Maryland Basketball

[BASON]

Maryland vs Illinois

Opening conference game at home for the Terps. They had to play their home game against Illinois last year at MSG and the Terps were terrible. This is going to be a good test for the Terps for 2 reasons. One, Illinois is athletic and likes to run so the whole game could be at a pace the Terps say they prefer. Two, and more importantly, Illinois is the first team that can match Maryland's size and the first team that has a real post presence. Cockburn is a 7'0" freshman who can play and leads the team in scoring and rebounding. Last year Maryland had Fernandez to play defense against the team's best big man, but this year is still a question mark. Smith is 6'10" but he has not yet proven he can handle a big man in the post and the freshman remain untested, so this is going to be a big test for Maryland's defense. Overall, I think the Terps are the better team, but I am expecting yet another slow start, and unlike Notre Dame, Illinois matches up with the Terps better than anyone so far this season, so I think they can score. As such, the play is:

Illinois +6 FH

Maryland has gotten away with very slow starts and turning it on in the last 5 minutes of the half because of their defense. They may not be so lucky today against a team that can score and can match their size and athleticism. As always, will be looking for a second half play based on the FH.


Bonus Play: Wisconsin Pk - 16 straight over Indiana at home, the trend is your friend. Also Indiana's first road game. Wisky has been losing on the road, but I expect a strong home effort.

 

[BASON]

Easy money. Maryland is just a disaster of a FH team on offense. Cowan nonexistent, bad shot after bad shot and the big men can not finish. This is why Maryland supporters are so frustrated with Turgeon. You can not beat good teams playing like this every game in the FH. When it happens every game it is on the coach.

I am sure MD will play much better and there will be points in the second half, but I ended up playing this rather big so I am taking the money and laying off the second half.

 

[BASON]

Maryland vs Penn State

First real road game of the season for Maryland. They got throttled at Penn State last year and were losing 42-20 at the half. Maryland is just a poor first half team and it is going to catch up with them at some point. They will not be able to make these big second half comebacks on the road. Penn State just got crushed by Ohio State who looks like the best team in the conference. I hate to sound repetitive but I see no reason why Maryland will be better in the first half on the road. Penn State will compete and can rebound, which is starting to show as a weakness of this Maryland team. Maryland is 10-0 because of their defense, period! Penn State is also a strong defensive team. This will likely be an ugly game, and I have to stick with the go-to bet:

Penn State +.5 FH

Just can not find any reason to stay away from this until Maryland starts improving offensively in the first half. They have been bad from 3 point land and they just keep chucking it. They miss Fernando in the post because Smith is just not a post player. He and Mitchell are having serious issues finishing in the paint. Turgeon is all about defense and his team has yet to get it together on offense. Unless they shoot really well tonight, they may finally dig a hole they can not get out of.

 

[indy]

Bason???..

BOL with your action tonight...?...indy

 

[T]

Maryland vs Penn State

First real road game of the season for Maryland. They got throttled at Penn State last year and were losing 42-20 at the half. Maryland is just a poor first half team and it is going to catch up with them at some point. They will not be able to make these big second half comebacks on the road. Penn State just got crushed by Ohio State who looks like the best team in the conference. I hate to sound repetitive but I see no reason why Maryland will be better in the first half on the road. Penn State will compete and can rebound, which is starting to show as a weakness of this Maryland team. Maryland is 10-0 because of their defense, period! Penn State is also a strong defensive team. This will likely be an ugly game, and I have to stick with the go-to bet:

Penn State +.5 FH

Just can not find any reason to stay away from this until Maryland starts improving offensively in the first half. They have been bad from 3 point land and they just keep chucking it. They miss Fernando in the post because Smith is just not a post player. He and Mitchell are having serious issues finishing in the paint. Turgeon is all about defense and his team has yet to get it together on offense. Unless they shoot really well tonight, they may finally dig a hole they can not get out of.

THANK YOU BASON! HAMMERED THE 1H FOR A DIME!

 

[njsammy]

Nice call .. continued success

 

[BASON]

Thanks boys, I hit it hard also and need it after a piss poor day on the pitch.

Not playing the SH, I think MD is headed towards a much deserved loss. They need a wake up call. This team definitely has some work to do.

 

[BASON]

Maryland vs Seton Hall

I think this game is going to be a pass. Maryland has had a long lay off and Seton Hall has serious injury concerns. Over 40% of their scoring is out and that is very hard to replace. My guess is Maryland will be slow to start once again but may play better on the road than they would at home. SH does not have the inside game to hurt MD either, which is their defensive weakness right now. Maryland typically excels against perimeter oriented teams given their length and defensive strengths. I think Maryland's depth will likely wear SH out in the second half and Maryland should cover this game, but it all assumes that they shoot the ball well which they have failed to do most of the season. Just too many injuries for SH to bet them in this game and I do not trust Maryland on offense yet, so better just to watch and sit this one out.

 

[boilermaker]

Maryland vs Seton Hall

I think this game is going to be a pass. Maryland has had a long lay off and Seton Hall has serious injury concerns. Over 40% of their scoring is out and that is very hard to replace. My guess is Maryland will be slow to start once again but may play better on the road than they would at home. SH does not have the inside game to hurt MD either, which is their defensive weakness right now. Maryland typically excels against perimeter oriented teams given their length and defensive strengths. I think Maryland's depth will likely wear SH out in the second half and Maryland should cover this game, but it all assumes that they shoot the ball well which they have failed to do most of the season. Just too many injuries for SH to bet them in this game and I do not trust Maryland on offense yet, so better just to watch and sit this one out.

I was leaning to the under. What's your opinion?

 

[BASON]

If I had to play a total it would be the FH Under. Looks like the Under is getting hit hard due to the SH injuries. Hard to see MD getting off to a big start given the lay off. I could see the second half getting a little out of hand though which makes me skeptical of the under for the game. Maryland has had a lot of high scoring second halves.

I will watch the FH and see if I think there is a play for the second half. Just too many question marks in this one for me.

 

[BASON]

Chol Marial is supposed to be available for this game. Will be interesting to see if he plays. He is a 7'2" freshman that was once considered the #1 recruit in the country. He has had a lot of injury issues and is coming off surgery on both legs for stress fractures. It has been a while since he has played, but he is a player who could help them down the road. From what I have heard he is not your typical 7" stiff and he has an offensive game out to the 3-point line.

 

[BASON]

At least Maryland is consistent. I do not know what the hell Turgeon did with all this time off but they certainly did not work on their offense or picking up the pace in the first half. They may be the worst first 10 minute offense team in basketball. Starts to get hard to understand. At some point you just have to blame the coaching staff. All they do it throw up 3's and they have zero post presence. If they can not figure out how to use Smith on offense, if the freshman do not get better in the post, and if Cowan can not figure out how to play the first half, they are going to lose to all the better teams in conference. So far they show absolutely no improvement at all. They are only 10-1 because they have not played anyone. I gave them too much credit. My high school team could have beaten them in this FH.

If this goes the same as the rest of the season, MD would be the play in the SH, but I am not playing it.

 

[BASON]

Lots going on in Maryland. The Mitchell twins have decided to transfer. There are a lot of rumors as to why, but the truth is that they were not as good as advertised and were going to play less and less, especially with Marial getting healthy. Turgeon is a defense first coach and these two do not want to play defense. They have a history of flipping schools and the word is that the coaching staff is happy they are leaving. Another rumor is that they were failing out anyway. In the end, I really do not think it matters that much. They have Lindo and Tomaic who can give them minutes and hopefully Marial can stay healthy and play.

Also, Maryland has other fish to fry after their horrendous performance against Seton Hall. Maybe the twins were a distraction and this team finally comes together. I do not know much Bryant but they do appear to be a decent defensive team, so with Maryland's terrible shooting they could give them some fits.

I do not think Maryland should be laying 21.5 points to any team right now so I am just laying off this game. I want to see if the Seton Hall loss or the transfers have any effect on this team. I keep thinking that they will finally play a first half, shoot the ball better or be able to execute at all on offense in the half court, but until I see it, they are a tough team to bet on.

 

[shawn555]

Lots going on in Maryland. The Mitchell twins have decided to transfer. There are a lot of rumors as to why, but the truth is that they were not as good as advertised and were going to play less and less, especially with Marial getting healthy. Turgeon is a defense first coach and these two do not want to play defense. They have a history of flipping schools and the word is that the coaching staff is happy they are leaving. Another rumor is that they were failing out anyway. In the end, I really do not think it matters that much. They have Lindo and Tomaic who can give them minutes and hopefully Marial can stay healthy and play.

Also, Maryland has other fish to fry after their horrendous performance against Seton Hall. Maybe the twins were a distraction and this team finally comes together. I do not know much Bryant but they do appear to be a decent defensive team, so with Maryland's terrible shooting they could give them some fits.

I do not think Maryland should be laying 21.5 points to any team right now so I am just laying off this game. I want to see if the Seton Hall loss or the transfers have any effect on this team. I keep thinking that they will finally play a first half, shoot the ball better or be able to execute at all on offense in the half court, but until I see it, they are a tough team to bet on.

I was looking at the over in this one.

Think Turg is forced into playing smaller lineups with the twins gone and hopefully they press more on defense. His halfcourt offenses have always stunk and it drives me nuts he does not press more like Gary did.

Bryant is 39th in pace.

 

[BASON]

Decent pace to the game and Maryland shooting a little better, especially from 3.

You can see that they definitely have been practicing offensive sets with Marial in the game. With him in the post it opens up the lane, allows Smith to play more mid-range and gives them an inside/outside option. He has already made them better on offense, much better than with Mitchell.

Maryland should run away with this in the second half.

 

[BASON]

Maryland vs Indiana
-7/139

Indiana comes into this game 11-2. They have greatly benefitted from home cooking as they have played only one, yes only one, true road game and they got rolled by Wisconsin (which I posted as a bonus play). They are not as good as their record indicates. Freshman Jackson-Davis is the key player and the whole offense revolves around him. This is the type of player that could give Maryland some problems though. I have said all year that teams with some strength inside present some issues for Maryland, because even though Smith is 6'10", he is not really a post player. Indiana also has Smith inside so I think they will give Maryland some problems in the paint. Marial should play some more minutes today and I really think he is Maryland's X factor for the season. He is huge but his is not a stiff. He can move well for his size and has some offensive game. He changes the Maryland offense significantly and gives them a defensive presence in the post. His minutes are limited for now, but he has been working with the primary rotation and he will play meaningful minutes. I really liked the way the offense played with him in the lineup in their last game. His presence frees Smith from the post, gives them an inside/outside game and really changes the way they play, so it is like they are a slightly different team than when they started the year which is a big deal because the Mitchell twins, especially Mikhel, were supposed to be big impact players. Maryland shot the ball significantly better in their last game, especially from 3, but it was against Bryant which is a notch below conference competition. I do think there is a slight different air with this team now that the twins have left and I have some confidence they will start to play better, but still not confident enough to lay the points, so I am playing:

Maryland Ov 139

The over is always a risk with Maryland given their hideous starts. I have had better luck just playing the second half overs, but I will not be around to do that today so I am going with the over for the game. Indiana should get some easy points in the paint and I am hoping Maryland's 3 point shooting continues to improve. If so, this game should get in the 70's for each team.

 

[BASON]

Maryland vs Ohio State
2.5/134

Not much time today. This is the best team MD has played this season. Wesson presents problems for Maryland in the paint. OSU is a 3-point shooting team that has had a few off games lately and MD plays strong perimeter defense, so with Maryland's shooting woes, this could be an ugly game. This is a huge game for MD in my opinion to prove they belong. They were over hyped and ranked to begin the season and this is their chance to have a marquee win. BUT,

OSU +3 -120

is my play. Both teams are strong defensively, so I have to give the edge to better team in the paint especially since MD will likely struggle to score.

 

[BASON]

Maryland vs Wisconsin

Keeping this very, very simple,

Wisconsin -3

No way I am playing Maryland on the road against a team that can play defense. This game will be very ugly and you simply can not trust the MD offense to perform at all. Turgeon may be the only coach in the country that makes his players worse offensively as they stay in his system.

 

[TouchdownJesus]

I'm w you Bason but took the moneyline instead. My line was down to 2 1/2 so I decided to just take the ML.

I've also got Duke -10.

Good luck to us!!

 

[BASON]

Stayed out of here for a while I was not posting well. May be jinxing it, but I have been doing really well with their games the last month so will give it another shot as they have a big one today.

Michigan State -7

I used to play these lines without hesitation. Unranked favorite over a highly ranked team. Plus, this one just looks inflated. Based on recent play, no way State should be a 7 point favorite. Yes, MD can struggle on the road and they have struggled at State. Yes, this is a massive game for State at home against the leader in the conference. I thought this would be State by 2 or 3. Maryland is one of the best defensive teams in the country and matches up well in this game. Whether they can shoot the ball well is another story. Wiggins or Ayala has to step up and have a great scoring game if they are going to win as they will focus on Cowan and Smith. Maryland's confidence is on the rise and I think they will handle themselves much better here than they did last year.

Michigan State -3.5 FH

though is my play. Unless Maryland comes out of the gate on fire from 3, they will likely get behind in this game early as that is their m.o. The energy from the crowd, home court, etc. should carry State in the fist half so I like them to cover the half. Not so sure for the game though as MD is a great second half team. Lots has to go right for Maryland to win this game, but they are more than capable and it is tough to trust State for the whole game.