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Why dear reader, yes it is fair to punish the team for losing on the road to a ranked team. However, not as harshly as some of you in the comments. They fought hard and didn't give up, this is becoming a staple in losses, which if we're being honest, I would rather see than just giving up.
That said, there are times when the team just falls asleep. Like, for example, on an in-bounds play at the end of the first half. That was beyond inexcusable. It was a travesty, a sham and a mockery. It was a traveshamockery.
As my intern at work points out, even he would have put in Damonte Dodd just for that play solely because of his size. You know what? He's not wrong. Dodd can be a rim protector and that was his wheelhouse right there.
Still, Maryland could have crumbled and lost by 20 on the road. That was certainly on the table in the second half and they didn't let it happen.
Stock Rising:
The Damian Prince effect -- I don't have any empirical evidence to support this, but I think the decision of Prince to stay home and his desire to get others to stay home will ultimately be a good thing for Maryland recruiting. If nothing else, he has a ton of twitter support from fellow local athletes.
Seth Allen -- That performance against Florida State tho... He was also the best player on the court against Virginia. Allen is turning it on at the right time, and if Maryland could ever get consistent performances out of Jake Layman they might actually be able to string together a couple wins.
Stock Holding:
Injured Terps missing the Spring -- Get well soon, boys.
Dez Wells -- Remember in the roundtable two months ago when we debated who the go-to guy should be for the Terps and most of us argued Layman? Yeah, me too. We were wrong for choosing Layman. Wells never quits, never stops attacking and is solid enough on defense.
Jake Layman -- Layman was hobbled against Virginia, so I don't want to club him too much. He was solid, but not spectacular against Florida State. Hopefully he is fully healed for Duke, it's kind of a big deal.
First half Smotrycz -- For the first 19:58 of the Virginia game he wasn't bad, however....
Stock Falling:
Second half Smotrycz -- What. Was. That. He was 0-for-7 in the second half.
Maryland bigs -- Between Charles Mitchell, Shaquille Cleare and Jonathan Graham here was their statline: 4 points, 9 rebounds (2 offensive), 1 block, 3 turnovers and 6 fouls in 56 minutes. You can't win with that production inside.
Roddy Peters -- Yeesh. Roddy took it pretty hard in the comments after his lone shot attempt was sent into the fifth row. I just don't know at this point with Peters and what to do with him. I think he needs a game off to clear his head and Cameron is not the place to play a struggling freshman.
