58 replies to this topic

[Mike B]

If Mitchell and Cleare were off-the-floor types, they would be going pro early. Instead they will both be 4 year players, and extremely productive in their time at CP. They both run the floor well. They both eat up space. Mitchell is a monster on the boards. I'll take a couple of Baxter esque players.

Excellent point.

[Mackus]

Jesus, Faust with another 3. All catch and shoot and all have hit nothing but the very bottom of the net.

[Mike B]

Nick Faust holding off Clemson by himself. Then takes a dumb shot and gets benched.

[Mackus]

And then an awful, off-the-dribble prayer from 5-10 feet beyond the arc with 10 left on the clock. What the hell, Nick?

[Mike B]

Announcing team seems to be pulling for Clemson to comeback.

[Mackus]

Announcing team seems to be pulling for Clemson to comeback.

?

I haven't thought that at all.

[DJ MC]

I've got the TV on mute for the Orioles game on the radio, so I can't comment on the broadcast team either way.

[Mike B]

?

I haven't thought that at all.

I guess we disagree then. Jay Williams to me is awful.

[Mackus]

I think Dez only has like 2 points, but he's played pretty well today I've thought. Lots of really smart passes. Haven't seen the numbers, but I bet he's leading the team in assists today.

[bnickle]

If Mitchell and Cleare were off-the-floor types, they would be going pro early. Instead they will both be 4 year players, and extremely productive in their time at CP. They both run the floor well. They both eat up space. Mitchell is a monster on the boards. I'll take a couple of Baxter esque players.

Baxter flashed a skillset and a 6-8 foot jumpshot his freshman year. Neither are close to freshman Baxter. Unlike say a Braxton Dupree, I definitely think these are high Div 1 players who will help the team for 4 years. I just don't know if either become a go to guy in the post.

[Mackus]

Baxter flashed a skillset and a 6-8 foot jumpshot his freshman year. Neither are close to freshman Baxter. Unlike say a Braxton Dupree I definitely think these are high Div 1 players who will help the team for 4 years. I just don't know if either become a go to guy in the post.

Baxter had the jumpshot and the best hands I've ever seen. Neither of these guys have that.

I don't expect either to develop into 16-18 ppg guys, but I do think they can both be 11-13 point and 9-12 rebound type guys. If you've got two of those, that's a pretty strong front court. And both are solid defenders, Cleare in particular.

[Mackus]

Really, really nice job by Maryland in the second half.

Gotta not screw up again on the road. Can't afford losses to either GT or Wake, and neither should be a loss. Get it done!

[Mike B]

I see the comparisons to Lonnie. Lonnie played a little more than Cleare and Mitchell but Lonnie improved a ton between his freshman and Soph years. He worked on his footwork, used the pump more and lost weight. I think Mitchell and Cleare will do the same. Mitchell is probably 6'6 so he needs to develop that jumper. Shaq can use the muscle down low if his footwork improves.

[BSLChrisStoner]

BSL: MD back to .500 in the ACC; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
http://baltimorespor...e-bad-the-ugly/

[Mike B]

Well played game by Terps. Excellent D in the second half. Better free throw percentage and game is a blow out. Nice game by Faust.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Baxter flashed a skillset and a 6-8 foot jumpshot his freshman year. Neither are close to freshman Baxter. Unlike say a Braxton Dupree, I definitely think these are high Div 1 players who will help the team for 4 years. I just don't know if either become a go to guy in the post.

After the Big O went down to injury, Baxter got to start and be the man in the middle. Easier to show what you can do, when you are the one getting the minutes and the ball. Cleare and Mitchell have Len in-front of them, as the primary post threat. They've both contributed, but neither has the ball regularly going to them.

Baxter averaged 8.9 points and 4.6 rebounds after Ekezie was lost for the season … averaged 6.8 points and 3.6 rebounds overall … led the Terps in field goal shooting percentage with a .599 mark …

Mitchell is averaging 5.8 points, and 5.8 boards, shooting 53% from the floor.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Got home in time to see the last 5 minutes, and it was already over at that point. Glad to see the Terps pull away in the 2nd half. Glad to see Faust be so efficient this afternoon. Very good to see his 3-pointer get on track a bit.

[BSLMattJergensen]

Nice win at home as the Terps pulled away in the second half.

Nick Faust played perhaps the best game of his college career. All his threes were catch and shoot instead of hesitate, one dribble then shoot. No turnovers. Three steals. Eighteen points to lead the team.

Dez Wells has seemingly taken to the role of distributor with 7 assists although he only scored 2 points. The team as a whole looked much better sharing the basketball (19 assists on 30 made baskets) to only 8 turnovers.

Layman looked very solid today. He looked comfortable filling the lanes on the break and had a few strong takes to the hole to compliment a decent shooting day. (4 for 7) (2 of 3 from 3) I agree with some who seem him as a good "glue" guy that can do many things for your team.

This is probably the most I've seen Turgeon use the 1-2-1-1 full court press. It was effective because the Terps rotated well on the back line and Clemson simply didn't have the shooters for MD to take it off. I agree that I'd like to see more of this or maybe some half court 1-3-1 trap as well to cause some turnovers but I wouldn't hold my breath. Here are Turge's comments about using the pressure:

"We press every game. If it works, we'll stick with it. I thought our press cost us the game at Boston College. They scored five points when we had a one point lead. Press worked today. Today we were flat and the building was flat. It was 9-4 and I was like we've got to do something and they were shooting two free throws and they went one for two and it was 10-4 and the press worked. It worked today, it got us a lead and got us energy. It's not going to work every day, but it worked today."

I don't think he feels comfortable using the press because of risk/reward. It can also lead to easy buckets for the opposition and he simply doesn't want to give opponents anything easy. I still think they should mix it in more.

These next two road games are important to say the least.

[Mackus]

Nick Faust played perhaps the best game of his college career. All his threes were catch and shoot instead of hesitate, one dribble then shoot. No turnovers. Three steals. Eighteen points to lead the team.

All of his threes that went in were of that variety. He had at least two bad ones, including a ridiculous one in the 2nd half right after his 3rd (I think) made three that immediately got him benched. I agree that he really only should be shooting 3s in an open, catch-and-shoot situation. Similar to when Layman shoots his. And even though he made 4 on Saturday, I don't wanna see him taking 5+ 3-pointers a game.

Agree completely that Dez had a very nice game despite not being a scorer. He made a lot of smart passes that lead to baskets and easy opportunities.

I also thought that Mitchell and Cleare stepping up were huge for the Terps. Len was invisible again, had those two not played really well, I think Clemson may have been able to dominant inside with Booker. The second chance baskets that those two provided, combined with the transition points from either the press or long misses, was the difference in the game.