Maryland’s Starting Lineup

Maryland’s Starting Lineup

In the past few games there have been a couple changes to the Maryland starting five. After Mitchell came down with 14 boards and 19 points in the Delaware State game he earned a spot in the starting lineup over James Padgett. No surprise with this move considering Mitchell’s great play. Jake Layman got the start in the Virginia Tech game over a banged up Nick Faust. The move paid off well as Jake came up with a season high 20 points (18 first half).  Jake’s success in the starting lineup will make a case for him to possibly be a starter in any given game.

When I think of my ideal starting five from the 10 man Maryland rotation I have a hard time coming up with a single answer because the team has so much talent (never a bad thing). Below are a few starting lines ups I see being ideal for the next several games and for the down the road depending on match ups.

Option 1 – 1^st half of ACC schedule: Maryland plays a team with a stronger frontcourt than backcourt.

1 – Pe’Shon Howard

2 – Dez Wells

3 – Jake Layman

4 – Alex Len

5 – Charles Mitchell

Option 2 – 2^nd half of ACC schedule: Maryland plays a team with a stronger frontcourt than backcourt.

1 – Seth Allen

2 – Dez Wells

3 – Jake Layman

4 – Alex Len

5 – Charles Mitchell

Explanation:

When the Terps are going against a team with either good size in the frontcourt or experience they are going to have to counter that with size. Luckily the Terps have plenty of size between Len, Cleare, Padgett and Mitchell. Right now Mitchell is playing better than Cleare and Padgett. I have Layman in this starting lineup over Faust for two reasons. First, Layman brings size inside and out, meaning he can draw some of the larger competition out of the paint opening up some lanes and room for Len/Mitchell. Second, Layman has shown that he can be effective in the starting lineup and I don’t think Turgeon should shy away from using him. I think there will be some mixing and matching for different teams but this lineup (at least the bigs) stays relatively consistent.

The only difference between my early and late ACC play lineup is Seth Allen replaces Pe’Shon Howard. Right now Pe is sporting an impressive assist to turnover ratio but that’s against mediocre talent. Allen, who only averages a few less minutes of playing time, has been less productive in terms of distribution compared to Pe. For the time being offensive production isn’t an issue and the team can afford to keep PeShon in the starting lineup. However If Pe doesn’t start taking open shots he is going to be more of a liability than anything else.

Option 3 – 1^st half of ACC schedule: Maryland plays a team with a strong backcourt than frontcourt.

1 –Pe’Shon Howard

2 – Nick Faust

3 – Dez Wells

4 – Alex Len

5 – Charles Mitchell

Option 4 – 2^nd half of ACC schedule: Maryland plays a team with a strong backcourt than frontcourt.

1 –Seth Allen

2 – Nick Faust

3 – Dez Wells

4 – Alex Len

5 – Charles Mitchell

Explanation:

Faust and Wells both give Maryland good size on the perimeter with good defense against strong guard play. As the season goes on it will be interesting to watch if Jake Layman can improve his defense. If Layman can improve his defense he might start challenging Faust for his spot in this starting lineup. As it stands, each of these lineups would have impressive size and defensive ability against guard play.

The same as my other lineup, the only difference between the early and late part of the season is the exchange of Seth for Pe. Unless Pe can show he can be an offensive threat while limiting turnovers, this change is going to come sooner than later.

While I enjoy thinking about what the starting lineup should be, the reality of the situation is that it doesn’t matter that much with this team. Maryland is 10 deep with little drop off in skill for the backups at any position. Turgeon loves mixing and matching lineups for different games. I look forward to seeing this chess game played out through the remainder of the schedule.

Game Prediction: Maryland 72 Miami 64.

Terp Update: A Win Over Virginia Tech and A Bright ACC Future

So far, the young Terps are coming out of a relatively uneventful non conference schedule filled with mostly cupcakes and Kentucky (only loss). Going into the Virginia Tech game today they boast their longest win streak in over a decade.  Even though the win streak is against mostly mediocre to weak teams it’s still impressive. Even the most talented teams tend to get tripped up by a mid-major at some point in the non conference schedule. 

Maryland vs. Virginia Tech Game Analysis:

Layman gets the start – Since the day Jake Layman committed to Maryland I’ve been excited about what he can bring to the team, mismatches galore. With that said, I probably would not have put money on Layman having the first five points today. I think Jake gets the start today because of Faust’s shaky play as of late and Turgeon wanting to give confidence to a player who some consider Maryland’s 10^th man (or maybe it was a present from Turgeon to Layman for getting a haircut). I love the move and based on the start it worked out perfectly. If Layman can be a major player this year, Maryland’s potential is unlimited.

Defensive rebounding – In the first half the Terps dominated on the boards on offense. But they let up too many rebounds on the defensive side keeping them in the game.  As the season goes on against ACC level talent the younger Terps should get better at putting a body on people for defensive rebounds.

Freshmen – Wow! Anytime you can come out in the first half and have freshmen score almost 70% of the points and have a 16 point lead in the first ACC game you know the future is bright. And boy is it. I can’t help but get excited when I think about how much improvement Maryland has shown year over year.

The 30 Minute Push – With about 10-11 minutes left Virginia Tech worked their way back into the game from a 22 point deficit. But they couldn’t quite get there. Tech, like Maryland last year, is going to find out more and more you can’t win with just one player. After stumbling with a few turnovers the Terrapins got right back on their feet and extended their lead again to the largest of the game.

Turgeon – Mark Turgeon has done an amazing job with filling out his roster with talent in only his second year with Maryland. I don’t know what Turgeon said to this team before the game but it sure fired them up. There are two specific things I want to point out about Turgeon this afternoon: 1) He was still screaming with 1:30 left in the second half and a 20+ point lead 2)In his post-game interview Turgeon mentioned that he thought that “we are nowhere near where we are going to be in a month.” I love the enthusiasm.

Quick Game Notes:

1. Love that we cut down the turnovers, only 11 today.
2. Hope Faust is OK. Depth helps us but Faust is a great player who hasn’t met his full potential and will surely be better as the ACC season goes on.
3. Poor free throw shooting didn’t hurt us today (44%) but shooting sub-50% is not acceptable and will eventually cost Maryland a game eventually.
4. Padgett looked lost out there compared to Mitchell and Cleare.
5. Dez had an efficient and quiet twelve points. Hopefully fouling out doesn’t turn into a trend.

The First Five – Maryland’s first five ACC games are against Va Tech, Florida State, @Miami, NC State & @UNC. Four of these teams have top tier ACC talent on their team (Va Tech on the outside) and will be a true test for the young Terps. Florida State and Miami will be hungry to get wins for their resume. Miami has always been a tough place to play for Maryland but it should get a little easier with Reggie Johnson out.   

The Remaining ACC Schedule – After a tough first five games there are only four games that truly stand out to me on the schedule: @Duke, @FL St, Duke & UNC. Other games that can be challenges are @GA Tech and @Virginia. The schedule gives Maryland plenty of opportunities for signature wins on a tournament resume, particularly the two games against Duke. However I don’t think this team is going to need signature wins to sway the committee but rather will be in a position to be fighting for a higher seed in the tournament.

Expectations – I think the Terps have a floor and ceiling of 10 and 16 ACC wins respectively. This is a talented team that is capable of beating any team in the ACC, and for that matter any team in the country. Still, the team is young and capable of being tripped up. The level of success this team enjoys will be contingent on how mature this young team can get over the course of the season. Reducing turnovers, making free throws, improving 3-pt % and rebounding on defense will all be key factors in every ACC game. Today, Maryland showed that they are improving but are not quite there yet. I, for one, am excited for this season and think Maryland will end up on the higher range of the 10-16 win window.

Individual Shout Outs:

1. Alex Len will be huge (literally and figuratively) throughout the ACC schedule. I think he will step up to the challenge.
2. If they can keep improving the Shaq/Chuck combo will be dangerous.
3. Seth Allen is going to have a great career as a Terp.
4. Jake Layman is going to keep improving and be a huge asset for the tournament.
5. Dez Wells is a big reason the Terps only have one loss this season and he will continue to help this team succeed in ACC play.

All in all, it’s finally ACC play and I can’t be more excited for the next couple months. My colleagues and I will be posting updates both about the ACC in general and Maryland specific topics.

 

 

Looking Forward to ACC Play

ACC play is about to get into gear and it’s time to starting thinking about what we have to look forward to as well as expectations.  My partner Art did a great job of writing up individual profiles and updates of expectations for each ACC school. I would like to keep a broader of a view and try to answer a few questions on the top of my mind heading into ACC play.

1.  Who ends Duke’s run at perfection? Regardless of your fan affiliation you have to admit Duke has been impressive in non-conference play at 11-0. As impressive as they’ve been, I don’t think they are going to run the table in the ACC. I think Miami is going to be rushing the court January 23^rd when they host #1 Duke. Miami matched up well with Duke’s big men, both in size and experience. Led by Durand Scott I think they also have guards who can keep up with Duke for forty minutes.  Yes, I am aware Miami just lost to Indiana State. Statement stands.  And yes, @ NC State would have been the easier pick, but I don’t think NC State has what it takes (experience) to put together forty minutes against Duke.
2.  Who of the current bottom four ACC teams has the best chance to make the tournament?  Half of this question is very simple considering I don’t think Boston College and Wake Forrest will combine for more than 5 ACC wins (they play each other twice). That leaves us with Florida State and Clemson. Each of these two teams has not signature win and some terrible loses, not exactly something the selection committee would be impressed with. These teams are pretty much equal but I am going to pick Florida State to climb out of the basement based on skill.
3. Who of the current top four ACC teams is most likely to fall out of the top half of ACC teams? I have to go with Georgia Tech on this one. Tech might have some upper classmen, but they don’t have the talent it takes to consistently win in ACC play. This team was 11-20 last year. They’ve made some improvements, I still have doubts they stay in the top half of a relatively strong ACC.
4. Who ends up with a more disappointing season: NC State or UNC? My prediction for these two teams is both make the tournament but neither matches preseason expectations. This, in my opinion, would make NC State’s season an overall more disappointing season considering expectations of a top 10 year. UNC lost more talent than any other team in the ACC from last year to this year and expectations should never have been as high as they were going into the season. I look forward to seeing how these two teams perform against ACC competition.
5. And, of course because this is a Terrapin central blog, what are we looking for from Maryland? I can’t wait to see how the freshmen react to ACC level talent. The Terps soft non-conference schedule has limited the young players’ exposure to true challenges. I am particularly interested to see if Seth Allen can keep his composure at point and if Mitchell/Cleare can establish themselves in the paint. Another thing to look for is if Layman can step it up on defense and cause some height mismatches. If the Terps can limit the turnovers and continue to rebound they are going to be a tough team to beat in the ACC.

Overall in the ACC this year I think there is more balance than in previous years. Because of the balance there will be some great games to watch and a lot of moving up and down the ACC ranks. I, for one, am looking forward to another great ACC season.

Tuesday’s ACC/B1G Challenge Recap

Tuesday night was the start of the ACC/B1G Challenge. Six out of the 12 games in the challenge were played, but only one of them was really a competitive game. We had a few blowouts on the first day, none of which were really expected.

Minnesota 77 @Florida State  68 :

Minnesota came into the Donald L. Tucker center ranked in the top 25. However, Florida State has been the team that most people have been talking about. This is a Seminoles team that was projected to finish in the top 4 of the ACC this year, yet they certainly don’t look like  a top 4 team. Although they only lost by 9 to the Golden Gophers, this game was never close, as Minnesota took a 13 point lead into the half and basically cruised the rest of the way.

Michael Snaer has been an issue for FSU, as he is supposed to be their premier player, yet has struggled shooting the ball so far this season. The Seminoles had poor shooting all around last night, as they shot under 38% for the game. On the flip side, Minnesota shot nearly 50% from the field. They had very balanced scoring, as four places were in double digits. Tubby Smith’s squad had more assists, more rebounds and less turnovers than Leonard Hamilton’s. That is really the story of the game right there.

Iowa 79  @Virginia Tech 95 :

I was extremely impressed by this win from Virginia Tech. Now, a win over Iowa can’t be considered a marquis victory, but it was the way that Va Tech played that caught my eye. When you score 95 points against a team in a major conference, you are doing something right. The Hokies shot an astounding 53% in the game. They were led by senior guard Erick Green, who dropped 24 points while adding 5 rebounds and 5 assists. If the Hokies are going to do anything this year, it will be because of Green. Va Tech had 5 players in double figures and got 22 points of bench production. If they can play even close to how well they played last night, they might be a surprise team in the ACC this season.

NC State  72  @Michigan 79   :

NC State looked like a very overrated team in the first half, as they dug themselves into a pretty size-able early hole. However, they showed a lot of fight in the second half, as they cut Michigan’s big lead to only 5 with a few minutes to go. Michigan did hold on to win. John Beilein’s guards are just filthy. Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr, and freshman Nik Stauskas are all deadly shooters and the three of them torched NC State last night. Once their freshman big man Mitch McGary comes along, they will be a force to be reckoned with and could compete for the National Championship this year.

As for the Wolfpack, just looking at the box score, it’s tough to imagine how they lost this ballgame. They shot 57%(!!!) from the field and they out-rebounded Michigan by 8. However, they had more than double the amount of turnovers than the Wolverines did and they didn’t have an answer for Michigan’s 3 point shooting. Mark Gottfried’s team is definitely a good one, but if they want to be a real contender this year, they are going to have to win these type of games.

Nebraska  79  @Wake Forest  63   :

Not really going to go too much in depth with this game, considering both of these teams are terrible and are going to be bottom feeders in their respective conferences. However, for Wake Forest, this is simply an embarrassing loss on their home floor to a bad Nebraska team. The Demon Deacons needed their senior leaders CJ Harris and Travis McKie to step up. What did they do? They combined for 10 points.

Maryland  77  @Northwestern  57  :

I’m not going to go into much depth with this one either since Neil has a whole post on it below. However, I will say that this blowout road win by Maryland should open some people’s eyes. The Terps were projected to fall somewhere in the middle of the pack in the ACC. Don’t be surprised if they are a top 3 team in the conference when it is all said and done.

North Carolina  59 @Indiana 83   :

I thought Indiana was going to win this game, but I did not have them winning by 24 points. Indiana simply destroyed UNC in every facet of the game. It was truly remarkable to watch. They have a bunch of players who can score at will, led by center Cody Zeller. As far as UNC goes, McAdoo had a rough night shooting the ball and they couldn’t find much scoring elsewhere. They also got killed on the boards. I expect UNC to be good this year and this loss doesn’t change my thinking on that.

Terps B1G over N’Western

Tonight the Terps put together arguable their best game of the year so far. Maryland dominated in the second half with efficient shooting, rebounding and less turnovers. Below are some notes analyzing the performance and flow of tonight’s game.

Slow Start: Both teams got out to a slow start. The Terps kept throwing the ball away. Northwestern couldn’t make a shot from outside. This is something Maryland needed to take advantage of on the road.  Getting out to a 5 or 10 point lead would have given them some more comfort throughout the first half.

The Second Five: I’m not sure if it’s just me but the bench looks a lot more comfortable on the court than the starting five. There was much more penetration into the lane where Maryland plays their strongest ball. In the first five minutes of the game the Faust and Pe’Shon were settling for three pointers, none of which were made. They were settling for these threes because there was no penetration.

Aesthetics: N’Western probably has the ugliest court in America. Sorry for the low blow but I felt like it was necessary. They were unfortunate enough to have purple as the school’s color; was it necessary to make the court purple? I guess not everyone can be blessed like Maryland with their red, black, gold and white.

Droughts: In an earlier piece I explained how Maryland would be able to avoid droughts this year because they had more playmakers this year. I was apparently wrong, at least for now. During the first half the Terps went through two 4+ minute droughts. The reason for the drought was mostly due to wasted possessions due to turnovers and lineups that just don’t produce. As the season carries on and the team gets more comfortable I’m confident these droughts will crack down.

Tall and Awkward: During Alex Len’s free throw attempt early in the second half the N’Western fans started chanting “Tall and Awkward.” Pot calling the kettle black? I can definitely vouch that Len is tall. Awkward? From what I’ve heard Len is the smoothest man on campus when it comes to the ladies, especially now that he can speak English.

Beating the zone: About seven minutes into the second half N’Western went into the zone 1-3-1 defense which has been killer for the Terps this year. Almost immediately Turgeon brought in Aronhalt and he made three of his first four from deep. Right now, Aronhalt is probably the only way for the Terps to beat the zone. Nobody else is shooting consistent enough.

Efficiency: Maryland shot 54%, 39% and 82% from the field, deep and the line respectively while outrebounding N’Western by 27 (42-15). It says something when a team has ten more turnovers than another team and still has more shots from the field. Maryland is out rebounding their opponents at an impressive pace, especially on the offensive glass.

Keeping the foot on the gas: When Maryland started pulling away in the second half they never really showed any signs of slowing down. The team remained patient and efficient with few turnovers. This is a HUGE change from last year. Last year Maryland often found themselves giving up hard earned leads in the second half. Tonight Maryland kept their foot on the pedal and extended their lead possession after possession.

Dez: To wrap up this piece I would just like to give a quick shout out to Dez Wells. I said earlier he is the key to this team’s success.  While I don’t think he has to play as big a role as I originally thought, he is a great addition to this team. Wells had a terrific/efficient night going for 23 points on only 11 shots.

Who are the Terrapins?

 

As Maryland heads into their second “real” challenge I think it is time to discuss what we have seen so far and what to expect going forward. I think the easiest way to look at this is by doing an analysis of some strengths and weaknesses, followed by expectations. 

Weaknesses:

Turnovers: The turnovers have to stop. Since the Kentucky game Maryland is averaging 16 turnovers per game. So far the Terps have been getting away with this dismal turnover pace with their tune up games. ACC play won’t be so forgiving.  The high turnover rate should come down as the season goes on and the freshmen get more comfortable.

 3 Point Shooting: The Terps are only shooting 31% from deep. This isn’t something that was expected to be a strength but the Terps will need to improve on this average.  If they don’t improve teams will start to cheat down into the lane cancelling out our strong frontcourt. There were a few times during the Georgia Southern game when the left Pe’Shon alone at the top of the key, daring him to shoot. When Pe’Shon actually took the shot he barely clipped the front of the rim.  Again, this needs to improve.

Free Throw Shooting: Averaging only 66% from the charity stripe is not acceptable. There is nothing that drives me crazier than missing free throws. Every missed free throw is a point left out there. Against better competition, in closer competitions, the game can easily be decided by a free throw shooting. I trust Turgeon will be all over this in the next few weeks.

Defending the 3: If you’ve been watching the games you probably know what I mean with this.  Going into the Lafayette game they knew what they would be shooting the 3 all night, and yet they didn’t do a good job of covering outside. Lafayette, a team that Maryland should blow out, kept themselves within reach for most of the game by making fifteen 3-pointers. If the terps are going to be competitive in the ACC, they will need to improve their defense.

Strengths:

Rebounding: Maryland isaveraging 46.4 rebounds per game, which is good for 5th in the country. Thanks goes out to a stronger Alex Len and an aggressive Charles Mitchell who have dominated the offensive boards.  The most impressive stat to come out of a game this year is the rebounding from the game against Kentucky. Maryland had 46 rebounds (23 Offensive), 13 more than Kentucky, who is supposed to have the best big man in the game.

Assists: The Terps are averaging 19.4 assists per game, good for 4th in the country. Overall, Maryland is a much less selfish team compared to last year (interpret that as you will). It’s also nice not to have Nick Faust playing out of position like he had to last year. Pe’Shon is responsible for most of this statistic as he is averaging 7 assists per game. If the team expects to win they will need to keep up a high assist average while reducing the turnovers.

Swag: Maryland has been averaging about 2.5 swag plays per game (made up stat). But seriously, I love have a few players who are constant threats to show up on the ESPN top 10. While swag plays might be the same amount of points on the score board, I am a strong believer they can help build momentum.

Balance: Last year Maryland only had one real threat to score. It’s not often you lose your only scorer and turn our better the next year, but that is the case for this team. The team this year will be much less suseptable to long droughts as they have competent scorers in Wells, Len, Mitchell, Faust and Allen.  With a variety of attack points, Maryland will be much better off and can keep themselves in any game.

Expectations:

Maryland is much better than they were last year but aren’t all there yet. They aren’t there yet mainly because they are young. As the season carries on and the freshmen get more experience against cupcake level talent they will build up some confidence and the team will be better.

Maryland will turn some heads with some key wins but they are also going to make you scratch your head a couple times. Out of the four games against Duke and UNC I expect two wins. I’m also guessing there will be one loss to one of the cellar ACC teams.

This team could have a wide range of results for the season. Based on what I’ve seen so far I think the Terps have a high ceiling for what they can achieve this year. In a perfect situation they could get a few wins in the tournament, reaching the elite eight. But for now, I’ll just leave my expectation at making the tournament.

ACC Early Season Basketball Roundtable

All the ACC schools are between two and five games into the season.  While that isn’t exactly a large sample size, it’s enough to start discussing how each team looks and any surprises.  Below is a team by team brief analysis of the season so far and expectations going forward. 

Boston College: Off to a 1-3 start, Boston College looks like they will be irrelevant for at least one more season.  Two to four wins in ACC play should be a good expectation for this team.  Not much else to say.

Clemson: Clemson is off to a 2-0 record with two cupcake wins. The wins were in convincing fashion with strong performances coming from the front court.  The wakeup call for Clemson will come when they play #17 Gonzaga in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando on Thursday.  We’ll know a lot more about this team come Friday.  I expect Clemson to be improved from last year, mostly because of another year of experience at the front court. 

Duke: Duke is 3-0 with a strong win over the defending national champs, Kentucky. The team has one more real test, Ohio State, in an otherwise soft remaining out of conference schedule until ACC play.  Two key players will be Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly.  So far Seth Curry has been looking sharp, both driving and shooting.  Another major factor to their success will be Mason Plumlee’s ability to be strong and consistent in ACC play.  While Duke will again be towards the top of the conference, they will not win the regular season total. 

Florida State: Florida State is 3-1 with a inexcusable loss to Southern Alabama. This is a team with relatively high expectations. Their strength so far has been efficiency with an impressive shooting percentage (53.5%) and 16.8 assists per game.  It’s tough to say what this team is going to develop into this year but my guess is they finish somewhere between fifth and seventh in the conference.

Georgia Tech: Georgia tech is 2-0 against Presbyterian and Tulane.  I don’t need I need to paint a picture for you to realize that’s not exactly a tough start to the season.  But you would be surprised how ugly it was for Georgia Tech against Presbyterian.  They shot only 33% from the field and 15% from deep, winning 52-38.  If they keep that up they can expect to be at the bottom of the ACC with Boston College.

Maryland: Maryland is 2-1 with a tough loss to Kentucky and two cupcake wins.  The NCAA declaring Dez Wells eligible immediately will likely have to b1ggest impact on the team’s success this year. Last year Maryland only had one true scorer and at times would go on extended bucket droughts.  So far it looks like this is a team with several options to both score and make impact plays, the most impressive of which is Alex Len.  With that said it is still a young team and will be sure to make some mistakes as they go through the season. I expect Maryland to land somewhere at the top of the ACC this year.  

Miami: Miami sits at 2-1 three games into the season with a loss to Florida Gulf Coast (FGC). Really? Yes. Miami loss by double digits (63-51) to FGC. A bright spot for Miami is Shane Larkin who is averaging 18 points and 5 assists. At 5-11 Larkin might have a tough time with some of the longer ACC teams.  I don’t expect too much from this team. Miami will fall somewhere is the middle of the pack this year.

North Carolina State: NC State is out to a disappointing 3-1 start with a blowout loss to Oklahoma State. NC State won their other three games in convincing fashion. On paper this team could be the most talented team in the ACC. In reality, NC State always manages to underachieve. Maybe it will be different this year.  I expect this team to land somewhere near the top of the ACC with a couple surprising losses to lower level ACC teams.

North Carolina: UNC is 4-0 with four cupcake wins behind them, all in convincing fashion.  So far McAdoo looks like the real deal, but he hasn’t exactly been tested yet. This is a team coming off a lot of turnover from a talented team last year.  UNC has a lot of unproven talent on their roster.  I could write the team off as being just another UNC team that’s going to find itself at the top of the ACC and the top of the rankings, but I remember 2009 all too well. 

Virginia: UVA is sitting at an unimpressive 3-2 with losses to Delaware and George Mason and no real key wins. The most impressive player so far for UVA has been Akil Mitchell who is averaging 12.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.  Other than Mitchell, there isn’t to0 much positive in UVA’s season so far. UVA should fall somewhere in the middle of the pack this year in ACC play. 

Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech is 4-0 with four comfortable wins over four cupcakes. Tech is averaging an impressive 85 points a game.  Erick Green is accounting for a good portion of the scoring, averaging just under 24 points a game.  If this team can find a balanced attack they can have some success in the ACC.  I expect some surprising wins and losses from Virginia Tech, leaving them somewhere around 6^th and 9^th in the ACC. 

Wake Forest: Wake Forest is sitting at 2-2 with a blowout loss to Iona. Wake is going to struggle in ACC play and will likely only beat out Boston College for 11^th in the regular season.

As we go through the out of conference schedule I am sure some of the above predictions and generalizations will shift.  There will be another update after the ACC/B1G challenge to reassess each team.  Let me know your thoughts on my take of each team.

Terps hoops in the B1G

Now that it is official that Maryland will be joining the Big 10 in all sports starting in July of 2014, it is time to look at how this will affect the athletic programs. Since Maryland is a basketball school, it is only right to focus on how this move will affect Mark Turgeon’s program.

Let’s first compare the ACC and B1G basketball conferences.

The ACC has always been known as one of the best college basketball conferences. Even though the Big East has come on strong the past few years, the ACC is always a feared conference. However, recently the conference has been very top-heavy. Duke and UNC have really been the only constantly great teams. The Terps, NC State, FSU, and a few other schools have had their great years, but have mostly just been average at best.

In the B1G, you have a bunch of schools that have been National contenders in the last decade, such as Ohio State, Michigan State, and Indiana. Programs such as Purdue, Illinois, and Michigan have also had recent success. The only non-competitive teams have been Penn State and Nebraska, which are both football intensive schools. So, even though the ACC is looked at as a better basketball conference, it seems like the B1G actually has caught up this past decade.

Many Terps fans (myself included) are extremely upset that this program won’t be able to compete with the likes of Duke, UNC and Virginia anymore. These are teams that Maryland considered their rivals (even though those schools might not feel the same way). However, I do see potential for some other rivalries being established in the B1G, mainly with Penn State and Rutgers. Now, I know these basketball programs aren’t near the caliber of Duke and UNC, but there is some promise here, especially with Rutgers.

Geographically, the Terps fans will now have an easy place to travel to see some away games. The Rutgers campus is only about a 3 hour drive from College Park. Since Rutgers is leaving the Big East at the same time, they will be looking to start a new rivalry as well. Although Maryland’s basketball program is light years ahead of Rutgers, moving to the B1G might help out Rutgers’ recruiting a bit.

As far as Penn State goes, the fan bases would be perfect for a nice little rivalry. However, with the state of their respective programs, it might not work out that way. Penn State couldn’t care less about their basketball program, as they typically come in last place in the conference every season. It is not likely that they could even compare to any team that Maryland puts out there. The opposite goes for the football programs, as it would be hard to see the Terps competing with PSU in football, even with the sanctions against the Nittany Lions. Either way, Maryland didn’t really have a big rivalry in the ACC, so moving to the B1G won’t really change much there.

Finally, how will this affect recruiting? Many recruits love the idea of playing in the ACC against teams like Duke, UNC and Syracuse. Will the Terps moving to the B1G hurt their recruiting? That honestly remains to be seen. However, you just have a feeling that Coach Turgeon will find a way to get the job done no matter what conference the program is in. Also, if teams like Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State can recruit for basketball, there is no reason Maryland can’t do the same. With the Big East going in the tank, the draw to Georgetown will become less attractive.  Therefore, Maryland should become the greatest basketball school in the Baltimore/DC area. The program has already started recruiting well in those areas, and the change in conferences should not hurt much, if at all.

Overall, the change in conferences should not hurt the Terps and it could even make them better in the long run. However you look at it, there are very exciting times ahead for this basketball program.

Welcome

Welcome to our new ACC blog. My name is Neil Rebele and I am a Maryland alumni.  I look forward to providing my perspective and opinion related to ACC basketball for the 2012/2013 season.  I also look forward to hearing your reactions to my opinions and your own opinions.  With that said, in contrast to my fellow writers, I will explicitly express my Maryland bias.  With that said, I don’t plan to put the Terps on a pedestal.  I simply will focus my writing on Maryland related news and details.  Please feel free to drop some knowledge and opinions as we post on this blog. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Hello ACC fans

Hey ACC hoops fans. My name is Brian Canell and I will be writing on this blog along with fellow Terps alum Art Ferrer and Neil Rebele. We are all avid Terps basketball fans but we are also just big ACC hoops fans in general. We created this blog to share our thoughts about all ACC teams, players, games, etc. Even though we might have a bit of a Terps bias, we will do our best to stay level headed with our thoughts on all of the ACC teams (Duke Sucks!!!).