Home Up
MD at UVA
BB 06-07
By Chris B.
Overall: This picture of DJ kind of puts the game in perspective for me. If DJ is able to drive the lane and get fast break points (like in the pic), we have a chance of winning. If he stars shooting pull up fade away jumpers, well chances of winning go down, big time. First possession of the game, DJ pull up fade away, and a miss. I had a feeling about that one from then on. Now losing to Virginia at home is not the end of the world by any stretch, but once again, this team failed to show consistency from one game to the next. You have to give them some credit for not packing it when they were down, by 20, and everyone not named Dave Neal was in foul trouble. They make a nice run before the half to cut it to single digits, and then eventually cut it to 3 early in the second half. You just had to wonder if they had enough in the tank to pull it off. They had chances where they forced UVA into poor shot, got the stops, but would take bad shots on the other end, or a big man would make a bad pass, but none the less, at least they didn’t pack it in. This not packing it in thing isn't going to work for me much longer. Just play consistent the whole 40 minutes!
Turning Point: For me the turning point was the first possession. I know, I know, that’s lame, but if you can’t run a good half court possession your first time down the court, it shows you are not looking to run a good set all game. I was bummed from the beginning, and this game ,much like the BC game, we were close for a while, and then went on a drought, UVA hits a few threes and FT’s and voila, you are down 20.
D7 MVP: Hmm, if I have to name one. There are some strong candidates: All the starters were in double figures. I think Ibekwe had the best numbers, but he needs to put the ball in the hole from 2ft!!! He makes himself smaller all the time, and then loses it, or is forced to try and muscle some crap toward the basket. 5 turnovers and a couple of key misses from right around the rim when we really needed baskets relegate him to honorable mention status. I am going to have to go with Vasquez on this one though. He made some big shots getting the team back into the game. He made big shots when we needed them. There you have it, GV wins the award, but I wouldn’t brag about it!
Random Thoughts: Well I said this week would be huge, not really, but kind of. With the loss at UVA behind us, it sends us to Hokie-land for what becomes a slightly more important game. VT is coming back home after a tough loss at FSU. 1-4 is not the end of the world, but you can see it from there (kind of like Cumberland). Also, keep in mind all Terps traveling to Blacksburg, to keep your speed under 80, especially in Bottentourt County. They have a killer speed trap out in the middle of nowhere on Route 81, and the penalties are stiff.
Enemy of the state: For this category, you would think I would go with someone like Sean Singletary or Mamde Dianne (career high 26 pointd), but in fact, I am going to pick the mighty Terps themselves. We go on tremendous scoring droughts every game. It is unbelievable we are capable of going 4, 5, 6, 7, sometimes even 8 or more minutes with out putting the ball in the basket. I would like to think Run and Gun in its hay-day, could score every 8 minutes against a D-1 team, if we could get it across half court that is. Anyways, this game had several droughts over 3 minutes, and a killer 5 minute drought after cutting the lead to 3. We lack the go to guy that we can count on to make a bucket when we desperately need one. God bless DJ for trying, but he is not that person.
Bubble Watch:
A tough loss on the road, not the end of the world, but it makes the VT game a little more important.
Record now: 15-4
Conference Record 1-3
Quality Wins: Michigan State, at Illinois, #14 Clemson
Bad Losses: Miami at home.
Outlook: I still think we are in, but the Illinois win is not as impressive, and two games below .500 in the conference doesn't help, but there are plenty of chances to make an improvement, starting with Sunday’s game against #25 (for now) Va Tech.
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
006-2007 Men’s Basketball Report Card
Course: UVA
Student
Grade
Comments
Eric Hayes
B-
Mad a couple of big buckets when he was in there
Greivis Vasquez
B
Big buckets to help get the team back in the game
Ekene Ibekwe
Nice Stats, but he just didn’t play well when you need him to
DJ Strawberry
D
2-11 shooting, and foul trouble.
Bambale Osby
C
Nothing special either way
James Gist
Some decent minutes, and then disappeared a bit, becoming a leader on this team though
Mike Jones
Could have used a few more makes when it mattered
Will Bowers
Fouls and not much else
Parish Brown
The spark he provided against Clemson never combusted against UVA