Honestly, the game was played pretty poorly on both sides. Maryland got the win, but it wouldn't have been a win in most other circumstances. My thoughts:
- Greivis Vasquez had exactly the kind of game he needs to if he sticks with the whole "New Greivis" approach. For most of the game, he deferred to others, looking for the pass before the shot. When Maryland needed someone to take over the game, he did. That's exactly what he needs to do every game if he's going to be try to be a little less...aggressive.
- It's great to get a road win, even if it was against a team that has only one ACC win, and that was a fluke against Wake Forest. But whatever, I'm taking it.
- What is it with Eric Hayes when he plays Georgia Tech. Earlier in the year he had his "breakout" game against the Jackets, and yesterday he had another. He still needs to start hitting open threes, but I still contend that he could be a calming offensive prescence of the bench if he was more aggresive. I doubt he'll take the spot of Adrian Bowie, who was sick, unless he comes up with a few more games lake this one.
- Maryland shot very poorly, both inside and outside. It's clear the offensive outburst that occurred against UNC was more due to the pace of the game and UNC's defense than Maryland's own skill.
- Sean Mosley had a disappointing game. He had a great game against UNC, and I was expecting another strong offensive performance. Instead, we got zero points out of him. His trademark hustle and defense were still there, but the offense wasn't.
- If Maryland did indeed lose this game, poor free throw shooting would probably be a main culprit. Both Sean Mosley and Eric Hayes missed the first shot of a 1-and-1 late in the game. For what used to be the best FT shooting team in the nation, this is quite a transformation.
- Cliff Tucker got a lot more minutes last night, but again, I'm doubtful if it's because Gary's attitude on him has changed. Adrian Bowie only had 1 minute due to sickness, so it's not like Gary was playing him with no extenuating circumstances. He had some great plays, but he also had some plays where he seemed very out of sync, though that's to be expected when one plays as little as Cliff has recently.
- Dino Gregory had the potential for a gigantic game last night, and just never put it together. He left about 10 points on the board on missed layups, passing when he should've gone up, etc. He had everything defensively. If he just finished on those opportunities, he would've had an outstanding game and I would be talking about him about three bullets higher.
- God, does Maryland need a 3-point shooter. This team misses more open 3s than any team in America, I'm sure of it. Sometimes Neal will hit an open one. Sometimes Hayes will find a nut. Occasionally Grievis will hit one. But no dead-eye shooters are on the roster, and that really hurts.
- The emotion on the faces of everyone on the entire team was wondeful to see. Neal had the stomp at the end of the game, Gary almost hugged Grievis (was he going to chestbump him before GV hugged him?), and everyone was just elated.
- If Maryland plays anyone better than GT, they lose this game. Obviously. I'm not going to complain, but this changes very little about how I feel about the current state of the program. It's still a heavy uphill battle to even get into consideration for the NCAA.