Eastern Kentucky. Yes, the Colonels. Maryland tried to bounce back Saturday against the Colonels and came away with their win, but unimpressive in doing so. The Terps, helped by a few threes by Vasquez won by a slim margin 83 – 72.
This is the Colonels from the Ohio Valley Conference. I’m not in any way trying to bash these lower end teams, nor the Terps themselves, but these guys should be winning these games easily. These games are on the schedule to get the team in sync with each other so they can hit the ground running into the ACC schedule. They looked sluggish and carried the attitude of a guaranteed win. Whatever happened to I’m-Gary-I’m-going-to-full-court-pressure-you for 40 minutes and do it with authority? Since when do the Terps allow an average of close to 20 threes a game and 37% shooting percentage on those threes? The Terps need to start guarding the perimeter soon or they are going to lose a ton more games. The last four teams Maryland has played have averaged 26 threes per game, made 40% and the Terps are 2 – 2 in those games. They have been better with the rebounding and the free throws but there aren’t going to be a lot of rebounds when Duke and Carolina are making their shots beyond the arc.
What happened to the rotation? Gary played Jordan Williams for 9 minutes and Dino for 33 and Padgett rode the pine. Just because Dino is a Junior doesn’t mean he makes others sit. Dino needs to earn his playing time especially after a suspension and who cares what it was for, he was suspended. You don’t get suspended for working hard in school. We are talking about the Colonels and playing time against a lower end team, but Dino shouldn’t have gotten 33 minutes. On the brighter side, Milbourne is looking consistent adding 19 points and 9 boards. Hayes and Mosely continue to impress with offensive skills ending with 16 and 13 points respectively. This team is getting good offensive production from unlikely sources and if Greivis can consistently pour in 20+ points, the Terps will be tough on offense. Add in a little defense and the Terps will make a good run towards the ACC/NCAA tourney. Next up is Winston-Salem on Tuesday the 22nd.
