Maryland Terps Basketball Thread

[Assani Fisher]

3-0 record and up 58-21 over St Johns at the half now!

This team has been very disappointing the past few years, but they finished last year strong by winning the NIT. So far this year, they look great. Extremely active on defense and very quick and athletic. A fun team to watch. The ACC should be great this year!

[Assani Fisher]

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CSTV U-WIRE) COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Junior James Gist has never been in this position before. In his previous two seasons as a forward on the Terrapin men's basketball team, Gist said he's always been able to tell how well the team is progressing.

Three regular season games in, this year is a mystery to him.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Gist said when asked to assess the Terps after three games. "[Coach Gary Williams] told us the other day he's real proud of how we're playing right now, so I'm assuming we're ahead or at least where he wants us to be right now. It's new to me, but it's real fun seeing how it's going."

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Where the season goes next is 220 miles northeast at Madison Square Garden, as the Terps face St. John's Thursday night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. The game and the trip will be an early barometer for the Terps as they get to play traditional tournament teams from power conferences.

After beating up on Hampton and Florida A&M and easily taking care of Vermont, the Terps step up to a new level of competition Thursday.

"We're about to play a more elite team," Gist said. "If we come out with two wins, we're gonna be looking real good coming out of this tournament."

Williams said getting an early test like this one isn't anything new, given his team's penchant to schedule tough opponents before ACC play begins.

On a more specific level, playing St. John's could give the Terps an accurate representation of their defense, especially on the perimeter. St. John's is led by 3-point sharpshooter Avery Patterson, a junior college transfer who is shooting 52.2 percent from beyond the arc. In their first three games -- against small-conference opponents -- the Terps have allowed just 22.7 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Freshman guard Greivis Vasquez, a key part of that aggressive outside defense, said playing better teams causes him to up his game.

"I love to have some competition," Vasquez said. "I believe that's when I play better -- when I play with somebody better or equal to me."

The Terps (3-0) have put up good statistics so far, but Williams and players agreed there's a lot of work to do and elements of the game that will improve with time.

The atmosphere is half the battle for the Terps, who will be playing St. John's in its backyard. Including Thursday, the Red Storm play 11 games at MSG this season.

Still, Williams said there's something special about the Garden.

"I think anytime you get a chance to play there as a college basketball player, you have to get excited," he said. "If you can't get excited there, they better test you to see if you're still breathing."

Eight Terps have never played a college game at MSG, including senior guard D.J. Strawberry, whose New York City basketball experience is limited to watching a Knicks game. Strawberry was hurt and didn't make the trip the last time the Terps played there -- against South Carolina in the semifinals of the National Invitational Tournament in the spring of 2005.

Williams said the NIT has nothing to do with what his team is thinking about. But Tuesday, Gist recalled a post-game conversation he had with freshman guard Eric Hayes about going to New York.

When Hayes asked Gist if he had ever played at MSG, the junior forward couldn't share too many positive memories. And that's something Gist is aiming to change.

"Madison Square Garden's a historical place and a lot of people would love to play there," Gist said. "I wanna play there and actually get a win on that court."



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(CSTV U-WIRE) COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- A sign of the good 'ol days -- the days of Final Fours and NCAA tournament berths -- has reappeared.

No, we weren't at Cole Field House sweating more than the hometown head coach. No, we weren't even bumping at Comcast Center due to a crowd smaller than some autumn Ludwig Field gatherings. And no, our Terrapin basketball team did not put on a complete razzle-dazzle showing in its opening two victories.

So why the nostalgia?

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How about this: The Terps deployed an array of aggressive full-court presses not seen in College Park on a consistent basis in at least three years.

What made the Terps so much fun to watch -- even for a college hoops fan growing up in the Midwest -- earlier this decade in back-to-back Final Fours may be back for good, largely due to the depth and athleticism of the team.

At media day last month, head coach Gary Williams expressed his desire for a nine-man rotation. Well, Coach, it looks like you have that -- which does not even include Dave Neal and Landon Milbourne, who have both shown early season promise.

But perhaps more importantly than the athleticism of guards like D.J. Strawberry and Greivis Vasquez or overall depth, these Terps have the desire to play end-to-end -- something recent teams possibly lacked.

"You can press, but the great pressing teams want to press," Williams said. "It's hard to make teams press when they don't want to. I think we see a way to score by using our press, so we've bought into it pretty well."

That sure was evident Wednesday night. Leading by nine at halftime, Williams called for a 1-3-1 full-court zone press designed to deny the inbounds pass. Shortly after a minute ticked by, the new look netted two turnovers, which led to four unanswered points by the Terps and a double-digit lead never relinquished.

"If that's how we're going to win games, that's what we're going to do," junior forward James Gist said. "To have people that can fly around on defense like that and put pressure on a team from the start of the game to the end of the game really helps our game."

The active defense forced 21 turnovers and notched 12 steals, many coming before Vermont could run a half-court offensive set. It is well-documented that in recent seasons the Terps have suffered from poor (read no) perimeter defense, leading to a bevy of 3-pointers. After struggling to find a solution, maybe Williams has stumbled upon one - don't allow opposing teams to cross half-court.

In two nights, we saw a man-to-man, a 2-1-2 and a 1-3-1 press. Hoops fans, let me know if I missed any. Just how many full-court defenses will this team unleash?

"Well, who knows?" senior guard Mike Jones wondered. "It's up to coach, whatever he feels comfortable with. But we definitely got it going."



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CSTV U-WIRE) COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- An early run made it an easy night for the Terrapin men's basketball team against Florida A&M, but it wasn't an empty win, especially for the freshman guards.

Highly touted for their basketball senses, Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez picked the perfect night to go through some growing pains and show dramatic improvement.

It was certainly a process for Hayes and Vasquez, who had some problems but oozed confidence and made plenty of big plays.

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Early in the first half, Hayes badly missed an alley-oop pass to senior forward Ekene Ibekwe and turned the ball over in the process. It was a quick learning curve, as Hayes made up for it less than two minutes later. With a very subtle move, he lofted a ball in the perfect spot for junior forward James Gist, who dunked it to thunderous applause.

Later, Hayes delivered entry passes into the paint, making up for his three turnovers with five assists.

"I'm definitely learning. I just gotta pick my spots," Hayes said. "It's just a learning experience; I think I'm learning from my mistakes."

Hayes has assimilated to the college game with little visible difficulty, while Vasquez has had to play out of position. The former Montrose Christian point guard committed two turnovers and had some defensive miscues, but he managed the fast break with the poise of a veteran and finished with a team-high seven assists.

"[When] I make a mistake, I gotta keep my head in the game," Vasquez said. "I just gotta keep getting better."

Blowing out Florida A&M 93-54 also allowed the emotional Vasquez to enjoy himself. Midway through the second half, Vasquez hit a layup and was fouled. Upon watching the ball flutter through the net, he did a little celebratory dance. Just a few minutes later, Vasquez drilled a 3-pointer to put the Terps up by 33 points, and he posed in his shooting position as he backpedaled down the court.

"I wake up every day early in the morning to work on my shot," Vasquez said. "So I was upset I missed some tough shots. I held my hand out there. I'm just trying to have fun."



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[MyTurn2Raise]

November 28th will be fun

too bad the Illini won't be at full strength


It will be a road environment unlike any the Terps have seen

just ask Wake and UNC about their trips to Champaign

[J.R.]

That win over Vermont got a whole lot better last Monday night.

[ligastar]

Assani,

What can you tell me about #50 Bambale Osby? I saw a good 6 or 7 minutes of the Vermont game and he really impressed me. The Terps have some solid frontline players who will be able to bang with any team.

Also, the ACC is a cumulative 28-1 after tonight's games. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[ligastar]

[ QUOTE ]
November 28th will be fun

too bad the Illini won't be at full strength


It will be a road environment unlike any the Terps have seen

just ask Wake and UNC about their trips to Champaign

[/ QUOTE ]


UNC sees worse every year 8 miles down the road.

[Aces McGee]

[ QUOTE ]
Assani,

What can you tell me about #50 Bambale Osby? I saw a good 6 or 7 minutes of the Vermont game and he really impressed me. The Terps have some solid frontline players who will be able to bang with any team.

Also, the ACC is a cumulative 28-1 after tonight's games. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

The thing that sets Maryland's bigs -- Ebekwe and Gist -- apart is their athleticism and their ability to run the floor. The past couple of years, the team wasn't built to take advantage of that: There was no to capably push the ball, and Maryland struggled tremendously to score in the half court. Now that they have Hayes and Vasquez, they can run a lot more, and it just suits the makeup of their team a lot better.

-McGee

[ligastar]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Assani,

What can you tell me about #50 Bambale Osby? I saw a good 6 or 7 minutes of the Vermont game and he really impressed me. The Terps have some solid frontline players who will be able to bang with any team.

Also, the ACC is a cumulative 28-1 after tonight's games. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

The thing that sets Maryland's bigs -- Ebekwe and Gist -- apart is their athleticism and their ability to run the floor. The past couple of years, the team wasn't built to take advantage of that: There was no to capably push the ball, and Maryland struggled tremendously to score in the half court. Now that they have Hayes and Vasquez, they can run a lot more, and it just suits the makeup of their team a lot better.

-McGee

[/ QUOTE ]


All this and not a word about Osby?

[Aces McGee]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Assani,

What can you tell me about #50 Bambale Osby? I saw a good 6 or 7 minutes of the Vermont game and he really impressed me. The Terps have some solid frontline players who will be able to bang with any team.

Also, the ACC is a cumulative 28-1 after tonight's games. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

The thing that sets Maryland's bigs -- Ebekwe and Gist -- apart is their athleticism and their ability to run the floor. The past couple of years, the team wasn't built to take advantage of that: There was no to capably push the ball, and Maryland struggled tremendously to score in the half court. Now that they have Hayes and Vasquez, they can run a lot more, and it just suits the makeup of their team a lot better.

-McGee

[/ QUOTE ]


All this and not a word about Osby?

[/ QUOTE ]

I probably should have only quoted the part of your post where you discuss Maryland's frontline being able to bang with anyone in the ACC.

I don't know much about Osby. I've seen him as much as you have. He seems like a role player to me; a high energy guy good for a few boards and five fouls every game.

-McGee

[MyTurn2Raise]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
November 28th will be fun

too bad the Illini won't be at full strength


It will be a road environment unlike any the Terps have seen

just ask Wake and UNC about their trips to Champaign

[/ QUOTE ]


UNC sees worse every year 8 miles down the road.

[/ QUOTE ]

that is not what the players said after playing in Champaign. Wake players said Champaign was more difficult as well.

Don't believe the hype!