Miami....

Ok can/will we win this one? One thing I check is the opponent's roster...Miami's another team with two big starters in the middle 6'10 and 6'11. I've given up on Len being a huge factor in the game plan. As for Stoglin, if he doesn't play vs VT, do we win that game? Are the 3-pointers negated by the ball-hogging and poor FT%? Tough call, and apparently Turg is in a catch22 there. Kinda like a poor man's GV. Soooo Terps fans, who would be your starting line-up in this game?? Here's my starting line-up vs Miami:
Mosley
Faust
Padgett
Pankey
P-shon
          And yes, that puts Len and Stoglin on the bench. Stoglin trying to take over the game on the road against those bigs will not carry us IMHO. Pankey/Padgett have been great rebounders and at least give a semblance of size/force. Len has just been taking up space. Faust is still raw but seems to listen more to Turg....plus he's a 6'6 G. Give P-shon a chance to run it, if he starts with the turnovers again throw Stoglin in there lol. Miami is actually a much higher RPI team than us too. Thsi could be similar to the NC State game. 

LOL, I am sure this probably seemed like a good idea when you wrote it, BUT, you can't sit Stoglin. The reason Turgeon doesn't sit him is that he IS in a catch 22 as you state. Without Stoglin they have 0 chance to win because noone else scores consistantly enough to keep us in the game no matter how much rebounding help you are giving. If we were 1-5 or 0-6, then maybe you tinker and send a message, but at 3-3 in conference you are still in it for a post season tournament, and as unlikely as it is that we continue at .500 in the conference, yoy have to do everything you can to win the winnable games. Faust has still not shown that he is comfortable being depended on to score when needed. I don' think this qualifies as a winnable game, but I am sure Turgeon does. I also think that the U remembers the beating their football team took here this year while they were undermanned, and looks for a bit of redemption.

I do think the Len experiment should be over for this year, and he should come in the game only when the other teams bigs are taking a breather, unless you can teach him how to draw a foul on them, or give him free rain to be a disruption in the middle until he fouls out so you at least get something out of him. I think Pankey has done a fine job for a redshirt and will be valuable next year, and i am not that unhappy with Parker either, however unless he does something special soon, he could be the odd man out next year with Shaq coming in and Len hopefully getting better.

Point is Skins....how do we know the other guys wouldn't score if we could get more than 7 assists in a game? There's the catch, and of course no easy answer and to experiment might prove costly. On the other hand, that style of play with our current talent level will not result in beating...say a Miami on the road, unless he has some 10/11 three pointer game. I wasn't suggesting an entire-game benching though..that would not be good. But he is not GV and IMHO never will be. The other ACC teams have a more balanced spread of scorers..I'm particularly impressed with NC State in this regard

GV did a lot of things. I think Stoglin is every bit the scorer, and that form a big Vasquez fan. Difference is if GV wasn't scoring he was doing everything else to help. But like some of those teams, if he wasn't shooting, we weren't winning. I just watch what happens whenever Stoglin is on the bench, and if Mosely is not on his game, everyone else does the same thing as when he is in there, and that is watch whoever has the ball. Howard stops looking for them because when he drives and wants to dish, they don't even have there hands in position to catch the ball. I hear what you are saying. You think, or hope if he wasn't in there they would be forced to play, and of course that is a possibility, but at 3-3 and almost halfway through conference play I think you have to run with how you got here and hope for the best. I don't think it would take 10 3pt performance, but a solid all around 30 may be needed on the road for sure. These are the games where MT earns his money.

I actually think Stoglin has improved a great deal from last year. He hasa lot to learn and he seems to be hard headed, but in the off season, a couple hundred thousand suicides and pushups might do the trick....

Try to read this story and not be proud and excited for this program, this school and this kid.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport
s/maryland-recruit-shaquille-cleare
-has-gone-from-the-bottom-to-a-top-
prospect/2012/01/24/gIQArKXbdQ_stor
y.html

Xint article Skins..I would never have seen that out here on the west coast. I think it says a lot about Turg as well, I mean all the other schools he could have gone to. Seems like a "character" guy too...if he pulled a JW I'd be very surprised. Oh, after reading that I's a goin' stanrod all the way on this next game: this will be the first ACC road win of the year. Terps pull an upset 75-70. 

It really is odd how Gary Williams and Mark Turgeon, as well as the University were this kids first choice. Integrity, Integrity, Integrity. I don't have any illusion that this kid will stay any longer than he needs to in order to make it to the next level, and i don't blame anyone for that if they are ready, but it does sound as if this kid has loyalty and honor and certainly could be the type to fullfil his obligation. What a concept huh? LOL

Good luck terpo on your prediction. It is always more fun to predict the positive and be right than predict the negative and be wrong. Though we are all happy to be wrong when we doubt this team.

81, Thanks very much for posting that article.

Go Terps!

Good luck terpo on your prediction. It is always more fun to predict the positive and be right than predict the negative and be wrong. Though we are all happy to be wrong when we doubt this team.

Well a couple shots of JD have worn off from last night. I was all prepared for a " I told you so " after I predicted a win @Miami, but now sanity has been restored. I'm starting to think that Jack Daniels is a hallucinogen as opposed to other adult beverages. My expectations are for a close game. Miami has the edge on FG %, FT % (by a wide margin there duh), Turnovers, steals, assists, and points allowed. Terps have the edge on rebounds (suprisingly good in ACC) three-point%, and points scored per game. If you're a stat analyst, then factor in it's in Miami, you'd probably say Miami by about 7. I'm alway curious about the betting line but it doesn't comeout till later. We haven't won 1 game yet over a top-50 RPI team. Just wondering if the season ended today would we get to NIT as the 6th place ACC team?

Probably not. That is pretty much what kept us out of the NIT last year. Not enough quality wins. That and the committee hates it when they invite you and you only go because your AD makes you. LOL

In any case I am hoping that playing against Duke and hanging in there for awhile was enough to give them some confidence and give Miami's bigs no respect. They havea couple big guys but not the caliber of Duke. Sooner or later they are going to have to step up against someone big. Baby Shaq is going to need at least a little help. At least the better of the Plumlee's completes his eligibility this year. If the terps win it will bea pretty impressive upset. Not a Duke/UNC upset, but certainly a major step in the Turgeon era.

So now Greenberg is publicly criticizing opposing players' performances after a loss?!?  This after incessantly whining about NCAA tournament exclusions in recent years (try scheduling some tough non-conference opponents and you might find yourself on the right side of the bubble for a change).  Hey Seth, maybe if your team had made more than 6 shots in the first half, they could have overcome Stoglin's 28 points and poor shot selection!  Time to stop blaming everyone else for the program's shortcomings and start looking in the mirror.  The longer he coaches, the more he comes off as a whiny bitch. 

terpo, even during seasons of success with stronger teams, the Terps have never fared well down in Miami.  That trend continues tomorrow night with the Canes taking this one by double-digits, say somewhere b/t a 10 to 13-point margin.  Sorry to be the bearer of more bad news and rain on your parade of optimism, but I don't see it happening any other way.  Hope they prove me wrong.
 

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, MARYLAND!!

Yeah I am an old school ACC purist. I didn't like it when miami bc and vt came to the league, and im gonna absolutely hate when the others come. Hell lets just combine all the b east and ACC into one giant mess and get it over with. no tradition no more playing teams twice. I say send MD to the big east just for a goof. Let's play gtown, syracuse, etc twice a year.

Try to read this story and not be proud and excited for this program, this school and this kid.

Great story, 81.  Thanks for sharing the link.  I think it's the first time I've ever given one of your posts a "5 Star" rating !

Could be good times ahead in the not-too-distant future, Terps fans!


LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, MARYLAND!!!

    Yeah very excited for the Shaq Cleare (great article) and the rest of the recruiting class later this year. Terps have always had a tough time in Miami. I wonder how many , if any, road wins Maryland has there since they joined the ACC?  

    Though I though VT should have gotten into the tourney 2 of the 3 years Seth Greenberg was whining about, I think his remarks after the game the other day on Stoglin were odd.  Maybe you say that after a loss, maybe, but youre talking about a guy who just put up 20+ points on your (losing) team. Seems like he kind of blurted it out and tried to save face but definitely unfortunate wording on his part.
   
     Road wins hard to come by this season, but this would be a big one for the team if they could pull it off. Go Terps!

*though I thought

The answe is that MD has not won in Miami since 1970

Turgeon added Tuesday that for Maryland to have a chance against Miami, which has four players averaging double figures, the team needs more from 7-foot-1 center Alex Len. According to Turgeon, Len’s sprained ankle has healed and the Ukranian had a terrific practice on Monday.

“He has got to play and protect the rim for us against their big guys,” Turgeon said. “We need him if we want to keep this thing going in the right direction, and Alex knows that.”

Play defense and rebound on the road is what Turgeon says is the plan to win on the road, and says that we don't really do that very well yet in a hostile environment. They better learn to do it quick because Miami is playing well right now. Beat GaTech by 15 away, and then won by 22 at home.

Good Luck Young Turtles

Today I'm wearing my red terps shirt I got at the site store like 15 yrs ago. I kid you not I have worn it on game days probably 20 times or so, and every time we have lost. Like the fuggin' Madden curse or something. This is the 1st time I've worn it this season. Maybe it was a GW curse only. lol. Just call me StanTerpo. Seriously though it's also like a play-Miami-curse too.

WOW!  16 points down with 7+ minutes to go and a chance to win it with just 30 seconds left to go.

GO TERPS!

Crap..lol  Too bad they could not get off a decent shot.  It should be going into OT!  Regarless of the outcome, the TERPS played tough tonight.  Let's hope they continue the good play in OT and have a great airplane ride home.

GO TERPS