The Great Greivis Vasquez
The Terps pulled out a tough 89-74 overtime home win last night with timely defense, a smooth offense, and great decision-making down the stretch. With all of that, you would think the opponent was a tournament-tested squad with visions of dancing in its head.
Or, the opponent could have been Vermont.
Playing down to the competition aside, the Terps were bailed out by their trusted general, Greivis Vasquez. He hit the three-pointer that sent the game into overtime, and he led the OT scoring charge that put the game out of reach for the Catamounts. He finished with 26 points in 42 minutes, and was the late game hero for a team searching for an offensive identity.
Sure, he had as many turnovers as he had assists, and it took him 19 shots to get to 26 points. It get’s like that sometimes in the ACC, you know? Wait, this was against Vermont, wasn’t it?
Oh boy.
In a sign of trouble rising for the Terps, Gary Williams and company were stifled by a zone defense that clamped down on the interior and forced the Terps to take their chances from beyond the line. Interestingly enough, the Terps hit on 42 percent from deep, including two late-game bombs from back-up center Dave Neal.
Now I know what you’re thinking, Dave Neal sounds more like someone who should be calling the game for Comcast Sports than coming off the bench for big threes. But that leads to their second problem, the inconsistency of Braxton Dupree, who finished with six rebounds, three turnovers, two fouls and zero points in eight minutes.
Sounds like someone’s psyche is broken, doesn’t it?
And speaking of broken, how did the Terps let a 6′5″ forward get loose on them? Vermont’s Marqus Blakely finished the game with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Now, if it was Charles Barkley or Adrian Dantley, perhaps this would be acceptable. But I don’t really see Blakely getting any T-Mobile Fave Five spots anytime soon, so its not.
But, I won’t take away too much from the Terps big win, if this is what big wins are made of in College Park these days. The Terps have the Old Spice Classic to look forward to, in which they’ll face some programs of promise, but they really need to be on the lookout for their stretch of games in December, in which Delaware State, American University, Charlotte and Morgan State will come calling. If Vermont made them work hard, the other mid-majors have even more in store in College Park this winter.
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