Better be ready for Maryland
- Thread starter Baz=Heisman
- Start date
Reese was a monster inside and Young is a great scorer, but the Illini shooting contributed to the loss. 6-for-22 from 3 and in one possession in the second half they missed four straight shots. There is NO ONE IN THE BIG TEN that doesn't scare me. I'm sure Chris will have them ready to go with an extra day of rest and thankfully, the brutal cold will let up a bit, so the students should be out in force.
I look at the rest of the league and there is no team that scares me.
Not saying we can't lose to a bunch of them, but if we play well, we can beat all of them... maybe not Illinois.
The teams that would scare me have quick guards, play pressure defense and have a mobile center who can shoot the 3.
Also teams with big frontcourts and two guards who can shoot.
Maryland has quality experience at PG, PF and C. That win at Illinois was an example when those veteran players played at an extremely high level, and perhaps this could be a momentum builder for them as the team was floundering a bit coming into State Farm Center. They did an exceptional job reducing Hawkins' effectiveness as a mobile 5, as well as hit clutch buckets. Meanwhile, Illinois was the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Domask who was All-B1G when he played us, was merely high-leverage OK (31% of poss, but only 102 ORTG) - and no one else helped. Justin Harmon had went off for 20 pts against us, went 0-7.
5 teams in the B1G got 2 losses right now. I expect things'll sort itself out a bit more after the next 5 game stanza. I'd be really happy if the 'Cats could go 3-2, but there's enough variance to see 2-3 or even 1-4.
5 teams in the B1G got 2 losses right now. I expect things'll sort itself out a bit more after the next 5 game stanza. I'd be really happy if the 'Cats could go 3-2, but there's enough variance to see 2-3 or even 1-4.
How long you been around these parts PWB? Don’t you know that in order to be a true wildcat fan, you must fear every opponent while expecting nothing more than “it’s just Northwestern” in return?
Maryland does concern me a little. Last year they smoked us 75-59 at their place.
It was probably Buie's worst game of the year.
He went 1 for 9 from the floor. 8 assists, 2 turnovers. 4 points.
He struggle against the quick(er) Jahmir Young, who scored 18 points on 13 shots.
So Buie should be fired up for this one.
Nicholson had a good game, going 5 for 5 from the field against MD's front court.
Julian Reese had 12 points and 10 rebounds to offset that.
If we use our depth at center to get him to trade fouls, that would probably be smart.
MD goes 6'9", 6'8", 6'6", 6'5" and Young is about 6'0" so they are bigger than us at the 2, 3 and 4.
Not a lot of quality depth beyond the 6th man, who is also 6'5" or so.
Not a great matchup for the Cats. One positive is that their center (Reese) does not shoot 3's at all.
Hopefully they come in a little tired and the refs see things with purple glasses.
Expect Victory! I tend to think Reese will be neutralized with the post trap. The key is stopping Young’s dives to the rim. I would assume we start with Ty on him but what do we do if he gets in foul trouble? Does Mullins get some burn?
Not likely. Mullins has been a real liability on defense in his brief appearances.
We are 4.5 pt favorites. I hope MD, despite the game in Champaign, is as harmless on the road as last year. It was weird how awful they were on the road while being unbeatable at home.
I wish I could forget, but they did beat us in Evanston last year in 2OT.
They got us twice last year. Just sayin’.
We did not play them at home last year. That was 2 years ago.
Last year they did not lose at home. And won once on the road, against a dreadful MN team.
Not saying this is an easy game, but this pretty close to a must-win. As of now, this would be considered a Quad 3 loss. With the Quad 4 loss we already have, we can't afford more than 1 (maybe 2 - at most) more bad loss.
Cats need to win the remaining home games. It’s that simple.
I think we'll be favored in all of them, except maybe Illinois. 9-1 at home (we're gonna lose one. That's just the way it is) and 5-5 on the road is my optimistic hope for our B1G record.
My man! 14 wins! I thought I was optimistic with my pre-season prediction we were good enough for 13 wins. Which, in itself, would be a record for us.
My mistake, then. That painful loss is seared into my memory.
I hope they got all their good road play out of their systems in Champaign.
I was optimistic at 12 wins before the season started, but the win over Purdue and getting the PSU monkey off our back pushed me up to 14.
Retro night at WRA. I’m thinking a GoGo Sox jersey or dressing up like Huggy Bear
If you're going for the Huggy Bear look, you'd better not be white.
Women will lift up their children and head the opposite direction...
I think Illinois lost to Maryland more because of their own poor shooting than anything special that Maryland did. Illinois was 8/25 on layups in the game. If NU shoots decently and plays good defense then they should be able to beat Maryland.
Illinois is starting to feel the effects of not having TSJ as well- you don‘t lose an alpha player like that and just keep rolling for the rest of the season in my opinion- at some point it makes you more beatable.
Illinois is starting to feel the effects of not having TSJ as well- you don‘t lose an alpha player like that and just keep rolling for the rest of the season in my opinion- at some point it makes you more beatable.
I don't like being favored beforehand nearly as much as I like wins after the fact. The B1G seems a lot like 'any given Sunday', so favored just makes me a bit queasy.
Maryland is another team with very little depth, like us. Julian Reese will play almost the whole game unless he gets in foul trouble, his backup Caelum Swanton-Rodger is a steep drop-off in production. Neither player is a threat from 3. Jahmir Young has averaged 37.4 mpg in conference play, and his backup Jahari Long has essentially missed the last 3 games with a "lower body injury".
They have 4 wings to fill 3 spots. Donta Scott, in his 17th year playing for the Terps, has been their only reliable 3-point shooter in conference play. Hopefully Brooks can lock him down. They also have IU transfer Jordan Geronimo, who's just kind of there, and two freshmen - DeShawn Harris-Smith, who has really struggled with his shot, and Jamie Kaiser, who's the backup. Noah Batchelor is another guy who gets 4-5 mpg. All of these guys are 6'5" or 6'6", except for Scott who is 6'8".
What has worked for Maryland in conference play so far has been their defense, which thus far has been the best in the conference. The problem for them has been their 2nd-worst offense. Despite their relative lack of height in the frontcourt, Reese and Geronimo block a lot of shots, Reese rebounds everything near him, and nearly everyone has quick hands.
Ultimately this game will come down to whether we can contain Young, who torched us last year with 18 points, and Reese, who had a 12 point 10 board 3 block double-double last year. Edey was able to stonewall Reese into 0 points 2 weeks ago, hopefully Big Matt is up to the task. We'll need to limit their offensive rebounding, force turnovers, keep Young off the line, and MAKE SHOTS!
Go 'Cats!
They have 4 wings to fill 3 spots. Donta Scott, in his 17th year playing for the Terps, has been their only reliable 3-point shooter in conference play. Hopefully Brooks can lock him down. They also have IU transfer Jordan Geronimo, who's just kind of there, and two freshmen - DeShawn Harris-Smith, who has really struggled with his shot, and Jamie Kaiser, who's the backup. Noah Batchelor is another guy who gets 4-5 mpg. All of these guys are 6'5" or 6'6", except for Scott who is 6'8".
What has worked for Maryland in conference play so far has been their defense, which thus far has been the best in the conference. The problem for them has been their 2nd-worst offense. Despite their relative lack of height in the frontcourt, Reese and Geronimo block a lot of shots, Reese rebounds everything near him, and nearly everyone has quick hands.
Ultimately this game will come down to whether we can contain Young, who torched us last year with 18 points, and Reese, who had a 12 point 10 board 3 block double-double last year. Edey was able to stonewall Reese into 0 points 2 weeks ago, hopefully Big Matt is up to the task. We'll need to limit their offensive rebounding, force turnovers, keep Young off the line, and MAKE SHOTS!
Go 'Cats!
Based on small pre-game crowd at Bluestone I'm not expecting a full house lol.
