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!

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.

HUGE Terp Round-Up

Oh the things that are going on right now! It is a wonderful time to love sports at the University of Maryland! Being a Terp is not all about men's basketball. Let's look at what I mean ...

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

The girls have quietly assembled one of the best seasons this year. They are the only team in the country so far with 16 wins, and they are showing that their record means something. They beat Wake Forest last night, 83-49, and led by 34 at the half. Wake Forest was previously 12-2. That's serious business.

Maryland is ranked No. 5 in the country, but they're about to be No. 4 at least after a Standford loss to UCLA. Their ranking also reflects their statistics in the entire country:

- No. 8 in scoring
- No. 9 in scoring margin
- No. 2 in field goal percentage
- No. 7 in rebound margin
- No. 1 in three-point FG percentage (a spicy 45.3%)

Kristi Toliver is one of the best players on the team (now that I think about it, the whole starting five is dominant) and has really kicked up her game. She is No. 3 nationally in assists, has better than a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnrover ratio, and is jacking up threes at over 47% accuracy, so I guess I should use a more graceful verb than "jacking."

This is a team of she-beasts (metaphorically and spiritually more than physically) that is looking to romp teams, not just beat 'em. If we tighten up defense, we have a good shot at the title. Beware, UConn, Tennessee and Rutgers will all be waiting for us in the NCAAs, and division foe UNC lurks in March as well.

Plus they work in the community and their coach is having twins! What's not to like about this team?

WRESTLING

Yes, I'm surprised they are making an appearance as well.

People who pay attention to wrestling noticed the program was coming around after the hire of much-ballyhoed Pat Santoro. Last season, the squad went undefeated in ACC play and set a school record for wins at 17-5. Now they're ranked No. 22 in the country and have two wrestlers in the top-10 of their weight classes.

The Terps currently sit at 7-3, with all their losses at the hands of ranked teams, with two now sitting in the top five. Out of their remaining matches, only one more team is ranked (No. 21 Navy) and the ACC championships are at College Park - sounds like another good season in the works.

Watch out for Mike Letts (174), Hudson Taylor(197) and Josh Haines(184) who are all ranked in their weight classes. They're young, too: two sophomores and a junior, respectively. Maryland is a wrestling power in the making. They compete in the same building as basketball. That should make it easy for you to remember.

RECRUITS

Terp recruits are doin' it up big this season in bball.

As Recruiting Report reports, Sean Mosley is having an excellent senior year at St. Francis, most recently dropping 34 points in a 70-54 beating of John Carroll. For those of you who aren't very good at math, that's almost half the team's points.

High school statistics are spotty, but two games ago, it was reported that he averaged 25.3 points per game, and with added totals of 30 and 34 since then, that puts Sugar Sean a little over 26 ppg with an extra 8 boards per game. Nasty. For reference, Cliff Tucker averaged 21.4 ppg his senior year and Adrian Bowie had 14.6 ppg. Former Terp Mike Jones averaged 24.6 ppg his senior year, and he was a Parade All-American. And Mosley is not just a potent scorer - he's earned a reputation as a hustler and a perfectionist. He's got a lot of promise and I don't think he'll be as disappointing as Jones was (in terms of potential).

Also, I've noticed that more than a few people out there have been looking for info on Terp 2009 prospect Jin Soo Kim, the Korean American coming to Maryland. Let me tell you, it isn't easy to find stuff about him. There doesn't appear to be a Connecticut newspaper that covers the games and no recruiting site has game-by-game stats.

After a good half-hour of searching, I finally examined South Kent's athletic page more carefully and they have summaries of most of their games with the leading scorers and contributers. All you do is click on the schedule sidebar for each game's summary. The good news is Jin Soo Kim is on most of them. His point totals in the last couple games: 24 against Bridgton, 11 against Patterson, 8 against Thomas More, 25 against Findley, 16 against Vanier. Inconsistent, yes, but he plays on an all-star team, so numbers will vary if you aren't the No. 1 guy. Also, in the Findley summary, the site says, "Jin Soo played an all-around great game, playing very good defense and rebounding the ball as well."

Also, in case you haven't heard, watch the U.S. Army All-American Game at 12 noon on NBC to get a glimpse of wide receiver and UMD target Kenny Tate. Matt Bracken talked about him in his feature on our site and there was some good chatter about him in practice sessions for the game.

See, there's always reasons to be optimistic about being a Terp. Sometimes you just have to look really, really, really hard.

Go Terps!

Photo Credits: Baltimore Sun, UMTerps.com

Worn down and out

I'm sure a bunch of you avid Terp fans heard that Maryland lost to No. 4 Rutgers on Monday. It was slightly discouraging, as the ladies gave up a 10-point halftime lead and shot an abysmal 5-for-23 in the second half. However, I wasn't that concerned because there are two teams I would not mind losing to in the regular season if we had to lose:

- Last year's championship squad from Tennessee, led by superduperstar, dunker and Shelden William's fiancee (ick), Candice Parker

- Last year's runner-up, Rutgers: The David to Imus's Goliath

But what did concern me was a close call last night to Middle Tennessee State.

The Terps needed an 11-0 run toward the end to hold back the Blue Raiders and win, 74-69. Yikes, close call. Part of it was our girl Kristi was sick with the flu, but she still played through. Truly Jordanesque. But besides Kristi, the team wasn't playing at their highest level. The top rebounding team in the country last year was outrebounded last night by a mid-major.

Anyway, what's stopped the run on opponents they had earlier this season? The schedule! Just check out what they've been saying:

"I thought we looked like we're pretty much on a WNBA whirlwind tour right now with the schedule that we're playing," said coach Brenda Frese.

"It was definitely challenging," Toliver said when asked if she felt tired during the [Pitt] game. "It definitely showed down the stretch; we look forward to a day off tomorrow."

A quick look at the Top 25 will show you that no one has played as many games as the Terps. In fact, most teams haven't played as many games as the Terps have won! They travelled to North Carolina and California before busing out to New Jersey the other night. They have the most hectic schedule in all of women's basketball, and they've already beaten four out of the five ranked teams they've played thus far.

Not too shabby. I'll spot them this loss. And even the MTS game.

They still have two more games left before next Monday against Northern Iowa and Temple. But after that, nothing for 11 straight days before heading down to James Madison. Yes, they're worn out, but I think they'll enjoy that vacation quite a bit.

Wait, atheletes have finals? Oh well...

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!

The Dominators

Name a team in college basketball that has already beaten two top-ten teams this season while playing without their best player.

One: the Maryland Terrapins. And I'm not talking about the team that barely beat Hampton.

The Maryland women are 5-0, but that's not the impressive part. They've already beaten No. 25 Notre Dame, No. 6 Oklahoma and, last night, No. 4 LSU. The Lady Tigers got whipped last night, hardly seeming like a match of two top-five teams separated only by one in the rankings. Plus, this is an actual quote by LSU coach Van Chancellor:

"This team is capable of winning a national championship if they keep playing like this."

This presumes a couple of things:

- Chancellor is conceding that Maryland is simply a better team than LSU.

- He believes that Maryland is better than any other team when they play at their highest level, or at least the level at which they played last night.

- It implies that Maryland could beat LSU again if they meet in the NCAA tournament.

The Terps have officially arrived.

Stats:

- Jade Perry helped win this one with a double-double in relief of All-American Crystal Langhorne, grabbing 11 boards and banging in the post for 14. Definitely one of the underrated players on a roster filled with talent.

- Kristi Toliver continued her stellar play, scoring 23 and dishing out 7 assists (We'll overlook the 9 turnovers). She is definitely reaching for that All-American team spot.

- Marah Strickland was 3-of-3 behind the arc. Yeah, No. 2 recruiting class last year. You go, girls. P.S.: Will you be my girlfriend?

- I'm not really sure how this happened, but Maryland had 18 turnovers - to LSU's 8 turnovers. And we won. Maryland did own a slight advantage in rebounds (50 to 34).

Seriously, I've said it before: Give these girls some respect. They are playing as well as anyone right now and the rest of the country needs to check their back.

Or don't check your back. I wouldn't mind seeing Maryland cruise to a championship Patriot-style (only with a soul; Celtic-style, really).

It's cool.

(Thanks to the Diamondback and Adam Fried for letting me borrow this picture.)