A Word from our Sponsors

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Oh Bowie, You're So Fine, You're So Fine You Blow My Mind, Hey Bowie! Hey, Hey, Hey Bowie!

Yes, that was the longest post title ever, but if anyone earned it tonight, it was Terp frosh Adrian Bowie. He helped Maryland beat the Demon Deacons tonight, 71-64.

It was one of those moments where the freshman, having played a few games and not really done all that much, all of a sudden flickered on and thought, "Hey, I kinda get how this game works! Now I'm going to pwn Wake Forest."

And so it went. Bowie was like The Flash: He was everywhere, often in places you didn't expect him to be. That's how a 6'2 guard (probably a generous estimate) grabs 8 rebounds and 3 steals to go along with 10 points - not to mention while running the offense 50-60% of the time. He made me embarrassed to have underestimated his abilities a mere two weeks ago. Great effort by Bowie tonight.

Maryland won tonight with interior defense and making tough shots. Maryland, the leading shot-blocking team in the ACC, got 4 blocks each from James Gist and Boom Osby, and Wake didn't have any true shooters. Surprisingly, they shot anyway, going a ridiculously bad 5-for-30 from beyond the arc. You'd think they would start getting the pattern sooner. The Terps had a well-earned 46.2 FG%, often going up for tough shots. It was nice to see Greivis Vasquez have some nice work in the post and Landon Milbourne and Bowie wheeling and dealing to the basket.

Other observations:

- Johnson v. Gist in the battle of Jameses. I'll call it a draw. James Johnson is the type of freshman phenom with size and athletic ability that makes you say, "Gee, I wish Gist played like this all the time." But to be fair, Gist hustled a lot for some tough rebounds. Johnson edged Gist in points and the turnover battle, but fouled out while Gist had a few assists (including an alley-oop to Milbourne).

- Greivis plays big, but gives it away. Again, Gravy made it big in the stat sheet with 22 points and 6 rebounds, but he shouldn't have as many turnovers as assists (8 of each). He's forcing. I wish the crowd were behind him, however, because I here more griping about Vasquez than cheering when he scores. If you have something to say, keep it to yourself, unless it's to encourage your HOME TEAM.

- "Sorry, we only rebound defensively." Eight offensive rebounds v. 37 defensive rebounds. We're lucky we had such a good shooting night because we don't give ourselves a lot of second-chance opportunities. Boom had a great night tonight, however, grabbing 6 of those offensive boards on his way to a game-high 11 total rebounds. He also had 16 points and, in a reverse of recent trends, didn't give any balls away. Great hustle tonight, Boom.

In all, you have to say it's a good ACC win against a middle-of-the-pack Wake Forest team. If we can beat more teams like this (which we should've already started against VaTech), we can at least avoid a losing ACC record. But on Saturday, we face the No. 1 team in the country - at home. Oh boy.

I'll go out on a limb and predict Tar Heels take revenge for last year's upset. But don't count this team out - they still have the power to surprise us, and if Eric Hayes is healthy, get ready for a game.

Good win and Go Terps!

Photo Credits: Baltimore Sun

1 comment:

J-Red said...

Hey boss. I need your e-mail address. Send it to eastcoastbiasblog@gmail.com