Maryland Basketball: [vacated]

Michigan Wolverines (5-1) at
Maryland Terrapins (4-2)
Comcast Center - College Park, MD
ACC/Big Ten Challenge

This past weekend, we saw the best of Maryland and the worst of Maryland. We saw what they are capable of…good, bad and really ugly. Maryland is going to be a team that relies completely on jump shots. If the shots fall, they have enough shooters to compete with any team in the country. If they don’t, and I have a feeling that they won’t for the majority of games this season, they can lose to any team in the country. That’s not an understatement. I mean any team in the country. The lack of a consistent inside game is going to be tough to watch this season.

Maryland started the Old Spice Classic with a surprising win against a very good Michigan State team that was missing most of it’s inside power. Goran Suton didn’t play. Raymar Morgan was in foul trouble all game. The freshman Delvon Roe still isn’t close to healthy. The Terps were able to play MSU without the Spartans’ greatest strength. Maryland also hit 7 threes in the game. They shot well, didn’t get dominated inside, and won rather handedly.

The next two games were a microcosm of what Maryland fans better get used to this year. Maryland went 1-for-13 for three against a Gonzaga team with three players over 6-8. They got dominated on the glass, and Greivis Vasquez couldn’t carry the team for more than a half. But even in a loss, good came out of it. Maryland got a chance to play a Georgetown program that’s been ducking the Terps for the last 15 years. After seeing the game, one wonders why?

Maryland repeated the same mistakes they made against Gonzaga. They started out by missing 8 of their first 9 shots. They couldn’t hit open threes. And they couldn’t keep the Hoyas off the backboard. Compounding the problems, Vasquez had an awful game and no one stepped up to carry the team. The result: a 75-48 thrashing that was one of Maryland’s worst performances since the 2000 2nd round NCAA game against UCLA. Again, you have to wonder why Georgetown and Little Racist III refuse to come to College Park once every two seasons. That win sure doesn’t hurt recruiting.

The worst thing that could have happened to Maryland was beating Michigan State. Sure, it got the Terps a quality win. However, for a program that may need more quantity of wins rather than quality wins, it forced Maryland to face two teams they were not ready to play. I hate to by cynical, but I would much rather have seen Maryland lose to MSU, then get a chance to beat Oklahoma State and Wichita State. Sure, the Terps don’t walk away with a great win, but they may have walked away from the tournament with a 5-1 record and two wins against teams that will easily be in the top 75 of the RPI.

Now Maryland has a very interesting week ahead of them. This Sunday, they play in the BB&T Classic in a building they rarely have success in and against a team they rarely play well against. George Washington is going to struggle mightily this year, but they still have the talent to become the second local team to beat Maryland in an 8-day span. More on them later. The Terps must first get past Michigan in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge (or as it should be called, the ACC’s annual beatdown of the Big Ten).

Michigan should serve as a warning to all in Maryland’s program to how far a powerhouse can fall. 15 years ago, Michigan was a basketball power. They made Final Fours routinely and the NCAA tournament every year. Even though several of those titles were later stripped and vacated, and the Fab Five were discovered to be one of most highly-paid college basketball teams of all time, Michigan was a household name in hoops. Then, they disappeared. The program rapidly went downhill, and it all can’t be blamed on NCAA sanctions. Michigan’s gone through several unsuccessful coaching changes, and hasn’t been nationally, or even locally, relevant for a long time. This could be the fate of Maryland basketball if they don’t pull out of this four-year tailspin. It is possible to go from the top of the game to the bottom. Teams like Arizona, Connecticut and North Carolina are common. But so are teams like Michigan and Arkansas. Maryland, along with Syracuse, is in danger of joining the second group. I don’t expect Maryland to become another powerhouse, but this program has access to too much talent to be lumped in with the latter group.

The Wolverines seem to be slooooooowly pulling out of their doldrums. It started by firing Tommy Amaker, who had minimal success (1 NCAA tournament in four seasons) at Seton Hall before being wooed to Ann Arbor. Michigan saw that “Dook pedigree” and couldn’t resist. Amaker achieved nothing worth noting during his six seasons with Michigan. During Michigan’s recent raid of West Virginia head coaches, they plucked John Beilein from Morgantown. It seems that he has the program on the right track. Other than Western Kentucky’s upset of Louisville, and Maryland’s win over MSU, Michigan’s win over UCLA has been one of the early season’s biggest surprises. The Wolverines then hung tough with the Dookies for about 30 minutes in their preseason tournament before falling.

However, Michigan has some of the same problems Maryland has. They are young, they are inexperienced and they lack team balance. Just 10 days after beating UCLA, Michigan needed overtime to beat Savannah State, a team that is routinely one of the worst in Division 1-A. Michigan is almost completely reliant on two players. Unlike the Terps, who rely on a bevy of guards, the Wolverines at least have one decent big man. DeShawn Sims is good enough this year for 15 points and 8 boards a game. Their star attraction, 6-4 guard Manny Harris, is also averaging 8 rebounds a game to go along with 22 points and 4 assists (presumably, most of those go to Sims). As for the rest of Beilein’s team? No one has averaged more then five points a game or five rebounds a game. That’s especially concerning considering that other than Sims and Harris, four other players see over 20 minutes of playing time and two others see over 15 a game. This is an offense, and defense, with two proven players and not a whole lot else.

Despite the fact that Maryland won’t be able to stop Sims inside, they shouldn’t be dominated on the boards in this game. I think after a few days of rest, the Terps will have their legs back under them and will hopefully hit a few more jump shots. Maryland’s depth should also be a factor since they get much more from their bench. Plus, after the whipping they suffered in the last two games, their heads won’t be so big after pulling out the upset on Thursday. Combine that with Maryland’s great record in this Challenge, especially at home, and I think it adds up to close Terps win.

Maryland 72
Michigan 65