Maryland Basketball: ACC Tournament

ACC TOURNAMENT - FINALS

#3 Boston College vs. #1 Duke
For all those who believe Duke is going to fall short of the Final Four (mainly me), everything is setting up perfectly. If Ratface was smart, he would have thrown in the towel against Miami. He would have given the seven guys he plays a couple of extra days of rest that they so desperately need. Honestly, who cares if Duke wins the ACC tournament? That doesn't mean anything anymore, especially to a program that is expected to compete at a national level each year. Now, the Devils will be forced to play their third game in a row. An already thin Duke team is is going to be exhausted. Backne, who is already in a slump, suffered a slight knee injury last night that I'm sure won't feel good today, or next week, or the weekend after that. As if his legs weren't tired enough from playing more than 38 minutes a game, now he's got a boo-boo to deal with. What's worse for the Nerds, because of the Eagles depth advantage, I think they win this thing. Either way, Ratface is coaching his way out of a Final Four appearence. Well done. Maybe Sean Marshall could test Backne's knee out today with a couple of cheap shots...hopefully?
Pick: Boston College 84, Duke 80

ACC TOURNAMENT - SEMIFINALS
Originally posted 3/11/06 at 11:58 am

#12 Wake Forest vs. #1 Duke
Ah, I got that Wake Forest pick right. But then again, who didn't see that coming. Wake had been playing better basketball recently and everyone who has watched only a couple of NC State games knew they would find a way to lose. And the Wolfpack didn't just find a way to lose, they found a way to embarrass themselves. Look Herb, you and that Princeton offense had a nice little run. But everyone's figured it out. After you get bounced in the first round of the NCAA's, it's time for you to leave Raleigh and go look for work elsewhere.
Pick: Duke 85, Wake Forest 74

#3 Boston College vs. #2 North Carolina
This should be a great game. I'm really looking forward to watching this one here at work today (as you can tell, I'm pretty busy...hehe). I think Carolina's outside shooting is going to be the difference in this game. The Tyler Hansbrough vs. Smith/Dudley matchup will cancel out. The Heels shoot better from beyond the arch. Of course, if UNC applies the Maryland defense today, I can't be held responsible for my pick.
Pick: North Carolina 84, Boston College 79

By the way, I was a perfect 4-0 yesterday, driving the ol' record up to 62-27

ACC TOURNAMENT - QUARTERFINALS
Originally posted 3/10/06 at 12:11 am



#6 Maryland Terrapins (19-11, 9-8 ACC) vs.
#3 Boston College Eagles (24-6, 11-5 ACC)
Greensboro Coliseum – Greensboro, NC
ACC Tournament Quarterfinals

I’m going to make this whole NCAA tournament one big, enormous post. You can find the first round analysis and predictions under the quarterfinal section.

Maryland cruised by Tech tonight, and gets a favorable matchup with Boston College. At least favorable in terms of the other possibilities. Of the other three teams that had first round byes, the Terps matchup much better against BC. The Eagles aren’t a good three-point shooting team, and that is the one way to consistently beat Maryland’s defense. By the way, the Terps defense has really picked up the effort the last two weeks.

BC has also been lax on defense at times this season. Maryland should not, and can’t afford to, have one of those prolonged scoring droughts they always seem to fall into at the worst time. BC has a lot of mid-sized guys who have problems guarding the three. Mike Jones, if tonight was any indication, should get the opportunity to take a healthy dose of shots.

Still, there’s a reason that the Eagles are the third seed in the ACC tourney. Their methodical offense wears teams down. They attack the rim better than any team in the conference (although if you look at attempted free throws, you’d be led to believe that the Dookies attack the rim better…but I’m sure that’s just a coincidence). They get stronger as the game progresses. That tendency should continue as they haven’t played since early last Saturday and the Terps have played twice since then, including a game only a few hours ago.

I expect this game to be close throughout. The reason that BC has been in so many close games this season, especially against weaker teams, is they don’t have the offensive fire power or the ability to control the game on defense to go on extended runs. They just keep you at arms-length until the very end. This game should resemble the first game between the two teams (Which, if you can remember, was way back on December 11th. Maryland has faced Texas A&M-Corpus Christi more recently than a team in its own conference. Just another negative and charming side effect of this bogus new ACC schedule.). The only difference will be the outcome. Maryland played well against BC the first time. But they won by only two points with Nobel Prize winner Chris McCray still in uniform. And the game was at Comcast Center. Craig Smith and Jared Dudley are going to wear out the Terps big men, and Sean Marshall should be the omnipresent X-factor for the Eagles in a game they should manage to squeak out. Personally, with Michigan, Seton Hall, Air Force and Florida State all losing today, and either Colorado or Texas A&M losing tomorrow, I think Maryland should be in the NCAA’s. Of course, most seem to be predicting that Maryland needs to win this game to get an invite. We’ll just see who’s right when College Park is sweating it out on Selection Sunday.

Boston College 79
Maryland 75

The rest of the quarterfinals (my ACC predicting record is now 58-27)...

#8 Miami vs. #1 Duke
Don’t have much to say about this one. So I’ll back track a few days. I had absolutely no intention of watching any of the ESPN UNC-Duke lovefest on Saturday. And for the most part, I didn’t. But a friend called me with about 5 minutes left in the game and said Duke was getting run off its own court. Even I had to watch that. Wasn’t that great to watch that happen on Backne’s senior night? How could the “player of the year” have allowed that to happen? I believe that won’t be the final time this month we’ll see Redick at the verge of tears and Duke on the wrong side of beating.
Pick: Duke 90, Miami 77

#12 Wake Forest vs. #4 NC State
I was so close to going with Wake over FSU. So I’m actually going to pull the trigger on the upset here. State just got run over by the Deacs a few days ago, and looked completely uninterested while getting crushed. Wake seems to be playing better basketball as of late. And Little Herb will find a way to blow it, like always.
Pick Wake Forest 69, NC State 64

#7 Virginia vs. #2 North Carolina
The ACC’s best team faces a UVA squad they beat by 175 a few weeks ago. I just hope that the Heels haven’t peaked too early; I’d love to see what this team, at full strength, could do in the NCAA’s. After embarrassing Duke on their senior night, how can you not root for these guys?
Pick: UNC 100, Virginia 68


ACC TOURNAMENT - 1st ROUND
Originally posted 3/08/06 at 3:34 PM

#11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-16, 4-12 ACC) vs.
#6 Maryland Terrapins (18-11, 8-8 ACC)
Greensboro Coliseum – Greensboro, NC
ACC Tournament – First Round Game

Even though one win should be good enough to get Maryland into the tournament, it looks more and more likely that they’ll need two. I can’t believe that Seton Hall, Indiana and half the MVC teams are currently better than Maryland. Not that the Terps are all that good, but still, I still think they’re easily better than Bradley. Sometimes the RPI can’t show everything.

Whatever. The Terps won’t win two games. They’ll be lucky to get this one. One of the hardest things to do in college basketball is beat the same team three times in a single season (unless, of course, you happen to be Clemson). I think Maryland picks up the win, but they’re going to run into a rested and ready Boston College team on Friday.

In terms of the short post, I’ll just be playing out the string during the ACC tournament. I’ll be mailing it in like Herb Sendek. I’ll offer my ACC picks on time, as usual. But my witty (or completely unfunny) comments will be kept to a minimum. Check back a few hours before the selection show on Sunday for the bracket predictions. As of now, I do intend to do it. That should kick off a week of long, solid and hopefully somewhat amusing posts. I will have in depth coverage and predictions of the NCAA tournament…so not to worry. I’ve got a rough work schedule at WMAL this week, so I’m not going to have much time to update the site in the next few days. Next week will be fun though, I promise.

By the way, if you listen to WMAL from 5 a.m. to noon tomorrow, any Maryland basketball news updates or stories you hear were written by me. I may not be doing the voice-over, but writing the story is 90% of the effort anyway.

Maryland 76
Georgia Tech 71

The rest of the ACC tournament (ACC record so far: 55-26)

#9 Clemson vs. #8 Miami
Whichever team advances will be a tough out for the Dookies. It appears that Clemson has just given up the last couple of weeks.
Pick: Miami 82, Clemson 74

#12 Wake Forest vs. #5 Florida State
Oooh boy. I really want to take Wake Forest in the upset. If there is a team that traditionally plays worse than Maryland at the ACC tourney, it’s Florida State. I think this one will be a nail-biter.
Pick: Florida State 80, Wake Forest 76

#10 Virginia Tech vs. #7 Virginia
With all the off court problems that Tech has had this year, I’m surprised they were able to concentrate long enough to finish out of the cellar. While the Hokies may be the sentimental favorite, Virginia is the better team on the hardwood.
Pick: Virginia 71, Virginia Tech 60