Got Away With One

The Terps escaped with a win over Georgia Tech on the road. A nail-biter until the final seconds, they pulled it out due to a few lucky breaks. Final score: 88-86.

Matt Causey was fouled by Boom Osby with 2.5 seconds left, and faced 2 free throws with his team down by 3 points. He made the first and was presumably trying to miss the second so his teammates had a shot at the rebound, but it rattled in. The look on his face was priceless when Causey realized he had just lost the game by MAKING a free throw.

After that, Maryland was 2 free throws and a full-court shot away from picking up their 4th ACC victory - and a much need one at that. The Terps now sit at a very respectable 4th place in the conference, and having already played the two best teams in the conference, it appears that they're sitting pretty.

Too bad they aren't sitting pretty for the NCAA tournament. A 3-point loss to Boston College and a single-point loss to Virginia Tech now look very upsetting in terms of the big picture. I catch myself wondering all the time what might've happened if Greivis Vasquez hadn't fouled out of the BC game, or if Eric Hayes was able to play against the Hokies.

It is what it is, however - since we can't take back the past, the Terps are looking directly ahead. The next game is again on the road against Boston College. I don't think that Greivis will be punching any basket supports this time around. Maryland is hot right now, and they have a great chance to get revenge and beat a likely tournament-bound team. If they perform like they did this afternoon (minus the late near-choke), I think they'll have a decent shot.

The good things: scoring, rebounding, and great play from Bambale Osby, Landon Milbourne and Eric Hayes especially. The bad: TURNOVERS! We don't need 24 turnovers. That will kill us. Being smart with the ball is a coachable problem, so really it's up to Gary Williams to tell players to slow down the game and to find the open man on double-teams instead of taking an ill-advised shot.

If the Terps still have the desire to be a NCAA-tournament team, they should start playing like it. Beat BC, and then we'll talk.

I'm out, Go Terps.

Photo Credits: Baltimore Sun

100 Posts of Brilliance

Today marks an important milestone in INRCP history: We now have 100 posts. I couldn't be more proud of the site - it's really come a long way (despite looking mostly the same). Thanks a ton to all our readers for making this a successful venture. October 16th, 2007 seems like quite a long time ago in retrospect.

I'm going right to Tate - Kenny Tate that is. Yesterday, as some of you heard, 4-star recruit Kenny Tate accepted a scholarship at "Maryland University," but thankfully he switched his commit to the University of Maryland a short time later. Tate is big and rangy, at 6'4 and 210 lbs. His stats aren't completely out-of-this world (about 500 yds and 6 TDs), but he's definitely an athlete and a consensus top-five player in Maryland.

It seemed like the deciding factors were location, the opportunity to work with a retooled offense, and just feeling like he fit in. Another bonus was that his parents liked Maryland.

Here's the video:



Also, Matt Bracken did a little interview, and here's the parts I appreciated:

Favorite music: Aaliyah

Favorite movie: The Bodyguard

Favorite TV show: Scooby-Doo, Mickey Mouse, cartoons

Favorite thing about College Park: “Chipotle. That’s the spot.”

Fascinating insights, indeed. Chipotle is probably the No. 1 thing about CP.

Also tomorrow, the Terps men play Georgia Tech tomorrow. The Yellow Jackets are 5th in the conference in offense, but dead last in defense and FG% defense. By contrast, Maryland is No. 1 in both of those categories. GT is a spot below us in the conference standings, so it's important to win to start distancing ourselves from the rest of the mediocre ACC pack.

Let's get a win - Go Terps.

Good Weekend for Maryland

Hey everybody! I can tell you I'm still buzzing over the big upset on Saturday, if you couldn't already notice by the way I plastered my articles all over the Internet.

Anyway, it was a good weekend to be a Terp fan, and here are some of the highlights:

- The improbable, glorious upset of then-No. 1 UNC. ESPN is still shaking from the revelation that upsets do happen in college basketball.

- The Lady Terps pulled out a big double-overtime win over a tenacious Georgia Tech bball squad, 99-95 on Sunday. In doing so, the women exacted some revenge on the Yellow Jackets for sweeping them last year. Crystal Langhorne, INRCP's nominee for Best Terp Ever, scored a ridiculous 31 points and notched 15 rebounds. Laura Harper had 24 points and a career-high 20 boards. Maryland's "Big Four" continue to throw down. Nationally, they're starting to get the attention they deserve. However, it is troubling to see that the bench managed only 2 points in a double-overtime match. Shouldn't they be getting more time?

- On a related note, both Gist and Langhorne earned ACC player of the week honors.

- Maryland wrestling gets its second shout-out on this site, as they demolish VaTech in their latest dual, 33-8. They're currently ranked No. 21 and rising. Three wrestlers on the squad are ranked nationally in their weight classes.

There was a mixed pot of good news and bad news on the Terp recruiting front, however.

FOOTBALL: Maryland was bolstered by the verbal commitment of QB prospect Tyler Bass, but hurt by the unexpected, but not altogether unsurprising de-commit of LB recruit and local standout Zach Brown. Thus ends a chapter of craziness in Terp football recruiting - news came out long ago that Brown was a commitment, but later, there was some contention to whether he actually committed at all. He later "officially" gave a verbal, but now he's backed out to got to UNC. Well, you can't beat them in EVERY sport. If we had lost the basketball game, this news would've made me very upset.

BASKETBALL: A lot of you have been looking for stuff on Bobby Maze, the ju-co transfer who'll arrive next year. His game has been compared to Allen Iverson's (obviously not at such a high level) and he's a standout scorer. Here's an Inside the Shell excerpt about him. He's doing very well on his current team, and should be able to crack rotation next year.

Sean Mosley, since the last time we talked about him, has continued his push for All-America status. In a recent win over Towson Catholic, Mosley had game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds, plus he made the clinching free throws. Even in St. Frances' losses, Mosley never lets down: He scored 25 in a loss to City. Here's what the opposing coach had to say to The Baltimore Sun:

Our philosophy was there's no way in the world we can stop Sean Mosley, he's a great player, so what we have to do is ... concentrate on the other players, and I thought we did a good job of doing it.

Jin Soo Kim, despite the fact that he's not coming for another year, continues to receive a lot of interest. I'm a little worried because the game summaries aren't very detailed and Kim hasn't shown up a ton recently. But reportedly he played well against then-No. 6 Notre Dame Prep and ended up with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks (he was overshadowed by another teammate dropping 43 points). He also contributed 16 points in another win against Edison Academy. I wish I had some video of him to see what type of role he plays on his team, but all of these games are very misty.

On a side note: Recruiting Report has lately been running a feature of brief interviews to help Terp fans get to know their football prospects. It's really a good way to get a sneak peak at these guys, and I encourage everyone to follow this series.

Well, overall a good week to be a Terp! Let's see how the ladies fare against No. 3 UNC again in Chapel Hill, and how the men compete with No. 3 Dook on Friday. Good luck!

Go Terps!

Photo Credits: Baltimore Sun, Inside the Shell

Special Thanks to Recruiting Report for lots of links

The ACC Schedule Preview, Pt. 2

I'm letting you guys know that my finals are definitely holding back some of my blogging activity, but it's not like finals are important or anything, so I'm sticking to my word and bringing you Part II today, just like I promised.

First of all, I just want to say that the review of the BC game was written in a very angry state of mind. In the second half, the Terps definitely played their best basketball of which they are capable. Eric Hayes, James Gist, Landon Milbourne and Cliff Tucker are all guys that made me look like a fool and outperformed my expectations. Even though Maryland racks up a loss (which is still very hard on my heart), those guys definitely deserve a little bit of respect. That's why it's such a shame that the refs had to give that game away ( 35 foul shots in the 2nd half? Really?)

Anyway, the show must go on:

PART II

GEORGIA TECH (4-4)

KEY STATS: The absolute dead last in scoring defense, with 10 ppg more than anyone else. They score, but they're pretty much the pits in rebounding and any kind of defense.
GO-TO GUY: This team was emaciated by the loss of Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittendon. The only guy left is Anthony Morrow, who averages 16.4 ppg, 6 rpg and not much else.
BIGGEST GAME SO FAR: A close loss to Indiana, 83-79. They were close, but got rained on by Eric Gordon. While we're digging back, let's not forget their loss in GT home opener to the mighty UNC-Greensboro.
AGAINST MARYLAND: I assume by now that all of you readers know we should win this game. While Maryland's sitting at 6-4, the Yellow Jackets are sitting at a lowly 4-4. Isn't it fun to pick on the kids that are smaller than you. The Terps should rack up a win, even on the road.

MIAMI (8-0)

KEY STATS: I know these guys can shoot 3-pointers, so I wasn't surprised to see them at the top of 3FG%. But I am absolutely shocked to see that Miami is now the top scoring and field-goal defense in the ACC. Yes, it is true.
GO-TO GUY: I'm gonna have to go with Jack McClinton (straight out of B-More, by the way) who is leading the team in points and is one of the elite 3-point shooters in all of college basketball. He was out for a bit, but Miami didn't sweat it. I would also definitely watch Dwayne Collins, as he scored a combined 26 points and 24 rebounds in the two Maryland losses last year.
BIGGEST GAME SO FAR: Two games tie - a win over VCU (a team we lost to) and a win over Providence (a team that beat BC) to give them the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Title.
AGAINST MARYLAND: Miami beat Maryland twice last year, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but look for the Terps to struggle in a tough road game at "the U" again this season. The Hurricanes are really starting to become a force of nature in the ACC (har har).

N.C. STATE (4-3)

KEY STATS: If there's a team that I don't understand, it's this one. They are dead last in rebounding and scoring. Their scoring margin is 0, they're the only ACC team with a negative rebounding margin, and they have the worst turnover margin in the league.
GO-TO GUY: Here's where I start to scratch my head: Last year, the team had three guys (Ben McCauley, Brandon Costner and Gavin Grant) who all averaged over 14 ppg and 5 rpg. Now the scoring and rebounding leader is uber-frosh J.J. Hickson, but all of last years starters have regressed a lot. McCauley is only good for 4.3 ppg and 2.9 rpg now in 20 minutes per game. No real go-to guys on this team, save maybe Hickson - but he hasn't created success for the team.
BIGGEST GAME SO FAR: An 81-58 drubbing at the hands of Michigan State. The Spartans were hot-handed with the ball and the Wolfpack put up brick after brick.
AGAINST MARYLAND: This team, a trendy ACC pick at the beginning of the season, has really shown itself to be a poor rebounding and scoring team. If the Terps even show up for this one at home, it should be a blowout.

Alright, that's all I have time for today. Look out tomorrow (or maybe Wednesday) for the final installment of the Terps' ACC schedule preview!