80sballboy wrote:Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Ruzious wrote:Smo and Layman playing together means no interior defense and no rebounding.
Ruzious, you beat me to it.
Layman disappointed the heck out of me. He and Smotryz were flat-footed on defense. They caused two or three of Dodd's fouls by failing to cover their man. Their defense was lousy. Dodd fouled trying to stop guys at the rim who Layman and Smotryz should have been checking.
One of them took a horrible 10 ft shot--neither Wells nor Trimble touched the ball, and nobody was in position to rebound. That quick shot and miss led to the break away and subsequent flagrant foul, yet another dumb play. I am glad Smotryz will graduate. He is not a good player.
Aside from that, it was a sweet first half. It's hard to beat the same team three straight.
I hope the Spartans end up in Maryland’s bracket. Despite the loss I think Maryland is the better team.
Maryland was due to lose. I don't blame it on Smot, because he sucks. He's got no talent and shouldn't be playing meaningful minutes. Turge got a lot from a team this year with no post play. Dodd is a clumsy foul machine, Cekovsky is green as grass and Graham is undersized with not great hands. Layman is really a small forward he moved to the 4 because he had no other choice. He's weak but my bigger problem with Layman is he has no game. No dribble drive. No real post up unless he plays the 3 and his jump shot has left him. He's the bigger disappointment than Smot, who has no athletic ability. At least he tries and has heart. Layman has none.
As for this team, they'll go as far as Wells can take them. As good as Trimble is, if he's not getting the calls going to the basket, he can't explode by or over people. He's more quick than fast. Love him but the more you see him, the more you see the weaknesses (defense). I've probably watched him 20 times this year. Wells has impressed me but he's not a great shooter. When teams take away the drive and Izzo is a great coach, he's not as effective.
But as a fan for 40 years, I'm hopeful that this team can get a good draw and get to the Sweet 16. That would be fine for a team with a hole in the middle. That will change next year with Robert Carter coming in from Georgia Tech. He's a beast and that will open up for Trimble, Nickens, Wiley and Layman.
Great post, 80sballboy.
I agree with you on Smotryz. He gives you what he's got. I am not blaming him for the loss.
Also, I agree with you on Turgeon. This coaching staff has gotten the most out of a team that I can ever recall. Turgeon has quieted his critics. With Carter coming up the future looks bright.
80s, once again, l agree with you this time on Melo Trimble. He doesn't go over or by people. He generally crosses them up with a very quick move and once he has them off balance, Melo creates contact with his dribble drive. The secrets to his success are his handle and his strong shoulders. He kind of plows through people at this level.
I wonder how Melo's skillset will translate to the next level?
80sballboy, it was around 1974 when my dad took me to watch my first Maryland game. John Lucas, Tom McMillan, Len Elmore, Mo Howard, Tom Roy, the late Owen Brown, and Jap Trimble (
Is he related to Romelo?) were all playing for Lefty Driesell. I'm also a 40 - year fan. This is as enjoyable as any time other than the Final Four and championship teams of 2001 and 2002.
This team is not nearly as talented but it plays really well together. I hope they do get a good NCAA draw. I expect they're going to be a #4 seed.
