Nittany Tar Heel
01-07-2005, 02:40 PM
Terpies....tell me if this sounds about right to you guys....
Offensive Schemes: Maryland likes to run all kinds of quick hitting entry plays either out of 1-4 high sets, 1-4 low set or box sets. When they run stuff out of the 1-4 low set they tend to run a lot of screen down on both sides for the 2 and 3 men to either pop out off of and or curl around the down screen into the middle of the key area. What they do depends upon what hand signal is given and which side they go to. When they use the 1-4 high set you see a lot of UCLA cuts from Gilchrist into a diagonal back pick for the opposite side high post man then a pick for Gilchrist from the post man he just cut off of. A lot of pick the picker stuff gets run out of both the 1-4 high set and the box set. You also get a lot of double pick away stuff when the ball goes to the wing either in the 1-4 low or 1-4 high set.
Once again you will see Maryland run as their primary continuity offense the Flex. Also once again, you will see a team poorly staffed to run such an offense. A lot of the guys on this Maryland team, with the exception of Caner-Medley, Strawberry and Fofana are not particularly ideal flex players. The rest of the Maryland squad does better with better spacing and more extended movement outside of flex's very rigid two cuts. It certainly puts a huge damper on what Michael Jones and Ibekwe can do in the half court.
The primary mode of scoring for this Maryland team has been and will be for the foreseeable future in transition. Whether it be in the fast break or delayed break, this Maryland team needs to score easy buckets in transition in order for it to be offensively efficient. Strawberry, Ibekwe, Caner-Medley, Garrison and even McCray are not good enough shooters to get caught up in counter punching in the half court game. Garrison can go inside but Ibekwe seems to be a small forward caught in a power forward's body and is a bit of a tweener for his skill set.
A lot of teams have been zoning Maryland over the course of the past year and half and I expect that teams that don't match up well with Maryland and or can play a pretty good zone will continue to do so against the Terps. Maryland continues to struggle against zone as much because they don't understand how to attack the zone as because they lack several quality shooters. Jones and Gilchrist are capable and Caner-Medley and McCray should and could be better from the outside. But Jones does not see a lot of consistent, lengthy minutes and Gilchrist is really trying to be a pass first point guard. Maryland's zone offense usually ends up making life very easy on zones because it seems to put Maryland's players in the same spots that the zone defender is in or is about to be in when one pass or more away. I am not really sure what any of it accomplishes either then to force long and or difficult shots as the clock winds down.
Defensive Schemes: Maryland will be, as usual, a pretty decent defensive team on the whole, though they are not as adept down low and especially vulnerable with McCray and Ibekwe, who are to slow and two small respectively to guard many of the guys they are asked to guard. Still, as a team Maryland is still very adept at looking out for its own and Gilchrist is very capable in the half court. Caner-Medley, Strawberry, and Gilchrist are all very good in the half court and in the front part of the press at getting their hands and fingertips on passes and deflecting them. If you get sloppy or lazy with the ball they will take it from you and score on you in transition. Strawberry loves to take risks and is also prone to getting burned with ball fakes and on backdoors. His forte is defense and he knows that is why he plays.
Look for Maryland to put pressure on you from the moment the ball comes in either via the man-to-man press or ¾ court 1-2-2-zone press. One of the things, however, that can at times plague the Terps is that they stay in the zone press two to four possessions to many and end up giving up buckets and fouls in it.
Players:
22- Caner-Medley - A tough kid who at times disappears when the Terps need him to come through. Still a guy who can do a little of everything decently, but nothing very well. Not a real consistent shooter but very good in transition, like most of the Terps a guy you must keep off the offensive glass.
4- Garrison - Travis is a guy who came in with all of the hype and still has not completely lived up to it. He is capable around the basket and can shoot it out to the 15-foot mark. Not particularly ferocious on the boards, Garrison is a guy who needs to use is feet more inside the paint to get himself into the right position. He is however, the kind of player that can easily slip off the radar and score 16 or more very unexpected and important points on you.
11- Gilchrist - The heart and soul of this team, here is a guy who in his freshmen season showed flashes both good and bad and last year really stepped up and become one of the best point guards in the ACC. He is still one of the few consistent offensive threats the Terps have from the perimeter and often ends up having to shoot more then he would like to but does in order for Maryland to have a chance to win. A strong defender who is very good at getting out in the passing lanes and or getting his fingertips on lazy or sloppy passes.
25- Ibekwe - A kid with a world of talent but no natural position at this point. He is capable of driving the ball from the top of the key or catching the ball in the break and taking off from a few steps inside the free throw line and dunking it, but in the half court he often looks lost. He is not a real consistent shooter and he does not really possess any real solid post moves. He has the body of a four but seemingly wants to be a three. Defensively he is also caught in the middle because he cannot really bang with a big four man and is not quick enough to guard many of the small forwards out there. A guy who really needs to be in a fast break to be most effective.
13- McCray - Chris is a hard-nosed kid who sort of wills things to go his way it seems at time. Not really a great shooter from deep, though he is very capable in that mid-range area, he makes a lot of things happen out of shear hustle. Not overly quick defensively he also makes up for that with hustle and smarts on the defensive end. He is very long and also loves to use his arms to get into the passing lanes and deflect away passes. He is one of the guys, like Caner-Medley, more suited to the flex offense then others.
15- Gist - A freshmen that has come in right away and played significant minutes and proven himself to be very talented and very capable in Gary Williams's system. Another guy who is long and capable in the pressing style Coach Williams likes to play. Still raw on the offensive end at times, the energy and potential is there.
5- Strawberry - A kid who plays with all heart and is Maryland's defensive stopper. A great team player that does whatever is asked of him to help his team win. Still not very capable offensively, he is best when Maryland can run the flex and get him in closer to shoot the ball. Not very capable or useful against zones however.
23- Jones - The mystery player on this Maryland squad. He has more talent then probably anyone on this team and has shown he is the most capable shooter of anyone on the team but neither sees the minutes or the ball. Not sure if he is not capable of understanding Coach Williams system or whether or not he does not play good enough defense for Coach Williams or whether or not he and Coach Williams simply don't get along. Not sure but it has to be one of the three because he has what Maryland so desperately needs in an outside shot. One thing about him though is that Maryland has to do things to get him the ball and as of right now that has not been much of a priority.
31- Blowers - Big Will is still a project but coming, slowly but surely. He takes up space inside and as the saying goes you cannot teach seven feet one inch. He allows the wings of Maryland to take a few more chances because he will plug up the middle by just putting his arms up.
44- Fofana - Another wide body project who could probably stand to shed a few pounds to help with his mobility, still he is wide and somewhat capable offensively when he gets the ball on the low blocks. He certainly is a load to contend with on either end.
Keys to the Game: This is a game for Carolina where constant going up and down the court may not necessarily be a good thing. Carolina needs to break, but it needs to be situational. Maryland does not want to play a half court game and they especially don't want to play against the zone in the half court. When Strawberry is in, Carolina can basically play 5 on 4 with his man floating in the middle, just make sure when the ball goes up you find him and block him out. Playing behind the big men for Maryland is also not a bad idea but make sure you don't bail them out with cheap fouls. Containing Gilchrist and slowing Maryland down offensively with good transition defense and not turning the ball over against Maryland's press and half court defense are the keys.
Offensive Schemes: Maryland likes to run all kinds of quick hitting entry plays either out of 1-4 high sets, 1-4 low set or box sets. When they run stuff out of the 1-4 low set they tend to run a lot of screen down on both sides for the 2 and 3 men to either pop out off of and or curl around the down screen into the middle of the key area. What they do depends upon what hand signal is given and which side they go to. When they use the 1-4 high set you see a lot of UCLA cuts from Gilchrist into a diagonal back pick for the opposite side high post man then a pick for Gilchrist from the post man he just cut off of. A lot of pick the picker stuff gets run out of both the 1-4 high set and the box set. You also get a lot of double pick away stuff when the ball goes to the wing either in the 1-4 low or 1-4 high set.
Once again you will see Maryland run as their primary continuity offense the Flex. Also once again, you will see a team poorly staffed to run such an offense. A lot of the guys on this Maryland team, with the exception of Caner-Medley, Strawberry and Fofana are not particularly ideal flex players. The rest of the Maryland squad does better with better spacing and more extended movement outside of flex's very rigid two cuts. It certainly puts a huge damper on what Michael Jones and Ibekwe can do in the half court.
The primary mode of scoring for this Maryland team has been and will be for the foreseeable future in transition. Whether it be in the fast break or delayed break, this Maryland team needs to score easy buckets in transition in order for it to be offensively efficient. Strawberry, Ibekwe, Caner-Medley, Garrison and even McCray are not good enough shooters to get caught up in counter punching in the half court game. Garrison can go inside but Ibekwe seems to be a small forward caught in a power forward's body and is a bit of a tweener for his skill set.
A lot of teams have been zoning Maryland over the course of the past year and half and I expect that teams that don't match up well with Maryland and or can play a pretty good zone will continue to do so against the Terps. Maryland continues to struggle against zone as much because they don't understand how to attack the zone as because they lack several quality shooters. Jones and Gilchrist are capable and Caner-Medley and McCray should and could be better from the outside. But Jones does not see a lot of consistent, lengthy minutes and Gilchrist is really trying to be a pass first point guard. Maryland's zone offense usually ends up making life very easy on zones because it seems to put Maryland's players in the same spots that the zone defender is in or is about to be in when one pass or more away. I am not really sure what any of it accomplishes either then to force long and or difficult shots as the clock winds down.
Defensive Schemes: Maryland will be, as usual, a pretty decent defensive team on the whole, though they are not as adept down low and especially vulnerable with McCray and Ibekwe, who are to slow and two small respectively to guard many of the guys they are asked to guard. Still, as a team Maryland is still very adept at looking out for its own and Gilchrist is very capable in the half court. Caner-Medley, Strawberry, and Gilchrist are all very good in the half court and in the front part of the press at getting their hands and fingertips on passes and deflecting them. If you get sloppy or lazy with the ball they will take it from you and score on you in transition. Strawberry loves to take risks and is also prone to getting burned with ball fakes and on backdoors. His forte is defense and he knows that is why he plays.
Look for Maryland to put pressure on you from the moment the ball comes in either via the man-to-man press or ¾ court 1-2-2-zone press. One of the things, however, that can at times plague the Terps is that they stay in the zone press two to four possessions to many and end up giving up buckets and fouls in it.
Players:
22- Caner-Medley - A tough kid who at times disappears when the Terps need him to come through. Still a guy who can do a little of everything decently, but nothing very well. Not a real consistent shooter but very good in transition, like most of the Terps a guy you must keep off the offensive glass.
4- Garrison - Travis is a guy who came in with all of the hype and still has not completely lived up to it. He is capable around the basket and can shoot it out to the 15-foot mark. Not particularly ferocious on the boards, Garrison is a guy who needs to use is feet more inside the paint to get himself into the right position. He is however, the kind of player that can easily slip off the radar and score 16 or more very unexpected and important points on you.
11- Gilchrist - The heart and soul of this team, here is a guy who in his freshmen season showed flashes both good and bad and last year really stepped up and become one of the best point guards in the ACC. He is still one of the few consistent offensive threats the Terps have from the perimeter and often ends up having to shoot more then he would like to but does in order for Maryland to have a chance to win. A strong defender who is very good at getting out in the passing lanes and or getting his fingertips on lazy or sloppy passes.
25- Ibekwe - A kid with a world of talent but no natural position at this point. He is capable of driving the ball from the top of the key or catching the ball in the break and taking off from a few steps inside the free throw line and dunking it, but in the half court he often looks lost. He is not a real consistent shooter and he does not really possess any real solid post moves. He has the body of a four but seemingly wants to be a three. Defensively he is also caught in the middle because he cannot really bang with a big four man and is not quick enough to guard many of the small forwards out there. A guy who really needs to be in a fast break to be most effective.
13- McCray - Chris is a hard-nosed kid who sort of wills things to go his way it seems at time. Not really a great shooter from deep, though he is very capable in that mid-range area, he makes a lot of things happen out of shear hustle. Not overly quick defensively he also makes up for that with hustle and smarts on the defensive end. He is very long and also loves to use his arms to get into the passing lanes and deflect away passes. He is one of the guys, like Caner-Medley, more suited to the flex offense then others.
15- Gist - A freshmen that has come in right away and played significant minutes and proven himself to be very talented and very capable in Gary Williams's system. Another guy who is long and capable in the pressing style Coach Williams likes to play. Still raw on the offensive end at times, the energy and potential is there.
5- Strawberry - A kid who plays with all heart and is Maryland's defensive stopper. A great team player that does whatever is asked of him to help his team win. Still not very capable offensively, he is best when Maryland can run the flex and get him in closer to shoot the ball. Not very capable or useful against zones however.
23- Jones - The mystery player on this Maryland squad. He has more talent then probably anyone on this team and has shown he is the most capable shooter of anyone on the team but neither sees the minutes or the ball. Not sure if he is not capable of understanding Coach Williams system or whether or not he does not play good enough defense for Coach Williams or whether or not he and Coach Williams simply don't get along. Not sure but it has to be one of the three because he has what Maryland so desperately needs in an outside shot. One thing about him though is that Maryland has to do things to get him the ball and as of right now that has not been much of a priority.
31- Blowers - Big Will is still a project but coming, slowly but surely. He takes up space inside and as the saying goes you cannot teach seven feet one inch. He allows the wings of Maryland to take a few more chances because he will plug up the middle by just putting his arms up.
44- Fofana - Another wide body project who could probably stand to shed a few pounds to help with his mobility, still he is wide and somewhat capable offensively when he gets the ball on the low blocks. He certainly is a load to contend with on either end.
Keys to the Game: This is a game for Carolina where constant going up and down the court may not necessarily be a good thing. Carolina needs to break, but it needs to be situational. Maryland does not want to play a half court game and they especially don't want to play against the zone in the half court. When Strawberry is in, Carolina can basically play 5 on 4 with his man floating in the middle, just make sure when the ball goes up you find him and block him out. Playing behind the big men for Maryland is also not a bad idea but make sure you don't bail them out with cheap fouls. Containing Gilchrist and slowing Maryland down offensively with good transition defense and not turning the ball over against Maryland's press and half court defense are the keys.