I want PREDICTIONS on Temple....

Ok guys. We should be getting a feel for MD and the ACC right now. As for Temple, I'm gonna come out and say we're gonna win this one. Don't laugh please! First, Temple is now 1-2 in their conference. Sure they beat Duke, but I'm not sold on Duke being omnipresent anymore. Second, they do have senior/junior leadership in the starting rotation, esp with C position at 6'11, but they're not quite as big as Fl State overall. Third, Terps actually have some rest, practice time here. (why they do that Sunday game, then Tues away game is BS...I know other teams get it too but don't like it still). Fourth, the game is in Philly not too far..hopefully they'll be some Terp fans there (ok reachin' there). Fifth, they are getting out-rebounded significantly not only in conference, but in all games as well, whereas the Terps in general are not. I think our F's and even G's will do well in that regard on Saturday. Terps win by 5. There I said it. 

On a side note...went searching through the acc schedules...all of us have the two-game scenario where the first is at home followed by an away game less than 48 hrs later. All but one...hmmm..can you guess what team that is???? Hint: they have a game after one day's rest, but that game is at home as well.

Ok not too much interest here just yet...another side note. All I can say is

 

Former Terrapins F Jordan Williams, a second-round pick of the New Jersey Nets, was assigned to the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League. The 21-year-old rookie appeared in six NBA games this season and averaged 1 point and 1.5 rebounds per game.

HA HA HA HA HA! 

I saw this too. The kid obviously didn't have a strong mentor in his life...too bad. Short windfall for a long life.

You'd think college programs would be addressing this from the moment they're freshman on campus. Seems like plenty of examples a program could use to illuminate the perils of this decision...that these kids are faced with.

Look, it's pretty hard to turn down $500K when you're a 20 yr old, but the adults in the room have to do a better job dealing with this.

Go Terps

B'Moul you certainly have a lot more sympathy than I do. I have very little for these decisions. Geez who's next Stoglin? As much as I never jumped on the Vaquez bandwagon at least he stayed the 4 yrs and continued to get better/less selfish as a player, and I respect that. He's no NBA all-star but at least he's getting some minutes and will probably be very useful at some point. NJ was DUMB enough to take JW in the second round lmao! Even an NBA minimum-paid rookie s&*ts on my broke a#%, but I love I tolda so's when I know I was right. 
       No opinions an Temple? I think you guys really don't know what to expect and that's probably the correct assessment, but I really think Terps take this one..ok part Stanrod but the team has shown enough to think we have a chance. I mean we have to win sooner or later on the road right? Skins you really think there will be no road wins the rest of the way?? The ACC has been bad this year out of conference, thus only the 4th-rated RPI overall...to me that is sad..not good for MD or any team in the ACC. Even if Terps have no chance of an NCAA birth this year, it would be good to see FL State, NC State, VA really step it up and do good into the tourney to get the ACC reputation back.  

Terpo,

My sympathy for these types of things is still instinctively countered by the "  " side of my personality.

However, as I get older, and see people make decisions that are influenced by others,(that supposedly have their best interests)...it gets sad for me, and reflects a side of society that I'm growing to despise.

These are kids making decisons, without the necessary experience, and it's increasingly difficult to get quality advice...that is not shaded by a conflict of interest.

I think JW made an awful decision, but I have the hindsight of age. Vasquez impresssed me last year, in that he executed a plan that kept his options open...based on a process that allowed him to gather better information.

As for the Terps...I'm no where near the Stanrod side of the scale. They have played better than I thought they could, but I'm still surprised when they get the W. They haven't played 2 good halves once this year!

I think if each player plays near their potential..the Terps will be competitive, but it's an awful lot to ask that multiple variables execute up to their potential simultaneoulsy.

My ability to predict wins or losses will increase as I see the rest of the league once through. Without seeing Temple, and based on past experiences...I would think that Temple gets the W. The Terps have faltered badly in the second halves of both road games...I expect the same until they show differently.

Go Terps

I think the Terps are about due to lay a huge egg like the Iona game. I see Temple beating them up on the boards and the three point line pretty much like they did last year. Just a strange bad feeling I have about this game. It's a weird time to be playing at 11 am but that's becuase of TV and Im happy to watch them play, plus drink my beer in the morning. Somebody, ANYBODY needs to score at least 15 to help out Stoglin. If that happens along with the three point shots falling I can see the Terps winning. They have got to play D(no D in the FL ST game) and P needs to stop turning the ball over in the paint.

Go Terps!

Too many things have to go unusually right for MD to predict a win. Any win really, but especially a road win against an able opponent. The cold hard fact is we are too undermanned to play at a high level for a whole game, and too young and inexperienced to win o nthe road at all.

Look at the team and what experience does for you. Mosely of course has seen it all, and has been fairly consistant game to game. Stoglin last year was a mess, and even though he is wreckless still, he has found a way to score and contribute, Howard also was lost last year and this year seems to be beginning to get a clue, but he does not panic like last year. And finally Padgett who has benefitted from being here before and though he could be much better and closer to his recruiting hype, is obviously not intimidated home or away. That is what experience does for you and they will only get better for next year. The freshman this year are the same as the freshmen were last year, they just don't hve enough experience to know what to expect, and how to respond to it once they see it. Folks the first time you walk into Cameron Arena or Smith Center it is daunting just to be there as a fan. Comcast in great, and when it is full and the students are rocking the house it is one of the best hoime court advantages there is, but there the hme crowd is no your side. On tobacco road it is a different ballgame and only experiencing it can prepare you for the next time.

Temple will win this game by 12. It will be about 76 to 64 in a lower scoring game than normal. If Mosely is on and one of the bigs gets off then it could be closer but not close enough. Things will get better, but not yet.

On the other hand if they were to pull it out and they could get to 6 conference wins, they certainly would be in line for an NIT bid this year. The last time they were sort of in this position was when Joe Smith and Keith Booth were freshmen and the team exploded on to the scene basically a year ahead of what most expected, and then went on the next year to the sweet 16 a year sooner than expected. Then Joe deserted us just when it could have been great. I bought a dog and named it Joe Smith just so I could kick it around!

Just remember that Gary W only went NIT lose 1st round in his first year 18-14 I believe. Terps did not get to the NCAA tourney till his FIFTH year as coach there, so I'd say Turg has the highest probability of surpassing that 5-yr record with ease. Skins I don't think Temple by 12 because I don't think they are as imposing as Fl State was. I see this close all the way. After that it's Duke man I don't want a 3-game skid!!!!

We were on probation when Gary got here. Not exactly the same thing. When Turgeon gets to 600 wins see me. LOL

Yeah the probation year was 16-12 DNP in ACC tourney...then after that it was 14-15, then the 92-93 season they were 12-16, so either way no NCAA tournament bid was coming their way. 

MY BOLD PREDICTION: Terps win a barn burner in this one. I can't believe I'm saying this but I actually think they will get the win, on the road. Here's another bold prediction, Alex Len gets a double-double with at least 13 points. Another one: Stoglin drops 30.

Ok I think I'm done drinking the kool-aid. But seriously I think Terps are gonna pull this out.

Hey guys.  Thanks for continuing to post - it helps keep me updated with the "behind the scenes" updates from non-homerish, real Terps fans.  (Unless stanrod is lurking somewhere that I don't know about...)

Wow, this year really reminds me of those erratic-yet-mildly-talented post-Lenny Bias teams of the late 80's.  And I guess at 12-5 (2-2 ACC), we're basically playing as well as could be expected.  I think some of you guys were saying (and honestly, I was thinking) 2 or 3 ACC wins TOPS back in late November/early December, so I'll definitely take 2-2 at this point.

On the Temple game:  I just can't see a W coming for the Terps.  As I think bmouly said, we've yet to see two decent halves played in the same game.  Until that happens, I can't predict a road W, let alone against a team with an RPI of 19.  Sure, they're 2-2 in the A10, but just a quick glance at their schedule shows that they have been pretty competitive in both their wins and losses.

It would be nice to have Faust continue to show improvement, and I have been mostly impressed with Len's play.  Maybe we win 4 or 5 more games this season - I don't know.  There's *potential* upside on this team, if not an upset in the cards against a Duke or UNC.

But I'll say that we have a respectable showing at Temple, losing by 7.

Ok, granted, we haven't played two complete halves this year yet...but isn't it due to happen sooner or later? Sooner or later that game is gonna happen. Wait wasn't the G tech game pretty close to two good halves?? Ok reachin'. I just heard a rumor they put Len on Test, D-bol, and GH injections this week and that he put on 20 lbs of muscle in one week, banged the whole cheerleading squad, beat up 10 guys in a Hyattsville bar, then held the offense to zero in 3 on one drills against him in practice. 

So the first charge against Delonte Hill is not a recruiting violation after all, but a suspicion of DUI. He had one of these a few years back and got out of it by going through a program. Guess it didn't work.... Now I will say this, though I understand that he is in charge of molding young minds, this should not be a firable offense. I know that other coaches have been fired in the past for tha same offense, and I didn't agree with that either. Everyone makes mistakes and your entire life should not be taken down because you had an extra glass of win at dinner. I have no idea if that is what happened or not, but unless he was drunk after leaving a campus party where underage drinking was involved or something like that, then I suspend him a few games or even the rest of this year, let him pay his fines and do his community service and mandatory classes, and get on with his life.

I agree that the Terps haven't played great for two halves of a game this year, but they were also without two talented players and had limited scholly players for much of that time.  Even now, Pe'shon Howard and Alex Len are having to feel out the team and understand the system they are in.  I like Maryland's chances to win against Temple.  Temple played the game of their lives against Duke and Duke had a shocking 21 turnovers in the game.  But....Temple has eked out several victories over subpar talent, similar to Maryland early in the season.  Turgeon has attempted to light a fire under Len and I think he will be more aggressive as the season marches forward.  Stoglin continues to score and has begun to share the ball a little better.  Mosley has picked up his game where he would disappear for long stretches in past seasons.  I think the Terps win the game at the line toward the end. 

P.S.   I understand the game will not be played at Temple's on-campus court but will instead be played at the Palestra, which is where the Penn Quakers play their games.  The difference in size between Temple's Liacouras Center and the Palestra is roughly 1,500 seats less, but I understand the bleachers come out nearly to the court making fan presence a little less friendly.  Not sure how that will affect the game for either team, but it ought to be interesting.

Also Memphis, did not know this till reading the feed, but Temple has been without their senior 6'11 center for awhile now...they hav to go with a 6'9 freshman, so hopefully that will work better for Len. If there's gonna be a quality road win this year, this is the opportunity. 

Prediction - TERPS cover the spread +10 (or 9 1/2 depending on site) but I will be cheering for a TERPS win. 

The Jordan Williams update - just SAD!  Obviously, he very bad advice.  Not only would the TERPS be much better this year but he would have a much better chance to improve his game and a possible 1st round pick.  No dgree, No scholrship and no NBA team - OUCH!  Hind sight is 20/20 and whats done has been done. 

Bad news on Asst. coach Hill, second dui charge in 4 years, an obvious problem.  How many other times did he do this and just not get caught? 

Let's enjoy the game and hope the TERPS can pull off a good road win today.

GO TERPS!

Heard Turgeon say they normally have their pregame meal four or five hours early on the radio the other night.
That would sure be a change for an 11 am game.

The Sargarin point spread is 10.73.
Go Terps.