Tobacco Road Report

By Michael

If you were like the staff at TRR, you were looking forward to Maryland-Duke all week. Unfortunately, fans of the ACC missed the first 7 minutes of regulation since the Villanova-UConn game ran late. Memo to the NCAA: when one team (UConn) shoots 24-44 from the free throw line and is still losing at home, they don't deserve more TV time! This stinker-of-a-game featured 75 total foul shots...that sound you hear is me snoring.

As for the real game, the meeting between Maryland and Duke felt like deja vu (all over again). Duke has struggled all year against athletic teams, especially those with speed and quickness in the backcourt. Maryland was more athletic from top to bottom and frustrated the Duke offense for most of the night. The solid defense was a catalyst for enough early offense to propel Maryland to its sixth straight conference win by the score of 85-77, solidifying Maryland's new-found role as the most dangerous team in conference nobody wants to face.

In their three previous conference wins against Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Clemson, the Blue Devils were effective at running multiple high pick-and-rolls which led to dribble penetration. The opponents alternated between help-and-recover or switching, but couldn't stop the Duke guards from turning the corner.

The result was either a lane to the basket or a kick to the deep corner for a three point shot. The numbers in this case don't lie. Duke was able to average 15 assists and an effective field goal percentage of 60 percent in these three previous conference wins.

Last night against Maryland, however, the story was different. Maryland was able to handle the high screen and roll and largely prevented the Duke backcourt from turning the corner. As a result, the offense staganated and the Terrapins pushed the Blue Devils the length of the shot clock on several possessions. Against Maryland, Duke only recorded 9 assists on 29 made baskets, or an assist on only 12 percent of its total possessions.

To be fair, Duke did have four players in double figures: McRoberts (10), Paulus (20), Nelson (17), and Scheyer (10). Yet McRoberts and Scheyer finished a combined 8-22 from the floor. Paulus with his three pointers and Nelson with aggressive penetration were all that was keeping Duke in it.

When Duke did get penetration, and I'm primarily referring to Nelson here, Maryland's bigs were not very good at rotating in the first half. The bigs have to rotate to challenge the shots since the rest of the perimeter defense is (rightly) hugging their man to prevent the three point kick-out. Gary Williams noted this walking off the floor at halftime. The bigs must have gotten the message because Gist and Ibekwe were more aggressive in shot blocking in the second half.

While Paulus's recent offensive explosion is a welcome sign, I'd bet Coach K isn't thrilled with his point guard leading the team in scoring. The point in Coach K's system is build to be a distributor first and a scorer second. Balance is the key from Paulus. Too much offense from him is a sign the rest of the offense may not be working.

On the other end of the floor, Maryland was able to get whatever it wanted when patient enough. Vasquez did his best Magic imitation recording a near triple-double with 13 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds. Mike Jones provided the outside range -- 25 points on 4-5 from three -- while Strawberry slashed the lane for 17 points. Strawberry was also excellent at cherry-picking the defensive glass, drifting upcourt and getting early offense. Finally, Ibekwe provided the inside balance with a very quiet but effective 17 points on a variety of dunks, putbacks, and jump-hooks.

In contrast to Duke's 9 assists, Maryland recorded 25 assists on 33 made baskets. 'Nuff said.

Maryland is now 23-7 overall and 9-6 in conference. The Terrapins have an outside chance of sneaking into the top four slots in conference which would give them a bye in the ACC Conference Tournament. Duke drops to 8-7 in conference and 22-8 overall.