I don't have a whole lot to add to the 19 pages of comments, but what the heck, I'll put in my two cents worth. Most of my comments will be about what I saw from Maryland. Destiny Slocum is a player and will have a very productive college career, as will several other of the Maryland players in their loaded freshman class. However, having said that, I feel she dribbles the ball too much. She has a nice three point shot, but a lot of those three point shots were made in the fourth quarter when it looked like the Huskies were more concerned with clogging the passing lanes to try to stop the bleeding down low when we couldn't contest layups because of foul trouble. And, she needs to work on her defense to truly become a complete player. Even the Maryland fans were making that comment. She seems to prefer moving to her left to initiate the offense. I wonder how she would adjust if the defense forces her to her right? But hey, she is just a freshman and she has a lot of potential if Brenda and her assistants can work with her to make her a complete player. If they can, she is going to be one heck of a player by her senior year.
Maryland's wing players are big and quick. I think part of the foul problems were a result of defenders being a half step slow getting to their positions. The Terrapins may have the quickest wing players the Huskies will see all year. In that respect, I think they may prove to be a tougher opponent than South Carolina.
In general, to my eyes Maryland's offensive plan is to create mismatches and relies on dribble drive penetration for layups with passes to cutting wings or kick outs for three point shots if the driver is cut off. They don't work the ball around the perimeter to free up a shooter on the outside or find a back door cut as some other teams do. They do a pretty good job at it for the most part. This will give a lot of teams fits, but they aren't as efficient offensively as UConn (who is, honestly?). It also is a less effective offensive game plan when the opponent plays a switching defense as effectively as the Huskies do. Without the foul trouble, this game isn't close. However, the way the game played out, especially coming back from a 19 point deficit, the Terrapins have to feel pretty good about themselves. I'm sure they got a lot of confidence from this game and they will think they have a formula for competing with the Huskies if they see them again in the tournament (get Collier and Williams in foul trouble) and they just may have the talent and depth to be successful with it if the officiating is tight. Both teams will be better come tournament time and unless they are both put in the same half of the draw, last night looks like it was a good preview of a potential NC game.
Of course, UConn has Geno and Maryland has Brenda. I know she rubs a lot of boneyarders the wrong way, but I don't think she is as horrible an in game coach as some think. She took some timely time outs yesterday when the game could have gotten out of hand and I saw adjustments to her game plan. She just isn't as good at it as Geno is. I was sitting under the basket at the Maryland end of the floor and got to watch how she handled her team during time outs. She had their attention and she was teaching rather than screeching at her players. She was advocating for her players and working the refs at least as hard if not harder than Geno was (and Geno had to be held back by CD - I can't see any of Brenda's assistants trying to hold her back
). Unless the Terrapins play flat against Ohio State, I see them running the table in the Big Ten (or twelve, or whatever they are). Inexplicable lapses were their downfall last year. I don't see this group having those same lapses this season from what I have seen of their play so far.
I am not counting out Baylor or SC by any stretch of the imagination, though. Those teams have size, and a lot of it (especially Baylor) but they don't have Maryland's quickness IMO.
