Maryland Basketball: 2008 ACC Tournament

ACC FINAL

#3 Clemson vs. #1 North Carolina
Keep it short because I’m working the final brackets. Excited to see these two teams make the final because it should be a fantastic game. The game should be up tempo, back and forth and high-scoring. Clemson’s press will allow the Tar Heels to run, but they’ll have to be careful because the Clemson press is hard to break. Even though Clemson is one of the better teams guarding the perimeter, I have a feeling Wayne Ellington will have a big game, and that will be enough for the Heels. James Mays and Trevor Booker will really have to step up against Tyler Hansbrough, but they’ve both struggled to contain him in the past. Carolina just won’t lose this tournament in this state. What should basically be a home game for the Heels will be another reason to celebrate for the Carolina fans.
Pick: North Carolina 88, Clemson 81

ACC SEMIFINALS
Originally posted 3/15/2008 at 10:50 a.m.

#4 Virginia Tech vs. #1 North Carolina
Not sure how Virginia Tech won, but I do know it was ugly. In fact, there were a lot of ugly games around the country last night. Wisconsin was up to their old tricks, scoring 51 points and winning easily while Michigan only managed 34. I thought we were done with this team after last season, but apparently the Badgers are determined to bore us all to death next weekend. Minnesota and Indiana (a team that has won their last game this season) couldn’t get out of the 50’s. Neither could USC-UCLA. Boston College put up 48 in a 34-point loss to Clemson (good to see the Eagles showed up after their win Thursday). Ohio State and Michigan State must have given the scorers trouble at the Big 10 tournament because they both made it to 60…barely. Marquette-Pitt, Texas A&M-Kansas State, Kansas-Nebraska and St. Joe’s-Xavier all joined in to help set college basketball back three decades.

Then there was the mess between Mississippi State and Alabama. Never mind that neither scored 70 points in a game that went to overtime. You know you’re offending the Basketball Gods when they send a tornado into the building during the game. While it was good to see that no on got hurt, it was also kind of fun to watch Tim Brando freak out on air. Oh, the iron roof supports UNKIND!

Both the Georgia Dome and Phillips Arena were damaged, and when combined with Alexander Memorial Coliseum’s rainout last month, proved that bad things do indeed come in threes. They are running out of places to play in Atlanta and they are going to play the remaining games at Alexander, which is an irony on top of an irony. I already pointed out how awkward it was for one of the better technologial institutes to have their gym fail to keep rain off the court. Now the other buildings in Atlanta are so bad, the SEC is forced to play there. Oh, the irony UNKIND! Good luck to Kentucky trying to win two games in one day and three games in a span of 24 hours or so.

As for this game, in an arena that’s roof is still intact, I see no reason to pick against North Carolina. They beat Virginia Tech by almost 40 points last month, and that was without Ty Lawson. The margin probably won’t be that great this time around, but this game shouldn’t be close anyway. Be very interesting to see if Tech makes the NCAA’s.
Pick: North Carolina 86, Virginia Tech 68

#3 Clemson vs. #2 Duke
It took four months for the media to figure it out, but I’ve been saying it all along. Dook is a team without a big man and with little consistent inside game. The media likes to call the Dookies a “donut team”, meaning they are solid on the outside but with a big hole on the inside. This isn’t just a minor flaw, this is a major one. It is a flaw that keeps you from winning six straight games in the NCAA tournament. They can’t defend decent centers and power forwards, and they can’t score easily close to the basket. It’s simply not possible for teams to win six games with outside shooting. The evening the Blow Devils go cold will be their last evening of the season. When Captain Zoubek is playing crucial minutes against Tyler Hansbrough on senior night, you know there’s a serious problem.

Clemson is just the team to take advantage of this. James Mays is an animal and Trevor Booker has improved steadily all season. I like them both to have big games as long as the refs don’t get whistle happy. And when Dook’s involved, there’s always a chance of that happening. Clemson can also keep up with Dook from behind the arc, and have the firepower to make runs and counter whatever runs the Dookies are able to get. With the Devils playing for the second straight night, and Clemson well rested after an easy win against BC, you can bet that Dook’s field goal percentage is going to drop, as will their chances for victory. Even if Dook wins, they figure to have a tougher game than UNC will, so there should be no way they win this tournament.
Pick: Clemson 82, Duke 77


ACC QUARTERFINALS
Originally posted 3/14/2008 at 12:37 p.m.

#9 Florida State vs. #1 North Carolina
On the perimeter, the Seminoles have the players needed to compete in this game with North Carolina. The Heels are one of the best shooting teams from three, but FSU is right behind them. The Noles also do a good job of hitting free throws and have been in the top 20 in that category nationally for almost the entire season. Threes and free throws are often enough to keep lesser teams in a game.

However, I’m not sure that FSU can keep up inside. The Seminoles will be forced to send a lot of their guards inside to help on Tyler Hansbrough and help on the boards. That should lead to easy shots outside for Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green. The Seminoles will basically be forced to pick their poison. They can either guard the perimeter and let Hansbrough run wild against their unskilled big men, or they can help down and leave UNC with shots on the outside. Neither seems like a pleasant option for the Seminoles, and it should lead to a loss as UNC pulls away early in the second half.
Pick: North Carolina 85, Florida State 71

#5 Miami vs. #4 Virginia Tech
So Seth Greenberg was named ACC Coach of the Year. Why? I wouldn’t even put him in the top three. I had the Hokies finishing 9th in the conference and they ended up tied for 4th. Plus, the probably need two wins to make the NCAA tournament. They stunk up the joint out of conference, and they didn’t beat the three teams ahead of them in the ACC standings at any point during the conference season. I didn’t know sweeping Maryland was worthy of receiving awards.

I said yesterday that Dino Gaudio should have been given this honor. The second best coach was probably Frank Haith. Miami is a team that most people picked to finish right next to Virginia Tech in the standings. Haith had even less returning talent than Greenberg did. The chances of Miami making the dance are a lot better than Tech’s. After Haith I would have selected Oliver Purnell. Despite the fact that he isn’t a great tactician or strategist, getting Clemson into the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade is probably worth of recognition. In fact, I’d probably have Roy Williams fourth for managing so many egos and high preseason expectations pretty well. He also lost both his point guards, and managed to only lose one game with Quentin Thomas running the offense. Then I’d have Greenberg. I’m betting Haith shows him a thing or two in this one.
Pick: Miami 69, Virginia Tech 63

#7 Georgia Tech vs. #2 Duke
Offensively, Virginia played pretty well in their game last night against the Jackets. However, they played absolutely no defense. Tech shot 60% from the floor. 60%! Somehow I don’t see them doing that again. It wouldn’t matter who they are playing, there is no way they shoot anywhere near 60% again.

Won’t talk too much about the Dookies here. We’ll wait until they have to face Clemson tomorrow. Suffice to say, they’ve been exposed nicely in the last month, and I believe they won’t be hanging around this, or the other tournament very long.
Pick: Duke 87, Georgia Tech 76

#11 Boston College vs. #3 Clemson
Unless Clemson reverts back to their old free throw shooting ways, I don’t think it matters how many points Tyrese Rice scores for the Eagles. Clemson has a mismatch at every other position. They are extremely strong inside where James Mays and Trevor Booker will get to go against the smallest frontcourt in the conference. The Tigers will probably struggle a little bit early, but as soon as they get on a roll, they’ll be good enough to keep BC at arms length for the rest of the contest.
Pick: Clemson 82, Boston College 74


ACC 1ST ROUND
Originally posted 3/13/2008 at 12:21 p.m.

Like last year, I’m going to make the ACC tournament just one big, enormous post. Also like last year, I’ll keep most of the ACC analysis short and save most of the good stuff for next week. Away we go.



#11 Boston College Eagles (13-16, 4-12) vs.
#6 Maryland Terrapins (18-13, 8-8)
Charlotte Bobcats Arena - Charlotte, NC
ACC Tournament - 1st Round

Well, the last three weeks have been a real kick in the crotch. I understand losing to Miami on the road. But there is no explanation for losing a 20-point lead at home to Clemson and a game at dreadful Virginia. What did I say on this page last Sunday? Let Sean Singletary score his 20-something points, don’t make any sort of special defense built around stopping him. Just make sure he doesn’t make everyone around him better.

What did the Terps do? Well, they let him score 27 points, and they certainly didn’t make any effort of playing him with any type of defense. However, they allowed Virginia to put up 91 points, which means Singletary was getting help. Did J.R. Reynolds come back for that game? No, but the Terps were too worried about not playing defense on Singletary, that they also forgot to play defense on Jamil Tucker (13 points), Adrian Joseph (13 points), Mamadi Diane (12 points) and Calvin Baker (11 points). All of these guys put up better number than what they had averaged over the course of the regular season.

Overall, it was a pathetic display. Like most Maryland fans, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this team will not be playing in any important March games. The Terps would have to make a serious run in this tournament, but it’s not even worth thinking about or getting excited for. It’s not going to happen. Firstly, they don’t have the horses for a four day stay. And the players they do have simply aren’t good enough. Even if Maryland wins here, they’d have to play a deep Clemson team with an extra day of rest, then a Dook team which Maryland couldn’t figure out during the regular season. Not going to happen.

If Maryland wins this game it would be a bit stunning. Sure Boston College isn’t very good, but neither is Virginia. They have a Singletary of their own in Tyrese Rice. In fact, Rice is putting up better numbers. He’s averaging over 20 points a game and just poured in 46 points against UNC a couple of weekends ago. Theoretically, Maryland should play Rice the same way they were supposed to play Singletary. But seeing how well that went, it probably won’t matter.

Other than Rice, Shamari Spears has become a solid player for BC. He has improved steadily throughout the season and will be a nice compliment for Rice next year. Rakim Sanders is the second leading scorer, but hasn’t done much to impress me this season. Seems to be real lazy getting back on defense and isn’t a huge fan of creating his own shot. Corey Raji only averages 8 points and 5 boards per game, but he’s given Maryland trouble in both previous meetings.

I would love to see Gary Williams start Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne on the bench. Just to shake things up. Adrian Bowie has definitely earned the starting spot at point guard for the time being. Jerome Burney, despite making several mistakes the last couple of games, is hustling and giving it his all out there. Which is a lot more than I can say for Milbourne. Or put Cliff Tucker in the starting lineup and play with three guards. Would certainly be a nice little wrinkle to throw at BC.

Don’t think I’ve abandoned the team, because I haven’t. I plan on watching every second of their ACC tournament game(s). However, I’ve lost the optimism I had in January. From a realist point of view, it seems like most of these guys packed it in after the Clemson loss, and there isn’t any reason to think they’re primed for a run in this tournament.

Boston College 81
Maryland 76


#9 Florida State vs. #8 Wake Forest
Dino Gaudio has done a terrific job this season at Wake Forest. In my mind, he is the real Coach of the Year in this conference, no matter what the writers say. More on that tomorrow when we talk about Virginia Tech. Gaudio has taken a team which I expected to finish either second to last or dead last and made them competitive in the ACC. Up until mid-February, they were in real contention for a NCAA bid. His young players have matured nicely, there’s a great recruiting class coming in and good times are ahead at Wake Forest. They may not be quite ready next year, but they should be a ranked team in the preseason polls come 2009-2010. Considering he only had three months to prepare for the season, that’s very impressive.

Gaudio gets to square off against the anti-Coach of the Year in the conference. After squandering Al Thornton’s talents for four years, Leonard Hamilton has taken a team with Toney Douglass, Jason Rich and Ralph Mims and turned them in to a sub-par ACC team in a down year for the conference. It doesn’t surprise me anymore. I’m just surprised he still has a job. A loss here, and he might finally get the boot in Tallahassee. However, FSU has been playing better recently, while Wake's inexperience seems to be catching up to them. Take the Noles in a squeaker.
Pick: Florida State 75, Wake Forest 72

#12 NC State vs. #5 Miami
Another coach who can join the Leonard Hamilton club is Sidney Lowe. I’ve been calling this from the beginning of the season, but no one listened until February. Lowe is simply not a good coach. He has the talent in Raleigh. You can’t tell me that J.J. Hickson, Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley aren’t talented. The Wolfpack have lacked a true point guard, but in this year’s ACC, there’s no reason they couldn’t have finished in the top half of the conference and at least come close to a NCAA bid. Maryland lacks a true point guard and at least made it interesting. The reason they are so poor is Lowe. The players have already quit on him. I said that they were probably a year away from competing, but I have my doubts now that they will ever compete with Lowe on the sideline. Unless there is a dramatic change, they will not compete in the ACC next season. He shouldn’t have been hired in the first place, and I’m sure that NC State fans will enjoy watching Herb Sendek lead Arizona State into the NCAA tournament in only his second season in Tempe.

As for Frank Haith, he has coached his way off the hot seat in Coral Gables, and looks set to bring Miami to their first NCAA tournament since joining the ACC. Good for him. I’ve always like Haith, even if he has underachieved in recent seasons with the Hurricanes. Here’s hoping he puts away the inferior Lowe and seals a tournament bid.
Pick: Miami 68, NC State 59

#10 Virginia vs. #7 Georgia Tech
Virginia just has all the makings of a team that could go on a run in this tournament. If you want a darkhorse candidate to win this thing, look to the Cavs. Back in February, the players were in a near revolt against Dave Leitao, who’s playing time decisions were very puzzling. Since then, the team has rallied around Singletary, determined to send him out on a high note. That bodes well for Virginia this season, but looks bad for next year when Leitao is still in Charlottesville and Singletary is playing in Europe.
Pick: Virginia 88, Georgia Tech 84