Tonight I am at a loss for words. With 3 games left and the Terps sitting at 7-8n in Conference play, our chances for a bid to the tournament are barely alive. What has to be done?
1–End conference play with a 3 game winning streak which seems virtually impossible with our poor play on the road.
2- Win 4 games in 4 days and Capture the ACC Title
Listen, the effort is there without question but it just seems like the Terps were pressing the entire game.
Robert Carter, Jr a guy the Terps recruited hard stole the show tonight finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He will be a force in the ACC next year.
Jake has just disappeared on the road finishing 1-8 and seemingly just chucking up shots. Our 4 guards just didn’t have it tonight. I was a little surprised Coach Turgeon started PeShon who only played 8 scoreless minutes. Nick finished with 10 points but still had 6 turnovers.
Dez was pretty solid tonight with 15 points and 4 assists and he continues to lead this team on the road. Alex’ numbers were good 13 points and 9 rebounds but tonight he was outplayed by Dan Miller. The word is out to just rough up Alex, and the refs just won’t put the kid on the line. He gets hammered every time he touches the ball, yet tonight he only had 2 foul shots.
I am not going to dwell on this game so hear are Coach Turgeon’s post game comments taken from the Georgia Tech website:
“I thought Georgia Tech was great. They made shots. Their bench was great. They played smarter than we played. They got to the foul line a lot more than we did. They were good. Georgia Tech was really good. We watched a lot of film on them and maybe we gave them that confidence. Obviously defensively we weren’t great and that was probably the biggest disappointment in the game. Once again, I thought we were ready. We started out pretty well and then they hit some shots in the first half and got themselves going. Our press wasn’t good for us and it hurt us. We gave them some confidence, but you can’t go on the road and give up 51% FG and expect to win. Give them some credit. They made a lot of shots they hadn’t been making. [Robert] Carter was tremendous. He was good. We couldn’t guard him. We had no one who could guard Robert Carter.”
On slow starts to the 2nd half becoming a concern:
“We were good at the start of the 2nd half vs Clemson. We were good at the start of the 2nd half against Duke. If I had an answer, I’d fix it. I did think that we tried hard. We just didn’t play very smart. There were times when we looked like a team on the offensive end. Other times, we just go one on one. We tried a bunch of stuff just to try and get back in the game and none of it really worked.”
On offensive struggles:
“It’s tough. I’m more disappointed in our intelligence on the defensive end than the offensive end. I think we got in a panic mode offensively and just trying to score quickly. We missed a lot of open shots. Our guys who are supposed to make shots didn’t make them. It might not have changed the outcome, but we missed some open shots too. We just didn’t play very well. Maybe it’s because of Georgia Tech, but I thought we had 7 or 8 guys who tried really hard. The decision making is tough. It’s hard and it wears you out.”
On trying to establish Alex Len early on:
“I thought he got pushed around all night. I know he ended up with really good numbers and we ran some plays for him. He was good early and got second chance points. I thought [Daniel] Miller got the best of him. He got pushed around all night.”
On point guard play:
“Our point guard play in the first half was about as bad as it has been. Nick [Faust] was bad. Pe’Shon’s [Howard] decision making was terrible. Seth [Allen] forced some things. I was begging them at timeouts that our point guard has to be better. It just wasn’t very good tonight.”
eugene curtin
First and foremost i appreciate your site and the MD info. With that being said, the terps do not belong in the NCAA Tourney. If we can not beat BC, Georgia tech and host of other squads, that we should have held down, then our need to be in any tournament is shot. When this team can compete, then we will make the tourney. A win over Duke and State is a nice boost on a program trying to redefine itself (neither team will make it past the sweet 16). Additionally, a preseason schedule vs. some really soft opponents did not properly prepare us for the ACC. It did offered our coach some insight into the squad and whats to come.
Side note: We have our fingers crossed that next years talent can handle the ball? Alex, will fade out in the NBA (money chasers have historically disappeared, Wilcox?)? And, both football and basketball will head into a 5-10 year drought apon entering the big-10?
My feeling is “most likely” to all of these questions. Except for the fact that we have been in a drought for both sports for a few years. Small time bowl games for 7 wins do not count as compeating. Again, thanks for being there and keeping me up to date with all that is MD. Thanks hon, thanks bahlmer!
· 11/12/2019
freddy from boca
not a word about maryland’s coaching from turgeon. guess that means the coaching staff did their job but the players failed.
· 11/12/2019
Mricklen
Fred, a puzzling and consistent theme from the Coach who surprisingly wants to preach responsibility.
He is a major disappointment in so many ways.
· 11/12/2019
JOrban
For the first time I’m beginning to think that Mark is the inverse of Gary: a guy who’s a great recruiter but a so-so coach. This isn’t football where rebuilding takes years. By the end of his second season with the players he has you have to wonder at the lack of execution. Watching the game, it was astonishing how many open shots the Jackets had and how the Terps could not work their offense to get open looks. Sigh!
· 11/12/2019
Scotty Dub
Love the youth of this team, but it’s a double edge sword, esp on the road. Guard play seems to disappear (w/ too many turnovers) and Len is just too inconsistent. Really hope he returns to CP to polish his game before going pro.
I hate to say, although they have tons of potential, this is a NIT team.
· 11/12/2019
brian2580
Tough to evaluate a coach when the team is so young. Also unfair to compare him to Gary Williams who is one of the all time greats.
· 11/12/2019