Maryland is such a challenge for us and what I’ve seen in the last few years is that they have such great spacing and the pick and roll is just a constant part of their offense and we get eaten up. I guess it starts with their guards who can penetrate but it’s also the rest of the team with multiple guys either cutting towards the rim or popping out for the 3 point shot.
We know how to pop out for the 3 point shot but our offense stalls when that’s all we do is pass it around the horn without the cutters. Maybe our guards can’t beat the defender so we settle for the perimeter offense but I think they can and that’s where Geo and Caleb have to improve. And be prepared for that on defense. Maryland’s big guys are long and lean and just attack the rim. We have to do the same and hit our free throws. Eugene can’t settle for fade away jumpers as there are better shots. He needs to get back to using his body to get closer to the basket where he can use the glass or get free. There’s no point is taking a bad shot. Kick it back out and readjust your positioning..... please.
And Geo’s 3 pointers fall when he’s moving towards the basket. A lot of his misses are short so if he’s following through and moving forward, he’s going hit many more shots.
I don’t know how Pikiells heart can handle these games. I’m nervous and it’s still Thursday. This would be a very big win for us on Saturday but we need everything to go right. There’s zero margin for error against this level of competition. We are getting better players but we are still very young and Maryland has more talent. We need to outplay them, create turnovers and the crowd needs to get in their heads. Hate to say it but that’s all part of college basketball.
We know how to pop out for the 3 point shot but our offense stalls when that’s all we do is pass it around the horn without the cutters. Maybe our guards can’t beat the defender so we settle for the perimeter offense but I think they can and that’s where Geo and Caleb have to improve. And be prepared for that on defense. Maryland’s big guys are long and lean and just attack the rim. We have to do the same and hit our free throws. Eugene can’t settle for fade away jumpers as there are better shots. He needs to get back to using his body to get closer to the basket where he can use the glass or get free. There’s no point is taking a bad shot. Kick it back out and readjust your positioning..... please.
And Geo’s 3 pointers fall when he’s moving towards the basket. A lot of his misses are short so if he’s following through and moving forward, he’s going hit many more shots.
I don’t know how Pikiells heart can handle these games. I’m nervous and it’s still Thursday. This would be a very big win for us on Saturday but we need everything to go right. There’s zero margin for error against this level of competition. We are getting better players but we are still very young and Maryland has more talent. We need to outplay them, create turnovers and the crowd needs to get in their heads. Hate to say it but that’s all part of college basketball.