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Friday, January 9, 2009
View from College Park
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At noon Saturday, Tech will try to break a six-game losing streak in its series with Maryland.
Tech will be facing an angry and embarrassed group of Terps: they’re coming off a 66-65 home loss to Morgan State.
It’s the Terps’ ACC opener. The Jackets are 0-1. And with No. 2 Duke coming to town next Wednesday, Tech needs this road win.
Tech was picked eighth in the preseason poll, Maryland seventh.
Maryland is a quick, perimeter-oriented team that had been a pleasant surprise until Wednesday’s loss. Patrick Stevens, the Maryland beat writer for the Washington Times, answered some questions about the matchup:
What are the biggest reasons for Maryland’s strong start?
Up until Wednesday night’s loss to Morgan State —- Maryland’s first to an in-state opponent since 1989 —- I’d say most people would agree the Terps were a little bit further ahead than anticipated.
Maryland’s 11-3 record is a product of good ball movement, crisp passing, smart shot selection and sound defense. All but the defense went AWOL the other night.
Gary Williams knew he had three reasonably sure things coming into the season —- guards Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez, and forward Landon Milbourne (who is playing the four this season after starting at small forward last year). The emergence of guard Adrian Bowie and forward Dave Neal has filled in the gaps.
Bowie is a strong, left-handed slasher who has run the point for much of the season and might be the most fun player to watch on the roster. Neal doesn’t look the part of an effective starter, and Williams ribs him about his “YMCA moves” like a step-back jumper and an underhanded scoop shot. But it’s worked well so far.
Who will match up with Tech leading scorer Gani Lawal? Will the Terps double-team him a lot?
The question of the day in College Park. It’s no secret the Terps are undersized, and an injury to Jerome Burney (stress fracture-right foot) hasn’t helped matters. Maryland was devoured the two times it played teams with significant size (Gonzaga and Georgetown), and Morgan State had an effective bruiser as well.
The guess here is Maryland will use everyone inside a little to contain Lawal —- Dino Gregory, Landon Milbourne, Dave Neal, Braxton Dupree —- and I would neither count out nor bank on a double team. It’s not exactly something the Terps are skilled at just yet.
The interior defense will very much be on the spot on Saturday. If it holds up, at least Maryland will have something good to go with entering the rest of league play. If not, fans’ suspicions the Terps will get steamrolled inside against ACC opponents will only grow larger.
How has Maryland handled defensive pressure?
That hasn’t been a problem so far. Maryland hadn’t committed more than 16 turnovers before Wednesday night, and even then it was more because of the Terps’ bad decisions than any sort of press Morgan State deployed.
By comparison, Maryland had nine 18+ turnover games when ACC play resumed in January 2008.
That might not be much to go on, and I would suspect based on the recent past that the Terps could struggle with ballhandling against Georgia Tech (season-high 24 turnovers last season vs. GT, an average of 23.3 in three games in 2006). But the press itself isn’t an issue so far this season.
So, what’s your prediction for Tech-Maryland, and why?
