Maryland Basketball: Doing The Hokie Pokey

Virginia Tech Hokies (10-7, 0-4 ACC) at
#22/22 Maryland Terrapins (12-4, 2-2 ACC)
Comcast Center - College Park, MD

After watching Maryland get pummeled by Duke last week, I wasn’t as upset as I thought I’d be. In fact, I wasn’t upset at all. I couldn’t figure out why. I was talking to my friend Tuck about it, and he knew the reason immediately. I believe his exact words were “Dude, Redskins play on Saturday.”

Translation: I was too caught up with Redskins fever (symptoms may include coughing, headache, sneezing, erections that last more than four hours, zoning out every other thing that takes place during the week, randomly breaking into Hail To The Redskins, and screaming like Joe Bugel) to worry about what some petty college team was doing. As any real football fan knows, during football season, no other sport is as important. That includes football and basketball played by the old alma mater. Even if the alma mater is getting drilled by their archrival. Who cares? As long as the Redskins were playing, it wouldn’t have mattered to me if Maryland basketball was put back on probation. But it had been so long since Redskins football interfered with Maryland’s ACC schedule that I had forgotten about that rule.

Now that the Redskins are done for the season, I need to follow something to get me to next September. Which means Gary and company won’t get free passes anymore. The area’s media needs something to write about. So until baseball season, all eyes in the D.C. area turn to the Terps. I don’t think Gary realizes how lucky he is that the Duke beating took place during a Redskins playoff run. Normally, that story would have been the number one focus of the Washington-Baltimore media for weeks. Instead, in the Washington Post the next day, the game story ran below the fold on the front of the sports page. A game that normally requires the Post to publish a long game recap and two columns (probably by Wilbon and Mike Wise), took a major backseat to the Redskins-Seahawks hype. So if anyone questions what drives the D.C.-Baltimore press, let the last few weeks show no doubt. This area has always, and will always be, Redskins country.

So the spotlight shines back on the Maryland Terrapins until April. And while no one was paying attention (unless you count the Maryland fans who root for the Ravens…but nobody really counts them), the Terps lost in ugly fashion to both Miami and Duke. They then rebounded with a rather difficult win against Wake Forest. And I was at the Wake game. Thanks to a non-functioning student ID and a bunch of inept ticket-takers, The Predictor and friends managed to sneak into the Comcast Center free of charge. I’d like to thank the University and the athletic department for being so gracious to foot the bill for the evening. They were even nice enough to accommodate us with a few seats in the student section behind the Demon Deacons bench. We were well within earshot of Eric Williams and his repulsive mother and her stupid hat. Needless to say, some things were shouted in their general direction that upset many a Deacons fan. It was about time some real fans got into the Maryland student section, which as I mentioned before, has been getting awfully quiet ever since my class graduated. Do these kids know they can make noise? It was pathetic.

Anyway, for 35 minutes it looked like an actual ACC-caliber basketball team was wearing the home whites. Then Maryland decided to leave Justin Gray uncovered. Gray hit three after three and cut a 17 point Maryland lead to two. Maryland did just enough to hang on and win 90-86. Gray scored 38 points in a losing effort. And this is a Wake team with only two dangerous scores that lost a lot of talent in the draft and due to graduation this past season. Half the players from Wake I’d never heard of. They had these three freshmen, Dukes, Hale and Drum (sounds like a great name for a band) who all looked horrible. Kyle Visser is still doing his best Shavlik Randolph impression. And while Trent Strickland is a capable defender, he is usually too busy missing dunks and taking ill-advised threes to make a difference offensively.

By being at the game, I learned a lot more about Maryland then I was able to pick up while watching them on television. Finally it seems that Maryland has a definite starting five in the collection of role players that are currently under scholarship. The starting five should be D.J. Strawberry, Chris McCray, Mike Jones, James Gist and Ekene Ibekwe. I love the three-guard lineup, I love Gist at the 4, and Ekene, despite a tough night against Wake, is a more natural center than he is a power forward. Here is why the lineup works. Mike Jones, as the third guard, is going to be defended by the other team’s three position. The small forwards are usually taller, but slower, than Jones. If Maryland’s flex offense faces a man-to-man defense, the only thing needed to free Jones at the perimeter is a simple screen at the top of the key. Jones only needs a split second to get set and get the shot off. And if Jones has a hot start, like he did against the Deacs, then he is going to draw double teams. Which will free up D.J. and McCray from the outside as well. Is it any surprise that Maryland had one of their best shooting nights the same night that Jones logged a ton of minutes? I don’t think so. Also, with three guards, Maryland’s transition game is much quicker and even more deadly than normal. The fast break looked more fluid against Wake than it has all season. And Maryland still has power inside with Gist and Ibekwe. So after seeing his team’s offensive performance against Wake, Gary will naturally screw it up by putting Nik Caner-Medley in the starting lineup.

In my starting five, there are two names that are conspicuously absent. Caner-Medley is one of them. I continue to stand by my statement that Nik would be much better off the bench as the sixth man. He certainly hasn’t played up to his potential has a starter. Again, if you look at the stats carefully, you will see that Nik still hasn’t had an impressive performance this year, or even last year, against real competition. Anyone can put up 20 and 8 against Local University or Small Private College, but I’m still waiting to see Nik do that in a big time ACC game.

The other name missing is Travis Garrison. Most by now realize why he was in street clothes on Sunday instead of in his jersey. He allegedly assaulted and sexually attacked a woman back in late October (why we are just learning of this incident, I don’t know). This is very serious incident that must be looked at closely by the program. If there is even a hint of truth to it, Garrison should not be allowed to play at all. He shouldn’t even be allowed on the bench. I believe in the whole innocent until proven guilty line, but hitting a woman is totally unacceptable. I applaud Gary for suspending him for the Wake game. And I also feel very uneasy about letting him suit up for games while this case is still pending. But again, if he isn’t proven guilty, there isn’t much that Maryland can do about it. If I was still on campus, I would have known almost immediately if this case had any validity to it. I still have my connections on campus, and the word through the grapevine is that this case may be a bit overblown (which may be one of the reasons why it took so long to charge Travis with a crime). My people tell me that this may be a case of a woman and the excellent College Park police department (said with much sarcasm) going after a basketball player simply because he’s a basketball player. Keep in mind that this entire case is still only alleged. But if this turns out to be true, Garrison should be kicked off the team and out of the school immediately. No questions asked.

With all that said, I assume that Caner-Medley will be in the starting lineup, Jones will be back on the bench as Gary’s personal whipping boy and Garrison will be dressed to play this Saturday against Virginia Tech. The Hokies were last seen taking the Dookies down to the wire in Cameron in early December. VPI was 1.6 seconds away from beating Duke and solidifying their promising start. But when Sean Dockery’s last second absolute fluke heave went in, it sent the Hokies into a tailspin. Tech as yet to win an ACC game this season, and resides in the cellar of the conference by themselves. But that doesn't mean this isn't a capable Hokies team. They did beat Maryland last season with basically the same cast. Coleman Collins and Zabian Dowdell are the two players Maryland will have to watch out for this weekend. Obviously, if Tech can give Duke trouble, they can do the same to Maryland. I don’t see their interior defense being good enough to stop Ibekwe, Gist and Nik. I have a feeling this is going to be one of these 15 point, 10 board performances from Nik; after which, he will disappear for a few weeks. And Tech certainly won’t be able to rebound like they did when they upset Maryland last year in Blacksburg.

This is a must win game for Maryland. The Terps have a tough stretch coming up and can’t afford a home loss to the ACC’s worst team. With the ACC looking very weak this season, it is going to take a 9-7 conference record, at the very least, for Maryland to make the tournament. I can’t see the Terps winning more than three road games in conference. And if they were to go 3-5 on the road, the Terps would have to go 6-2 at home. And they still have home games against Duke, UNC and Georgia Tech. So they must protect home court, especially against weak opponents. This one will be closer than many think, but it should go Maryland’s way.

Maryland 76
Virginia Tech 65

Elsewhere in the ACC…

Again, I’d like to apologize. Due to my work and play schedule, I’ve neglected my ACC picks entirely this past week. Which may be a good thing. I’m only 8-7 predicting conference games so far. Here are my picks for this weekend’s games.

Saturday
Clemson at Georgia Tech
Biggest surprise to me so far this season has been Clemson’s victory over Wake Forest. It could mean two things. One, Clemson is better than everyone thought. Two, the Deacons are much worse than everyone thought. I’d tend to believe the latter. Still, Clemson is winning games they normally wouldn’t have in past years, and the Jackets are heading for the NIT. This one could go either way
Pick: Georgia Tech 64, Clemson 61

Wake Forest at N.C. State
Joining the Jackets in the NIT bracket this season will be Wake Forest. Look for the Pack to recover after their near win in Cameron (Duke sure is struggling at home this season…the Maryland game not withstanding).
Pick: N.C. State 73, Wake Forest 63

Boston College at Miami
This is the most important game on the ACC ledger this weekend. Boston College is still looking for a real ACC win (I can’t count their win over FSU at home). The Eagles continue to struggle defensively and continue to make me look bad by starting the conference schedule 1-3. The Canes are 3-1, and a win here would look awfully good next to wins over Maryland and at UNC. If they manage to win this one, they have two winnable games against UVA and FSU coming up. Miami could be looking at a 6-1 conference start. What happened to the ACC?
Pick: Boston College 80, Miami 75

Sunday
North Carolina at Florida State
This game looked a whole lot easier until UNC lost to the Cavs last night. Still, FSU and Virginia Tech should be fighting it out for the cellar all season long. I don’t think there’s anyway that FSU goes to 3-2 in conference play. It couldn’t happen…could it?
Pick: North Carolina 68, Florida State 57