Terps Tame Tigers….Barely
I hate to say anything positive about Duke here, but all things aside, watching Duke put away a game is a thing of beauty. They do everything right, make all the key foul shots and once a team is dead, they stay dead. Maryland does none of that.
Missing the front end of one and one’s seems to be our signature move down the stretch this year. Though we got away with it last night in Clemson, this is a terrible trend. Maybe it is our youth, maybe it’s our bad luck, but whatever it is, missing those shots are a good way to punch your ticket to the NIT (if even as we learned last year!).
Which brings us to the importance of last night’s win. Sean Mosley got his 1,000 point of course (Congratulations to him) but the Clemson win keeps our NCAA hopes on life support. Look, we aren’t going to the Tournament, to think otherwise is little over optimistic, but if you are one of those types who can’t give up on that dream yet, the Clemson game was a must. Obviously it was our first true road win of the season (Couldn’t quite beat Ground Hog’s Day). But the way I see things, there are 12 teams in the ACC, and we need to finish in the top 6 to even have a prayer. Clemson on the road is not a “Signature” win, but it helps in the standings.
Last night’s win puts the Terps in 7th in the Conference, behind Miami who is 6th. Had we not won, the Tarps would be in 8th, 3-6 in the conference and pretty much dead man walking for the post season.
Now to reach the tournament, Maryland does need at least one win to hang it’s hat on, and luckily, there are plenty of chances to do just that. With Duke, UVA twice, and UNC again, the opportunities are going to be out there, however, only one of those games will be in Comcast, and even if we do win one, that by no means gets us in, but it does keep the bubble talk going for a little longer, and realistically, I think that is the most we can ask for in 2011-2012.
But as sad as missing the Big Dance is, to be 4-5 in conference is actually quite a bit better than I anticipated from this team, which means it could be as early as next season that we can again get back into the Dance Mix. I’m optimistic, and seeing the Terps hold on last night was great, even if the youth and inexperience was painfully obvious.
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February 9th, 2012 at 11:24 am
If I was a person try to sell someone on how great I thought college basketball was, I would be sure to destroy the tape of that game. So many poor plays, and poor fundamentals. However, it was a win!
February 25th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
I`m so grateful that you enlightened me and the most important thing that it happened in time. Just think, I have been using the internet for six years already but it`s the first time I`ve ever heard about it!….