• There’s been a lot of talk about expanding the tournament field.  Williams advocates an eight team play-in for the final four spots, much like how there is a one game play-in for the final spot right now.  He feels that 96 teams would be “way too much,” and that if it went to 96 teams, “you might as well let everyone in.”
• Williams obviously doesn’t like having to go across the country to play in Spokane.  He pointed out that the parents and families of the kids have to pay for their own travel, and it’s tough for many of them to even make the trip, never mind the casual fans.  Williams feels that the NCAA should pick-up the travel tab for the families of players.
• One thing Williams likes about Spokane is that it’s remote, and that there will be little distraction from the task at hand.  He equated it to going to Boise in 2001, a year that the Terps made the final four.  I can see the analogy.  Spokane is like the Boise of Washington State.
• The Junkies asked Williams about whether he was offended that Seth Davis picked Michigan State over Maryland in the second round, and Gary’s one word response was, “Dookie”.  When they pointed out that Dookie Jay Bilas picked the Terps, Williams responded, “Jay Bilas had a religious experience.”  Awesome.
• When asked about the Terps match-up with Houston, Williams pointed out that Aubrey Coleman is the leading scorer in the country.  He equated Coleman to Steve Francis, saying that, much like Francis, Coleman plays with a chip on his shoulder from being a junior college transfer.
• The team is going to practice in College Park today and then travel to Spokane this evening.
• Gary said that the Terps are not overlooking Houston, but his assistant coaches are preparing for Michigan State.  He said, “If you win, you have to be ready.”
• Despite being shipped out to the west coast, Williams feels great about getting a #4 seed.  He is impressing on his players the quickness of the tournament, and the importance of simply getting through the first weekend.  He said, “If you’re one of sixteen, you got a shot.”

I was impressed with how relaxed Gary sounded.  He’s obviously been there before.  Listening to the interview, I got the impression that he feels good about the team’s chances.  At the end he asked the Junkies how their brackets are coming along, and Lurch said that he had the Terps beating Michigan State but losing to Kansas.  Gary’s response, “You know what I like about you guys?  You’re honest.”  Good stuff.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. Or what’s a heaven for?”
– Robert Browning

“Two out of three ain’t bad.”
– Meatloaf

I thought these quotes, from two titans of English letters, were a perfect way to lead the post.  Yes, that decision to minor in English has already paid for itself.

The awards are in. One day after making the All-ACC and All-America first teams, Greivis Vasqeuz has been named ACC Player of the Year. Vasquez earned 39 votes in the balloting, Jon Scheyer got 12 votes, and Malcolm Delaney got two. No Carolina bias there.

Vasquez is breathing some rarefied air now, as he’s only the fifth Terp to win the award, behind Juan Dixon, Len Bias (1985 and 1986), Albert King (1980), and Joe Smith (1995). So go ahead and etch his likeness into Mount Terpmore, and I shall genuflect before it. For truly is Greivis Vasquez one of the greatest Maryland ballers of all time.

In somewhat far less surprising but no less terrific news, Gary Williams has been named ACC Coach of the Year for the second time.

These are the first such honors for Maryland since the 2001-2002 championship season. Dixon won POY that year and Gary got COY.

Think about that for a second.

Serious kudos also go out to Jordan Williams, who finished second in the ACC Rookie of the Year vote behind Georgia Tech phenom Derrick Favors. As previously noted, Jordan’s a winner here just for being in the ROY conversation with that monster.

So the sweep has eluded us. But no matter. These are all huge accomplishments.

Let’s see if they can get four out of five when the ACC tourney kicks off this weekend.  Here’s hoping these are just the first great memories from this postseason.

As you know, Maryland is your regular season ACC co-champ. But with March just underway, and with last night’s Oscars still fresh in our minds (btw, Hurt Locker=overrated), we’re just getting the trophy case warmed up. There are several other ACC awards–team and individual–up for grabs this week.  And this year’s awards season may be extra exciting.   Perhaps even, dare I say, history making.  Because the Terps may be poised to pull off the clean sweep.

The ACC’s major individual awards are player of the year, coach of the year, and rookie of the year. Agreed? Great. The major team honors, of course, are regular season and tournament champs. Winning all five of these awards would be an unprecedented accomplishment. Before ROY was established in 1976, North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Duke all swept the ACC tourney, COY, and POY. But since ‘76, the brooms have remained in the closet. Several teams have gotten within one; the last team to do so was the 1999-2000 Blue Devils, who were thwarted by Joe Forte(!) nabbing ROY.

But this week, the Terps have a decent chance to get it done, although it won’t be easy, especially because voters are involved. Let’s analyze their chances, starting with the highest probability of success:

Regular Season Title 

Check.  Doesn’t get much more high-probability than this.

Coach of the Year

The official ACC preseason media poll had Maryland finishing fifth. They finished tied for first. No one had them even sniffing the national top 25. As of today, they are in the top 20. The team was shaky early but righted the ship and tore through the ACC.  Their offense has improved.  Their defense has massively improved.  Under Williams’ tutelage, top player Greivis Vasquez has vanquished various demons to flourish in his senior season. Jordan Williams went from afterthought to ROY candidate (more on him below). If you have a better option for ACC coach of the year, I’m dying to hear it.

Player of the Year

Grevis Vasquez.  This case has been made many times in many places, so I won’t rehash it. Just look at the numbers, think about how strongly Vasquez and Maryland finished, and it’s clear. Barring a Roy Jones flashback, Vasquez is your 2009-2010 ACC Player of the Year.

ACC Tournament Championship

Unless my name is Helen Mirren, which it’s not (although she’s hot, just to give some credit where it’s due, if not especially relevant), Georgia Tech will be Maryland’s second-round matchup. The Yellow Jackets are surely still “stinging,” if you will, from their “buzz”er beater loss to the Terps, and could use another win to get a stronger position in the NCAA tournament. If the Terps win that one, they’ll likely get either Florida State or Clemson. Interestingly, both teams have won five of their last seven and are projected as eight seeds in the dance. The Noles are probably a better matchup for the Terps. The final opponent is going to be Duke. It just is. So a tough row to hoe, but not prohibitively so. This site gives Maryland a 19.4 percent chance of winning. Sounds about right.

Rookie of the Year

The toughest leg of the gauntlet. Credit Jordan Williams, though, for making this a two-man race, especially considering the other man, Derrick Favors, was on several preseason watch lists for national as well as ACC honors and is an NBA lottery lock whenever he comes out. Williams, by comparison, has played his way into the conversation by gradually evolving into an inside force. In other words, one has underacheived a bit, and one has overacheived. (Not to mention that one of their teams finished 13-3 in the conference and one team finished 7-9.)  To be fair, though, the stats don’t lie, and Favors has a clear (although not necessarily definitive) edge. Favors scores 11.9 ppg, while Williams gets 9.3.  Favors is third in the ACC with 8.4 rebounds per game; Williams is fourth with 8.3. Favors has two blocks per game while Williams has one. In their only head-to-head matchup this season, Favors won the individual battle with a monstrous 21 and 18; Williams finished with a respectable 9 and 12, and, of course, his team won the game. So Favors clearly has the numbers advantage, but Williams is an interesting dark horse because he has overacheived and his team has fared much better. 

So there you have it. As always, only time…will tell. But it seems that Maryland has the best shot to sweep the ACC awards season as any team in recent memory.

(FYI, this article is also posted on Bleacher Report.)

(Photo credit: AP via USA Today)

If you told me beforehand that Maryland would be down by 10 at halftime and Eric Hayes would not score in the game, let’s just say I probably would have told you to watch Shaun White instead. But the Terps fought off fatigue and perhaps a bit of complacency to rally and overcome bottom-dwelling N.C. State, 67-58, in Raleigh. To the points:

1. As many (including yours truly, yes, thanks so much) suspected, the Terps came out like a bowl of wet linguini. They took their lashes until Gary Williams tore the players a new corn chute early in the second half. Among the printable excerpts:  “I have difficulty believing you are down 12 to a team that I daresay, if I may be assured of your confidences, I do not hold in inordinately high esteem.” No one looked back from there.
2. MVP: Take a guess. On a night when the team’s second, third, and fourth leading scorers combined for 12 points, Vasquez delivered with 26 and 6 assists. I know I’ve been critical — and concerns remain — but is there another ACC team with a player so critical to their fortunes? Could Jon Scheyer beat Vasquez one on one? I don’t think so either. I’m not one for hyperbole, but what can you say?  Vasquez for ACC player of the year.
3. Mosley and Hayes need to deslumpify, and fast. More on them later. (UPDATE:  Or how about now? Woo, magic.)
4. A win heals all wounds, but man, was that first half ugly. It’s like they were moving in syrup.  Defensively, they seemed to be rotating a full beat behind the Pack.  They tried to compensate with aggressive help, but left shooters open in the process. I’m just glad they never instituted that “we’re only gonna play one half now” rule.
5. Vasquez was my MVP, but for a long stretch in the first half, Jordan Williams carried this team. He finished with 19 points (7-10 shooting) and 11 boards while holding now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t Tracy Smith to 10 and 6. But even that doesn’t tell the whole story. For a full quarter, Williams was Maryland’s go-to guy.
6. Just when I’m ready to bury Adrian Bowie, he gets an arm out of the dirt. Still, he’s a bit shaky as a distributor. Is he really starting at point next season?
7. I’m not a big fan of the press, but it worked to great effect last night. I guess it helps when the opposing point guard has nearly a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
8. I’ve alluded to this already, but this has my vote for Gary Williams’ best coaching job of the year. He just didn’t let them give up.
9. They better do some serious sleeping between now and Saturday. And I mean a looooooot of sleep. Georgia Tech’s not going to be easy, even at home.
10. As this column astutely notes, Maryland will get to 10 ACC wins if they just keep beating the beatable teams. (Hey, that’s my column for Bleacher Report! What a happy accident.) In other words, the Terps can make the tourney without a “signature win,” which is good, because they currently have zero of those unless you count FSU.  Now in one word:  Phew!

(Photo credit: AP photo via The Baltimore Sun)

How do you start to fix a broken heart? A rebound, that's how.

Saturday’s 77-56 loss at Duke hurt.  It hurt bad.  Terps fans had to work hard to let their guards down and embrace this year’s squad.  It started out as a fling, but then it turned into something more.  Six games into the ACC schedule the Terps were in sole possession of first place in the conference.  As one win followed the next, fans were starting to believe there was something more to this year, something special.  It all felt so real.

Just when we were starting to fall in love with this Terps team, they went back to their old ways.  They screwed up big.  They broke our hearts.

We all know that there is only one way to deal with this sort of heartbreak: a rebound.  Maryland needs to get right back on the horse.  The only medicine that cures this sort of loss is a quick win.  Sure, it might not last all season, but it will make us all feel better today.  That’s how you cope.  That’s how you get back in the game.

Who is going to be Maryland’s rebound?  UVA, that’s who.  Maryland’s old neighbor almost came into town last week but the timing wasn’t right.  The Terps were still trying to work things out.  Now that Duke is out of the picture, UVA is back in College Park and they’re coming over tonight.  Gary Williams called UVA coach Tony Bennett late last night to talk about things, and Tony Bennett reassured him with this song called “Just in Time”:

Just in time, I found you just in time
Before you came, my time was runnin’ low
I was lost, the losin’ dice were tossed
My bridges all were crossed, nowhere to go
Now you’re here and now I know just where I’m goin’
No more doubt or fear, I found my way
For love came just in time
You found me just in time
And changed my lonely life that lovely day

Mm, I was lost, the losin’ dice were tossed
My bridges all were crossed, nowhere to go
Now you’re here and now I know just where I’m goin’
No more doubt or fear, I found my way
For love came just in time
You found me just in time
And changed my lonely life that lovely day

- Tony Bennett, “Just in Time”

How can we count on a rebound with UVA tonight?  For starters, they really aren’t that deep.  What you see is what you get with the Cavaliers.  They have two guys that handle the bulk of the scoring – shooting guard Sylven Landesberg at 18 PTS/GM, and power forward Mike Scott at 13 PTS/GM.  Other than those two key players, the offense is a bit of a crap shoot for UVA.  Maryland can let Landesberg and Scott get theirs, stay in control and contain the rest of the team, and that should be enough.

On the defensive side of the ball, much has been made of UVA’s “pack-line” scheme, which is basically man-to-man defense that allows for defenders to swarm to the ball if someone gets beat on the perimeter.  How do you beat the pack-line?  If you can play a solid inside-out game to draw defenders to the blocks and then shoot well from the outside, you can beat it fairly easily.  That should bode well for the Terps who tend to shoot well at home.

The Terps don’t want to take it slow tonight.  UVA will try to play coy and make the Terps work for their points.  Maryland needs come out aggressive, maybe even a little pushy, and press the issue.  The Terps need to force UVA to make quick, rash decisions in order to get what they want.  If Maryland can dictate the pace and keep things moving, they should be able to score a win against UVA before they get out of town tomorrow.

By Wednesday, this will all be history.  The Terps will be in North Carolina, and the Cavaliers will be back home where they belong.  But for tonight – just one night – Maryland needs UVA to be their rebound.  A quick win will make us all forget what happened Saturday with old what’s their name.

What was that?  Did I see a little smile?  See that, we’re starting to feel better already.

From 1964 to 1967, Millikan’s point guard was a young man named Gary Williams.

Here’s what Coach Williams had to say on Millikan’s passing:

“He was my coach for all four years. I think his strength was he was a very strict fundamentals coach. That was an important part of a number of us becoming head coaches. To have that many coaches come off one team shows that if you listened, you picked up a lot of good things. He was a tough coach and if you wanted to play, you did things his way. He was a great person.”

There is a growing opinion (mainly among myself) that the full-court press in general — and Maryland’s in particular — is becoming a bit of a relic.  Following its Kentucky and UNLV heyday in the mid 80s to early 90s, the number of teams heavily using the traditional full-court trap seems to have greatly diminished. This is perhaps due in no small part to an increase in early college departures and the NCAA’s 1991 decision to reduce scholarships from 15 to 13.  These changes mean teams can no longer simply overwhelm opponents with superior depth and athleticism. It may also have to do with the fact that the press is, frankly, pretty easy to solve. Just don’t panic, keep the ball moving, and throw over your defenders for an easy bucket when the opportunity inevitably presents itself.

That trend changed for the Terps on Tuesday against Miami.  Maryland pressed them into 14 turnovers in the first half, and breakaway layups and and-ones were a regular occurrence for the Terps. After building a 17-point lead, Gary Williams called off the dogs in the second half, and Miami committed only three additional turnovers the rest of the way.

But it was probably more a blip than anything else.  Miami’s  main ballhandler is a freshman and all but one of their guards are underclassmen. They’re greener than a bin of alfalfa sprouts, and crumple just about as quickly under pressure. (Zing!)  The larger trend is that of the press getting kind of sort of absolutely shredded. For example, the Cincinnati loss turned into a jailbreak, with Maryland giving up 12 fast-break points to score 16 while sacrificing valuable help defense.  Even William and Mary — up this year, sure, but still no Kentucky — solved it to the tune of six three-pointers on 50 percent shooting before the Terps retreated to the zone after halftime.

Now take the recent 88-64 blowout of N.C. State, in which Maryland pressed very little and emerged with decisive advantages in fast-break points (10-2) and turnovers (11-9), all while holding N.C. State 18 points below its scoring average from the previous three games.

Which brings us to Sunday’s big showdown with Clemson.  It will be extremely interesting to see what Maryland does given that Tigers point guard Demontez Stitt has a gimpy ankle.  Here’s hoping they ”repress,” if you will, their full-court urges. Pressure defense is and should remain a Maryland signature, but the all-out full-court press seems like more of a situational play at this point. Is it a coincidence that several recent games, featuring a more judicious use of the press, have heralded no less than a full defensive turnaround?  With cagey (and decidedly long-limbed) veterans Greivis Vasquez and Landon Milbourne committing fully to defense, Sean Mosely become a stone-cold defensive stopper, a tougher and scrappier inside presence led by Jordan Williams and Dino Gregory, and some booster fuel off the bench in the form of Adrian Bowie (we’ll see if it sticks), this team doesn’t need to resort to gimmicks.

What…what just happened? Wait…did I…did I actually call this game perfectly?  Is that what happened? Did my predicted Maryland butt-kicking of N.C. State just come to fruition?  Whatever happened, it’s sweet, baby, as the Terps smeared N.C. State Wolfpack 88-64.  I only wish my score prediction hadn’t been so conservative. To the points:

1. What else did I predict? Can you refresh my memory? I believe I said Sean Mosely would go off. Well, he ended up with 13 points (and it would have been more if not for a somewhat off shooting night), 7 boards and 4 assists. Scott Wood, welcome to the ACC.
2. I believe I also predicted a big night from one Cliff Tucker. And I believe you can add another check to the “things Scott was right about” column. Eleven points and one steal in 17 crisp minutes. Bravo, sir. And Cliff, nice job, too. Okay, I’ve had my moment.
3. Maryland did a great job around the rim defensively. They limited the Pack’s second chances and always seemed to be drawing fouls, rather than committing them (21 State fouls to 16 for the Terps), which means they were a little quicker to the ball.
4. Maryland did not do a great job around the rim offensively. I saw Jordan Williams, Eric Hayes, Dino Gregory, and Mosely all miss some easy ones. It’s an odd recurring theme with no quick (or at least apparent) solution.
5. Speaking of Dino, though, and getting back to defense, Dino did an outstanding job on Tracy Smith. He used great footwork to stay between Smith and the basket and keep him out of the lane. Tracy still netted an 18 and 10, but he sure had to work for it.
6. One more point on the defense: N.C. State averages 72 points per game on 46 percent shooting. Tonight, they got 64 points on 36 percent shooting. Only eight points below average, but again, we made them work. And they didn’t seem to enjoy it. Maybe that’s why an eight-point halftime lead went to 17 by the 10-minute mark, and ended up at 22.
7. A nice 9-9 for Jordan Williams, but more aggression at the rim would be a positive.
8. In addition to his great offensive game, Mosely also led the way in shutting down Dennis Horner, the team’s second leading scorer (and 18th in the ACC). Horner got four points on 1-5 shooting, well below his average of 13.
9. Vasquez had 19 to lead all scorers, but for the second consecutive game, just about all of it came in the second half. Who is he now, Kobe Bryant? He is The Closer. The Vasquez Shimmy is like the Red Auerbach Cigar, only minus the ten championships and hundreds of victories and so forth.
10. And last but most certainly not least: CONGRATULATIONS TO GARY WILLIAMS ON HIS 1000TH GAME!!! I love you, man.

(Photo credit: UMTerps.com)

If a thrilling overtime game ends in a loss, is it still thrilling? NO, DAMMIT! IT’S NOT! WE LOST!! Just couldn’t salvage the 85-83 squeaker. Here’s some points:

1. Seriously, it was a great game. Wake tried to pull away in the second half but we wouldn’t let them. Maryland had shots to win…they just didn’t go in. The Terps lost, but didn’t lose their heads. How does the selection committee weight stuff like that?
2. Al-Farouq Aminu is a multi-talented guy. Strong post player, big-time shot blocker, runs the floor, handles the ball, and he was great in The Blind Side. Got a bright future, this kid.
3. After all of Gary’s hand-wringing about playing on short rest, the team didn’t gas. Let this end any lingering questions about team conditioning and/or yoga habits.
4. Vasquez: 30 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 6 turnovers. The Maryland bench: 14 points, 1 assist, 8 rebounds, 2 turnovers.
5. While I’m on the bench, exactly one day after I said Cliff Tucker was on a roll and Adrian Bowie was the odd man out, Huxtable throws up a 2-0-0 and Bowie pours in a 10-1-4. I give up. Can’t we just meld these two into one player already?
6. From the land of baseless second-guessing, I think Coach Williams may have kept Freshman Williams out a little too long at the end of the first half. That’s when the momentum first swung to Wake, due mainly to the unabated dunking. We missed Steve Goins in this one. Get well soon, Steve!
7. C.J. Harris…who knew?
8. We outrebounded them (43-41), got more assists (18-12), and committed one fewer turnover (15-16). How did we lose this game? Oh, right, they made more shots.
9. In a chillingly recurrent theme, Maryland had a hard time finishing around the rim. Wake had no such problem…I counted about 11 dunks, none of which came from Chas “Harlan Williams” McFarland
10. Dear Raycom Sports play-by-play announcer Steve Martin: Anthony Bowie played for Oklahoma in the 80s. Shane Mosely is a boxer. To my knowledge, neither was involved in tonight’s game. But good try, you was close.

(Photo credit: The Baltimore Sun)

In some ways, the ACC basketball formula is not difficult to decipher.  You run it, you gun it, you rinse, you repeat.

The take-home message?  It’s a lot of running. A lot of gunning. That’s why depth is such a key issue. And that’s why Maryland’s underwhelming bench production is causing some gastroenterological discomfort in some territories of Terpland.

Before the Florida State game, the eight bench players — Adrian Bowie, Cliff Tucker, Dino Gregory, James Padgett, Jin Soo Choi, Steve Goins, David Pearman, and Ersin Levent –  were averaging 2.6 points on 35 percent shooting, 0.5 assists, and 1.3 rebounds in 10 minutes of playing time per player per game.  Thus, the entire bench is delivering 21 points, four assists and 11 rebounds each game — or, 26 percent of the scoring, 30 percent of the rebounds, and 23 percent of the assists. Compare this to North Carolina, whose reserves are scoring 3.3 points per player per game, or 42 percent of the team’s points. On the other end of the rankings spectrum, the eight N.C. State reserves who have attempted a shot of any kind are averaging 2.5 points per player per game, or 30 percent of the team’s points.  

It’s more than numbers, though…we need bodies to man the perimeter and/or establish any semblance of an effective press.  An unreliable bench also carries clear implications for Maryland’s starters, for whom a lack of bench production means heavy minutes…I did the math and it’s 29 mpg to be exact, tied with Duke and Wake for most in the ACC.  It also means extra performance anxiety for the starters, maybe not exactly what the doctor ordered for this fairly high-strung team and its fairly high-strung best player.  

But lately, the bench is showing signs of life. The jailbreak that was Winston-Salem State was encouraging, but it was still Winston-Salem State, a veritable open bar of stat-quaffing.  More meaningful to me was yesterday’s Florida State win.  Cliff Tucker led the reserves with eight points in 16 minutes. Dino Gregory gave his most Dino-Gregorian effort yet, with the putbacks and the rebounds and the yeoman’s defense and the hey hey hey. Padgett had some confident moves on the low block that were particularly impressive against the Ents of FSU. Of the reserves, only Adrian Bowie was held scoreless (more on him later). But generally, slowly, gradually, this bench may be starting to emerge.

That trend will probably continue to some extent due to a few self-corrections.  I included every reserve in the numbers above, because they do log minutes in cupcake games. Moving forward, though, it’s reasonable to expect that the Levents and Pearmans of the world, God bless them, will probably not see game action for the remainder of the season (with the possible exception of Longwood). Gone as well is Jin Soo Choi, as are his binary code stat lines. Freshman Padgett continues his development. And of course, Dino Gregory is back from suspension and rounding into form.

Let’s assume Dino keeps on his current pace and is a solid bench contributor the rest of the way. He’s our best overall reserve and number one glue guy, to use a phrase that just passed Tom Brady and is rapidly overtaking American Idol on my big list of things I find to be tired. That really leaves Tucker, Bowie, Padgett, and Goins as the wild cards here. Even with Choi’s departure, Goins’ involvement remains iffy at best as long as he continues to battle The Little Knee Injury That Could. Padgett is showing flashes, but that’s still all they are — flashes. Anything we get from him is gravy. But his play is promising. His minutes and numbers plummeted with Dino’s return, but he still plays hard whenever he sees the court, and always seems to unveil a new improvement or wrinkle to his game (last night, it was a nifty post pivot and sparkling two-for-two from the free throw line. Seriously…that’s sparkling.)

Which brings us back to Tucker and Bowie, or as I like to call them, The Mystery Twins. Great name, right? I was thinking about printing up some T-shirts. Apparel aside, one minute they’re MIA, the next they’re the best athlete on the team. Right now Tucker is the one rolling, but that could change any moment. His big breakout came against Winston-Salem, but began well before that with a renewed commitment to practice and teammates. Nevertheless, in the early season he managed to burrow his way into Coach Williams’ bad graces yet again, climaxing (if that’s the right word) with a DNP-CD against Indiana and a big four minutes versus Eastern Kentucky.  But over the last five games or so, his minutes and production have stabilized. But that could change at any moment, so how stable is it really? That’s life…with The Mystery Twins. Coming soon to NBC!

Adrian Bowie seems a little less mercurial than Cliff, but on the other hand he has just plain underperformed in 15 mpg this year, which is way down from his 24 average last season. Right now, Bowie is a disappointment and a soft spot in this Maryland rotation. And that’s coming from a bona fide Bowie fan. Not to wax all philosophical and crap, but he seems to have stopped growing as a player. He’s only averaging 3.4 ppg (to Tucker’s 6) and has pulled the donut hole five times, including against FSU. He slashes more than Jason Voorhies but is considerably less devastating with it, in part because he doesn’t have anything else in his game that defenders need to respect. Plus, at 6′2″, he isn’t big enough to be a scoring guard who can stop the other team’s scoring guard. He should be Eric Hayes’ backup, but isn’t. For whatever reason, he isn’t able (or willing) to run the point. Finally, he seems to disappear at strange times. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but still interesting that four of his five best statistical ACC games last year (Miami, Florida State, Boston College, and Duke at home) were all Terps losses.

So he’s a bit of a square peg in a round hole for this lineup. Tucker is more of a natural fit in terms of his size and his skill set. As his attitude has improved, so have his minutes and his game. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle. So with the rotation firming up and more players hitting their stride, perhaps this is the start of a larger trend. Gregory is the star of the bench, but if Tucker can remain consistent, we coax a little more out of Bowie, and Padgett gives us five decent minutes a game, we could really have something here. With the ACC schedule getting into full swing, we need every body we can get.