Prior to Howard's injury, I was really looking forward to today. I expected MD to be in the game with 5 minutes left, and was interested to see what adjustments Coach Turgeon would make in his 2nd game vs. the Blue Devils.

Without Howard, it is hard to imagine that the Terps will be able to keep it close. You need to be strong with the ball to ever have a chance in Durham, and without Howard, MD really is limited in this regard.

One thing I do want to see today, is improvement from Len vs. what he provided against Duke in College Park.

BSL: MD loses at #9 Duke; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
http://baltimorespor...ife.com/?p=3883

Just can win against a team like Duke without Stoglin having a big day, and obviously he was a bit off today. I don't think he should've been benched, and I definitely don't think he should be taking the flak that he is from so many people for his play. This team cannot function without Stoglin being the overwhelmingly dominant aspect of the offense. Just look at how inept the team is when he is out or cold. A few bad shots from him is small price to pay for the team to actually have some sense of an offense. Sure, he probably could be a bit more efficient and look for other guys a bit more, especially when he's not hot, but overall I'll take Stoglin doing his thing over anyone else on the team obtaining a bigger role. Because, quite simply, he's the only guy on the team good enough to be a consistent scorer right now.

I'm sure Turg is just trying to get him to be able to play a little differently so hopefully in his junior and senior years, when maybe there will be some legit talent around him, he'll be able to make even more of an impact. But criticisms of him for the way he's played this year, and the style, are unwarranted, IMO.

Back to the game:

Really encouraging stuff from both Parker and especially Faust. The bigs were awful, but those two - along with Stoglin on an obvious off night - were the reason the game stayed close down to the final 4 minutes or so.