March 3: Terps Q&A
Mark: How much of the blame for the Clemson loss should rest on Gary Williams' shoulders?
Don Markus: I think Williams put a lot on his shoulders after the game, as well as on his players. As I've stated many times before, Williams is loyal to his veterans, almost to a fault. In the case of Sunday night's game, I thought he could have given two freshmen, Adrian Bowie and Jerome Burney, another shot toward the end of the game when Eric Hayes and Bambale Osby were struggling. They certainly couldn't have played any worse.
Doug, Rockville: Do you have the stats for turnovers for the Terps vs. turnovers for their opponents this season? They seem to always lose this most crucial category -- I think it is the most important stat in the game!
Don Markus: For the season, Maryland is averaging nearly 17 turnovers a game, about 2 1/2 more than their opponents. But you have to go back nearly a month, to the BC game on Feb. 6, when the Terps had fewer turnovers than their opponent (Maryland had 10; BC had 12). Maryland is keeping opponents in games instead of blowing them about because of turnovers (see Sunday night), and the Terps are not forcing enough turnovers to help their offense get easy baskets.
Steve, Amarillo, Texas: Just curious if you have a sense of how Williams' post-game talk with the team went. Was it a scream-fest or did he let the disaster speak for itself?
Don Markus: Not being anywhere near the dressing room, I have no idea. But the feeling I got from a few of the players was that everyone was still in such a state of shock, including Williams, that there were no tirades.
Burt, Essex: Don, how do you explain a complete and utter collapse in the second half on a number of occasions this year for Maryland?
Don Markus: I think it comes down to the fact that their two most talented players, senior forward James Gist and sophomore guard Greivis Vasquez, still have holes in their games. Gist can be a dominant player, but the fact that he didn't go to the foul line against Clemson speaks volumes about what is still missing. Vasquez, as we have seen throughout the season, makes as many bonehead plays as he does brilliant ones.
Jerry: Why does Maryland have so much trouble against teams that press? What do you think about Hayes playing point guard for the final eight minutes of each game? That seems to be when Vasquez makes most of his turnovers.
Don Markus: I've heard about switching Hayes and Vasquez ever since I started covering the team, but there's one big problem -- Vasquez is way more creative than Hayes, both for himself and others, while Hayes' strength is his shooting and he's not strong with the ball, especially under pressure.
Josh: In the past, Williams has exclusively run the flex offense, but with this team's personnel, do you think he needs to adjust his offensive philosophy?
Don Markus: I think he has adjusted to some degree, evidenced by the number of threes the Terps took against Wake Forest. But you can't always teach an old dog new tricks and Williams, who turns 63 on Tuesday, has won more than 600 games and a national championship running the flex. The flex is working at other places such as Gonzaga and Tennessee, which as recently as last week was the No. 1 team in the country.
Comments
I think there is a problem with Maryland holding a lead. More than once this year they have had a lead at the half of 10 points or morem Sunda's debacle a lead of 20 points.
What is you opinion if you care to answer?
Thanks
Posted by: Jim | March 3, 2008 8:29 PM
There isnt a problem with the terps. this is another team that Gary has built out of athletes that were not deemed awsome. no micky d's. just good kids. I would give my eye teeth to have my kid turtledged by Gary Williams.
Posted by: james blockston | March 3, 2008 8:49 PM
the problem with maryland is they have only a few quality players and they all have to play pretty well or one or two have to play lights out for the team to win against a decent team. there is very little room for error..
Posted by: fkterp | March 4, 2008 8:18 AM
I would like to see Bowie at the point and vasquet at the number 2 . what do you think?
Posted by: ronald hearn | March 4, 2008 9:07 AM
They still need a point guard. I think either Hayes or Bowie just has to be given the job for the rest of the season and hope they get better by next season. Grievis is a great player, but he is a turnover waiting to happen playing a dribble happy point gaurd role.
The Point gaurd or Small Froward position is going to have to help advance the ball and hit Grievis with a pass at the elbow, or they are just going to continue to melt down under ball pressure.
I still can't believe they let a guy from Juan Dixon's HS get down to Miami to crush us every year playing the position we need most. Jack the Ripper.
Posted by: Jeremiah | March 4, 2008 10:11 AM
I understand the sentiment for another player at the point, but people clamoring for Eric Hayes must not be watching closely enough. At this point in Hayes' career he's nothing more than a jump shooter, IMO. He's slower than Vasquez and doesn't have as good a handle. Bowie at point makes sense with Vasquez at the 2 and hayes providing long range offense off the bench. At least Bowie has the speed to break the press which we saw againt Clemson. Purnell didn't press when Bowie was in the game.
Posted by: Chris | March 4, 2008 11:59 AM
Is Bobby Maze a PG? Maybe he will help in this area next year.
Posted by: danno | March 4, 2008 12:56 PM
I think David Steele said it best: If you have a zero graduation rate, you shoud be walking into the NCAA tournament. Or graduate some players. But not stagnate in this neverland of no graduations and shoddy basketball.
The program has declined considerably since winning a national title. This is one thing Gary has never addressed publicly.
Posted by: Will | March 4, 2008 2:28 PM
I love Gary, he's a legend, but he needs to start bringing some better talent into the program. He's a great coach whose team's get better every year as they play on. He just needs to suck it up and do a better job on the recruiting trail.
Posted by: Dave | March 4, 2008 4:56 PM
Let's take a look at the talent that has left the areain the past several years...Rudy Gay, Carmelo Anthony, Donte Green, Michael Beasley, Kevin Durant...why can't we get any of this talent? So what if they are one and done, at least it brings your program to the national forefront, maybe that will help recuiting, winning th national championship didn't help much.
Posted by: John | March 4, 2008 6:03 PM
The Terps look dead tired and leg weary at the end of games Clemson would have been the perfect time to give the bench players a few more minutes and have Gist and Vasquez fresh at the end. Boom looks like he s totally beat. The last two games he kept banging ten footers off of the front of the rim, Maybe they should get the old Left Hander out of the stands to give Gary some advice on keeping his players fresh.
Posted by: Bill Poe | March 4, 2008 10:57 PM
the worst collapse since The Bridge on the River Kiwi went down!
Posted by: Randy | March 4, 2008 11:05 PM
"Vasquez, as we have seen throughout the season, makes as many bonehead plays as he does brilliant ones."
Stop being such a hater. This is simply not true.
Posted by: General | March 11, 2008 7:21 PM