.
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Free throws
One thing I was happy about tonite was the fact that they hit some clutch free throws at the end of game. Definitely will need to keep doing that in ACC play. 10-3 I’ll take it.
by Fear the TurGle on Jan 3, 2012 10:54 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Hearing turgeons post game interview on the radio was great
Talked about how the immaturity of the team has shown in how we cannot deal with success in game and we don’t know how to win. Talked a lot about how we got complacent on D after our big start. It’s obvious he knows his team and what’s going on in games
Turge
this is great:
“We like to make it interesting, there’s no question about that. It was so easy for us early. We were hitting shots, we were executing, we were defending at a level we haven’t defended at this year, and it just came so easy for us.
“But we did what young teams do when [the game] is going easy. We just thought it was going to be easy the whole game and so we quit guarding, we quit chasing down loose balls, we started shooting quick, we got a little bit selfish, and turned the ball over. I was not going to call timeout in the first four minutes and that was more of just trying to help them grow up. I said even if it costs us the game, I kept telling my coaches `I’m not calling timeout, they’ve got to get themselves out of it.’ We couldn’t figure out how to get out of our rut.
Ben called that in the gamethread
This team has got to be able to overcome slowdowns like this or they will get schooled in the ACC
i'm so unbelievably impressed with turgeon as a coach
it’s not just his honesty about how his team is doing, it’s pure brilliant coaching. a lot of coaches wouldn’t say that kind of thing, and wouldn’t agree with saying it either. but he just really, really knows this team well and he sees everything that’s going on with them. i just really appreciate his coaching ability and acumen.
A lot of coaches wouldn't take responsibility
for the lack of discipline of his team couch RE cough
by kryptonianjorel on Jan 4, 2012 1:22 AM EST up reply actions
I was wondering why he wasn't calling timeout
or putting Stog/Mosley back in. At least he had a reason I guess, though they never actually learned how to get out of that rut.
battle tested
think our team is comfortable playing in close games because all the recent nailbitter games they have won. usually someone steps up and saves the day. imagine how it feels to close out all of your opponents during this win streak. stressful for us and turgeon, but exhilarating for the confidence of the players.
by turgeontmessage on Jan 3, 2012 11:03 PM EST reply actions
Battle tested????
Don’t think so. This team is a bunch of snot nosed rookies with one upperclassmen thrown in. Unfortunately for them the rest of the ACC isn’t. Come Sunday they’ll get into the real battles. Don’t think getting through the cupcake portion of the schedule constitutes “battle tested”. Beating the Little sisters of the Poor isn’t taking on the Carolinas, Dukes and Virginias. I see them winning some ACC games this year and maybe…maybe…beating one of the big boys but don’t hold your breath for a NCAA tourney team to show up this year. There’s hope on the horizon though.
by DudleyDoright on Jan 4, 2012 8:54 AM EST up reply actions
10-3 is MANNA
Considering the program came in to this year missing a HOF Coach and a probable 1st team All ACCer and a potential All American. This year is going pretty pretty good so far…
Went to game
Crowd loved Len. Man that was awesome. Chemerinski completely beasted Pankey repeatedly. Could have had more points but kicked it out to his guards also. Len did bite on the fakes way too much. Oh man. Too close.
Was covering the OSU-Neb. game OSU's newspaper so I unfortunately had to miss the game
Was the comeback more of what UMD wasn’t doing or what Cornell was doing?
I would say it was what UMD wasn’t doing. During that 8:30 period without a field goal, we put up shots, but I don’t think we got a single offensive rebound. Will check the play-by-play.
What we weren't doing....
Namely moving without the ball in our half court sets, leading to an incredible number of silly 3 point attempts.
by TerroristFistJab on Jan 3, 2012 11:17 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
To start the game
we showed how good this team can be (a result of pure talent). To start the second half, we showed how bad this team can be (a result of youth). The truth is somwhere in the middle.
by curterp on Jan 4, 2012 9:24 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Cornell Disrupted Our Rhythm
Cornell went to a scheme of switching defenses, primarily relying on a 2-3 zone. Stoglin and Len got into foul trouble. Faust had some growing pains – kept firing away blanks. And then Mosley took control in the second half and helped stabilize the team. Len worked and hustle to get points near the basket. Stoglin made some clutch shots toward the end.
by turgeontmessage on Jan 3, 2012 11:14 PM EST up reply actions
Cornell changed their offensive approach as well
Instead of running down the court and jacking up a three, they started to grind out half court sets. This is where their big man down low would get a bucket or they would get a big shot from one their shooters. In the first half, their crazed run and gun wasnt working out for them because we were taking the long rebounds and finishing on the break.
We are a great fast break/running team. When you force us to run half court sets (especially against a zone) we struggle to get good looks and you have guys like Stoglin and Faust taking bad shots. Stoglin took 3 consecutive bad shots before Sean made that first bucket of the second half. I think Turge put him back in the game and told him to take over offensively.
He waited til it was 1 point game
to put Stoglin back in. From listening to Turgeon speak over the last month I doubt he told Stoglin to take shots like he was taking. I think it was a coaching error to wait so long to re-insert Terrell, and then TS felt like he needed to take over the game and went into “Stog mode” (i.e. no pass mode).
I never thought I'd write these words
but than GOD for Sean Mosely! Really there would have been no living w/ my wife if we lost that one.
by LeftCoastTerp on Jan 3, 2012 11:18 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions
Off topic, football related
Rivals is doing a live chat with Stefon diggs. So if you got a question go ahead and ask. In fact a terp fan just asked him " any true interest in UMD or are Terps fans dreaming" he replied," I developed a relationship with coach Locks while he was at UNM. I’m pretty close with him. I’ve talked to coach edsall. He talks to my mom.
Good news/Bad news
First the good:
Len and TStog aren’t going pro this year.
The bad:
Tonight Stogs demonstrated an uncanny ability to neither beat his slower defender into the lane, nor take any semblance of an open look.
Len had a solid game because he is tall and remarkably agile for his height. He is very weak physically and isn’t strong enough in his legs to get position on his slower, shorter, less agile defender. Come ACC time, I expect Alex to be disrupted by the quicker 4s and stronger 5s. He needs to get stronger. Also, he bit on nearly any pump fake thrown his way. Despite being much taller than the competition, Alex was too eager too often and paid for it.
Faust is…well he can’t buy a bucket but I don’t remember any horrid threes. Much quicker than I expected and I see shades of Moseley in his defense. If he can get his stroke figured out, he can probably still become an incredible four year guy for us.
The rub is that this team is young and still trying to figure out how they should play on offense. On defense they rotate well and seemed committed to rebounding the basketball, which will help them while the offense figures itself out. We don’t shoot threes well enough to give good zone defenses trouble, which will prevent this team from going too far in conference. Still proud of the effort and I think tonight made me even more over the moon about Turge than I already was. I ex
by TerroristFistJab on Jan 3, 2012 11:29 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Disagree on Faust
Faust IMO is just not playing smart and doing what he needs to do. I was at the game too and listened to the Wizard on the way home. His point is dead on. Faust is a scorer, but he is not a shooter. And all night long he was jacking up outside shots. Many times it was just like “no need to shoot that one”. As the Wizard pointed out, if he’s on, OK, then keep shooting. But if he’s off, he’s got to realize this and start to do other things. Drive, attract attention, and dish…. get to the foul line. Set some screens and play D. His 1-11 was definitely a part of why Cornell came back. He can’t keep putting up numbers like that. I love Faust and think he’ll be great once he improves his form, but for now, he’s got to be a scorer and not a shooter. (Johnny and Knocke agreed).
I probably wasn't as clear...
But I do agree, his shot selection was awful and it appears that, despite all evidence to the contrary, he thinks he’s a deep threat she he should realize that his speed and strength should be put to use trying to draw contact in the lane and scoring/passing off of penetration.
by TerroristFistJab on Jan 4, 2012 12:04 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Faust has played one good game
Other than that he just jacks up shots with no rhyme or reason and misses most of them. 1 for 11 tonight…that neither a scorer or shooter. Another thing he’s better watch is his passing. Too often he telegraphs a pass across court and he’s going to get a lot of them picked off creating fast breaks for the other team. He’s a rookie who has to realize that the college game is faster and more athletic that high school. Same story going from college to the NBA. Each step up is facing more and more elite players.
by DudleyDoright on Jan 4, 2012 9:03 AM EST up reply actions
Faust has shown some good penetrating ability in the 2 games previous to Cornell
He even had a really nice take in the first half that he didn’t finish on. But, not even Stoglin was able to get good penetration against Cornell. Not that it’s ok for Faust to shoot all those Js, of course.
Right...
I think its more worrisome that our go-to guy (Stogs) couldn’t beat his man into the lane with any regularity. He made some buckets down the stretch, but Stogs would stop his drive near the free throw line most times and chuck up floaters with two men in his face. Very concerning.
by TerroristFistJab on Jan 4, 2012 3:07 PM EST up reply actions
sheesh must have ben a big letdown...
I watched the first half and we had to be shooting around 70% after about 10 minutes of play. Its crazy how Vegas got it completely right…they had it at 70-62. Now its time for the big boys in NC State to come to town. Gotta look at the matchups to determine if we have a chance…
Here is a dirty little secret CBB bettors understand
The first bucket 30 seconds in is as important as the last at 2 seconds.
The stat lines make sense for an 8 pt win.
Thinking of a 40 pt blowout 10 mins in, does not.
I know these things...
i love to make live bets and for some reason I understand some how, some way towards the end of the game the score is close to the spread most of the time. I was thinking about 7pt teasing this game, but wasn’t sure about Alabama beating up on GA Tech and i couldn’t find a good 3rd game. Instead won on Missouri 1st half since Oklahoma sucks ass…
opposing team fans
is it just me or are the opposing teams fans way more vocal this year than in others? not sure if it’s just because maryland is dropping the ball, but it bothers me to be able to clearly hear cornell fans cheering
also a cornell guy in front of me told me 3 times towards the end that unc and duke were going to kill us. thanks.
Tough to stay loud
when the home team is playing as ineffectively as the Terps played in the second half. I was at the game and didn’t hear a peep from the Cornell fans in the first half. The students did try to pick it up a bit at times in the second though the Terp fans were mostly quiet.
i know
there was a period of a few minutes where i just sat down because i was so frustrated. but i still think there should be a bigger student effort to drown out “go big red” and “defense/offense” coming from the cornell section. this is OUR house
yeah
I was in Section 201 and heard the main Cornell section 123 raising the volume a bit.
PS – Should have told that Cornell fan that Harvard and Yale were going to kill them – lol
"A new era has dawned in Maryland Athletics..."
I was in 123 and saw at least three or four dozen Cornell fans...
in that corner, so it probably sounded louder to us than it did to the rest of the arena.
by TerroristFistJab on Jan 4, 2012 3:09 PM EST up reply actions
Opposing fans are louder
There are sections of the arena (like section 225) given overe alumni associations of the opposing team. The opposing teams end up being concentrated . Theystart yelling and then other fans not in those sections become inspired and join in. Over time they get louder and louder. it. It will be a nightmare when we play Va Tech .
I think that in close games the athletic department should block any of the “show us your check card” or the “dance for dinner” nonsense from airing. There is nothing worse than to see the other team make a run while our fans are mugging for the camera
The worst is the t-shirt toss. People go madder than they do at any point in any game except for maybe Duke.
by discuit on Jan 3, 2012 11:53 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Terps just stopped executing
in the second half. The didn’t make a shot for almost 12 minutes. Alex made a ridiculous play with about 7 1/2 minutes to go flying into the Terps bench to save a ball out to Pe’Shon then hustling back to put back the rebound off a miss by Faust and finish the old school 3 point play. He did bite on a couple of fakes but experience and coaching will get him out of that.
We definitely need another shooter who can show some semblance of consistency.
Faust made the first out of bounds save
To set up Len’s out of bounds save.
Then, Faust runs back to the basket, only to miss his layup.
But, Len runs back to get Faust’s putback.
It was a pretty insane little sequence of events, and a huge turning point in the game.
solace
It offered me a bit of solace that a more experience Mosely stepped up while some of the younger guys were flailing. That and the first 15 minutes or so of play still gives me hope for this season.
Add to that the Turgeon General being our HC and I’m still drinking Kool-aid. Not saying NC, but maybe a fun ride in the NIT. We’re on the up.
i keep telling all my friends this
you know what we ARE NOT doing…losing close games. nothing wrong with 10-3 that could very easily be 12-1 or 13-0 if we had pe and len all year. one last note: len is and will be a beast as he develops further.
Nevermind Faust for a second... Pe'shon needs to step up
Yes, he hit his free throws at the end which was surely important in giving us breathing room at the end (and this also made his stat line a bit inflated to those who didn’t catch the game live).
However, as the floor general in the 2nd half, he failed on several overly ambitious passes, made several lackluster passes, and otherwise stood around lost Adrian Bowie style. Perhaps more importantly, was Cornell’s zone that formidable that Pe couldn’t penetrate and score/dish out? The whole offense runs through him, particularly when he is on the floor more than any other Terp (33 minutes this game). For stretches in the 2nd half, I was less pissed at Stoglin for trying to do too much to create his own shot than Howard not doing anything at all. Yes I know it’s his 3rd game back, but we’ll need him to step up in ACC play.. c’mon man..
You know how they have photos of presidents before and after their terms and they're all grey?
Someone should do a before and after season comparison with turgeon. A stressful season ahead
by jlh12308 on Jan 4, 2012 12:06 AM EST via mobile reply actions
10-3 rejoice and be glad
Players gonna play and haters gonna hate…. I gotta go to work.
Dropping that twitter knowledge on ya, jay bilas style.
by Charlotte NC Terp on Jan 4, 2012 12:15 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Anyone else hoping for more from Padge/Pankey?
I’m ecstatic for having Len—he is performing as well as the biggest kool-aid drinkers could’ve wished for right off the bat—but I’m sort of disappointed that it has meant that Padge and Pankey have pretty much fallen off the face of the earth in the last few outings. I figured that Len would eat into Pankey’s minutes, but as strong as he’s been for us to this point, I was hoping that Padgett would keep his momentum up to make for a solid 2nd front court option. With both he and Len being strong on the offensive boards, they should be able to clean up after each other and play off each other nicely in the offense. It’d also wreak havoc on defenses, especially with our best player waiting on the perimeter.
Also, this game was a bit of a step back for Pe’. I believe Turge has already gotten on the team for throwing bounce passes to a 7-footer, but Pe’ also seemed to force some passes over the top that just weren’t there.
Lastly, Mosley was definitely clutch in this game. He had a good shooting night, but the one play that really stood out to me was in the 2nd half when he spun off his defender on the perimeter and drove the ball strong for a nice layup. Would love him to be that aggressive more often.
Same sentiment, but was hoping more from Pankey
Overall, Padgett is contributing what can be expected from seeing him play for a couple years – which would be scrappy, mostly unrefined play on the offensive glass.. If he has the ball for more than 2 seconds, it mostly ends in an ugly result where we can only hope for 1 point on the charity stripe. I just don’t see him having the skill set to become an elite player. A solid role player until Len can play the 4 next year for sure.
With Pankey, I was pleasantly surprised at the onset of the season, and yet now I’m perhaps seeing less fire and production in his minutes. He has the quietest minutes out of any player there and I still don’t know what his offensive capabilities are. That being said, I still think Pankey’s upside is higher than Padgett’s despite currently having less explosive “ups”. Besides obviously having more time to develop, he just seems less spastic, more in control, and perhaps more teachable.
Lots of 4 guard sets,
Len stealing minutes, and no passing to the block whatsoever = no numbers from Padge/Pankey. I think you’re overreacting a tad, too early to judge either guy.
We should see less 4-guard lineups with Len
I’m sure 4 guards will be good for changing pace/pushing tempo and won’t go away totally, but I’d expect Turge to go with a more traditional lineup more often moving forward now that we have 4 bigs. 3 games isn’t a big sample to be sure, but I hope we can find a way to work better with 2 bigs on the floor in the coming weeks—we’ll need to against teams with size.
Thoughts
Good games:
Mosely-great game (stepped up when we needed him to)
Len and Stoglin – Both pretty solid games (however both picking up 4 fouls really hurt the offense so they need to be smarter in this regard). Len’s hustle was key and Stoglin’s clutch plays and shooting were needed as well
Okay games:Pagett- He should definately have been playing a lot more (I think him and Len is our best C/PF combo). 16!!!minutes is way too little for our 2nd best post player (yea I think he contributes more than Pankey, Weijs, at least when he isn’t hitting shots he still gives you hustle plays).
Weijs-Solid early on, good minutes.
So-so games:Pankey-Get schooled by Chemeritski and didn’t contribute much offensively. Did grab a few boards but I expect more from him.
Parker-Just seemed content to pass the ball around and rarely attack the basket and a few lapses on D as well. Not his best game.
Terrible games:Faust-Jacking up deep 3’s when your shooting has been poor to say the least as of late is the best way to kill and offense. His mid-range shooting was also poor as well.
Pe’shon- with Stoglin out he’s got to be the leader in helping them attack the zone. I also thought he had some pretty poor decisions as well (both ill-advised 3’s and poor passes) which kind of worries me going forward if he is our main floor general. Hopefully, this is just him warming back up to gameplay since missing so much of the season.
"You know my style of play - I know it will be asked - my style of play is winning... " -Mark Turgeon, Maryland Basketball head coach
I like this assessment
However. Pankey had no stats while at least the others recorded something.
by db0255 on Jan 4, 2012 9:23 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
Happy Happy
in a special place with this team. I view every win as an upset, content to see signs of growth. Alex Len entered the game with an 80% FGP in two games played, and went 100% (5 for 5) last night. The next logical advance will come when the team wakes up to the fact that their most reliable shooter, in three games, has taken just 13 shots!. Nick Faust took 11 shots (hitting 1) in what? 15 minutes of play last night.
I wasn’t a Turgeon guy going in, figuring that AD Kevin Anderson had bolloxed the Football situation and was incapable of recognizing talent, let alone signing it. So far I’m proved wrong. Turge has been terrific, and I’m confident that he will “guide” the team into that realization. Olexo will become Joe Smith dominant. I’ll be satisfied with the 6 ACC wins I expect this year, and a Final Four next. I love this team. I love this coach.
frustrating to see
Stoglin firing up shots when he’s not having a great game at all. Pankey was posting up well in the paint, and Stoglin was playing with his eyes closed. Ball should have been going to Mosley or Len at the end…both were hot last night. http://bit.ly/wrDuRF
Feeding the post
I agree that the guards should’ve fed the post better…to Pankey, Len, and Padgett (who should’ve got minutes…That should have been the priority with our height advantage…
..and Stoglin didn’t have the greatest of shooting nights (however he did end with a 4:1 A/TO ratio), but most of his bad shots were driving to the lane trying to get foul calls when are offense had ground to a hault in the 2nd half (in other words being too aggressive) when NO ONE was making any shots.
In marked contrast to Faust (1-11) esp and to a degree Peshon (2:4 A/TO Ratio!!! 0-3 from 3) who were too passive (settling for 3’s and missing)…
Bad shot from Stogin >>>>Bad shot from Faust ….. So while Stoglin didn’t have the greatest game, I think he hit some big shots and had more of a bad shooting night than anything. His decision making was generally acceptable for the most part.
"You know my style of play - I know it will be asked - my style of play is winning... " -Mark Turgeon, Maryland Basketball head coach
by TurtleShel716 on Jan 4, 2012 9:22 AM EST up reply actions
I Like Pe'Shon but
he was a guilty as everybody else last night not only with a coulpe of ill-advised passes but he jacked up a couple of 3s from outsde NBA range when Cornell’s D was packed deep inside the college arc. He was open but he could have easily take a dribble and possibly made those shots a tad easier by being 2 feet closer. Often the result was that these (Pe’s & Nick’s) 3 pointers were clanging off the back rim with long rebounds and COrnell was getting 3 and 4 on one fast breaks. They scored 62 points – 11 from the FT line, 7 3 pointers and were credited wit 28 points in the paint. That means one basket betwen the pain and 3 point line.
I agree with some of the comments about Pankey. He had talked a lot early on about rebounding and intensity and I’m still waiting to see him bring it every night.
As for Padgett, it seemed to me like he went out early in the second half and didn’t see the court again so I don’t know what was going on there.
With all that said, I’m ecstatic to be 10-3 at this point and still see upside potential for this year and and a ton for next year.
I sat there watching Turge let the guys twist in the wind
against Cornell’s zone. And I proceeded to watch in dismay as shot after shot went up, or a pass was attempted to be squeezed through the zone overplays (totally wrong approach) by Pe’, Stogs, etc. The adjustment was getting AP, JP, or Alex in the high post and then let them kick it out for a shot/quick penetration that was more in the flow, or more importantly get the ball to Alex with a lead pass over the overplays Chemerenski or Figini. Len was trying to seal them off, and the times that he did, the pass over (with Cornell not having the back up help quick enough due to the double team collapse not coming quick enough) solves the overplay. The Terps never did it, so Cornell kept doing what they were doing. Once we started penetrating and not jacking up quick shots, things got better.
All in all, I’m satisfied with the 10-3 record. I predicted 6-10, but want the guys to surprise me and exceed that reasonable goal. It’s not their goal, just mine for this squad. The guys should keep improving all season. I expect the second half of the ACC season to be better than the first, and look forward to watching the progress.I predicted Alex would shoot 70%+ FT this season – he’s on his way :)
"A new era has dawned in Maryland Athletics..."
A lot of rookie mistakes.
They were winning by 20 and they let up. They have yet to compete for a full 40 minutes, but I have to applaud their grit in doing what they had to do to win at the end. Now whether that will be enough against ACC competition we shall soon learn.
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