Maryland Basketball: Señor Night

#4/4 Duke Blue Devils (25-4, 12-2 ACC) vs.
#22/23 Maryland Terrapins (21-7, 11-3 ACC)
Comcast Center – College Park, MD

Ain’t the beer cold? The answer, if you live in Blacksburg at least, is no. A beer truck runs into a fire hydrant and causes a water main pipe to break and delay the game. Only in the redneck south. I was shocked to learn that Blacksburg even has running water and indoor plumbing. I honestly thought Hokies fans just popped a squat wherever they were sitting. There’s a reason I called Cassell Coliseum a dump.

Beer trucks, fire hydrants and xenophobic cheers aside, Maryland escaped Southwestern Virginia with a closer than necessary win. I’ll start off by saying that any road win in this conference is impressive. Blacksburg is not an easy place to play when their fans get off football recruiting websites and make it to the game. So any win, even one in double overtime, is a good one. However, let’s be honest here. Virginia Tech is not a good team. I don’t care how many times their moron coach goes in front of the camera to claim they are. I don’t care what their record suggests. The Hokies have avoided home-and-homes with most of the league’s top teams, which means their record is better than it should be. In reality, they aren’t any better than NC State or Boston College. At this point of the season, Maryland should not need 104 points and two overtimes to put away a team of that caliber.

Despite the win, there were plenty of reoccurring problems. The first is the continuing absence of Landon Milbourne. Someone may want to locate Landon and tell him his Senior Night is today. No one will be happier to see February end than Milbourne, whose numbers dropped off a cliff during the month (9.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg). His stat line from the last two games looks almost identical…eight points/one rebound. I would say that Milbourne is wearing down, but he’s only averaging 29.7 minutes a game this season. That’s almost exactly what he averaged last season, and he doesn’t have to bang inside as much in 2010 as he did in 2009. I’m at a loss to explain what’s going on with him.

The Terps also continued their recent futility on the boards. I can understand struggling against Georgia Tech and Clemson. But Virginia Tech? A team that has one decent rebounder? A team that has actually been worse than Maryland on the glass since January? There’s no excuse for that. Jordan Williams is doing all he can inside, but he needs some help. Specifically, he needs help from Milbourne and Dino Gregory. Sean Mosley is currently 2nd on the team in rebounds. That can’t continue.

Finally, Maryland has to do a better job recovering on defense. Every time someone drives, the Terps don’t seem to know what to do. Do we collapse on the guy with the ball? Do we trust the man covering him and stay on the perimeter? The defense is hesitating way too much. A lot has been made of Maryland’s shoddy defense against Malcolm Delaney on Saturday. That doesn’t worry me…a foul was called every time a Terp defender breathed on him. So it’s reasonable to back off after Delaney’s been allowed to go to the foul line every other trip down the court. But Jeff Allen had way too many open looks and Virginia Tech made way too many long distance shots in the latter part of last weekend’s game. Individual defense is not the problem, but team defense has become one.

This might come as a surprise, but I’m not going to waste a lot of time talking about tonight’s opponent. They don’t deserve much mention in this space. Especially on Senior Night. I know I’ve hated a little on Milbourne recently, but it’s more out of frustration then dislike. The performance he put on last year was incredible. He played out of position all season long. He was asked to go toe-to-toe with players two-to-four inches taller than he was and at least 20 pound heavier. Many Maryland fans like to point to Greivis Vasquez and single him out as the reason the Terps made a run to the tournament. Others point to Dave Neal and his grittiness. I think Maryland’s success last season should be credited to Gary Williams and Landon Milbourne. If Milbourne didn’t do the job at power forward last season, there’s no way Maryland sniffs the tournament. He sacrificed any chance he had at the NBA (and he did have a decent chance) and played out of position for the team’s benefit. Hopefully he rediscovers that ability and gets out of this slump in the next week or so.

It’s easy to overlook Eric Hayes. He’s quiet on and off the court. He rarely shows emotion. Other than the occasional three-point hot streak, it’s easy to ignore his contributions. But Hayes does more than shoot threes. He’s accepted his role as a facilitator in the flex offense. Hayes has been the yin to Vasquez’s yang. When Vasquez wants to take the game over, Hayes is usually the one that gets him the ball. Hayes has also developed nicely into a great defender. I remember two years ago when he couldn’t guard anyone and he’d often be assigned the least dangerous scorer on the court. That’s no longer the case. Hayes has also been the team’s best free throw shooter for a number of years now, and has salted away plenty of wins at the charity stripe. He will most likely never see the court for a NBA team, but he should have a future overseas. If he wants to play overseas, or continue playing at all. He’s on track to graduate and those who know him say he’s absolutely brilliant. There’s no doubt he’ll succeed in whatever he does.

That leads me to Vasquez. There’s not much I can say that other won’t write about in the upcoming weeks. I think he’s without a doubt one of the most complete players to spend time in College Park. He doesn’t just score. He rebounds, he passes, he plays defense. He’s obviously the emotional leader of the team. Two years ago, I couldn’t stand the guy. I wrote about it several times. He was leading the NCAA in turnovers, he was forcing shots he couldn’t make and he was weighing down the team. What I failed to see at that time was that if he didn’t force those shots, or force those passes, no one on the team would have. He took the shots, he took the chances because he had to. Not necessarily because he wanted to. At the beginning of the 2008-09 season, I stopped worrying about all the plays Vasquez didn’t make, and started focusing on the amazing plays he did. He’s been a joy to watch ever since.

The debate will rage on whether or not Vasquez is a Top 10 all-time Maryland player. I certainly have a hard time putting him in the Top 5 (Bias, Dixon, Elmore, King and Lucas…in that order). But I have no problem sticking him somewhere in the next five (Buck Williams, Walt Williams, McMillen, Joe Smith, Booth) and definitely ahead of the next five (Branch, Blake, Baxter, Morris and Shue). There’s no question that his jersey will be raised to the rafters at some point. Many are hoping tonight. I would doubt it, simply because it’s disrespectful to the other seniors. This is Senior Night, not Vasquez Night. But his jersey will be raised in the near future. As most of you know, he’s the only player in ACC history to tally 2,000 points, 700 assists and 600 rebounds. He is now third on Maryland’s all-time scoring list, and has a chance to pass Bias for 2nd before the season is through. The only thing missing from his resume is a tournament run of some kind (whether it be ACC or NCAA related). He still has a chance to do that and move up the list of all-time greats.

So first place in the conference, or at least a share of it, is on the line tonight. Maryland took a beating in the Durham Dump, but it was almost expected. There were a lot of factors working against the Terps that day...both in the stands and on the court. The pendulum is shifting the other way tonight. Along with Senior Night (and possible jersey raising), along with a conference title in the balance, the Dookies will now have to deal with nearly 18,000 fans including our fair share of former players, coaches and celebrities. The reports of crazyness and hi-jinks is off the charts. I heard a lot of things, including mocking posters of this goofy bastard, this bizarre video (go about 2 minutes in) and this incident at Miami (a few hundred conch shells would do the trick). Should be fun to see. This is the best chance for Maryland to beat this team, and the losing streak at the hands of these dorks is getting very annoying. It may be the biggest game ever in the new building. I’ll be there and you can be assured the arena will be rocking. Can the seniors deliver one last time?

Maryland 76
Duke 71