Turtledroppings.com – Maryland Football And Basketball Blog

Even after showing a great effort in Greensboro this weekend, reality settles in as the field of 68 was announced and Maryland was again on the outside looking in.  You almost feel like it all started to click for this young team a little too late to get to the big dance.

What Maryland does get is a 2 seed in the NIT against Niagara in College Park on Tuesday night.  It was such an ebb and flow of emotions over the weekend.  They took care of business after a slow start against Wake Forest on Thursday.  They then played probably the most complete game of the season against Duke on Friday night.  All that win did was start the bubble talk again and allow us to believe if they could somehow beat Carolina, there would be a chance.

Speaking of the Carolina game, I was really pleased with the way they fought back.  Carolina had every chance to put them away, and didn’t.  A few makes on some of those missed layups, or had Aronhalt curled in the same area code of the three point line, and we might be looking at that game in a totally different way.  Instead it was a noble effort for a team that was running out of gas.

That brings us to the NIT.  What will this team take from this experience?  How will they treat the game?  If they take it serious and continue playing the solid team basketball that they have been playing the last week or two, they could make a deep run and use it as a learning experience.

Part of me is fine with how the season ended.  A solid showing in the ACC Tourney gives them something to be proud of and to hopefully motivate them for next season.  My fear is a lackluster effort in the NIT could erase anything positive gained from the weekend.  Only time will tell.

One last fairly important basketball note, Maryland will again be playing in the Barclays Center early next season.  No opponent has been announced yet, but it is expected to be a team from a “major” conference.  I think this is the first step in building a better non-conference schedule.  It should garner national television exposure, and will be a good litmus test to see how the players improved over the offseason.   At least for those that are still here…..

Another day, another post where I question what is going on in College Park.  The Terps are going to miss the Tournament…AGAIN.  News that wouldn’t be so tough to take if it weren’t for the fact that we are averaging 3 wins a year on the gridiron since Ralph Friedgen was fired.  Throw in the fact that Alex Len HAS to go pro (weak class so the iron is red hot for him to strike) and I don’t even know what to expect for the Terps next year.  Basically all our improvement will have to be made internally.

As we settle in again to fill out brackets for other people’s tournament, I can’t help but feel as though the Athletic Department is again letting us down.  But then I read on Kevin Anderson’s Biography on Terps.com that, and this is the opening sentence:

“Despite three years that saw unprecedented change in Maryland Athletics, Kevin Anderson has led the Terrapins on a path that has begun with unparalleled success.”

Wait, what?

The bio goes on to say how in his first year the Terp Athletics finished 17^th in the Directors Cup, followed up by a 27^th place finish in 2011-2012.  Now how much credit do you give him for that first year?  Can’t you say we are regressing?  The bio also empathizes a lot of success from the non-revenue sports, which I am sure is being trumpeted on all the non-revenue sports blogs (I would list those blogs here, but there are far too many to even begin to mention!).

The point is, does anyone care about non-revenue success?  Would any Terps fan trade a winning football season for a championship swimming team?  Or Wrestling?  No.  It is not a knock on those sports, I support them 100% but the life blood of the Athletic Department and Alumni is Football and Basketball, and we are entering our worst stretch in those two sports since the 80’s.

But looking back, why are we surprised?  Everyone knows Kevin Anderson came to CP via Army.  And when you think of Army, you think of the Army-Navy game.  The game that means more to both of those schools than perhaps even Duke-Carolina’s rivalry means to the Research Triangle.  It defines each academy’s entire year.  Yet when Kevin Anderson was at Army, Navy enjoyed their biggest stretch of success in the history of the rivalry.

Let’s take a look:

2004: Navy wins 42-13…not even close

2005: Navy wins 42-23…Army adds 10 points, but still not in the same league as Navy

2006: Navy wins 26-14…in what will go down as a nail biter in this series

2007: Navy wins 38-2…This is KA’s fourth year by the way

2008: Navy wins 34-0…Well it was closer than it was in 2007

2009: Navy wins 17-3…Another nail biter!

So during that time, when there is only one game that matters, Army went 0-6, and not only 0-6, they were outscored 165-56!  This is our AD!!

I realize athletics are a business, and Kevin Anderson is here to fix the books.  I was fine with that until I realized that our tradition and ties to the ACC were going to be sold to help fix the shortfall.  We were also told we would be bringing in a Football Coach that would put butts in the seats at Byrd, and we were given the most universally WTF hire since the 90’s when coaching prospects came here to pre-maturely end their careers.

So what are we and where are we going?  We are about to leave the ACC, and we are about to go…well ARE going to go… through another season of NCAA Tournament-less Basketball.  The last time a major sport, a sport we care about, stood on a podium to claim a trophy, it was with a coach who was already on his way out because he wasn’t good enough for Kevin Anderson.   Well four seasons later, with a 2 win and 4 win football season behind us, and a basketball program still stuck in neutral, we need to start asking, is Kevin Anderson good enough for us?

There is a lot to cover today, but lets start with what has become a rarity this season.  A conference road win!  This was another game where you wouldn’t want to show a person who doesn’t regularly watch college basketball, but you brag about how great it is.  Watching the first half in particular was an awful display of basketball.  Both teams turned the ball over at an incredibly high rate, and the fact that Wake Forest couldn’t capitalize when the Terps were trying to give the game away, may have been the only reason the Terps won.

The Terps had 10 first half turnovers and Wake felt the need to help out Maryland’s lingering tournament hopes by giving the ball away 9 times themselves early.  The 10-2 run to end the half fueled by Dez Wells and a couple of three’s by Logan Aronhalt was a calming factor.

Dez was the difference in this one though.  When he picked up his third foul early in the second half Wake went from down 8 when he left to up 1 before he returned.  From that point on Dez continually found his way down the lane for layup after layup after layup.  He got them in transition, he got them after made baskets and off steals.  If he found a way to the lane, he made it.  He finished with 23 points on the day while making 11 of 12 shots.  If he had any kind of touch from the free throw line (1 of 5 including missing the front end of a 1-1), he would have had a career high.  Luckily on this day his 23 was just enough to get the win on the road.

Overall, it was pretty poorly played.  At Maryland, the Maryland big men had their way with Wake.  In this one, Alex Len, James Padgett, Shaq Cleare, and Charles Mitchell combined for just 18 points.  I didn’t really feel like Wake did anything special to shut down the bigs, whatever they did obviously slowed them down.  It just didn’t seem like they did anything other than play harder than Maryland.  Luckily for the Terps, Dez Wells had his way, and was able to will them to the win.

I think you have to give Turgeon some credit for sticking with Pe’Shon Howard yesterday.  He has not played well, but yesterday he seemed to be a little steadier on the road.  Seth Allen and Jake Layman have struggled on the road, and they played only 9 minutes each.  Yesterday Howard, may have been just steady enough to allow the Terps to pull it out.  Look, I think Allen and Faust bring more to the Terps offense, but yesterday Turgeon needed someone who could play within himself and Howard was the guy despite his short comings.

I think we can all agree this was a must win, just like the next two are.  This is one they couldn’t afford to lose.  The next two will really be tough, but they will be the kind of wins that open the eyes of those who have  final say in who gets in and who gets relegated  to a lower tournament.  Beating  UNC and UVA, whom both are working their way up the ACC standings would be huge, and to be honest, probably necessary for the Terps to get to the Big Dance.

Lost in March basketball was the first spring practice for Randy Edsall and the “young men” on his football team.  I’m not sure there is much news out of yesterday practice outside of the fact that C.J. Brown took part in some non-throwing drills.  That leaves Ricardo Young as the QB who will get the most reps coming out of the spring.  It will be interesting to see if that is enough to allow him to jump C.J. in the fall.  The little reports out of the practice were that Young hooked up with former New Mexico teammate Deon Long on multiple long passes.  Stay tuned for how Young progresses, and to keep an eye on how well C.J. recovers from his surgery.

I think anyone who has any understanding of how teams get selected for the NCAA Tournament will be able to take one look at Maryland’s resume to this point and understand why they are on the outside looking in at this point.  They just haven’t done well on the road.  Sure they took won at Northwestern and Virginia Tech, but two wins does not a season make (just ask Randy Edsall).  Now you can also say that outside of the Boston College game, they have had some pretty tough road games to this point.  That gets us to today.  A win against Georgia Tech can go an extremely long way to getting this Terps team on the right side of the bubble that has become ever so popular to talk about in College Park the last few years.  Ahh, remember back to the days where getting to the Tournament was almost a given?  I barely do anymore.  They seem so long ago.  But back to today.

You might as well say it really starts today.  There is no margin of error.  It’s technically not a must win, but it’s about as close as you can get to saying it without it totally being true.  GT is coming in at 14-12 overall and 4-10 in ACC play.  They have lost their last two games to UNC and UVA and have lost their last three at home.  What does all that mean?  Not much other than they are inconsistent as the Terps.

For the Terps to win, it would be nice to see them protect the ball like they did against Clemson.  I also think Alex Len has to reassert himself as a dominate force inside.   This is one of these games they should win, but we all know the Jekyll and Hyde act has been far to prevalent this season.  I know they are still freshman, but they have all played a lot of minutes to this point.  You have to think that some of these mistakes are being corrected.  According to Turgeon, Nick Faust has really been working on his shot a lot, and it showed against Clemson, though sometimes I put more of his misses on shot selection instead of his stroke.  If he truly is at the point where he can consistently hit some jumpers, he can be a real weapon going forward.  I don’t remember when exactly it clicked last season for him, but it was around this time where he hit his stride.  We can only hope the same is happening this year.  If nothing else, he has to be confident that his hard work is paying off, and will be able to play without thinking about his shots so much.

This is a pivotal stretch for Maryland.  Two road games against teams that are at the bottom of the conference standings.  But what does that really mean?  They are by no stretch gimmies.  Wake Forest took down Miami over the weekend.  So get settled in and be ready for anything from this young group of guys.  Just hope that they are making the step up at the right time.

Today the ACC released the 2013 Football Schedule.  Traditionally this is a time of great excitement for me.  But with the sad realization that this is our last trip through the ACC, I can only describe the feelings this year as bittersweet.  I mean seriously, is this really happening?  No more UVA, no more Clemson?  This sucks.

Anyway, I need to get over it, but I don’t think I ever will.  I just don’t get how someone with no real ties to the University (until a few years ago) got to make this decision!  To sell our tradition!  Especially considering there is a pretty good chance that neither our current President or AD will be around in 5 more years.  Whether they are dismissed (God willing) or retire, this decision will affect generations of Maryland fans, and I think for the worse.

Regardless of how the current administration is steering the Sports Program in the wrong direction, the fact of the matter is that it’s just a half a year from football season, and today we get our first look at the schedule:

8/31 FIU

9/7 ODU

9/14 @ UConn

9/21 WVU at M&T Bank Stadium (Trust me, get used to playing off campu$)

10/5 @ FSU

10/12 UVA

10/19 @ Wake Forest

10/26 Clemson

11/09 Syracuse

11/16 @Virginia Tech

11/23 Boston College

11/30 @NC State

So that is how we wrap up the ACC era, on the road with NC State.  I don’t know who drew up schedule, but whoever did it was pure evil.  Not in the sense with how “Fair” the schedule is to Maryland, but how tempting it is to attend these games.

Heck they might as well call this the “Divorce Maker”.   FSU is literally the only game I know I won’t be attending.  Well I know I won’t be attending most road games, but if you wanted to how easy would it be?  And why am I pointing this out?  Because it is the last time you’ll ever see a Maryland Schedule where 11 of the games on the schedule are within a 5 hour drive of campus.

Oh well, that’s what happens when you chase the dollar, but it’s just a shame that we will be saying good bye to some of the best road trips of my youth.  Not that Wallace Loh gives a #$@# about that.

When your a fan of a team and you have some free time on your hands, sometimes you start to think (usually irrationally) about how your underdog team can pull off an upset over a power.  This week the Terps had it all come together for once.  They were coming off the worst loss of the season against Virginia.  With a week to get his teams focus and to really work on some team issues instead of focussing more attention on the opponent, Mark Turgeon had Maryland ready to go from the start.  That’s the Maryland side of the perfect storm.  On the Duke side, they were coming off a tough week.  Starting last Sunday when the Boston area snow disrupted their normal travel plans to BC.  They held on there.  Midweek they had their big game with UNC.  And finally on the 3rd game in 6 days, they had to come into Comcast Center to face a student section that knew this was mostly likely going to be Duke’s final visit to College Park.  Hence the perfect storm.  All week I kept thinking about those things, as I tried to grasp for a reason why the Terps might be able to win after that horrible effort against UVA. Some how, despite 26 turnovers, the Terps did enough to win.

First, I have to hand it to the students.  We showed up about 35 minutes before the tip, and they were ready to go.  It’s a shame they can’t put forth 75% of that effort game in and game out, but we can save that for another day.  They were in it early, and I think the Terps really fed off that.  When Jake Layman hit that early three, it just seemed to energize them and they were in it every possession from there on.

The game itself was well played, if you take away that turnover issue, which can’t easily be brushed aside.  The four bigs did an outstanding job on Mason Plumlee.  I think he only had one basket in a set offensive play.  One was on an alley-oop fast break.  All four deserve credit for guarding him and offensively they made him work pretty hard as well.  James Padgett had a couple of post moves where Plumlee bought the move and Padgett was able to get to the rim for a fairly easy basket.  And of course Alex Len was able to use his size pretty well against Plumlee.

If you think back to the game at Duke, they shot lights out from three, as did UVA last week.  It was probably just the motivation Turgeon needed to drive home the fact that you have to guard the three.  Last night they did as good of a job as I can remember against Duke.  Holding them to 6-19 shooting from deep is more than you can ask for, with Seth Curry and Rasheed Sulaimon patrolling the perimeter.

The Terps answered every Duke run.  They shot well from the field hitting on 60% of their shots, and scoring an eye opening 48 second half points.  Let that sink in.  From the free throw line, they made just enough, none more clutch than Seth Allen’s 2 with 2.8 seconds remaining.  On the day they shot 73% from the line.  I really felt the shot selection was much improved this game.  Of course their choice of passes often left me baffled, but they kept their composure when they needed it most, and pulled off the big upset.

I think another huge point to look at was when Duke went small, Maryland seemed to be able to take advantage of their size this game.  If you think back to the UVA game, UVA dictated the lineup we would use.  This game Turgeon stuck with the bigger lineup and they were able to use it as a strength.  They out rebounded Duke 40-20.  Alex Len showed why his draft stock is high.  He did a much better job of establishing himself closer to the blocks and seemed much more prepared to do something with the basketball when he received the pass.  I also think the guards did a much better job of getting him the ball when he was open.  You also have to applaud his 7 of 8 form the line.

Despite 8 turnovers, you have to give Seth Allen some credit.  He didn’t pout or put his head down.  He kept it together and made some big plays down the stretch.  His ability to get to the rim a couple of times ultimately may have been the difference.  He finished the game with 16 points, none bigger than the go ahead free throws.  Sure he had 8 turnovers, but some of those were not 100% on him.  Mitchell threw a pass right as his head from 5 feet away.  Another pass or two was at his feet.  He needs to tighten that up, but his teammates have to put him in a better position.

For the negatives, obviously the turnovers are the biggest thing.  This could have been a 10 point win, instead of having to hold our breath on Quinn Cook’s 30 footer.  It amazed me how Duke was essentially employing a one man press.  All they had to do was deny the guard on the inbound pass, and we panicked like he was the ONLY guy that could bring the ball up court.  Then if we brought a second guy to the ball they got to close to together and the pass was a disaster waiting to happen.  Point guard play has got to improve if this team is going to make a serious push for the tournament.

Finally, I think you have to give Turgeon a ton of credit here.  My guess is these guys were down on themselves a bit following UVA.  This was one of those games, where I feel like there was a 100% chance Gary was going to win.  For Turgeon to take care of business it was huge.  The week off came at the right time, and he had the guys ready to go.  They were much improved defending Duke compared to the game a Cameron.  They did a better job of getting the potential out of Alex Len.  It was big for him.  If you saw his presser, he was pretty emotional.  Sounded like his young kids didn’t react well to some comments at the UVA game, and this was rewarding for him.  Up until this point, he hasn’t had that moment yet.  Gary had the Georgetown game.  Turgeon had a couple of nice wins, but nothing huge.  This could be his win that 5 years from now we turn to and say that was when it turned around for Maryland.  At least, I hope so!

Now of course, they go into the College Basketball  Hockey hotbed known as BC.  It will likely be a fairly dull crowd at Conte, and the Terps need to generate their own enthusiasm.  They need to take care of that game, or everything that we gained from beating Duke will be lost.

Oh, and one last final thought, how many of you thought Dez was going to send that fast break dunk soaring to the rafters after clanging it off the rim?  When I saw him going with two hands, I felt relieved, but never had I been so nervous on what should be two of the easiest points you will ever get.

More to come on this one in the morning, but wanted to leave you with this for the night.

IMG_0336

Enjoy it tonight.  We will discuss it tomorrow.

Good night Terp Fans!

I don’t know what’s worse, the performance of the Terps yesterday or my reaction to the loss.  As big of a game that was, as much as it was a chance to really get serious about making the NCAA Tournament, as much as I cheered every basket made down the stretch.  After about 2 minutes, I was over it.  It used to take me hours to get over losses for this basketball program, now not so much.

I realize I don’t live on campus anymore, I don’t attend classes, I don’t see the players in the dining hall, that I now have a career, and kids who require my attention, but still this doesn’t feel right.  And though I think a small part of me is maturing past the point of where College Sports defines my happiness, another factor is that we stink.

To those who have been following this blog, you probably think I am a blow hard who is only happy when I have something to rail against, but I promise that isn’t the case.  I am a positive person, I want Edsall to succeed, I want Byrd Stadium sold out every Saturday, and would LOVE for Kevin Anderson to go down in history as the greatest AD ever.  I really don’t care who is in charge as long as things are going well. But things are NOT going well.

With Duke up next on the schedule, Maryland is about to go through 4 seasons worth of “Revenue” sports without a post season appearance.  Think about that for a second.  We made the NCAA Tournament for 11 straight  years from 1994-2004.  We have gone 3 years since (07, 09, 10).  In football we were terrible during the 90’s but from 2001 to 2010, we made 7 Bowl appearances.  So to go back and find where we last had two straight seasons without a Basketball or Football post season appearance, you are looking at the early 90’s.  Remember my depressing fact from Signing Day?  Where these kids are now being born around 1995….well they have not known an unhappier time in College Park during their lifetime.

Now there are signs of improvement, but to even get to this point, is a disgrace.  But with the lack of wins, the lack of excitement, the fact that we are leaving the ACC (and during a low point which makes the departure feel almost like an escape) I’ve just been losing my drive for Maryland Sports.

The fact that our decision to leave the ACC was made by the most un-successful tandem since the early 90’s (when we had reason to be unsuccessful in basketball) just amazes me.  The fact that Wallace Loh could pull off this coup while the Board of Regents sat back, is head scratching, and as we continue our march toward irrelevance in both sports, I can only say I’m stunned that no one else is calling for a change in the Athletic Department.

The greatest enemy of our beloved Terps isn’t a blogger who calls out Wallace Loh or Kevin Anderson.  It’s the guy who no longer cares.  And unless we all start making some noise and demanding change, there are going to be a lot more people falling victim to this malaise.  The only question I have, is why is it taking so long?

This was a huge game.  One that would have had all us Terp fans salivating all week waiting for you know who on Saturday, if they would have won.  Instead, they played one of their worst games of the season, certainly worst home game.  UVA came in the hungrier, more motivated team, and it showed.

For the first time I remember, the Terps were out rebounded.  There is no stat for hustle, but just watching, you could easily say they were out hustled as well.  It couldn’t have been a worse time to throw a clunker in.  Every loose ball seemed to wind up in the hands of UVA.

Defensively, you just have to really wonder how UVA scores 80 points.  They were hot, but they were hot because the shots were often open and uncontested.  Tony Bennet teams are not know for scoring a lot of points.  Yesterday they looked like a team ready to make a strong case for the NCAA tournament.

UVA went with a smaller lineup that killed the Terps.  It honestly made Alex Len a liability on defense when he was forced to guard, well a guard, on the perimeter.  You would think that Maryland should be able to use their size to an advantage, but yesterday, the size was a weakness as Mark Turgeon tried all kinds of 4 and 5 guard sets to try and stay with UVA defensively, and it just didn’t work, no matter who he threw in there.  When a team was as hot as UVA you have to adapt in order to try and stop them, instead of going with your supposed strength.

For this team to make a run, they have to start playing better basketball.  Actually, they need to start playing smarter basketball.  The shot selection was terrible.  Early in the clock, off the dribble pull ups from 2 feet inside the arc from players who aren’t know as shooters.  Alex Len has got to be quicker with his moves when he gets the ball.  By the time he gathers himself the double team is there, and he is 10 feet from the basket.  He tries to dribble out of the double team and often finds himself in no mans land.  I know he is going to be a very high draft pick, but there are A LOT of holes in his game.  A player with his size has to make an impact on both ends game in and game out.  Right now, that is not happening.  He is too easily forced away from the basket, then gets himself in trouble when he tries to make a move.

The point guard play continues to be a problem.  Faust had one of his worst games in a while.  I was all for the Faust at the point move, but this year, he is not getting it done.  I don’t love Pe’Shon either, but the last two games he has shown signs of improvement on both ends of the floor.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get the start against Duke on Saturday.

So here we sit.  Feeling pretty bad about our chances, with a huge opportunity to make a statement and get some late momentum.  Likely #1 Duke will be here coming off a game against UNC midweek.  While the Terps get the entire week to prepare for them.  Hopefully this is where things turn around, or else our NCAA tournament hopes will be pushed to next year.  Not something I am looking forward to saying.  This team is good enough to be a tournament team.  Maybe not Sweet 16 good, but they really should be getting there.  If Len was the player we all expected him to be and if Faust made any improvement from the way he finished late last season, they should be there with the new depth.  However, it just isn’t coming together for them.

Stay tuned, I am sure we will be back on bubble watch at some point, but it starts Saturday.  For a school that defines the basketball season by one game, this is where it starts.  Beating Duke at home has become THE event on campus, the team needs to take that stand this weekend.  It has to be where this season gets turned around, or it may just be a little too late for this group.

It is hard not to feel good about Maryland after yesterday.  I can understand being apathetic in the morning, but by nightfall you had to be a little giddy.  The Terps made a huge jump over the course of the day landing 3 important uncommitted kids.

Though a lot of this is speculation, and in the end NONE of it means anything (only results on the field matter), the Terps jumped from 50^th to 30^th in 24 hours.  The late addition of Wideout Taivon Jacobs, DB Jacquille Veii, and Gatorade Player of the Year in DC Yannick Ngakoue (my computer’s spell check hates Signing Day!) capped off another solid recruiting year for Randy Edsall.

In fact, Edsall has now put together a top 35 Class for two straight seasons.  Now that fact doesn’t exactly blow you away, but if we can recruit like that coming off a 2 win and 4 win season, you can’t help but think what we could do once we are back to having winning seasons in College Park.  So to make this jump from 50^th to 30^th is really impressive.  Hats off to Randy Edsall and Mike Locksley.

What is more important however than National Ranking is ACC Ranking.  The Terps went from 9^th out of 14 schools, to 5^th out of 14 Schools (behind FSU, Clemson, VT, and UVA).  Granted due to Wallace Loh selling off 60 years of history for a quick buck, the ACC rankings will be pretty much a mute point after next season, so where does this Terps Class fit in with the Big 10?  Looking at those rankings, we actually look even better, having the 4^th best class in the eventual Big 10 (Behind OSU, Michigan, and Nebraska).  So things are looking up.

We’ll have a more closer look at Maryland’s Signing Day throughout the next few weeks and months, but for now we need to get our focus back on to the hardwood where the Terps will be traveling down to Blacksburg tonight.  Hopefully they can bring back a much needed win.