Testudo Times: FanPosts

Catching Up With Dino Gregory

2012-02-07T20:09:46Z

I thought about writing this post awhile ago, but didn't make the time. But now that I know that there's interest, here's some info on Dino's year in Sweden.

Maryland fan favorite and supreme charge-taker Dino Gregory is currently playing for the Sundsvall Dragons of the Swedish Basketball League (Svenska Basketligan). Sundsvall is in east-central Sweden, and as you can imagine, it's very cold and dark this time of year. Still, it's good to see Dino contributing to a pro team and hopefully he will have a lengthy pro career.

Dino is a regular contributor for the team and is averaging 14 and 7 per game. Recently, he had some key blocks late in a game that secured a win (Google Translate)

The Dragons (who won their league championship last year) have a record this year of 16-12 and are in third place in the league standings. The season will be wrapping up in March, and I believe the top 8 teams go to the playoffs.

Links: Dino's Stats / Team Stats / Team Website / League Standings

Jason King knocks Turge

2012-02-07T20:04:40Z

From King's Court on Espn.com:

Report Card:

F: Whiny coaches: It was a bit surprising to hear Maryland's Mark Turgeon complain about a dunk by North Carolina's John Henson in the final seconds of the Tar Heels' 83-74 win. Turgeon sounded petty. Sure, the right move would've been to let the clock run out, but Henson said he wanted to regain a little confidence after having his shot blocked all game by Maryland 7-footerAlex Len. "I don't know if I initially wanted to dunk," Henson told reporters. "But instinct … he's running at me and I'm under the basket and it just kind of kicked in. I'm happy with the decision. He'd been blocking my shot all night, and it's good to get at least one shot on him." The dunk wasn't unsportsmanlike. Things happen in the heat of a game. Good for Henson for not apologizing.

"Complain"? He said one sentence and then changed the subject to the improvement of his team. Anybody think Turge was out of line with his "I didn't like the dunk" statement?

Update on Diggs

2012-02-07T19:02:58Z

I know folks are wondering, so wonder some more. Here's an "update" on Diggs from Scout.com FWIW

As they say, the last visit is a crucial one, but it appears while Maryland is a serious contender, his choice has not become any clearer. According to sources, Diggs is still "up in the air."

He is teetering Maryland, Auburn, Virginia, Ohio State and Florida. Those are the final schools in the mix at this current time. Though Diggs has yet to decide where he will reside his fall, his decision is still set to hit the press Friday, Feb. 10. The time and location are yet to be determined. It is said the torch has been passed on to his family. They will convene to discuss his next steps as early as this evening.

So...where do you think he will end up in the end?

GO TERPS, GO TERPS, GO TERPS, GO TERPS, GO TERPS, GO TERPS, GO TERPS, GO TERPS!!!

Poll

Where will Diggs be playing football this year?

Rivals Top 10 Spring Scouting Prospects

2012-02-07T16:20:42Z

So I decided to surf the Rivals website for a little while this morning, to see if there is anything I could see for free. When I got to the Basketball Recruiting homepage, I found several stories regarding potential Terps. The lead story is an article on Andrew Harrison, and there was also a story talking about Rysheed Jordan's visit to the UNC game. Unfortunately, neither of those stories were free, but if someone wants to shed a little light on those articles feel free!

Anyways, I looked up an article called Top 10: Spring Scouting Prospects and saw 3 of our targets on there-

1. Andrew Harrison- The 6-foot-5 point guard lost one threat to his spot atop the 2013 rankings during the week when Nerlens Noel made the switch to 2012. But, he's still got Jabari Parker and Julius Randle hot on his heels. He looked good when we last saw him in November.

3.Dwayne Morgan- During October's USA Basketball developmental camp, the long and skilled wing came seemingly out of nowhere to turn heads. Currently a four-star prospect, if the 2014 small forward can play at the level he did during October he's got a strong chance to move into five-star range.

8. Rysheed Jordan- The 6-foot-4 point guard took the Reebok Breakout Challenge by storm last summer and was solid at other stops. One of the most physical guards in the class of 2013, it will be interesting to see how his game has progressed since July.

Let's get these guys!!!

7'5 Mamadou Ndiaye

2012-02-07T16:11:40Z

Hey guys, I'm not even sure this is relevant whatsoever, but I was on Yahoo and saw this and thought I'd share it with you guys...

Mamadou Ndiaye is apparently the tallest high school basketball player in the world. I can't really find any information other than what this link has, so I have no idea what class he is in or anything. He looks like he has a solid shooting stroke, so it looks like he could develop somewhat. I wonder what his ceiling could be? Just a huge stiff, or game-changing defender like Hasheem Thabeet was a few years ago?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/7-foot-5-mamadou-ndiaye-prep-highlights-absolutely-183735847.html

Let's hear it for the Girls

2012-02-07T14:19:43Z

I’m tired of every time that someone makes a post about how good the Lady Terps are doing, people jump down their throats. Maybe we need to set up one day, when ALL we talk about are the Lady Terps, and their accomplishments.

Women’ basketball has as many NC, as the Men, and has been much more successful recently. Hopefully Turge can get Testudo’ Troops, to the same consistent level that the Women have enjoyed.

Women’s Lacrosse has been one of the most dominant teams with 11 NC since 1981 including 7 straight. The Men haven’t won one since 1975 (but has 10). We play in the top Conference in the Nation, so we know we can do it. The Men almost pulled it out last year.

Field Hockey has 7 NC and Coach Meharg has won Multiple COY

Competitive Cheer/Acrobatics and Tumbling won 4 NC within 5 Years, and should have won this year over the Nike group from Oregon.

This is most certainly not a bash on the Men. Our Men’ Soccer Team has three NC, and has been routinely one of the top teams in the Nation. The Women have been catching up in the rankings, but it’s hard when you are in the same conference as one of the dynasties in sports North Carolina Women’(who we beat this year!)

If the only sports that you feel are worthy of recognition and respect are the Men’s sports, then that’s your decision, but if you are a TRUE TERP FAN, then you support and acknowledge the achievements (highs and lows) or both Men and Women.

Ok, enough time on my soapbox

Catching Up With Hawk Palsson

2012-02-07T06:53:46Z

Haukur Palsson surprisingly departed the Maryland basketball team over the summer to pursue a professional career in Europe. Palsson would have been a consistent rotation player this year, as his propensity to guard players larger than him would have come in handy against teams like UNC. He's currently playing for Manresa in the ACB. Draft Express has a stat comparison from his year at Maryland and his time so far with Manresa.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Haukur-Palsson-6164/stats/

He's been playing less, with a poorer overall game. Unfortunately for the Hawk, it seems that his decision hasn't panned out as well as he'd hoped.

Duke or UNC?

2012-02-07T05:07:07Z

These are the two biggest games left on the schedule in the regular season this year, and I don't see either one as worth totally writing off given the way we've played both. Probable? No, but not out of the realm of possibility.

What I'm really thinking though is that given recent developments, the pieces are there for the UNC hate to bubble up and Duke hate to fade... a little bit, at least.

The history is there: Turge vs. Roy, student vs. teacher. UNC has hateable players like Henson... GOD I'm hoping for some vindication on that one when we get down to Chapel Hill. Preferably by Len, but I'll take just about anyone going HAM or teabagging Henson on the way to the hoop. We've also kept the series closer with UNC in recent years than we have with Duke. I could see that rivalry heating up.

On the Duke side, who knows how many years coach K will still be left? The future of Duke is in question once he retires, but even if they get a good coach it still won't be Gary vs. K. Sure they have dick players and an equally horrendous fanbase, but thinking back I think the whole rivalry might all stem from two HOF coaches with mutual respect looking for good competition as friends off the court. As mentioned before, Turge and Roy might already have that kind of a dynamic. On the same token, I bet Gary got more excited about Duke than Turge does.

Lastly, there's the Pitt thing. We no longer have Duke twice a year, so we'll be getting equal portions of Duke and UNC in the future. I can definitely see Pitt hate seething up as well, but I don't think we'll forget our other ACC rivals so easily. And don't forget: now that the Duke @ Comcast is not an automatic thing, the AD will probably stop trying to hype it up as much... who knows, they may even pump the same fervor into hyping the Pitt game in time.

Given the above, two questions:

Of the two remaining games this year, which do you want worse, a Duke win or a UNC win? Which are you more hopeful for, and why?
Moving forward past this season, which will be the bigger game? Alternately, will Pitt become more important than either?

For my answers, I want to beat UNC more than Duke at the moment, but see Duke as more likely. Our defense kept the Duke backcourt in check, and if Len plays better in the next match then Plumlee should have a tougher time of things. Neither will be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but the adrenaline will be pumping in both to be sure.

I see UNC as possibly surpassing Duke as the enemy within 4-5 years time, but I'm not sure what to think of Pitt yet.

Poll

Our biggest ACC rivals going forward: MD vs. ?

Don't look now: General Grievis is going off

2012-02-07T04:10:30Z

Seriously. He just put up his 2nd 20 point game in 4 games, and has silently been one of the Hornets best players recently. Our good General looks like he's making it to the next level.

terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp terp

The Hawk flies tonight [ed's note: Tianna, not Palsson]

2012-02-07T04:00:14Z

Tianna Hawkins set a career high of 23 points shooting 11 for 13 from the floor. Alyssa Thomas also had 23 points as the Terps rallied in the second half to beat Georgia Tech. For the year Alyssa Thomas was 22 for 22 from the line against Tech. The Terps play Clemson on Thursday before coming home in the big game against Miami. The Lady Terps close out the season with Miami, Duke and UNC at home.

It's Monday! Let's talk... Xs and Os?

2012-02-06T18:48:46Z

So, to borrow from Charlotte, let's get a discussion going about Turgeon's coaching style (winning!) and player development so far this season. Reading through a bunch of other posts this morning got me thinking about what Turgeon has been doing with the team this season. I just got back to work from a week of paternity leave and can't focus on my work, so I figured that this would be a worthy use of my time. First, a disclaimer: I never played organized basketball. I'm 5' 7" and white. Hell, I never even liked basketball until I got to Maryland. So I'll leave any real analysis of the Xs and Os to others. But here are a few of my thoughts on the season to date. And I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks as well.

First, some things that I've really been impressed with: player development. Considering how many scholarship players we started the season with, and the collective understanding that this season could be a giant disappointment in the win column, I've been impressed with how individuals and the team as a whole has grown over the season.

-Stoglin: He's just been a monster. I don't know how much of his scoring is coaching; probably not much. But I've seen Stoglin make marked improvement in his game over the season. He's not rushing his shot as much, he's been playing more in the flow of the offense (at least compared to early in the season), and he seems to be getting his teammates involved a bit more. Does he still try to do too much? Sure. But I like the fact that Turgeon seemingly acknowledges the need to unleash Stogmode at times. Going forward the rest of the season and into next, I want to see if Turgeon can mold Stoglin to improve his passing abilities and his vocal leadership for the team.

-Howard: To the naked eye, he seems to have regressed some. Obviously, there are mitigating factors for this: injury, limited time early in the season, teammates with stone hands. But I would like to see how Turgeon gets Pe' to improve his passing over the rest of the season. But Pe' seems to have bought in to what Turgeon wants and is very coachable. Turgeon was saying that he wanted Pe' to start shooting more, and we've been seeing that. He still puts up some questionable ones, but he's doing better.

-Len: He's just been on a roller coaster. But Turgeon (or Spin) seem to have located his issues and been working on them. The improvement the past couple of games has been really noticeable. Big question is, can they get it to continue the rest of the season?

-Faust: To me, this is arguably the best coaching job on the team. Teaching Nick to be a PG early in the season has been paying dividends in his performance now that he's no longer a main ball handler. His defense, ball handling, and passing have all improved. They got him away from the 3 point shot (mostly) and driving to the rim. At first, he wasn't completing those drives. Past several games, those layups have started to fall. Something is improving there. To me, Nick is the biggest example of a player on the team where the coaches said 'fix this' and the player responded with great results.

-Inspector Padgett: Just great improvement from the start of the season to now. His FTs have improved, he's added some new post moves, and he's getting great rebounds. The coaches building up his confidence has been huge.

-Mosley: Obviously, we all want more consistency out of him. Don't know if there's anything Turgeon can do to obtain that. But it's clear that Mosley has been putting it all on the line this season. He could've very easily mailed this season in (the whole team could've done that, for that matter), but he hasn't. Going forward, I want to see if Turgeon can mold the next leader for the Terps.

Pankey/Parker: I don't really have much to say here. I want more out of Parker. Pankey has been a pleasant surprise though. He's improving nicely. And he's probably the only person on the team that, for whatever reason, I feel confident in when he's at the FT line. But someone, please, teach them how to finish those monster dunks!

Weijs: Probably my only disappointment here. I want to see him get a bit more time. I thought that him and Len working together against UNC was pretty solid.

Wow, that was a lot to devote to just player development. Probably could've done that in like 1/4 of that. Oh well. Moving on.

Some things that I feel as though have been a mixed bag. This is stuff that is more Xs and Os, so someone with a bit more insight, please enlighten me.

-Clock management: At the start of the season, there were times that I felt as though Turgeon was a genius with his timeouts. Since we've hit the ACC schedule though, there have been some decisions that left me scratching my head a bit.

-Player substitutions: Sort of similar to clock management. I thought it was excellent at the beginning of the season, especially considering the lack of players we had! But lately, I've just been wondering things like 'why aren't there more bigs in?' I pretty much defer to Turgeon's wisdom on that, though.

-The move from the Flex: Obviously there would be kinks in players changing their system. What do you guys think about the way that the offense is being run? I like the fact that the past couple of games we've been able to look inside more often and looking to drive, rather than just settling for outside shots. I also liked what I saw with the press some. Wonder how much we'll see that moving forward?

Now, the only thing that I have a bit of a gripe with is the way that we've seemingly played to the level of our competition. That's great against the elite teams; nerve-wracking against the mid-majors. But if it means we're still beating the mid-majors and giving ourselves a shot against the superior (talent-wise) teams, I'll take it.

Wow, that's a lot. I missed a lot of stuff that I originally wanted to mention. Going on too little sleep and too much coffee. So, what do you guys think of Turgeon's player development, in game decisions, strategy, etc.?

And down the stretch they come..MD Bball that is!!!

2012-02-06T18:26:09Z

Now with the midway point of the ACC schedule complete, Maryland enters the final stretch of the regular season. With 8 games to go, Maryland needs to do some serious making up for the lack of resume building through the first 8 games in conference. The positive thing is Maryland still has 4 resume building games.

There shouldn't be any debate on whether or not Turgeon is a good coach. With a team that has gone through so much turnover and change, for this team to be competing with the likes of Duke and UNC down to the final minutes of the game are far beyond my preseason expectations. Remember this team had zero NCAA Tourney hype and very little NIT predictions, but now the NIT almost seems but certain with an NCAA bid losing steam, but still possible. The good thing that can be said about the Terps is that with every game, the team gets stronger and stronger.

Maryland starts with Clemson for the weekday game, which the Tigers are struggling as well and lost one of their starters Milton Jennings because of academic issues, this game should be a good starting point. If Maryland loses this game the NCAA talk goes out the door with it. If Maryland does what should be expected, Duke is looming with two losses at home vs. FSU and Miami. Maryland proved that they can play with the Dukies, but Mason Plumlee must be ocntained a bit more then the first contest. This could prove as a trap game with UNC playing Duke this week.

After the Duke game, Maryland has a stretch of 4 very winnable games. The BC home game should be a win, @UVA will be a tough game, but I think with UVA's slow down game, Maryland seems to be able to play better with a less potent offensive team than a high scoring team like UNC, this game will come down to the last seconds, home vs. Miami should be a W even with Miami's latest success and then away @GT, also should be a win.

After that stretch Maryland closes out with UNC on the road and UVA at home. I thknk Maryland needs to win 6 of 8 to even leave a chance at NCAA hopes. Its possible but a long shot. I think the Terps are going to make a great push, but ultimately fall short of the NCAA's, but this leaves much optimism for next year.

What are your thoughts on the second half of the ACC schedule?

2011 UA Combine - Shaq "The Beast"

2012-02-06T06:06:54Z

Actually saw this on another site and looked it up for myself. I'm starting to think we may have gotten the best Center in the 2012 class. Shaq had the 10th highest overall score.

In particular, Shaq had the highest seated Medicine Ball Toss and the 3rd highest Grip Strength. He also showed considerable flexibility and reasonable speed and agility.

Interestingly, Danuel House finished right behind him and Nate Britt isn't much further behind. I see Romelo Trimble's name on these posts from time to time and he finished high as well and is local.

I'm curious about this Andrew Mcauliffe kid - 3rd highest score and class of 2013.

Personally, I can't wait for "The Beast" to make his debut. If JWill can have an outstanding freshman year I don't see why Shaq can't.

http://combines.underarmour.com/basketball/combines

Turge vs. Miller

2012-02-06T05:34:27Z

I know it's far too early to really think about this, considering we aren't even done with Mark's first season as Head Coach, but the swirling twitter rumors about Stefon Diggs obviously reminded me of the catastrophes with Leach and Sean Miller. Whenever I think of Miller, I know immediately think of Turgeon.

My question is simply this: based on what we've seen so far and know about Turgeon and the Terps, would anybody go back and alter the coaching hire?

To me, the Terps are heading in a very positive direction very quickly. Turge (and his staff) seems to have effectively combined player development, a hardworking and fierce mentality, and solid recruiting to take Maryland near the ACC top in a short amount of time. We thought we were getting a solid coach all along in Turgeon, but to me, I wouldn't want anybody else in control of the program for the next 10 years. Even knowing Miller's coaching and recruiting background, I wouldn't change a thing. Things like the Turgeonites have signaled to me that Turgeon is already cemented in the community and is here to stay for a long time.

Thoughts? Obviously putting aside unrealistic coaching hires and just going off who we were targeting and who was interested, would you take anyone besides Turgeon?

(By the way, the writer of this FanPost has no issue with this turning into a Turge love-fest)

Poll

Who would you take to lead Maryland Basketball?

Duke Got Beat

2012-02-05T22:26:14Z

Duke Got Beat by Miami despite the refs trying their damndest to give the victory to Duke. Can I hear a Screw the Dukies. They are so overrated. Outside of their hot shooting guards they are as always extremely soft inside. They have always resorted to the flop and the officials to keep them in games. Although I'm still depressed that we didn't beat NC or Miami, we still gave Miami a better game and we were on the road. Due to home court advantage you have to be at least 15 points better than Duke at their house just to get to overtime. Screw Duke, that just made my Sunday so much better. Go Terps!