Terps Taken in the WNBA Draft

They did their school proud, and now they get to go pro. And like Juan Dixon several years ago, one Maryland alum will still be local.

Crystal Langhorne was drafted 6th overall by the Washington Mystics, and Laura Harper was drafted 10th overall by the Sacramento Monarchs. Candace Parker went No. 1 overall to the L.A. Sparks, as expected, and Tennessee and Rutgers both had multiple selections in the top 10 as well.

Langhorne and Harper were both drafted higher than any other Lady Terp before them (the previous highest position was Jessie Hicks in 1997). There is still some speculation that Langhorne and Harper may also play in Europe (to make more money), but a lot of female players do that in the offseason of the WNBA.

This could be one of the greatest draft classes in history: Candace Parker is considered by many to be the best female player in all of basketball, and her dunking ability is much ballyhooed. Sylvia Fowles and Candice Wiggins are considered sure things. Then you have players like Langhorne and Essence Carson who will probably thrive in the league. Read the ESPN take.

Congrats to Lang and Harp (as Marissa Coleman calls them) and go ahead and get that money.

Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun

Not Buying It

Back from break finally! Sorry for the delay, I know y'all have been awake at night, wondering when INRCP was going to be updated - you can rest safely now. But you know what's going to be keeping me up at night? The Maryland women's basketball team.

If you haven't been watching the women's NCAA championship at all, and if you didn't have the courtesy to spend $8 and walk to Comcast to watch a session, then you're probably pretty comfortable with the first round 16-point victory and the second round 12-point victory. I'm here to tell you that you shouldn't be satisfied.

What am I not buying? All of it. I'm not buying that the Terps are a legit No. 1 seed. I'm not buying that they're playing their best basketball. I'm not buying they can win the championship. I'm not buying they can win their next game.

I attended the first round game and watched the second round game on TV. I was disappointed at the Terps' performance in both. Their play has me very nervous for next week.

We have problems (typically ones that can be addressed) in several areas. Here's what I've seen in the past two efforts:

- DEFENSE: We are simply getting killed in transition, and last night was the second time in a row we got beat in fast break points. Our players look slow when they have to run the floor, and often the opponent ends up with numbers down on the other end. There was a play against Nebraska where Ashleigh Newman ended up on an island and had no idea what to do against two bigger, athletically superior players who would've dunked on her if it was a men's game. Plus, it also looks like Toliver and Newman are having trouble guarding their marks: Three starting guards in the last two games have gone off for 20 points or more. Maybe the best option is to put Coleman or Strickland on the leading scorer.

- PASSING: For whatever reason, the last two game have been filled with errors and miscues, most resulting in Maryland turnovers. I grew very frustrated last night watching a string of UMD turnovers that led to a 16-2 Cornhusker run, closing a Maryland lead to a single point at halftime. The women play streaky ball - they go on runs, then let the other team go on a run. Coleman and Toliver both run the point, and a lot of the problems stemmed from trying to thread the needle in risky passes. Teams are covering Langhorne and Harper and making us beat them from the outside, which leads to my next point...

- SHOOTING: This team is not showing the touch that made them the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the ACC. Against Coppin State, they shot 30.% from long range, and against Nebraska, they shot a dismal 25%. Not going to cut it when Langhorne and Harper get double- and triple-teamed in the paint. Toliver has been struggling to find her shot, going 2-for-12 in the tourney, while Marah Strickland has only scored 3 points total so far and hit only one field goal. Maryland will have to diversify their game if they want to advance.

- FATIGUE: This is a huge problem which contributes to the other areas of concern. All five Maryland starters were in the top-30 list of minutes played in the ACC this season. The rotation typically only has Jade Perry and Newman get significant minutes off the bench. That's not going to cut it. It's obvious that the Terps get more tired toward the end of halves and the end of the game, even though they've been finishing strong. Now is the time when you have to see what depth you have and hope it works out. Nine Nebraska players had double-digit minutes compared to seven on Maryland. Drey Mingo was the only other person who played from UMD, and she was in for a whole whopping minute.

Here's the deal: I trust the Terps to handle these problems. Yesterday at the post-game press conference, Marissa Coleman expressed that the team was nervous about getting over the second-round hump where they lost last year. I understand that. There might be butterflies floating around in their stomachs right now, and the newbies - like Strickland - might be a little nervous about playing on the big stage (maybe, I have a hard time explaining her drop-off).

Coleman said it was like a weight had been lifted off of them. Maybe it was keeping them down. There were still great things about their game: Langhorne and Harper have played really well when they can get the ball, Coleman had an excellent second half last night and rebounding, even by the guards, is going very well.

Right now, this is not a championship team. I'm wary of our next opponent, Vanderbilt, and I'm absolutely terrified of the looming Stanford and Candice Wiggins, who is considered a class-3 lethal weapon in some countries.

However, it still can be. We have a lot of good parts, and we crushed top-five competition early in the season. I truly believe that when this team is in gear, they can defeat anyone. Now it's up to Brenda and company to make it happen.

Go Terps!

Friday Digest

Well, even though Saturday tends to be the slowest day for INRCP, I'm rounding up some stuff from around the web, hoping that maybe some of you will wake up on Saturday afternoon hungry for some Terps news.

I can't deny it's been a very slow sports week - all of us are kind of holding our collective breath hoping that the men's basketball team will squeeeeeeeze into the NCAA tourney, some are hoping that the women will eke into that No. 1 seed in their tourney. But stuff is going on.

- The Diamondback has put out a few soft features this week: The most prominent one was a profile of James Gist, but this one about Laura Harper is also worth a read. This article about Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes deserves some attention, if only for one quote:

"He's a regular guy," Vasquez said. "People get it wrong because he don't talk, but he has a pretty strong personality. He's fun to be with, and I don't know if he gets a lot of girls or not, but I bet he does."

- The women won their first game convincingly against Boston College, 93-81. Laura Harper murdered them, dropping 25 in an 8-for-8 game and 9-for-10 in free throws. Crystal Langhorne had 24 points. Tomorrow, as I predicted, Maryland will play Duke at 3:30. All four top seeds advanced, so assuming Maryland wins tomorrow, they'll play Virginia or (more likely) UNC. None of these games are easy from here on out. The good news is that the Terps have already beaten Duke twice, so let's get a threepeat!

- Sugar Sean Mosley had a dream ending to his high school career: The Terp guard commit won the Baltimore Catholic League title by beating perennial power Mount St. Joe, led by his good friend and Georgetown-bound center Henry Sims. Mosley scored 35 in the title game, and he allowed his retiring coach to leave the team with a championship. He also finishes his career tied for second among the state's all-time scorers. Next year, he's playing for us. Nice.

- Future Lady Terp Lynetta Kizer is a McDonald's All-American and Rival's No. 5 player in the 2008 - also nice. But as Matt Bracken reports, the season didn't exactly end as planned. She was tossed out of her final game after her second technical foul. Passion is great motivation in games, but it can also be very dangerous - hopefully this isn't a reflection of a trend.

- Also brought to my attention by Recruiting Report, Jin Soo Kim is on tape! The 2009 commit has been extremely hard to track in the Connecticut prep leagues, but Bracken recently linked to some YouTube videos with Kim, one of which I'll offer now:



Finally, I want to thank you all - the readers. As we're coming toward the close of basketball season, I see we've had just about 15,000 hits. You guys have really kept this project going, so thanks for your input, comments and support. I'll see what happens in the spring, but I hope to keep the site rolling.

Some big games this weekend - hopefully all goes well.

Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun, Adam Fried

Ladies Headed to the ACC Tournament

Hey guys, time to talk about the women - they've earned the attention.

The Women's ACC tournament is this weekend, and the No. 2-seeded Terps get a bye until Friday when they play the winner of Boston College/VaTech. After that, the Ladies are likely to face Duke AGAIN on Saturday, before they likely face UNC again on Sunday (if they keep winning).

The accolades are already showering down on the Terrapins: An unprecedented FOUR Maryland players earned all-ACC accolades, and Crystal Langhorne was announced as the ACC Player of the Year this afternoon. Not too shabby ... right?

- Langhorne and Kristi Toliver to the 1st team
- Marissa Coleman to the 2nd team (next year, this will improve)
- Laura Harper to the 3rd team (first-timer)

Overall, Maryland led the conference in FG percentage and 3FG percentage, rebounding margin, and assist-to-turnover ratio. They missed a share of the conference title by one game to North Carolina (the only conference opponent they lost to). Toliver, Langhorne and Coleman all finished in the top 10 in scoring. Langhorne and Harper both finished in the top 5 in rebounding. Toliver was 4th IN THE NATION in assists per game.

Very cool stuff for the women. But they have a lot of fighting ahead.

Boston College wasn't a sweat for the Terps this year, but Virginia Tech was. Even though the Hokies have played poorly in the ACC, they gave Maryland a serious run for their money back in February (a 74-71 OT win).

After that, Duke is the next probable opponent. So far, the Terps lead this series 2-0, but the Blue Devils are always a threat: In both games, Duke closed the lead to single digits in the last three minutes.

Then we're talking about the Tar Heels, who have been a machine this season and squeezed out a double-overtime win in the previous matchup. However, I think that you can't discount the possible presence of Brenda Frese. She was still knocked up during that game, and if she comes out for the tournament (a maybe at best), I think that Maryland will win a close battle.

Yes, it's a long way to go to predict a final matchup of UMD and UNC, but they are the only two teams in the conference that have been overwhelmingly dominant this year, so I don't think it's very risky to guess.

Even if we do lose, Maryland fans can look forward to the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament at home. At this point, Maryland is either a first or second seed no matter what happens, so we can hopefully enjoy some warmup throttles of mid-major teams. I already bought tickets for my dad - I think you should get some too. It's really not that much to see a team that might win another national championship this season.

Well best of luck to the Lady Terps - go get 'em.

Beat Duke AND Deliver Twins? Nice...

Women's basketball had a double (or triple, depending on how you look at it) whammy this weekend: Not only did they squash No. 12 Duke, 76-69, coach Brenda Frese gave birth to twin boys, Markus and Tyler.

And what did the rest of you people accomplish this weekend?

The Terps are a well-oiled machine right now, charging ahead with a 27-2 record. I worry when I see 26 turnovers in the box score, including 12 from Kristi Toliver. It's true her shooting is really great so far (4-5 in the game), but she can't give up four times as many turnovers as assists. As the Godfather would say, "It's just bad business." But scoring and rebounding helped carry the load in this game, and the Blue Devils got a little punishment for beating the men earlier this week. Thank goodness, because I probably wouldn't be the only fan with an aneurysm if we lost to Duke twice in a week.

In more women's news, Crystal "Greatest Terp Ever" Langhorne is being honored on Sunday Feb. 24. Her number will hang from the rafters as a testament to her greatness: not only the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in school history, but the best player on a championship team (hopefully two championship teams if we get our way).

I'm going to advise fans to actually come to the Comcast Center to say farewell to a great senior class. Laura Harper and Jade Perry are both great players in their own right. The game is at 2 p.m. and it's free, so show up!

Go Terps, ladies!


Photo Credit: AP

ACC/Big Ten Challenge Vol. II: The Ladies Get Down

Tomorrow night, the Terp women are up against No. 17 Ohio State for the inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

To which I say: Big whoop.

Maryland will win this game, just like they beat No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 4 LSU. Here's what Ohio State seems to bring to the table:

- A great freshman center in Jantel Lavender, who, besides having a nice picture in her bio, is playing some great ball and averaging 16.7 points and 93. rebounds per game, good for No. 6 and No. 3 in the conference respectively.

- A great scoring guard Marscilla Packer, who is averaging 17.7 ppg (good for No. 3 in the conference) and 2.67 apg as well.

- A team that is tops in scoring, defense, assists, steals and margin of victory in the Big Ten.

Now, here's what will happen.

- Maryland will contain Lavender like the bigs they contained before. They successfully held big-time frontcourt players Sylvia Fowles and Courtney Paris in check in their routs of LSU and Oklahoma. Where have you heard those names before? Oh right, the preseason first team All-America list.

- The Terps average 3 more rebounds a game than Ohio State and score 5 more points per game. Ok, maybe not a huge difference... until you consider that Maryland has beaten two top-10 teams (convincingly) and a No. 25 team. Ohio State has played one ranked team: No. 24 Auburn ... and lost ... at home. Yikes.

- The Lady Terps have Kristi Toliver, Marissa Coleman and Laura Harper all in the top 12 in ACC scoring. And the team's best player has just returned from injury!!! Plus Toliver is leading the ACC with 7.78 assists per game (two better than the next closest player and three better than the top Big Ten player).

- The Terps are lights-out shooters right now. They lead the ACC in FG% with 49.9% of shots going in. And it's not just the post game. The team is shooting an unreal 46.5% from 3-point range! They've had 12 treys in two different games this season. Maybe the boys should take a lesson in shooting threes from them (28.2% from beyond the arc).

So tomorrow night, I'm going to go to Comcast Center, sit back in the mostly empty student section (See 5,500 fans per game in a 17,950 person arena) and watch the Terps become the first team in the country to rack up 10 wins. I'm looking forward to it and maybe some of you other "fans" should show up.

See you there and go Terps!