The ACC Schedule Preview, Pt. 1

The Maryland men's basketball team kicks off their ACC season tonight against Boston College. Now that the ACC teams have played a few games, it's easier to see how things are going to shake out this year. So, through intense scrutiny and poring through stats, here's what I see:

PART I of III

BOSTON COLLEGE (6-1)

KEY STATS: Boston College is in the middle of the pack in most stat categories, but is No. 2 in assist-to-turnover ratio and No. 1 in blocked shots (right before Maryland).
GO-TO GUY: Tyrese Rice has torn up the non-conference schedule so far in his junior year, No. 2 in scoring and assists in the ACC ( 21.2 and 6.17 per game). This will probably translate well into the ACC schedule, as he was the No. 6 scorer last year and three of the guys ahead of him are in the NBA now.
BIGGEST GAME SO FAR: A loss to Providence in OT, 98-89. Rice had 25, but their entire starting lineup had at least 4 fouls each.
AGAINST MARYLAND: The Eagles haven't really been tested so far, and Maryland definetely has. They will win, however, if James Gist takes another game off and if Hayes and Vasquez can't defend Rice. The savvy guard and the defensive-minded frontcourt are the main strengths of this team. They'll probably lose the road game.

CLEMSON (8-0)

KEY STATS: Clemson thrives on defense and passing - Top half of rebounding and blocked shots and No. 1 in assists and steals.
GO-TO GUY: The 6-5 K.C. Rivers leads the team in points and is tied for No. 9 in the ACC in rebounding with ... James Gist (for the record, Gist is 4 inches taller).
BIGGEST GAME SO FAR: A 61-58 win over Purdue. Rivers pulled down a double-double in the absence of much-ballyhooed forward James Mays.
AGAINST MARYLAND: Right now, James Mays is out with a fracture, but he'll probably be back by March when the Tigers play the Terps. A lot will happen between then and now, but for right now, Clemson rebounds much better than Maryland and capitalizes on Maryland's greatest weakness: turnovers.

DUKE (9-0)

KEY STATS: As much as it pains me, Duke is playing very efficiently and is No. 1 in FG% and scoring margin. And they've played a few good teams already.
GO-TO GUY: I'm looking for reasons not to say Kyle Singler. Besides being hideous, he leads the team in points and rebounds.
BIGGEST GAME SO FAR: A 77-73 win over Marquette. Singler dropped 25.
AGAINST MARYLAND: Duke is very strong in the wings with Singler, Henderson and Nelson, but they have no one in the post. A lot of the teams they've beaten match up well because they're guard-heavy. The Devils have chosen their shots well, but soon, Greg Paulus will rear his ugly head and start giving the ball away. Maryland should be able to take the ball to the hole against a lineup where Brian Zoubek is the only player over 6-8. At Cameron Indoor, the Cameron Tame Students will be upset, but Greivis Vasquez feeds off of the hostile atmosphere, as we saw last year. At least one win for the Terps.

FLORIDA STATE (9-2)

KEY STATS: The Seminoles are No. 1 in FT%. Good job. They're also in the top half of the FG% defense categories.
GO-TO GUY: Star guard Isaiah Swann. Leads the team in points and has a 2-to-1 ATR. Toney Douglas isn't far behind, leading the team in minutes and already collecting 30 steals this season. Also, Maryland lost when Douglas was in the game last year and won when he was out.
BIGGEST GAME SO FAR: A win over weakened-yet-still-reigning-champ Florida, 65-51. FSU took a 25-9 lead and never let it go.
AGAINST MARYLAND: The Terps have one very winnable game at home against FSU. The Seminoles have lost to Cleveland State and University of South Florida already and they've played only cruddy teams so far. As bad as Maryland is at rebounding, Florida State is worse: No one on their team is averaging more than 6 per game. However, this is an experienced squad that the Terps can't take lightly. At least Al Thornton is gone - that man killed us.

Part II is on its way tomorrow...

Extra Note: I just wanted to leave you with these wonderful words from Gary about the game the other night against Morgan State in The Sun:

Consider Thursday's night game, when Williams flung his pinstriped suit jacket to the Comcast Center floor and jawed at an official as the first half was ending in the 89-65 win over Morgan State. Williams said after the game that he hated giving the Bears the two free throws that resulted from Maryland being assessed a technical foul.

But yesterday he said he had no regrets about launching the coat - an act he said was intended as a not-so-subtle message to his team.

"I made my point and it wasn't about the officials," Williams said. "It was just about the way we played, and we played a lot better in the second half. So I look at it as it worked. It got everybody fired up."

Williams also kicked at a sideline table during the game, saying afterward: "I thought I'd work on a little martial arts."

Go Terps! See you at the game tonight!

Link Time: Best of Ballhype

Hey guys, I thought I'd just kick today off with a couple of links I've been meaning to put up for some time.

- I'm not sure whether this is funny or just plain sad. Here's a comparison of Evel Knievel's injuries to Steve McNair's injuries.

- I finally decided I believe this. Kansas State forward Bill Walker had to face the call of nature in the closing seconds of a game ... so he peed in some towels.

- Brian Billick has a crush on Rodney Harrison.

- A very nice analysis of the Wizards roster - why they shouldn't sign anyone new.

- A little Heisman lore - includes the mystery of O.J. Simpson's trophy and the airport security mishaps with the famous bronze statue.

- The Detroit Pistons use Jason Maxiell for target practice.

And finally, Kevin Garnett on Knicks, Stephon Marbury and ... Craig Sager's suit?

Haters: Greivis Vasquez isn't going anywhere so everyone chill

Last night, the Terps demolished Morgan State, 89-65. Eric Hayes tied a season high with 19 points and Gist dropped 18. But neither of them were the best player.

Although it's true that Hayes lit a fire under the team after a scrappy first half by hitting 4 big shots, the highly controversial Greivis Vasquez showed up big in the stat column: 17 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. Yes, he had 7 turnovers, but he had three 3-pointers and hit all of his free throws as well. It's hard to argue that Vasquez did anything but his job last night.

In a happy coincidence, an article came out this morning about the polarizing Maryland point guard who had this to say:

"People are either gonna love me or they're gonna hate me," he said. "That's who I am."

Well, it's true. I encourage everyone to read the article.

I've heard a lot of muttering in the arena when I'm at games and when I talk about the team. I'm talking about Maryland fans themselves. The mutterings usually consist of phrases like these:

- "He makes such stupid decisions!"

- "Why is he taking so many shots?"

- "Eric Hayes should run the point."

I don't disagree. Vasquez, so far this season, has been pretty poor for a starting point guard. I think I sufficiently pointed this out earlier. However, today is a perfect day for the release of the article - the day after Greivis played well in a game.

As much as he hold the team back with turnovers, bad shooting or sloppy defense (how about Jamal Shuler calling him out?), when he plays well, he carries the team, the crowd and the world on his shoulders. Remember his near-triple-double at Cameron Indoor Stadium and how he was basically dominating and pissing off the Cameron not-so-Crazies (A.K.A. The Pointers)? Yeah, I do.

He is epically more athletic than Hayes, faster and more confident. I love Hayes, and he's definitely been living up to his shooting hype, but he has a hard time creating his own shot and when he started at the point last year, he wasn't as inspiring as Vasquez can be. And for those who argue that Hayes makes better decisions, last year Vasquez had a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio and Hayes had a 1.8; that's really not that much of a difference. Plus, since both Hayes and Vasquez are playing the most minutes on the team, almost complete games, what's the big deal? It's not like Vasquez is going anywhere and Hayes can run some plays if Gary wants.

I really don't think Vasquez should be as hated as he is. All players are different. Some are the same night-in and night-out, and some are gamblers - the kind of guy that goes on and off. Vasquez (so far) has been inconsistent, but as he showed last year in the Illinois game and the Duke game, he will play lights-out basketball in big games when people count him out.

Amusing Greivis notes:

- I think he's in love with Kobe.

- He was in one of the greatest high school games ever. Montrose Christian vs. Oak Hill Academy in 2006. "The Game" featured not only Maryland commits Vasquez, Landon Milbourne and Adrian Bowie, but also future UNC star Ty Lawson and the one and only Kevin Durant. Here's some highlights of the star-studded event. Bowie hit a shot for the win at the buzzer.

- The USA/Venezuela game mentioned in the article was an absolute joke. I'll leave you guys with the highlights.

Tim Tebow needs to win the Heisman

If you are a Heisman voter and you don't put Tim Tebow #1 on your ballot, you deserve to have your eyes taken out with a potato peeler.

I'm going to let the numbers do the talking:

• 68.5% completion percentage (2nd in the nation)
  
• 3132 passing yards
• 9.9 yards per passing attempt (leads the nation)
  
• 29 passing touchdowns (tied for 9th in the nation) vs. 6 interceptions
• 177.8 QB rating (2nd in the nation)
  
• 838 rushing yards
• 4.3 yards per carry
• 22 rushing touchdowns (SEC record, 3rd in the nation)
• 132 total scoring (tied for 4th in the nation)
  

His two main competitors, it seems, are Darren McFadden and Colt Brennan.

McFadden has 1725 rushing yards, 4th in the country, but has seven fewer rushing touchdowns than Tebow does - and TEBOW IS A QUARTERBACK. And for all the talk about how McFadden plays QB, he only has 11 passing attempts this year (albeit four of them were touchdowns).

Brennan might be better competition. His team is undefeated and his numbers seem to be as ridiculous as Tebow's - he's 3rd in the nation in QB rating, 3rd in touchdown passes, and 4th in passing yards. But he also didn't play a Top 25-ranked team all season. I feel bad using that against him because many good teams refuse to play the Warriors, particularly if Hawaii wants them to travel to the islands.

Sadly, two very deserving players didn't even get invited to the Heisman ceremony because they are under the radar: the first is Central Florida's Kevin Smith, who besides sharing his name with a terrific filmmaker, has rushed for almost 2,500 yards this season and might break Barry Sanders' single season record. He also has 29 touchdowns and is averaging almost 6 yards a carry. But I guess that's what happens when you play in Conference USA.

The second is Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree, who leads the nation in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Also, he's a freshman. I repeat - a freshman is leading the nation in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. If he played for Notre Dame, Mel Kiper would be hyping him as an NFL prospect so much his hair might get messed up.

But, ultimately, Tim Tebow should win the Heisman for reasons beyond statistics.

Uhh... wow. Just wow.

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...

The Pats take down God

Today on Monday Night Football, those of you who watched the Ravens-Patriots games witnessed the least-clutch football game in all of world history.

God (or gods, as some might prefer) was willing the Patriots to lose.

If you don't believe, consider this:

- God's linebacker was leading the Raven's defense.

- God healed Willis McGahee's knee and made him the best running back in the NFL, nothing short of miraculous. Seriously, have you seen the video?

- God made Kyle Boller good.

- The most important evidence: The wind was consistently hovering around 25 mph, taking away the deep ball, the most important and dangerous aspect of the Patriots' offense. Their longest pass was to Lawrence Maroney on a screen play.

So the Ravens were up, 24-20, with literally 1:30 to go. It was 4th and 1 and the Pats hurried up for a quarterback sneak. The Raven's D-line came through with a tackle for a loss and a turnover ... or at least they would have...

No, Rex Ryan called a timeout a split second before the play went off. What ensued was a QB scramble and conversion, a series of silly penalties and a JABAR GAFFNEY (!!!) touchdown.

Absolutely sickening. The Ravens just answered the question, "How can you make a bad season even worse?" By beating the best team in the NFL for 59 minutes and having the game IN THE BAG and LOSING.

The final proof that God was trying to beat the Pats? The last play was a Hail Mary... that was caught! Mark Clayton caught a 52-yard prayer by Boller 3 friggin' yards away from the end zone and was immediately tackled.

Belichick wins again. God hits the showers and gets ready for next week.

Brett Favre Syndrome

Today in the Diamondback, Greivis Vasquez made some disparaging remarks after the loss to VCU, not about the basketball team, but about himself.

"I'm really hurt," Vasquez said. "It's like I lost a family member."

"I take responsibility personally. We have to start winning. I'm pretty embarrassed. It's hurting me a lot. I'm not blaming anybody on the team or blaming the coaches. It's about myself, and hopefully everybody on the team feels this way."

Can you be more dramatic?

In an earlier post, I referenced Vasquez's tendency to try and take a game into his own hands and doing to much. At the time, I referred to it as "Brett Favre syndrome."

Now, that doesn't really make sense this season, but at the time, I thought of the 2005 season after which Favre was mulling retirement. Remember that season? With 20 touchdowns and an NFL-leading 29 interceptions?

I remember there was a lot of hubbub at the time that has been mostly forgotten since this 10-2 season for the Packers. But while Favre was talking about retirement, he acknowledged that part of the reason he threw a dozen more touchdowns than anyone in the league that year was because he was trying too hard to make something happen because his team was bad (4-12 bad).

Brett Favre syndrome is more about avoiding mistakes than piling up stats. We all know getting stats isn't necessarily the key to winning. Vasquez is the Terps' leading scorer, he also has a team-high 33 turnovers and has a 1.30 A/TO ratio, which is lousy for a point guard. His 39FG% is also abysmal, and reflective of his shot selection.

Other examples:

- Allen Iverson from 03-06 when he was traded. From '03 and beyond, his he averaged nearly one more turnover per game than prior in his career and, besides an MVP-worthy 05-06 season, his shooting percentages and rebounding also suffered. Incidentally, the Sixers made the playoffs only once during the stretch and quickly were ushered out by the Pistons in five games.

- Peyton Manning pre-MVP years. If you look down at his stats, you'll see he threw no fewer than 15 interceptions every year until 2003, when he threw only 10 picks. He won MVP that year and in 2004, and he never threw more than 10 until this year (mostly due to a 6-interception game against the Chargers). The Colts went 42-38 from 98-02. Since then, they're a combined 60-16. Offhandedly, I'll assume that's the best in the NFL. He threw an career-low 9 INTs during the regular season of the Super Bowl year.

I recommend to Greivis to play to his strengths. He has athleticism and he can drive to the basket. He should work on his jump shot, but until he can drain it with regularity, there is no good reason for him to be making over 10 shots a game. At some point, the Terps will have to learn to distribute to their veteran post players and trust them to score or get Eric Hayes some open looks. Otherwise, Vasquez should get fouls, run the fast breaks and draw double teams to get someone else open. This team doesn't need him to do any more, and they certainly don't need him to make mistakes and turnovers by forcing passes or throwing up difficult shots.

Take it easy on yourself, Gravy. It's not just about you.

Get Ready for a Letdown

The Maryland men's basketball team lost to VCU at the BB&T Classic, 85-76. Meanwhile, we, the fans, begin to judge the character of this team.

We've played enough games now to see the makeup of this team before they retreat into the non-conference home "hibernation" part of the schedule, when we play such big-name programs as Savannah State and American (and Holy Cross, which Bill Simmons might actually want to hear about).

We've played some big games. We've played some easy games. We've played some of intermediate difficulty, and on different stages. Here's what I've personally observed.

- We're going to be inconsistent. (Really? An inconsistent Maryland team?)

- We have young'uns that aren't yet ready for primetime. The two players I've been most disappointed with are Greivis Vasquez and Landon Milbourne. Greivis, although he can score and lead fast breaks, has not responded well to his leadership role. He's suffering from "Brett Farve syndrome," or trying to do too much by yourself. When he scores, he can't dish and gives away turnovers. When he distributes, he still misses too many shots (he followed up a 2-for-14 day with a 4-for-13 performance last night). Milbourne has barely done anything with a starter's minutes (6 ppg and 4 rpg). Cliff Tucker, who performed well again last night, is waiting in the wings. I would also like to see Eric Hayes step up his game a little and work on getting open more. The team needs him to hit big-time shots, but I've seen that he has trouble creating. His ball-handling is a plus, however.

- We don't have much senior leadership on this team. James Gist continued his disappearing act tonight, and while Boom had 17 points and 10 rebounds, you can't expect that kind of performance every night - he's just not that polished. Gist has the athletic capability to take over games, but he does it very selectively. I think as we approach the ACC slate, you'll see Gist take over more and more in big games as he pushes for that NBA career - but his "ghost games" will be more glaring, mainly because we will lose those games.

So for those of you keeping track of the details, we have a team that will win big and compete with the best, but also a team that will lose games they shouldn't and will look foolish against a team of veterans. Sound familiar? Think last year, only less successful.

The Terps have a lot of issues to handle, but with a young team, can you expect much more? The problem is ... we are expecting more.