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Maryland Game Entry

02/09/2008StateFans07-08 Basketball184

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184 Responses to Maryland Game Entry

Rochester 02/09/2008 at 10:24 PM #

There were only two candidates in the game I saw, Grant and Hickson. And Grant did almost nothing in the second half. Fells, not so much.
redfred2 02/09/2008 at 10:29 PM #

I guess if the criteria for the POG is late and ineffective scoring, and holding the opposition’s ball distibutor’s scoring down when he’s handing off assist after assist exactly as planned, then Fells is the man.

I would have given it to JJ or GG, maybe even Johnson for coming through with some big shots when the game was still in question.
wufpup76 02/09/2008 at 10:31 PM #

disappointing …

not so much that we lost, but the absolute lack of defense from the 2:00 mark of the first half which led to the loss

for whatever reason, a flip gets switched sometimes that turns us into a zombified, terrible team … usually when you think of a team flipping a switch you really think of them turning it on … ours goes to “off” for some reason 🙁

all is not lost, but this is still a young team that needs to learn how to be tough and win against good comp. soon

go pack
Anthony Grundy 02/09/2008 at 10:33 PM #

Fells wasn’t an offensive juggernaut, be he played well. should be playing more.
redfred2 02/09/2008 at 10:36 PM #

“It is almost as if he is being paid off, or drugged.”

I started to say that Horner looked drugged durring the game. Does he have a new girlfriend or something?
redfred2 02/09/2008 at 10:51 PM #

A Grundy, you’re damn right Fells should be playing more, but in the time he is already being allotted. He is wasting his well above average BB ability by not taking responsibility or playing hard enough when he’s in there. Too bad there is no competition for his spot, and too bad this team cannot beat anyone convincingly enough to really sit anyone down for any considerable amount of time, in order drive home a point as a head coach.
Rochester 02/09/2008 at 10:51 PM #

The problem with Horner is he really doesn’t seem to be an effective defender. He needs to give us an offensive boost and then hit the bench again. And I didn’t see the offensive boost. He did throw down a dunk in the first half, which was nice, but that was about the sum of his contributions today.
choppack1 02/09/2008 at 10:57 PM #

Our guys have to start understanding that you can’t waste possessions. What is so disappointing is that all too often – it’s Fells or his sub – Horner doing this.

I actually thought Costner played a good game tonight.

What the heck happened in the first 5 minutes of the second half. We were up to – then I look and we’re down 10??
highstick 02/09/2008 at 11:06 PM #

Crap, I turned it to see what Junior was doing at halftime and when I came back, we’d be “smoked”! No defense, but Maryland sure was hitting everything!

Redfred, the tickets to the Final Four in 1970 were $32 for two days! I never will forget Gilmore blocked one of the shots early in the game. Then next trip down the floor, Sidney Wicks gave the “clear out” sign and went one on one with Gilmore and slammed it over him. Disallowed, because the dunk wasn’t legal then, but it sent a message!
redfred2 02/09/2008 at 11:14 PM #

Sidney Wicks, now that’s a name I had all but forgotten. I don’t remember the dunk you spoke about but he was a great player and I liked his game.

BTW, I also called for a clear out on 7’4″ Gilmore but the neighbor’s dog ran out and disrupted the play. Guess we’ll never know.
Ismael 02/10/2008 at 1:12 AM #

For those of you who didn’t get to see the game, you really should see it, it is amazing…it started out 7-0, then 7-7, then 14-7, then 16-14, then 29-21 or soemthing like that and the half closed out at 33-31. Honestly, UMD looked like dog-barf, we ran whatever play, passed to whoever we wanted, shot any kind of shot and it went in just about…and UMD looked pathetic…what i saw as the turning point was when Hickson went out with his 2nd foul in the first half…it was like UMD suddenly said: holy crap, Hickson’s not in there, let’s play. The reason i say that is because i think Hickson had blocked one before and when he went out, Vasquez immediately drove to the basket and threw up some crazy shot that went in and from THAT moment, for UMD psychologically that was it.

In the second half…whoever Vasquez threw it to made it…he and Gist had the games of their freakin lives.

But as someone pointed out…their was a very brief but painful period where UMD made a TON of shots from very close range and they didn’t look particularly well defended…to whoever said Sidney didn’t do something, he did, it’s jsut it didn’t matter.

Actually aside from the fact that they played terrible defense to get down by 12 initially…they played their butt off to cut the lead back to 6. Occasionally our guys, especially, GG, BM, and BC (who played pretty well tonight) need to understand the finer points of having an isolate-offense. When you are the designated offensive player to “take” your man to the basket, you have to realize when he has you covered and pull it back and start the play over…most of the shots we missed, besides the airballs and clankers, were just trying to do too much type of possessions.

They’re learning, all is not lost, they just need to turn it up.

If you actually watch it and not know what the score was…our offense (not the D) was humming along in the second half…for all of the miraculous shooting percentages that UMD was throwing up…we were still down only 6 with 5 min left to go i think. We just ran out of something: gas, concentration, whatever.
Trip 02/10/2008 at 1:48 AM #

Man, I wish this team wouldn’t build my hopes up only to crush them after halftime… why can’t we suck from the start so that I can drink my alcohol at a steady pace, rather than binge drinking after the 2nd half to finish it all off…
JeremyH 02/10/2008 at 3:51 AM #

well it seemed like we were getting better at defense, but it just isn’t being sustained. we couldn’t stop them from scoring, it was like the first half of the michigan state game. Trip, i know, it is so very frustrating to witness, after controlling most of the first half, just getting blow out. looking so sharp, a coming of age.. and then this immediate regression. this is really something..
Wait_Til_This_Year 02/10/2008 at 4:24 AM #

Yeah, I think Costner did alright tonight, too. Total defensive breakdown to start the second half, though. It’s easy for UMD to catch fire when we give them easy buckets to start with. Also, we had various other complete meltdowns in the lane defensively. I now hate the phrase, “right down main street.”

The technical on Ben was ridiculous unless I missed something, and it was at kind of a do-or-die time for State too. They would’ve had the ball anyway, so it was a two point swing at most, but I felt that it really hurt us more than that because of the timing.

Fells’s scoring didn’t get us back in the game or anything, but I wouldn’t call it “too little, too late” unless it was all after the two minute mark. We were down by ten or so most of the second half, which is still striking distance.

Our PGs pick up their dribble A LOT. Everyone knows this except the four other State players on the floor. PG picks up his dribble. No one moves. The opponents double team him after he picks up dribble. Still no one moves. PG starts wildly looking to pass as the refs continue to tick away the 5 seconds. All NCSU players stand patiently next to their defenders, waiting to receive a pass. WTF?

This is the second time I’ve heard Vasquez act like he just won an Oscar in a post game interview, thanking people, thanking God, giving shout outs, making a little speech, blah blah blah. I like the way he plays, but what a dork.

I’d watch Gist vs. Fells in a dunk competition, but I think I’d hate to see who won.
Wulfpack 02/10/2008 at 8:35 AM #

Costner does not play defense. If you think he played well last night, and if that is the best he can offer then we are thoroughly screwed. He did not defend. He does not rebound (Bambale tip drill). He is slow. He has a terrible attitude. He three up a three point shot that missed everything, and it wasn’t even a good shot. I am sorry to be so hard on him but he does not fit my definition of a solid basketball player.

We need to put together a good performance i.e. not get blown out against Clemson, Duke and UNC. So far in the big league games this year we have played poorly. The selection committee does look at margin of victory (or margin of loss in this case) against the top competition.
redfred2 02/10/2008 at 9:32 AM #

“Iâ€™d watch Gist vs. Fells in a dunk competition,…”

That might be a good matchup and fun to watch, but as a NC State basketball fan I’d rather see a player with that kind of great athleticism taking over a REAL basketball game. So back to REALITY, there’s no competition, Gist has already won hands down.
GAWolf 02/10/2008 at 9:40 AM #

While this would have been a great win and while everyone would love to win the ALL…. it’s not going to happen. Losing to Maryland in College Park is one that we pretty much all expected. Please back away from the ledge, hope that Costner finds his game, and then pray we can make a run down the stretch to squeeze into the post-season. Even if we had the team we thought we had coming into the season I think you would objective have to look at this game as a loss when sizing up the schedule. Not to mention, us longterm Pack fans knows that Maryland has historically been the game that takes the wind out of our sails every year just when things SEEM to be going better. This loss didn’t shock me a bit.
redfred2 02/10/2008 at 10:15 AM #

The wins are the shockers now, no loss can shock me at this point.

We have the uncanny ability to make someone look like a superstar every time we hit the court. Unfortunately, it isn’t ever anyone wearing RED.
thebigwood 02/10/2008 at 10:36 AM #

I am still thinking about the technical on Ben. I know that one event doesn’t determine the outcome of the game, but the timing of that was a big deal. Can someone make sense of that call for me? I seemed that Ben was just making his case…and he didn’t cuss or stare down the ref…so why the technical?
Stoner 02/10/2008 at 10:37 AM #

Hopefully Lowe can get this team together. Maryland was awful earlier in the year and now looks like one of the top teams in the ACC.

The season isn’t over yet. I still hope the switch can be turned and we play a good game for a half.

Unfortunately the lack of experience at PG is really killing us. We don’t have someone who can get the team settled down in the second half or fired up, when the other team will make the inevitable second half surge.
redfred2 02/10/2008 at 10:59 AM #

The players keep saying that they have a good plan, but they aren’t doing what the coach prescribes, and the coach keeps echoing pretty much the same thing in post game interviews.

What I’m wondering is, what are the repercussions for that? Sorry, but on gamedays I donâ€™t really see anything that would make the players wake up, and change those losing habits.
Dr. BadgerPack 02/10/2008 at 11:36 AM #

As an aside… am I the only person on the planet that thought Fells layup attempt with the score 18-14 was an OBVIOUS goaltending violation?

This just in: ACC officiating blows. (In case anyone wondered, the Big 10 officials might in all actuality be WORSE, so we don’t have it quite as bad in ACC-land as we could).

Oh, and Buckwheat… err, Osby, should be tested for roids. 🙂
redfred2 02/10/2008 at 11:48 AM #

Dr B, that was a close call on Fells’ layup, but I said at the time that it would be nice if he looked for some contact on occasion, in order to get to the FT line more often.

Plus, some of the lucky few, like Osby and Irwin M Fletcher, just have hair like that. But I don’t really think it warrants a steriod investigation or anything.
Dr. BadgerPack 02/10/2008 at 11:55 AM #

redfred, I’m just saying Osby looks like what you’d get if Buckwheat met Balco… that hair is insane!
redfred2 02/10/2008 at 12:06 PM #

Dr B, LOL! I know exactly what you’re saying.