Tuesday's game: Maryland at Clemson

Feb 16, 2009, 5:05 PM

Take a deep breath and tell yourself yesterday never happened. Lord, I hope it never happened! It still looks like we're a half-game out of third in the ACC, so it MUST have never happened, right?

Good ... now on with the show!

Who: Maryland (16-8, 5-5 ACC, RPI 64) at Clemson 20-4, 6-4 ACC, No. 13 AP poll
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m., in Littlejohn
Is it on TV? Yep, on the Deuce
What's the line? Not out yet, but Pomeroy likes us by 10 ... I'm guessing he didn't see yesterday's game.
Common foes: 11 Maryland is 6-5 against UNC-Charlotte, GTech, Miami, FSU, Virginia, Duke, Boston, UNC and VTech. Clemson is 6-3.

Anyone remember this game?
When last we met: Clemson punched its NCAA ticket when Terrence Oglesby's 74-footer swished for a 73-70 win in College Park.
Awwww c'mon! It wasn't really 73 feet was it? All I know is the next week the athletic department received a typed, stern warning about unauthorized flights over the metro DC area. That game sent Maryland into a season-ending funk.

The turtles learned some defense

And they never recovered, right? I wish that were the case. Earlier this year, when the Terps were getting pasted by Duke 85-44, it certainly looked like the end.

Then, something happened. The Terps decided to focus on defense and here they are at .500 in the ACC. Apparently they've decided that if they aren't going to score any points in a game, you aren't going to either. It's quite a departure from the high-flying Terp teams of years gone by.

From the look of things, it was a smart move. Ther Terps were Gawd-awful on offense, hitting about 40 percent of their field goals and less than 30 percent of their 3s. On defense, though, their numbers aren't too far off Clemson's. They allow 67 per game and force 16 turnovers, while averaging only 12 themselves.

Vasquez his freshman year

Who's the big gun for Maryland? The name everyone knows is Greivis Vasquez (16 ppg, 5 reb, 4 ast). Folks remember him because he's the last original member of Maryland's 2002 national title team. At least it seems that way. He's a tall guard with a nice mid-range jumper who's not afraid to cut inside. He's also deadly from the line. His numbers have dipped in ACC play, possibly due to fatigue. He's out there 37 minutes each game.

No! No! Adrian Bowie!
His outside partner is Adrian Bowie (9 ppg, 3 reb, 2 ast). A hybrid point guard, he shoots the mid-range jumper a lot better than the 3. Far more dangerous as a scorer is forward Landon Milbourne (13 ppg, 5 reb) who shoots better inside and out. His averages have improved in ACC play, and he's one reason the Terps have fared better lately.

Another shooting threat is guard Eric Hayes (10 ppg, 3 reb) who's their best 3-point shooter (though he doesn't take the most shots). Also watch forward Sean Mosely (6 ppg, 4 reb) on defense. He's a little like Tanner Smith.

The best way to keep Maryland from winning is keep them off the line. Seven of the top 8 Terp players shoot at least 73 percent from the stripe, and Vasquez Millbourne and Bowie account for about 65 percent of those shots.

The Terps don't pressure as much as past teams, in part because they were getting killed on blow-bys. They now play a much tighter zone or matchup, which opens the wings. They also aren't especially strong on the offensive glass, but they have been protecting the ball well. With three guards, they'll be tough to trap if they go to a smaller lineup.

In their last two games, they stymied both VTech and GTech's inside game, and neither team was able to hit well enough from outside to make up for it ... sort of like our first half of that game we didn't play Sunday.

Speaking of that game, will it help or hurt the Tigers? There's no way that game helped the Tigers. It used up valuable energy in overtime, kept us out of second place in the conference, cost us about 10 RPI spots and led to the untimely death of a remote control in our house. That said, it should have everyone on the team thoroughly cheesed off.

KC: a good time to settle things down
One guy who should be steamed is KC Rivers (14 ppg, 6 reb, 2 ast). His FG percentage has been slipping, and he was all but invisible in the second half of the Hoo game. He'll be matched up with Vasquez, who's not a bad defender. But hopefully in the second half, Rivers will be able to shake hi for some long-distance damage.

Certainly Maryland will be keeping an eye on Terrence Oglesby (14 ppg) after the NCAA dagger he plunged in their hearts last year. TO, meanwhile, should be looking to improve on the passes to the inside ... especially since he'll probably have Mosely shadowing him much of the time.

Trevor Booker (15 ppg, 9 reb, 3 blk) had a disappointing second half,and Ray Sykes (8 ppg, 6 reb) had Lord knows how many bobbled passes vs. Virginia. Both of them should find the going better against Maryland, if they are patient enough to work down low. Once again, there are no 7-footers lurking around.

Fewer of these will help...Against the Terps, the outside will inevitably be open with some smart passing. Maryland will collapse on the inside with the ball, which means an easy jumper for TO, KC or David Potter/Tanner Smith. We simply need to do better than 1-11 in a half and we should be fine.

I guarantee you Gary Williams was watching how Virginia beat the press, and how we didn't stop the baseline and dribble penetration. Vasquez can do either, and if we don't want this game to be unnecessarily exciting, we need to stop that mess more effectively.

On offense, patience will get us the shots. On defense Maryland controls the ball well enough to make trapping a risk. It is interesting to note that Maryland has won only one game on a hostile court (at GTech, which strains the term "hostile") so a noisy environment in Littlejohn may prove more of a benefit.

So, what's the call? I'd love to say the Tigers come out mad, swarm the Terps and stonp their shells into cheap jewelry. But after the Sunday loss, we may well come out a little flat. Thankfully Maryland doesn't seem to have the horses to run away and hide, and I believe we take control in the second half.

This one feels like a grinder. And in a grinder, take the home team. Clemson earns a little extra rest by outlasting the Terps.

And I go buy a new remote.

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Tuesday's game: Maryland at Clemson

WHOOO first to point you!***

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Normally I wait to read the post, but Ive been waiting

don't forget this is the EA Sports game

Re: Tuesday's game: Maryland at Clemson

The loss actually only dropped us 3 spots in RPI somehow

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