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This Maryland team reminds me of our 2014 team. .. if everyone not named Shabazz was awful.
 
This looks like a random afternoon quarterfinal conference tournament game. Right down to the empty stands.
 
Dogdeacon said:
Princeton play was within their offense, they don't have kids than can drive or initiate contact, offense is a backdoor layup or a 3. Again though if the passer saves that last dribble and gets it to his teammate quicker the defense can't recover to contest and the kid would've stepped into it more and likely made it.
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Travelman32 said:
Everyone wants to be Steph Curry. Curry nails that shot a majority of the time...these two kids...not so much. However, in the Princeton game, that was a good look, and they had nothing better down low.
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Dogdeacon,

You do have a point that the passer could have gotten the ball back to the shooter and given him the extra second he needed to step a little more into the shot. But my point stands. When you are trailing by 1 point, a 28-foot 3 point shot with a hand in your face is not, and probably never will be, the best shot at the end of a college game (Travelman, I agree that if it is Steph Curry, it is a much higher percentage shot). And by the way Dogdeacon, the Princeton player had time to give a shot fake, have the Notre Dame player go flying by, dribble in a couple of steps and get off a significantly higher percentage shot. But he wanted to hit the 28 to 30 footer, Steph Curry style. Too much TV

And my point is... how many times do you see this at the end of games now? It happens a lot more often than the drive Jalen Adams made at the end of the Temple game. Oh, and how did that end? With a 3-foot lay up. Contested? Yes. But a much higher percentage shot than either of those two guys took today? Absolutely. Add to that if Jalen had missed his shot, the chance of a rebound and a put back is much better (ok, in the case of our front court this year marginally higher) in that case than on a long 3-pointer where the ball is going to bounce higher, harder and longer, as of course it did in both cases today.

It is a dumb, selfish, very-low percentage play to shoot that long range 3-point shot at the end of a 1 point game. The results time and time again prove that to be true, as it did both times today. And I believe that it is never a called play by a coach (at this level, anyway) but selfishness from the player who does it because he wants to see his face on SportsCenter instead of giving his team a better chance to win.
 
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LStudfellow said:
Dogdeacon,

It is a dumb, selfish, very-low percentage play to shoot that long range 3-point shot at the end of a 1 point game. The results time and time again prove that to be true, as it did both times today. And I believe that it is never a called play by a coach (at this level, anyway) but selfishness from the player who does it because he wants to see his face on SportsCenter instead of giving his team a better chance to win.
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There would be twice as many upsets every tournament if there was no Hero Ball. The team got to this point by playing within a team system, and then they get to the last 10 minutes of a close game in March and everyone wants to be the star. UNC Wilmington came out of the gate playing Hero Ball, and it definitely cost them the game today.
 
Dream Jobbed 2.0 said:
This Maryland team reminds me of our 2014 team. .. if everyone not named Shabazz was awful.
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Maryland is holding a 2-3 zone offense clinic. They have gotten a lot of easy shots against a decent Xavier zone. They are making sharp cuts to the free throw line, which pulls the center up and then another player cuts to the block before the weakside defender can rotate over. I have never been a huge Turgeon fan, but his squad was prepared to play today.
 
Big difference in these low vs. high seed games between keeping it close down the stretch and winning the game. The lower seeds tend to panic in the crunch. They make bonehead plays, or the superior teams simply know how to handle the situation and make the plays when it matters, and it helps having bigger or more skilled players & coaching.

Not always obviously, but more often than not.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Maryland is holding a 2-3 zone offense clinic. They have gotten a lot of easy shots against a decent Xavier zone. They are making sharp cuts to the free throw line, which pulls the center up and then another player cuts to the block before the weakside defender can rotate over. I have never been a huge Turgeon fan, but his squad was prepared to play today.
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I agree. They are getting tons of good looks which is a surprise because they are normally not good against the zone.
 
BugsyCT said:
Big difference in these low vs. high seed games between keeping it close down the stretch and winning the game. The lower seeds tend to panic in the crunch. They make bonehead plays, or the superior teams simply know how to handle the situation and make the plays when it matters, and it helps having bigger or more skilled players & coaching.

Not always obviously, but more often than not.
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I think the biggest difference is that the big time programs that make the tournament usually have big time coaches that can handle crunch time, and the mid-majors do not. This impacts the play calling and the nerves at crunch time. This was definitely the case in the Virginia/UNCW and Notre Dame/Princeton games. UNCW's and Princeton's coaches may get there someday, but they are not there today.

Brey has coached the same team since he got to Notre Dame...good offensively with great shooting, and poor defense. But he is a solid crunch time coach, and his teams close with confidence.
 
Robertelamin said:
I agree. They are getting tons of good looks which is a surprise because they are normally not good against the zone.
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Xavier switched to man-to-man, and Turgeon is stumped. Looks like he blew his coaching wad in practice this week.

Edit: Maryland has hit 1 shot in the last 6+ minutes, a 17 foot fadeaway. You would think Xavier had 6 defenders on the court given how lost Maryland is on offense.
 
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Turgeon is a mediocre coach. If you thought he was big time because MD had a nice first half, please refresh yourself on his career. Man, the B1G sucks this year.
 
Why so many 3's by Xavier? The ball screener above the 3 point line is literally by himself on the roll every time, but Xavier is only hitting the roll every third time. They could get 3-4 layups in a row before Maryland adjusted, and the adjustment would be to tighten up the help which would open up the 3's. Xavier is keeping Maryland in the game by taking too many contested 3's. .
 
nelsonmuntz said:
I think the biggest difference is that the big time programs that make the tournament usually have big time coaches that can handle crunch time, and the mid-majors do not. This impacts the play calling and the nerves at crunch time. This was definitely the case in the Virginia/UNCW and Notre Dame/Princeton games. UNCW's and Princeton's coaches may get there someday, but they are not there today.

Brey has coached the same team since he got to Notre Dame...good offensively with great shooting, and poor defense. But he is a solid crunch time coach, and his teams close with confidence.
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ND is a capable defensive squad this year. 50 something on KemPom. A lot better than usual, for sure. Keats is a good coach. Don't be surprised to see him at an NC St. or Clemson type program next year. I think the reason big time schools typically beat smaller schools in crunch time is because their players are more used to the high pressure situations. And because their players are better. I know I am going out on a limb with that statement. For whatever its worth, a lot of end game situations come down to ISO ball. Not a surprise that the better teams have better players who can make these plays.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Why so many 3's by Xavier? The ball screener above the 3 point line is literally by himself on the roll every time, but Xavier is only hitting the roll every third time. They could get 3-4 layups in a row before Maryland adjusted, and the adjustment would be to tighten up the help which would open up the 3's. Xavier is keeping Maryland in the game by taking too many contested 3's. .
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Xavier probably just wants to keep alive the possibility of choking away the game in excruciating fashion which they usually do.
 
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Dream Jobbed 2.0 said:
Wow Xavier legit only taking 3s
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When they do that, they also don't create as many fouls. Maryland has been overplaying the 3's for the whole game, but Xavier is not exploiting the driving lanes.

Not impressed with Xavier's press break. There is a lot of open space but the Xavier players are not getting separation form their defenders.
 
Remember Trimble and Stone torching us at Maryland? Trimble is 1-8 from 3.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Xavier switched to man-to-man, and Turgeon is stumped. Looks like he blew his coaching wad in practice this week.

Edit: Maryland has hit 1 shot in the last 6+ minutes, a 17 foot fadeaway. You would think Xavier had 6 defenders on the court given how lost Maryland is on offense.
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Make up your mind - either Maryland is ready and well coached tonight or are they a team where the coach is stumped
Why does X take so many 3's - that's their MO this year as well as the rest of the New Big East
Xavier lost their heart and quarterback when the PG went out earlier this season - but they have bounced back. If he had not been hurt this is a top ten team
Maryland, like Minnesota, are over seeded
 
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Not sure if it is because my ex-fiance went there for her masters, or because of 2002 in the elite 8 or because Trimble looks like such a tool, but so happy to see Xavier win this. Screw Maryland. I picked this upset in every single bracket, don't care.
 
Maryland was way over seeded. Big 10 got a gift with that Vanderbilt dumb foul or it could be 0-3
 
Xavier over Maryland was the lock of the century closely followed by Middle Tennesssee over Minnesota. Too easy.
 
Purdue has opened a 2-3 basket lead, but can't pull away. If Purdue can get by it's usual first round chokefest, they could do a little damage. They can shoot.

VCU has made an amazing comeback against St. Mary's. I have been flipping around, and this is probably the best played of the 7 pm games tonight. Both teams playing good basketball and both teams are attacking the hoop which is a nice change after the 3 point shooting contest that was Maryland vs. Xavier..
 
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