The
plot line was fairly clear for this match up. Gary Williams wanted to see his
young team tested by the older, bigger, more experienced players of Roanoke’s
NBDL team. The Dazzle, one of six members of the NBA’s development league,
had three players suit up that had been out of college playing in various professional
leagues for at least five seasons.
Roanoke also had size like no other team
Maryland will play this season. Four players on their roster measured 6’ 10” or
taller, led by the 7’ 2” 300
pound Chris Christoffersen (the fans really enjoyed his Johnny Cash tribute
at halftime) and 6’ 11’ Mikki Moore.
Apparently no one bothered
to read the script.
The Dazzle, who opened camp on November 8, began the game
as if they had just met. At the 11:32 mark of the first half, Roanoke had made
only 2 of 11 shots
and committed 10 turnovers, at least half of them unforced. Maryland took advantage
of this ineptness to lead 25-10, and built their advantage to 35-17 with 4:00
left in the half. In a scene similar to the Terps’ first exhibition game,
Maryland allowed their opponent to muster a spurt just before halftime. A 10-0
run by the Dazzle helped cut the Terps’ halftime margin to 38-30.
Hopefully
parents with aspiring young basketball players led their offspring away from
the television set during an ugly, ugly first half. The teams combined
for 29 turnovers and combined to make only 21 of 66 shots (31.8%). Did I mention
it was ugly?
John Gilchrist was the only consistent scoring threat on the floor,
totaling 11 points on a combination of strong drives and floating jump shots
in the
lane. He demonstrated his quickness with the ball a couple of times by nearly
breaking
the ankles of his defender on crossover moves that led to open shots.
It was
obvious Coach Gary Williams suggested to his players at halftime that it would
behoove them to work the ball inside. Jamar Smith in particular took
that to heart, scoring 7 quick points on a dunk, two short jumpers, and a free
throw. Chris McCray and Gilchrist also added layups that extended the Terps’ lead
to 51-42 with 14:25 to play.
Then the Dazzle’s shots started falling.
Someone must have left a window open because Curtis Staples started raining
threes. Yes, THAT Curtis Staples
who was the long-range bomber for Virginia in the late ‘90’s. Staples
knocked down 4 of 6 threes and scored 14 points in the second half to lead
Roanoke’s
comeback. He led all scorers for the game with 20 points.
The Dazzle outscored
Maryland 34-12 over a frustrating 11:55 stretch to build an insurmountable
76-63 lead with 2:29 to play. Roanoke’s players demonstrated
their experience by not panicking after their horrendous first half. At the
offensive end, they found the open man who often made the shot (59% in the
second half).
On defense, they controlled the lane and gave Maryland’s guards no open
lanes through which to pass the ball.
The Terps were slow rotating over to cover
the open three-point shooters and, when they tried to overplay the perimeter
players, the middle was wide open
for Christofferersen and Moore to throw down dunks or make short jump shots.
The
most surprising statistic was the rebounding total, 45-44 in favor of Maryland.
The Terps pulled down 21 on the offensive boards against a much bigger team.
Travis Garrison led Maryland with a strong 12-rebound effort.
Jamar Smith led
the Terps in scoring with 19 points, but made only 7 of 17 shots. Gilchrist
added 16 points, and no other Terrapin was in double figures.
Maryland made
only 35% of their shots for the game and, even more disturbing, committed 18
turnovers while handing out only 10 assists. Gilchrist was frustrated
by this after the game, saying “There were times I was unprepared for
things to happen, and they capitalized on it.”
No player had a more drastic
turnaround from the Terps’ first exhibition
outing than Nik Caner-Medley. After being the best player on the court in the
opener, Caner-Medley committed six turnovers and scored only eight points against
Roanoke. He summed up the feelings of his teammates in a quiet locker room
after the game by saying, “It’s all a learning experience.”
Coach
Williams was not happy with the execution of the Terps’ half-court
offense. He said after the game “We have to get the ball inside and then
score when we do. We weren’t really willing to work to get the ball inside.
We thought we could win with jump shots. We made a couple early and probably
thought it would stay that way.”
Williams was also quick to put this loss
in perspective, “There’s
nobody upset or worried. It’s an exhibition game. You couldn’t
do better than this game to learn some things. It was good for us. It pointed
out
some things for us to work on.”
Williams reminded everyone that, “This
is a work in progress. We’re
trying to get some things down that were automatic two years ago.”
Putting
that another way, patience is a virtue that Maryland fans may need during the
early portion of the 2003-03 season.
Notes from Under the Shell:
There were other familiar faces on the Roanoke
roster; Adam Hall, who completed his eligibility at Virginia in 2002, and Mike King, who played at George Washington
through 2001. Hall scored eight points and King added seven.
Johnny Holliday
will provide the play-by-play for Maryland football games at NC State and Wake Forest the next two Saturday afternoons, so Chick Hernandez
of Comcast Sports Net will join Chris Knoche on the basketball radio broadcasts.
Coach
Williams opened his post-game remarks by saying “Should have scheduled
an AAU team and given them $25,000 like some other schools I know.” This
appeared to be a thinly veiled reference to Connecticut’s game with the
AAU Baltimore Ballers, a game the Huskies won 102-44. This was Rudy Gay’s
AAU team, and the fact that Connecticut made such a beneficial deal with the
Ballers at the same time they were successfully recruiting Gay reeks of impropriety.
Kudos to Williams for not selling out his and the program’s integrity
in such a manner.
Please post any questions or comments you have on the bulletin
board or send to my at terpwriter@aol.com
Photos courtesy: (AP Photo/Nick Wass)