They say it’s lonely at the top in whatever you do
You always gotta watch motherfuckers around you
Nobody’s invincible, no plan is foolproof
We all must meet our moment of truth- Guru, Gang Starr, “Moment of Truth”
Gang Starr "Moment of Truth" was the hottest spit ever dribbled. Disagree at your own demise.
Here it is. It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. After a shaky start, the Terps have taken care of business. Problems have been addressed. The team got the message from Gary, and is following the lead of Greivis. After a 9-4 start, Maryland has gone 5-1 with their only loss to a tough Wake Forest team on the road. They’re blowing opponents out, averaging a 28PT margin of victory over their four game winning streak. The team is firing on all cylinders, maximizing its potential, and playing its best ball.
Through nineteen games, Maryland sits alone atop the ACC. Now the real work begins.
Maryland travels to Clemson to face the #21 ranked Tigers on Sunday. After beating up on the likes of BC, Longwood College, NC State, and Miami, Maryland heads south to play a ranked opponent in a tough venue. Clemson comes into the game on a slide, losing three straight, but don’t let their recent losses fool you. Two of those three losses came against ranked opponents. The other was a letdown, but it was on the road at BC.
Jordan Williams passed a big test this week when he shut down DaWayne Collins of Miami. He’s going to get a bigger test this Sunday when he goes up against Trevor Booker. Booker is listed at 6′7″, 240 LBS, and every inch of the man child is chiseled stone. NBADraft.net has Booker going late in the first round of the 2010 draft. He’s legit.
Now, I love Williams, but he does have a bit of baby fat on him. He is going to have his hands full with Booker, who comes into the game 16 PTS and 8 RB per game. I believe this low post match-up is a major key to the game. Williams has to contain Booker. He can’t let him get too many second chance points. Williams isn’t going to get as many calls on the road as he did at home against Miami, so he’s going to have to show some maturity and toughness when he’s getting pushed around in Littlejohn Coliseum. If he can, the Terps should be in good shape.
Like Miami, Clemson seems to be struggling in defining roles at the guard spot. Four guards – Demontez Stitt, Tanner Smith, Andre Young, and recently Noel Johnson – have been rotating on the perimeter. Stitt had a huge 20PT game against UNC a couple weeks ago, but has since cooled off and DNP against BC with an ankle injury. While Smith and Young have faded during the Tiger’s losing streak, Johnson has been playing more, although his contributions have been irratic at best. Maryland should be able to exploit these guards and force turnovers, although it will be a bit tougher to do so on the road than it was against Miami in College Park.
Speaking of guards, my man Greivis got a mention in the Weekly Watch by ESPN’s Andy Katz. Katz cited his work against NC State, but the mention is more likely attributable to Greivis’s generally high level of play over the last few weeks. In Maryland’s five ACC games, Greivis is averaging a gaudy 21PTS/7AST/3RB per game, and he has shot 45% FG against ACC opponents. Vasquez will have opportunities to exploit Clemson this Sunday. I believe he will take them.
The overall match-up seems to favor the Terps, especially if you consider momentum. But make no mistake, beating Clemson in SC will be a major hurdle for Maryland. Littlejohn Coliseum will be rocking. Clemson is already playing for their postseason lives. Trevor Booker is a specimen. The Tigers will be a tough out.
How will the Terps fare in this Moment of Truth? This will be the tightest contest they’ve had since the Wake Forest game. I think they’ll pull it out, but the margin of victory will be in single digits.
Final Score: Maryland 78 - Clemson 74.
Addendum: In case you had any doubts as to how tough a game this will be for the Terps, the line in Vegas is opening with Clemson as a 5.5PT favorite.
All the Clemson team report stuff I’m reading is saying that Stitt can barely putt weight on his ankle. If he doesn’t play, our chances improve greatly.
Clemson has not been steady at the point with Stitt out or sitting extended minutes, and they are turning the ball over more. The Terps should be able to get some easy points in transition if he’s out. Stitt is listed as doubtful.
During the first half, I kept saying to myself, “we are playing so bad and it is still close”. I was certain we were going to comeout of the locker room after the half and turn it on. I have never seen us that flat for 40 minutes. Had it not been for a near double-double by J. Williams in the first half, it would have been a slaughter. I can accept a loss in which the other team shoots the lights out (Villanova), but we literally gave them the game with our carelessness. Tough to swallow. I expect a charged up squad next time out. GO TERPS.
Clemson players looked like they were playing for their lives. Devin Booker got his freaking nose broken at practice this week. That’s the level of urgency Clemson was playing with. They willed themselves to victory. Maryland did not have the same sense of urgency to start the game, and they spent too much energy clawing back to finish the deal.
Remember that Clemson was a 6PT favorite coming into this game. This isn’t a bad loss, just an ugly one. If you told me beforehand that Vasquez would get shut down by Trevor Smith, Milbourne would end up with three points, Maryland would have 26 TOs, Jerai Grant would have the best game of his career with 18PTS/12RB, AND the Terps would be in the game with two minutes left, I would have said you were silly.
The Terps did miss a golden opportunity to step on the throat of an in conference challenger, but they never stopped playing, and that was the most important thing to take away.