Maryland Basketball: Mike Jones And The Temple Of Goons

#18/19 Maryland Terrapins (14-4, 4-2 ACC) at
Temple Owls (10-7, 4-3 A-10)
Liacouras Center – Philadelphia, PA

Big, big win for Maryland on Wednesday. There is no other way to put it. Even Gary Williams admitted during his weekly talk show that he had no idea how the team would respond and what would have happened if the team lost. Some may have looked at the records and the stats going in and come to a conclusion that Maryland should have won easily. But nothing comes easy on the road, especially in the wild and crazy ACC this season.

The Terps played one of the most complete games they have all season in their win over Georgia Tech. Even when Paul Hewitt and company decided to turn the game into a rugby match, Maryland was able to persevere by hitting 41 of 45 free throws. And Nik Caner-Medley finally decided to show up in a real game. 33 points and 9 boards is more like it. I guess I’ll have to give him a pass the next couple of weeks. Will Bowers, surprising everyone, actually looks like a basketball player. His defense against Eric Williams of Wake and Jeremis Smith of Tech was incredible. He is starting to learn how to throw his 7-foot frame around without committing fouls. Plus, his five to seven foot jump shot is starting to fall with some regularity. Mike Jones played well in limited action due to fouls. He posted 12 points, 5 boards and 3 assists in 26 minutes over the Jackets. I’m sure that Gary will take that kind of line from Jones the rest of the season.

I still have two concerns from the past few weeks. The first is Ekene Ibekwe. Earlier this season, Ibekwe looked liked a guy who was going to put up 16 and 10 a night. And that was against some real competition. He played well against Gonzaga, Arkansas and Minnesota. But recently, Ibekwe has had a string of average games. Not poor games mind you. Just strictly average. The other concern is Sterling Ledbetter. He continues to regress. With Einstein McCray now done, Ledbetter will see an increase in playing time. Before McCray’s absence, Ledbetter was averaging just over 10 minutes a game. This was fine. He’d see five minutes or so in the first half, and another five in the second half. He didn’t have much of an opportunity to screw things up. Now, Ledbetter’s minutes are going to double. He played 18 minutes against Tech, and was dreadful. His 1-point, 5 assist, 4 turnover and 3 fouls line is going to hurt Maryland if it continues. He needs to come the bench and do a better job of protecting the ball. We don’t need to see increased offensive production. Sterling simply must protect the basketball. He also has to do a much better job of quarterbacking the Maryland offense. Maryland won by 12 despite committing 25 turnovers. During Sterling’s 18 minutes, the Terps committed 15 of those turnovers. They committed only 10 during the 22 minutes he was on the bench. Sterling has been here for a year and a half now; it is time he starts running the offense efficiently.

Anyway, congratulations to Coach Williams. If you didn’t know, he tied the Lefty Driesell for most wins while coaching at Maryland. He’ll go for the record breaker on Saturday.

The Terps continue their mini-road trip with a swing to Philadelphia. They play new ACC rival Temple in one of the country’s most disgusting cities. Wait, who let Temple join the ACC? This expansion business is getting a little out of control. Oh, Temple’s still in the Atlantic 10? Are you sure? They didn’t even move to the 55-team Big East? So why are the Terps playing these guys? Did we not get enough gangsta-ball in Atlanta?

Ok, so Maryland will take on the Owls and their first year head coach…WHAT?!? John Chaney is still there? Are you serious? After he sent one of his players into a game to deliberately injure an opponent…and succeeded? He wasn’t fired? Well, at least that player must have been kicked off the team. No? Nehemiah Ingram is still there too? And he’s seeing six minutes of action a game? What, are four of those minutes spent in the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct? Is this bizarro land in Philly? You’re telling me, a player can be suspended for the last three months of the season because he had one bad semester academically, and these goons Chaney and Ingram were given only a slap on the wrist at the end of last season for acting like the Broad Street Mafia? Ladies and Gentlemen, your NCAA regulations at work!

I’m not going to sit here and debate John Chaney’s coaching ability. He’s a terrific coach, that much is obvious. His contributions to the Philadelphia area (and really, Philly needs as much help as it can get) and its African-American community are almost unmatched. But asking one of his players to hurt another one because he is upset with the illegal screens being set is so far over the line. I don’t care if he had won multiple national championships, I would have fired him immediately. I know it would have caused a stir, but if this isn't a firable offense, what is? Couldn't Temple fire him while Donovan McInjury and the Eagles' season tanked? Fewer people would have payed attention then. And I would have kicked Ingram off the team as well. True, Ingram should never have been put in a position to intentionally hurt another player. But he's 21. He should be able to distinguish right from wrong. He listened to his coach without a second thought. They are both equally to blame. They should both have received their walking papers from Temple.

Hopefully Maryland won’t have to endure any of this foolishness on Saturday. This isn’t going to be a simple win for the Terps. Temple has played a tough schedule, so don’t let the record fool you. They’ve scored wins over Miami, South Carolina, Alabama and Penn. Just this week they beat a very good Xavier squad. Their losses aren’t bad either. They lost at UCLA, at Rutgers, at Auburn, at St. Joe’s, at home to Villanova, at home to GW and at UMass. The loss to UMass was their only bad loss. Temple found itself on the wrong side of a 60-34 beating. With 10 minutes to go in regulation, Temple had scored 18 points. That’s right. 18 points in 30 minutes. Which is bad news for the Terps. The Owls have already played their real bad game recently, so don’t expect for them to have another one like it on Saturday.

Marty Collins is the player to watch out for. Collins is a physical 6-6 guard who averages 15.5 points and 4 boards a game. Antywane Robinson is the other dangerous senior. He helps Collins with 12.4 points and 5 boards on average. Like Georgia Tech, Temple does not shoot real well from outside or at the line. Only Mark Tyndale is going to beat you with threes (shooting 42%). And only Robinson shoots better than 70 percent from the charity stripe. Temple’s team average is in the low 60’s. Like Tech, Temple is going to slow down the game and play physical (hopefully not too physical Mr. Cheney). Against a team like the Owls, Maryland cannot afford to commit 25 turnovers. Because of Temple’s slow down play, there are going to be fewer possessions. The Terps can’t give any away. Maryland should be well prepared for a game like this. Temple plays the game at the exact pace that N.C. State does. They are going to make you work for 35 seconds when you have the ball. They are going to make you work for 35 seconds when they have the ball. Temple is going to try and score early points inside and then let Collins take over in the second half.

Expect Caner-Medley to guard Collins in this game. Maryland should have the advantage inside against a tall, but mediocre rebounding Temple team. Because 6-8 Robinson will probably be stuck on Caner-Medley when the Terps have the ball, Maryland should be able to go inside to Gist and Ibekwe. If Temple plays that confusing zone of theirs, it’s going to be up to Jones and D.J. Strawberry to shoot over it. If you want to see a smooth, exciting, fast paced game, don’t watch this one. This game is going to be 10 kinds of ugly. Just ugly enough for Maryland to win.

Maryland 66
Temple 58

Elsewhere in the ACC...

Considering Virginia surprised everyone, a 3-2 record in ACC predictions during the week wasn't that bad. I'm now 15-10 overall. Here are the rest of the weekend's games.

Saturday
Virginia Tech at Wake Forest
The Hokies will be without three of their best players. Two are gone for personal reasons. Deron Washington was suspended because he kicked White Stiff the other night. With all the dirty shots delivered by Duke in that game, I don't blame the kid for letting his frustrations get the best of him. It wasn't a planned Chaney-like action. Naturally, he is punished while the Rapist got away with three or four nasty elbows to Hokies' faces. Anyway, too many Hokies are missing. How could Wake lose this game at home.
Pick: Wake Forest 77, Virginia Tech 64

Virginia at Duke
I don't believe UVA is 4-2 good. But Duke is playing its second game in 48 hours, and the Cavs are buying into Dave Leito's system. This one will be close until Duke goes on a run at the beginning of the second half.
Pick: Duke 82, Virginia 63

Sunday
N.C. State at Clemson
The Wolfpack lost to Seton Hall, huh? I guess it's time to invite the Pirates into the ACC.
Pick: N.C. State 69, Clemson 62

Miami at Florida State
I was burned by the Hurricanes on the road earlier this week. But I can't bring myself to pick the Noles. Leonard Hamilton hasn't been a decent coach since he left The U.
Pick: Miami 86, Florida State 80

Georgia Tech at Boston College
The Jackets are in all kinds of trouble. At the same time, it looks like BC is finally starting to live up to my hype.
Pick: Boston College 75, Georgia Tech 64