Maryland Basketball: Not Tech-nically Sound

NR/#22 Maryland Terrapins (15-4, 1-3 ACC) at
#23/#25 Virginia Tech Hokies (13-5, 3-1 ACC)
Cassell Coliseum - Blacksburg, VA

Here we go again. Every time you want to get excited about this team, they perform like they did against Virginia. This team is not going to garner a tournament bid. Right now, we are staring in the face of a 1-5, or even 1-6 start. With games against Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and a road trip to Tallahassee on the horizon, do you see any games there that a Maryland fan should feel comfortable about? If Maryland is lucky, they’ll get to the halfway point with a 3-5 conference record. And then they have to play Carolina, at Clemson and twice against Duke. This is not looking good.

The loss to Miami was inexcusable. The loss to Virginia is more understandable, but still a game Maryland should have won. All they had to do is get back on defense. They couldn’t do that. How do you repeatedly not get back on defense after made shots? That’s a fundamental part of the game that the Terps are screwing up. And how in the world do you let Jason Cain get a double-double? I don’t care if Jason Cain is going against my rec-league team, he should not be tallying a double-double.

It is time to bench Greivis Vasquez right now. After his performance against Illinois, everyone anointed him as the next great Maryland point guard. He’s turning into a poor man’s version of John Gilchrist. Everyone points to the last three minutes of the first half, when Vasquez scored nine points, as evidence to why he should be starting. But what about the rest of the game? He couldn’t hit a shot to save his life, and he took terrible shots with no one inside to rebound. This led to Virginia fast breaks. And Vasquez didn’t get back on defense to help stop the fast break his poor shot created. In the half court set, whichever guard he was stuck with drove time and time again. He was guarding Mamadi Diane for most of the first half, until Diane hit two threes. Then he tried guarding Sean Singletary, until Singletary gave him whiplash from his multiple blow-bys. Then he tried guarding Jamil Tucker, who promply followed the new defensive assignment by canning three threes of his own. So Vasquez is a liability on both ends of the court. But I’ve been saying this since the Notre Dame game. More Eric Hayes, less Vasquez.

As for Virginia Tech, this team is legit. Only North Carolina is more athletic than the Hokies. And Tech beat them recently. If you thought Maryland had trouble guarding Virginia, wait ‘til you see the pace the Hokies play at. It’s going to be a one way track meet. It was only a matter of time before Seth Greenburg got this team playing well. Despite curious losses outside of the conference, and a pretty predictable loss to Florida State this week, Tech is tournament type team. Zabien Dowdell, Jamon Gordon and Deron Washington are a fearsome threesome, and Tech goes nine deep. Maryland won’t even hang in for a half.

Virginia Tech 85
Maryland 72

Elsewhere in the ACC…

The record goes up to 15-9, which is not real good at all. I’m slipping this year, I lost all my predicting karma during football season.

SATURDAY
Boston College at Clemson
Hey, let’s not label the Tigers overrated yet. This is still a good team, and I would be surprised if they didn’t make the tourney. On the flip side, Boston College is in big trouble the rest of the season without Sean Williams. Without Williams, John Oates is their only respectable true center, and he isn’t going to scare anybody. Look for Clemson to hit some three pointers early, then go inside to James Mays late for a win.
Pick: Clemson 82, Boston College 75

Miami at Florida State
The Seminoles have that usual feeling about them. They’re going to knock off a couple of teams they shouldn’t in Tallahassee, fool us all into thinking that they could go 8-8 in conference play, then lose games they shouldn’t on the road and finish 5-11. Business as usual in Northern Florida.
Pick: Florida State 70, Miami 65

Duke at NC State
How bad is NC State? Very bad. If they win more than three conference games, it would be a shocker. Sidney Lowe could be a great coach. Really, compared to Herb Sendek, how back can he be? But Sendek left him absolutely nothing when he was fired, and it’s going to take Lowe several seasons to get any talent back to Raleigh.
Pick: Duke 74, NC State 56

Georgia Tech at North Carolina
I really like the Bees. I think this team has the speed and balanced game to play deep into March. However, at times, they look unsure of what to do offensively in half-court sets. So the jury is still out on them a bit. The jury’s verdict has been in for Carolina for a long time now. They. Are. Good.
Pick: North Carolina 88, Georgia Tech 77

SUNDAY
Wake Forest at Virginia
Like NC State, Wake Forest is just plain terrible. It is so odd to see two North Carolina schools play like this. This game will prove why Virginia is still a fringe NCAA tournament team. After blowing out the Terps, Virginia will allow the Deacons to hang in this game for a long time before finally subduing them.
Pick: Virginia 76, Wake Forest 68

On Monday, the initial Predictor Top 25 will come out. Keep an eye out for it.