Well now the Terps are beginning to get a few votes in the rankings. The good news doesn't stop there: The Tarheels have dropped out of sight.
(01-25-2010 06:52 PM)Tenmile Wrote: [ -> ]Well now the Terps are beginning to get a few votes in the rankings. The good news doesn't stop there: The Tarheels have dropped out of sight.
I said at the time that the Heels were ranked WAY too high at the start of the season, and they're rated too low right now.
We're certainly struggling, but we've got two wins against top 25 teams, including #5 Michigan St, and both the Kentucky and Texas games were road games against the best teams in the nation, and we had a chance to win both games.
Doesn't much matter to me, though. Either the light will come on and we'll become a very, very tough team to beat, or we'll continue to drift along, with a chance to beat anyone left on our schedule, but a pretty good chance of losing to any of them as well.
It's a confidence thing right know, it seems to me.
They're good kids, though, and I think they'll be alright.
I sincerely hope NCSU plays extremely well tonight and crushes the heels.
GO WOLFPACK!!!
^ Thanks and me too, but it's pretty clear we don't know what to expect from our boys on any given evening still. I'm hoping that Smith and Howell can push the generally wispier Heels around inside and Gonzalez and Degand can play composed and under control. If so, we should get the W I think.
if you had asked me earlier in the year I'd have said Smith would have a hard time getting a shot off over Davis, but Davis may not play tonight
but I think Roy will conjur up all his powers to have Carolina at the top of their game tonight
...Terps win big again. 22 points over Miami--and the game wasn't that close...
(01-26-2010 09:59 PM)Tenmile Wrote: [ -> ]...Terps win big again. 22 points over Miami--and the game wasn't that close...
"that" needs to be removed from the sentence
Scott Van Pelt WTW coverage at 11 on Sportscenter!!
I watched part of the second half of the NCSU-NC game. Both teams were horrible but the 'Heels were less horrible and won by 14 points. Looks like there's trouble this season on Tobacco Road.
(01-27-2010 01:00 AM)Stampeding Terp Wrote: [ -> ]I watched part of the second half of the NCSU-NC game. Both teams were horrible but the 'Heels were less horrible and won by 14 points. Looks like there's trouble this season on Tobacco Road.
There may be a serious fungus on Tobacco Road. We'll know in March if the entire crop is lost.
(01-26-2010 02:42 PM)Supersport Wrote: [ -> ]if you had asked me earlier in the year I'd have said Smith would have a hard time getting a shot off over Davis, but Davis may not play tonight
but I think Roy will conjur up all his powers to have Carolina at the top of their game tonight
Good call, but if that's the "top of their game" the Heels are still in for a world of hurt. Personally, I think they'll build on last night's performance to have a decent season (at least getting a NCAA bid and winning a game or two in the tourney).
As for NCSU, that's the first time I've watched them over the course of a complete game, and I'd say you're in for more pain. Gonzalez and Smith are for real, a potentially explosive inside-outside combo, but I don't think we have to worry about that happening. The offense seemed completely random when they weren't forcing the 3, and their interior defense was the softest I've seen all season. John Henson looked tough in comparison, and when Smith was out, the Pack made Deon Thompson into a superstar. Need I say more?
The Heels won easily without any real help from their leading scorer, Will Graves, and with their best player hobbled. The Heels, I'd say, are a "buy"; the Pack, not so much.
State looked terrible last night.
Is next year a make or break year for Lowe? Year 5 with no big dance after you took over a program that was regularly dancing?
(01-27-2010 10:17 AM)ChrisL68 Wrote: [ -> ]State looked terrible last night.
Is next year a make or break year for Lowe? Year 5 with no big dance after you took over a program that was regularly dancing?
Well, given our program's history "regularly dancing" is not the ceiling we want to aim for. But I see your point. If the incoming class is what they say it will be (been there done that though) then I suspect anything less than an NCAA bid will mean trouble for Sid.
I try not to make every game a referendum on the season, but it's definitely disheartening to watch us get shoved around our own court by easily the worst UNC team in about eight years. When Tracy Smith picked up that third foul early in the second half when we were up by five I knew we were in trouble.
State plays good defense, but their offense is very inconsistent. I have seen them in three games this year. They looked great against Duke, bad against UNC and Wake.
NCSU's incoming class next year is good. NCSU is improving but at a rate equal to or greater than the resr of the ACC? I'm not sure. If all the recruits do come, and there are no majors injuries, I say that 2011-2012 is the make or break season for Lowe. Unfotunately, that is not nearly as close as I would like. Can Lowe do it, can NCSU do it, I don't know.
(01-27-2010 10:40 AM)davidson deac ii Wrote: [ -> ]State plays good defense, but their offense is very inconsistent. I have seen them in three games this year. They looked great against Duke, bad against UNC and Wake.
We play decent defense, but then we'll hit a disastrous stretch where we don't play any at all. Couple that with a 7-8 minute scoring drought and your best inside threat on the bench, and a five point lead becomes a nine point defecit.
Funny how that happens.
(01-27-2010 10:08 AM)sunnyheel Wrote: [ -> ]As for NCSU, that's the first time I've watched them over the course of a complete game, and I'd say you're in for more pain. Gonzalez and Smith are for real, a potentially explosive inside-outside combo, but I don't think we have to worry about that happening. The offense seemed completely random when they weren't forcing the 3, and their interior defense was the softest I've seen all season. John Henson looked tough in comparison, and when Smith was out, the Pack made Deon Thompson into a superstar. Need I say more?
When Smith is not in, we are one dimensional. That perimeter dimension is not strong and easily nullified if there is no inside threat. Wood and Howell have shown some nice things, but very often look like what they are - frosh. Horner and Gonzalez continue with the 'here one game, gone the next' patterns. Next year holds some hope with Brown and Harrow, but they'll also be frosh - not exactly what you want to depend on if you're Sid on the hot seat. Despite all this, I'd take it seven days a week and twice on Sunday over Herb's 'weave and heave' offense and relatively plodding players in a fast league.
(01-21-2010 09:25 PM)TimTerpT Wrote: [ -> ]The Big 2 are as loaded with talent as usual, but youth, chemistry and a lack of team play have killed them. They both have excellent coaches, so that could change by the tournament. As of right now, they are both wasting a lot of SERIOUS talent!
?
dook starts (i assume) Singler, Scheyer, Smith, Thomas and either ZOU or the elder Plumlee-- not Youth for sure, and little reason to assert lack of chemistry. from what little i saw, Skate harrassed the ball up top against them and got them out of sorts
^DUKE played terrible defense against State, and State played great and couldn't miss.
^i was wondering how TTT lumped dook in the same category as Carolina re: experience & chemistry.. most of those guys have been playing together 2-3 years, iirc.
Terps have moved up to number 10 in the country in Sagarin's "predictor" power ranking. (It's the figure in the far right column in the table in the attached link)
College Hoops Rankings
This probably won't last--Clemson and FSU will both be tough road games. But it is an indication of how well the Terps are playing right now.