I almost bagged this blog tonight but I needed to get the thoughts of this game out of my system.
Let’s give the Tigers some credit they played extreme physical ball–taking the Terps out of their comfort zone. But remember the Terrapin defense was excellent virtually shutting down Trevor Booker.
The hardest part of success in the ACC is taking the confidence on the road. Winning on the road takes a performance that is hard to define. It certainly wasn’t there tonight in our offensive flow.. Combine 26 turnovers with 15 offensive rebounds for Clemson, and then add in Greivis’ off game and you might think the Terps would have lost by 30.
The bright spot of the game was the continued growth of Jordan Williams. 13 points and 13 rebounds on the road–say no more.
It is hard for this team to win without a solid performance by #21. He is the heart and soul of this team as well as being the guy who the offense revolves around.
It’s funny as soon as I heard Stitt was not playing , I really started to worry about the game. You just knew Oliver Purnell would have his troops rally and the injury gave Clemson a battle cry. Usually the first game a key part of the team is missing you will see a rallying point. But as it goes on his loss could cripple the Tigers. I read that when he doesn’t play Booker’s game suffers as it did tonight . Trevor though rising at the end was 0-12 at 1 juncture.
So here’s the bottom line–it’s just 1 loss and the Terps are 4-2—3-0 at home and 1-2 on the road. Florida State is next and again will be a tough win to achieve. But will the Terps commit 26 turnovers and shoot 34%—I doubt it. I fully expect a strong performance in Tallahassee Thursday night. We will actually be on as a sort of pre-preview at 6PM. A win Thursday and this nightmare will be forgotten.
eddie13
That’s about the most positive spin you might conjure up. Last nite’s performance was awful. Number 21 didn’t have all 26 turnovers, there was plenty of that wealth to go around. Bottom line, when Gary sez in the pre-game interview (as he did last nite) that the game will require, most of all, that his team “play hard,” look out. That “play hard” mentality of his invariably produces out of control, out of sync and out of rhythm performances. And the turnovers. And did I mention the missed layups and bunnies? Clemson shot what, 32 percent? And the Terps still lost? The chasm between Maryland and the elite programs is very wide, now, and getting wider. Exhibit number one was what Villanova did with them. Exhibit number two was what Georgetown did with Duke on Saturday. Gtown is clearly one of the elite programs, now. Maryland is not and won’t be until its coaching staff provides the calming influence needed under pressure to get the most of the talent available. (Do you ever see Kryschevski lose his cool on so consistent a basis as Williams can be counted on doing?). The present coach and staff destroys confidence (your post’s slant) in these critical games. Even if Md gets to the final 65, they’re a one and done group as long as their coaching deficiencies continue. The one year when Gary’s screamer style didn’t detract from their talent level was the year Dixon, Blake and Lonnie Baxter all decided to basically tune him and his abuse out so that they could play.
· 11/12/2019