Maryland Basketball: It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again

Maryland Terrapins (14-8, 4-3) at
Boston College Eagles (12-8, 3-4)
Conte Forum - Chestnut Hill, MA

So, it looks like Maryland is a team that’s going to get out to strong starts, fool around in the middle of the game, allow opponents to hang around, then either hold on for dear life for a win or collapse and lose. This sounds familiar. Where I have I heard of a team like this? Maybe it’s my imagination.

You moron! You’re talking about the Redskins. Stop being a smart ass.

Right! I’m sorry if I sound a little bitter here, but the Terps (for the past three weeks anyway) are acting just like the Redskins. I can’t take any more of this. I suffered through last football season with almost every single game being close. I would like it if just one of my teams could manage to take a big lead, and hold on to it the entire game. That would be really nice.

Why the Redskins were falling into that trap was pretty obvious. There is no need to go over it here because I went over it about five or six times over the course of football season. As for Maryland, the answer is a little trickier. First, we should probably remember that Maryland, for all intents and purposes, is still an average basketball team. Just because they run out to double-digit leads over Virginia and Georgia Tech doesn’t mean they are 10 or more points better than those teams. The recent second halves could just be Maryland and their opponent’s talent balancing themselves out.

However, the style Maryland plays lends itself to a strong finish to a game. Gary Williams uses a deep rotation and nine guys see significant playing time. With the up tempo style and a bench that sees plenty of minutes, Maryland should be stronger than most of their opponents in the second half. For whatever reason, and I can’t put my finger on it yet, Maryland recently seems like the team that’s getting gassed in the second half. Georgia Tech also plays 9-10 guys, so maybe Maryland’s pace didn’t effect them as much. But against Virginia and the Dookies, both teams that usually stick with the same seven players, this shouldn’t be happening.

Boom Osby, for as well as he’s played recently, can’t go more than 30 minutes. He is clearly getting tired out there. His 16-point first half against the Jackets was complimented (or not) by a 2-point second half in which his only points came on a pair of late free throws. Eric Hayes seems healthy, but he too has disappeared in the second half of games. The group of freshmen also seem to struggle second halves. Maybe that’s due to inexperience and nerves, or maybe it’s due to a lack of proper conditioning. I don’t know. Maybe this recent stretch is just a bunch of coincidences and not a long term theme for the season. We’ll have to see.

Meanwhile, despite the second half problems, the Terps continue to lurk around the top of the conference. If you haven’t noticed, Maryland is in a third place tie with Olie Purnell and the Tigers. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the ACC will get at least four teams into the tournament. I don’t care what Lunardi and company are saying (by the way, several “experts” have said the ACC would be lucky to get three), there is no way the powerhouse ACC is going to get less than four. Even in a down year, the conference’s reputation alone with garner four bids. Which means that there’s two bids out there for the taking.

This next five game stretch will be crucial. Maryland is at Boston College, followed by a home game against the suddenly dangerous Wolfpack, then a road trip to Juan Dixon Indoor to play our friends again, and then two home games against awful Florida State and Virginia Tech (a team that is starting to get exposed). With only one home game in their final four ACC contests, Maryland must win four of these next five games. That would put them at 8-4 going into that final quarter of the conference season. You have to figure that 10 ACC wins and one in the tournament would be enough to erase the losses to Ohio and American. You would figure. That would put Maryland at 21 wins. Hopefully that would be enough.

First things first…Boston College. We last saw the Eagles in early December in College Park. Maryland, due in part to a stupid technical foul on Greivis Vasquez, choked away a second half lead and allowed BC to leave Comcast Center with an 81-78 win. That’s a game that would look pretty good in the win column right about now.

Since then, BC has struggled in conference play. They started out 3-0, but have lost their last four. That includes giving Virginia their only conference win so far. That includes an ugly home loss to Virginia Tech. It includes two blowout losses at UNC and at Clemson. The Eagles inexperience and lack of a proven inside player (Oh, where have you gone Craig Smith and Jared Dudley, Chestnut Hill turns its lonely eyes to you.) have finally caught up to them. Tyrese Rice is a terrific point guard. Shamari Spears is a good inside-outside threat. But after those two players, there is a significant drop-off in talent.

Maryland has played well on the road so far this season. They knocked off a decent Charlotte team. They beat Georgia Tech. Heck, they beat UNC. Their only true road loss was a one-point screw up to Virginia Tech. As poorly as the Eagles have been playing recently, I’m forced to take Maryland again on the road.

Maryland 79
Boston College 72

Elsewhere around the ACC…

I know, I’ve gotten lazy and haven’t talked about the rest of the conference yet. My bad, I’ll try to do better the rest of the way.

Wednesday
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest
Eventually, Wake Forest is going to start slipping down the conference standings. The Deacs are not a .500 ACC team yet. That may have to wait until next season.
Pick: Georgia Tech 82, Wake Forest 74

Florida State at Miami
How does Leonard Hamilton still have a job? The Seminoles started out the 07-08 campaign with a couple of quality victories. They’ve been followed with some absolute lay downs against poor competition. Miami is going the same direction that FSU is. So I guess I’ll stick with the home team.
Pick: Miami 67, Florida State 63

Duke at North Carolina
Without Ty Lawson, it will be a challenge for the Heels. However, I think Wayne Ellington will be just good enough running the point for UNC to win this one. Remember, the Dookies are one of the weakest inside teams in the country. All Ellington has to do is get it inside to Tyler Hansbrough enough and let him go for 25 and 15.
Pick: North Carolina 84, Duke 79

Thursday
Clemson at Virginia
This is a game that every ACC follower expects Clemson to win. Purnell appears that’s he has righted the ship after a couple of weeks of bad basketball. Virginia can’t buy a win and the players are starting to revolt on Dave Leitao. So this is the exact type of game that Purnell has made a career of blowing.
Pick: Virginia 78, Clemson 75