By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
There is no glamor in defense, the bluest of all blue-collar chores. It demands discipline and attention to detail and a willingness to expend buckets of sweat, and rarely is it rewarded with an appearance on any of those ubiquitous highlight reels. But it does win games. That is an incontrovertible fact, a fact iterated again Saturday night in No. 4 Maryland's 13-point win over the 'Cats. "We were as good defensively as we've been," Terp coach Mark Turgeon would later say.
"I'm sure they missed some shots they normally make. But I just thought defensively we were really, really good. We were disruptive. We talked about that. High hands. I just thought our energy level was great. We had energy defensively and it showed. Things we tried to take away we took away."
"I thought they were really good tonight," Chris Collins would soon echo. "Not that they've been poor, but I thought that was the most determined and best I've seen them defensively all year. They did a great job with their length and athleticism forcing us out of things we like to do."
••••••••••
A year ago, at Maryland, the 'Cats let one slip away, losing at the buzzer after leading by 11 with just 4:46 remaining. But now they were home, and Welsh-Ryan was packed and pulsating, and just behind them was that impressive Wednesday win at Nebraska that had opened the Big Ten portion of their schedule. The Terps, in turn, had looked less-than-impressive in their conference-opening victory over Penn State, and so here the moment was ripe for a rising team to grab off one of those signature wins that would stamp it as a legitimate comer.
"But," Turgeon would later say, "our guys knew they weren't great against Penn State and they wanted to redeem themselves. Plus coming in here, and they're 13-1, and they're undefeated at home, that kind of gets your attention. So we were prepared, we were really prepared mentally. I don't think we knew how good they were last year when we played them. What's happened since they left our place, they've won a lot of games and they had our attention. Our guys like to be challenged and you're coming in, you're playing a team on their home court, they're averaging 80 points a game, great shooters. We didn't really work much on offense. We just worked on trying to guard them."
The Terps guarded, most especially, the three-point shot, which is the calling card of this year's 'Cats. "I thought they were really hugging the shooters," Collins would later say, and that is why his team ended this evening a mere two-of-20 (10 percent) from distance. But that attention also presented pick-and-roll opportunities, opportunities the 'Cats regularly failed to convert through all of this game's first half.
This pattern was established on just their second possession when Tre Demps penetrated the lane and had one of his familiar floaters blocked by the Terps' Robert Carter. Some two minutes later, Bryant McIntosh would drop one of his equally-familiar tear drops. But soon enough Sanjay Lumpkin missed a layup; and Joey van Zegeren turned it over twice down low; and Demps, on a break, had the ball blocked off of him by Maryland's Rasheed Sulaimon. "It was a tough night for Tre," Collins would say of Demps, who ended with just nine points while going four-of-16 from the field.
"What happened was, in the first half they were spending so much attention on our shooters, when we drove in there, we had those little floaters. . .and B-Mac was finishing early, but Tre really wasn't. He had three or four of them, and that's his shot. Then we had some shots blocked. Sanjay had a layup that he didn't make. (Nathan) Taphorn had a layup he didn't make. We had those opportunities to loosen the defense a little bit because they weren't helping as much. If we make those, guess what? They start helping and then all of a sudden our drive and kick game gets better."
"They're very athletic," McIntosh would soon add. "I think they're height and length bothered us a little bit. They were able to reach in on some of the drives and slap at the ball and we fumbled it a little bit and turned it over. We just turned it over too much and that's to their credit. They did a great job defending us."
••••••••••
The 'Cats, after 10 minutes, were down eight after going just three-of-12 from the field (25 percent) and turning it over a half-dozen times. Now their offense would continue to struggle while Maryland's ignited, and at halftime they had only 20 points and were down 20. "I thought their half-court defense was bothering us," Collins later said, recalling his locker room message during the break.
"My opinion was if we could get them on a broken floor before their defense got set, we could get some kick-out threes, some drives to the basket. I thought their half-court defense was really locked in, so we talked about, if we got long rebounds, if we did get a turnover, let's push it and attack early before their defense could get set."
Then, McIntosh would explain, "Their bigs are in transition, so it's harder to corral us. When the ball screen's coming in the half court, they can lock it in. In transition, it's tougher to keep us in front and that opens everything up for everyone else."
The 'Cats did indeed push it now, and through these 20 minutes there were stretches when their offense purred and it appeared as if they just might reel the Terps in. With 12 minutes remaining, they were down 14 after outscoring Maryland by seven over a four-minute stretch. But here Melo Trimble, its star, dropped a cold-blooded three at the end of the shot clock that blunted that flurry. Then again the 'Cats were back to within 14, this time with 8:23 remaining. But, again, the Terps responded, this time with a three from their forward Jake Layman.
The 'Cats, in fact, would never get closer than 14 until the very end, until Scottie Lindsey hit the second of his two free throws with five seconds left, and when it was over they had only 59 points, 21 below their season average. "I thought their defense was really locked in tonight. I was very impressed by the way they defended tonight," Chris Collins then said yet again.
"A lot of times, when you play really good teams, some of your weaknesses get exposed, and I thought they exposed us a little bit with some of the things we have to get better at. I'm excited to watch the film and use it to get better. I said before the game and I mean it, it would have been great to beat Maryland. Certainly it would have been an unbelievable feat. But we can't make this game bigger than what it is.
"It was a great opportunity at home to play one of the elite team in college basketball. We lost the game. Now we've got to move forward to the next one."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
There is no glamor in defense, the bluest of all blue-collar chores. It demands discipline and attention to detail and a willingness to expend buckets of sweat, and rarely is it rewarded with an appearance on any of those ubiquitous highlight reels. But it does win games. That is an incontrovertible fact, a fact iterated again Saturday night in No. 4 Maryland's 13-point win over the 'Cats. "We were as good defensively as we've been," Terp coach Mark Turgeon would later say.
"I'm sure they missed some shots they normally make. But I just thought defensively we were really, really good. We were disruptive. We talked about that. High hands. I just thought our energy level was great. We had energy defensively and it showed. Things we tried to take away we took away."
"I thought they were really good tonight," Chris Collins would soon echo. "Not that they've been poor, but I thought that was the most determined and best I've seen them defensively all year. They did a great job with their length and athleticism forcing us out of things we like to do."
••••••••••
A year ago, at Maryland, the 'Cats let one slip away, losing at the buzzer after leading by 11 with just 4:46 remaining. But now they were home, and Welsh-Ryan was packed and pulsating, and just behind them was that impressive Wednesday win at Nebraska that had opened the Big Ten portion of their schedule. The Terps, in turn, had looked less-than-impressive in their conference-opening victory over Penn State, and so here the moment was ripe for a rising team to grab off one of those signature wins that would stamp it as a legitimate comer.
"But," Turgeon would later say, "our guys knew they weren't great against Penn State and they wanted to redeem themselves. Plus coming in here, and they're 13-1, and they're undefeated at home, that kind of gets your attention. So we were prepared, we were really prepared mentally. I don't think we knew how good they were last year when we played them. What's happened since they left our place, they've won a lot of games and they had our attention. Our guys like to be challenged and you're coming in, you're playing a team on their home court, they're averaging 80 points a game, great shooters. We didn't really work much on offense. We just worked on trying to guard them."
The Terps guarded, most especially, the three-point shot, which is the calling card of this year's 'Cats. "I thought they were really hugging the shooters," Collins would later say, and that is why his team ended this evening a mere two-of-20 (10 percent) from distance. But that attention also presented pick-and-roll opportunities, opportunities the 'Cats regularly failed to convert through all of this game's first half.
This pattern was established on just their second possession when Tre Demps penetrated the lane and had one of his familiar floaters blocked by the Terps' Robert Carter. Some two minutes later, Bryant McIntosh would drop one of his equally-familiar tear drops. But soon enough Sanjay Lumpkin missed a layup; and Joey van Zegeren turned it over twice down low; and Demps, on a break, had the ball blocked off of him by Maryland's Rasheed Sulaimon. "It was a tough night for Tre," Collins would say of Demps, who ended with just nine points while going four-of-16 from the field.
"What happened was, in the first half they were spending so much attention on our shooters, when we drove in there, we had those little floaters. . .and B-Mac was finishing early, but Tre really wasn't. He had three or four of them, and that's his shot. Then we had some shots blocked. Sanjay had a layup that he didn't make. (Nathan) Taphorn had a layup he didn't make. We had those opportunities to loosen the defense a little bit because they weren't helping as much. If we make those, guess what? They start helping and then all of a sudden our drive and kick game gets better."
"They're very athletic," McIntosh would soon add. "I think they're height and length bothered us a little bit. They were able to reach in on some of the drives and slap at the ball and we fumbled it a little bit and turned it over. We just turned it over too much and that's to their credit. They did a great job defending us."
••••••••••
The 'Cats, after 10 minutes, were down eight after going just three-of-12 from the field (25 percent) and turning it over a half-dozen times. Now their offense would continue to struggle while Maryland's ignited, and at halftime they had only 20 points and were down 20. "I thought their half-court defense was bothering us," Collins later said, recalling his locker room message during the break.
"My opinion was if we could get them on a broken floor before their defense got set, we could get some kick-out threes, some drives to the basket. I thought their half-court defense was really locked in, so we talked about, if we got long rebounds, if we did get a turnover, let's push it and attack early before their defense could get set."
Then, McIntosh would explain, "Their bigs are in transition, so it's harder to corral us. When the ball screen's coming in the half court, they can lock it in. In transition, it's tougher to keep us in front and that opens everything up for everyone else."
The 'Cats did indeed push it now, and through these 20 minutes there were stretches when their offense purred and it appeared as if they just might reel the Terps in. With 12 minutes remaining, they were down 14 after outscoring Maryland by seven over a four-minute stretch. But here Melo Trimble, its star, dropped a cold-blooded three at the end of the shot clock that blunted that flurry. Then again the 'Cats were back to within 14, this time with 8:23 remaining. But, again, the Terps responded, this time with a three from their forward Jake Layman.
The 'Cats, in fact, would never get closer than 14 until the very end, until Scottie Lindsey hit the second of his two free throws with five seconds left, and when it was over they had only 59 points, 21 below their season average. "I thought their defense was really locked in tonight. I was very impressed by the way they defended tonight," Chris Collins then said yet again.
"A lot of times, when you play really good teams, some of your weaknesses get exposed, and I thought they exposed us a little bit with some of the things we have to get better at. I'm excited to watch the film and use it to get better. I said before the game and I mean it, it would have been great to beat Maryland. Certainly it would have been an unbelievable feat. But we can't make this game bigger than what it is.
"It was a great opportunity at home to play one of the elite team in college basketball. We lost the game. Now we've got to move forward to the next one."