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Georgia Tech Recap

By  Bob W.

“Maryland wa…wi…..wins?  Is that the right word for it?”

                        -Bob W.

And this was supposed to be our easiest game left.  Yikes!  Well it took overtime, but the Terps came away with an absolutely have to have win.  It wasn’t easy and they didn’t really look good doing it, but they got it done.  Mike Jones had a huge block in regulation that forced the over time.  In fact it could have been season saving. 

The Terps were able to lead most of the way, but in what is becoming more and more common, they were unable to put any distance between themselves and the Yellow Jackets.  The perimeter defense was much better yesterday (GT shot 6-21 from behind the arc), but the turnovers were almost too numerous to count. 

Just and aside, but do you ever notice that if Maryland comes out and commits 3 or 4 turnovers right away, they never settle down.  Those who have ever watched a game with me know I love to project stats over 40 minutes (If Mike Jones has 4 points at the 18:00 minute mark, he is on pace for 80), well you can realistically do that with the turnovers.  One or two quick ones and the tone is set for the day.  It really disturbs me.  They never settle down!

Ekene Ibekwe had a solid overtime to help seal the deal for the Terps.  With a few minutes left Ibekwe broke for the basket and got fouled on his dunk to give the Terps a huge 4 point lead.  The big skinny also recorded a double double.

Now the Terps have gotten back to .500 in the ACC at 6-6 with 4 games left to play.  For there to be a chance they will most definitely have to take at least 2 of them, which on paper doesn’t sound too difficult, but factoring in that 3 of the remaining 4 are on the road, and it gets a little tougher.  The Terps have struggled mightily on the road this year and if they don’t finally figure out how to play 40 minutes of solid basketball away from Comcast, well then we are just wasting our time here worrying about post season.  With that being said, a little hot streak could place us at 9-7, so there is always hope.

D-7 MVP-  We’ll never know if that 3 at the end of regulation was going to fall for Georgia Tech, but considering that Anthony Morrow is the second best 3 point shooter in the conference, there was a good chance that he would have made it.  And that right there is enough to garner the MVP for Mike Jones.  Add in his team high 21 points, 8-10 shooting with 2-2 from behind the arc, and 3-3 from the foul line and this weeks MVP is really an easy decision.  (Though the 5 fouls and 5 TO’s weren’t cool).

Honorable Mention:  Ekene Ibekwe played great at some crucial moments, and if not for the Jones block, could have made a case for MVP.  Ekene had 14 points and 10 rebounds.  He did shoot free throws like the old Ekene, but he had the big dunk and 1 in the OT period, so we’ll forgive that.     

Random Thought of the Day:  You know, aside from hockey, I really wasn’t looking forward to the Olympics that much, but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t LOCKED to the TV watching the biathlon final (is that where they cross country ski and shoot targets).  I have also really gotten behind this US curling team.  What is happening to me?  I don’t even know the rules to these games, but they keep sucking me in. 

The “It Could be Worse” Section:  You could be forced to watch the NBA’s slam dunk contest.

Enemy of the State:  Why is it that the same guys keep getting us over and over.  Ra’Sean Dickey gets his second nod of the year as the Enemy of the State.  Dickey had 23 points and 4 blocks in the losing effort for Tech.

Factoid Alert:  Despite being 2-0 against Georgia Tech this year, we have committed 51 turnovers in those games.  Think of how long it would take to watch a highlight reel of all 51 turnovers, and that would only consist of 2 games.  My goodness, can Eric Hayes start now? 

ACC Standings:

            Team                Conf Red         Overall

            Duke                12-0                 24-1

            NC State          10-3                 21-5

            BC                   8-4                   21-5

            UNC                7-4                   16-6

            FSU                 6-6                   16-7

            Maryland          6-6                   16-9

            UVA                6-6                   13-10

            Miami               6-6                   14-11

            Clemson           4-8                   15-10

            Va Tech           3-9                   13-12

            GT                   3-10                 10-14

            Wake               1-10                 13-12

Bubble Watch:

Record:  16-9  6-6

Rank:  Rankings are for wusses.

Quality Wins:  #6Boston College, Arkansas

Bad Losses:  Temple, Clemson, and I got a feeling we’ll be adding a few more soon.

Outlook:  We’re out looking to get back in.