Maryland

[BASON]

Been waiting for this line. Maryland is a very young team that has a lot of talent and should get better and better as the year goes on. However, they have played no one of any significance, especially on the defensive end. Maryland's shooting stats are skewed as Fernando is shooting 77% from the floor against smaller teams. UVA has size to throw against Fernando and Smith.

I would love to see Maryland win this game and get some attention on the national stage, but I think the UVA defense is going to frustrate the hell out of them. Offensive execution is one of Maryland's biggest issues every year as Turgeon loves to emphasize defense over offense. Maryland will have to be near perfect on offense, especially from three, for the whole game to win this one and I just do not think they are there yet.

We get a favorable line in my opinion as this game is in College Park and some MD money has hit the line early. As such, I am not messing around with the points and making this a good size play:

UVA ML -170

 

[BASON]

Nice win, but have to say that Maryland looked very good. Not many teams in the country they can not beat playing like that and they will continue to get better. UVA only turned the ball over 2 times, yes only 2 times. That is unreal in college hoops. Tony B. is one hell of a basketball coach. UVA/Duke will be a very interesting game, can not wait for that one.

As a MD fan, I am more encouraged than I have been in a long time. Also liked the fact that Turgeon made some second half adjustments which he does not always do. He went smaller to get better on offense and it was effective. Best I have seen Maryland play as a team in a while. Not many teams put 71 up on UVA.

 

[lowell]

Scoring 71 on UVA is like scoring 5 tds versus Bama.

 

[BASON]

Yup, LY they only gave up more than 70 once and that was in their final game massive upset to UMBC!!

 

[BASON]

I think today's game is going to be a great gauge of how Turgeon handles this team. Can they put the UVA game behind them and focus on their first home conference game. In the past, this is definitely the type of game that they would struggle with. It is a very important game as their next one is at Purdue and you do not want to start conference play 0-2.

With the time change it looks like I am going to try and go to the game as I need to be in DC anyway, so I want to have a little action. I think it will be a close game and I was tempted to take the 4.5 points and now see it has jumped to 6.5. Appears to be a reaction to them playing well against UVA and people jumping on the line.

My heart is with Maryland, but this game is always close and Penn State's big man came back against Va Tech and made a big difference. He should at least be able to slow Fernando down. These teams have played 6 times since Maryland has joined the Big Ten and every game has been decided by 6 points or less. While I would love to see Maryland respond well to the UVA game and roll Penn State, I think we see another close game so I will take:

Penn State +7 -120

If I lose, at least I get to see Maryland play a good game!

 

[BASON]

Did not play tonight's game since I wanted to see how this young Maryland team reacted on the road in a tough environment.

This game is the ideal example of what has been wrong with Maryland basketball since Mark Turgeon took over. Absolutely no offensive execution at all, especially when it matters most. The man can recruit and coach defense, but I do not think he has a clue what he is doing offensively. Rarely does any player get better year after year on offense. He had multiple timeouts at the end and never came close to exciting anything that produced a basket. This has been going on since he got there. I keep thinking he will get it together but it is the same old thing year after year. They definitely should have won this game tonight.

 

[BASON]

Tonights game is a very interesting one for Maryland. I see this as a very important game for them especially when you look at their schedule for the next 5 or 6. Winning and gaining momentum moving forward is key for this young team in my opinion. They have not played since Dec. 11 so they should be eager to play. As a MD fan, you have to pray they worked on their offense during the time off. When MD can execute on offense and score they are very hard to beat, but this does not happen that often against good teams under Turgeon.

Both of these teams have benefited from some serious home cooking. This is only the second away game for SH and in the first one against Nebraska they got crushed. On the other hand, they did beat Kentucky at home and Maryland really does not have a signature win yet, and has only played one true road game in a loss to Purdue (a game that they definitely should have won). Both teams rely on guards to lead the way, but I think SH is even more reliant on Powell than MD is on Cowan. After Cowan, MD has length at the guard position and bodies to throw at Powell, so I think they can defend him well. My guess is that this one is won in the paint where I think Maryland has an advantage with Fernando and Smith's all around ability. Big man foul trouble could be key in this one as well as 3 point shooting. Seton Hall is more battle tested so far this year and they played a few days ago. I think the Maryland lay off may hurt them a bit out of the gate so I am playing:

Seton Hall +4.5 FH

Maryland has a tendency to play the FH tight (only up by 4 last game against Loyola-Ch and were losing to Penn State). I can see them struggling to score early so I will take the points in the FH. If they are trailing at the half, I will take a hard look at the second half.

 

[BASON]

Was close but it was a winner.

Same old Maryland. Turgeon is wearing out his welcome with the boosters. He simply can not coach the offensive part of the game. Just watch what they do after offensive timeouts (down three and they set up a Fernando 3, really?). I will leave it at that for today as he continues to exhaust my patience. If he can not improve this team offensively they are going to have a tough time in conference play but it will create some good betting opportunities.

 

[BASON]

Up early this morning so took so time to look at hoops today and found one I like:

Seton Hall -3

I do not understand this line. Sure, St. Johns is undefeated but they have not beaten anyone and barely beat Cal, VCU (OT) and GA Tech at home. They are not a good defensive team and I see them struggling in their first real road test. Seton Hall recently beat Maryland on the road and beat KY at home. They should be able to hurt them with the 3-ball. Maybe I am missing something, but SH should win and cover this game.

I will also put them in a small parlay with Belmont +12. Purdue getting too much credit here in my opinion. Belmont can put points on the board.

 

[BASON]

As for the Maryland game, I am finding nothing that supports them as 11.5 point favorites. Radford is a battle tested road team so far, and while they lose on the road, they have not lost a game by more than 9 points, including a tough game at Clemson. This is also a team that beat Texas on the road as well as ND. Given Maryland's offensive short comings it is hard not to like the points. IF, and this is a big IF, Maryland can simply feed Fernando and Smith, stop Cowan from taking bad shots, they should be able to win easily. Redford is not a big team and most of their scoring comes from their guards. This is an interesting test for Maryland and for Turgeon to see if they can put any kind of cohesive offensive performance together.

I am passing on this one, but if I were to play it, I would take Radford in the FH as Maryland always struggles to start the game.

 

[BASON]

Typical MD game. Slow first half and a much better second half. They can get away with this against Redford, but not in conference. Still taking too many 3's, but they covered in the end despite not covering the FH.

Belmont gets the cover, so really need the Hall!

 

[Englishman]

Got the 1H cover thanks to you.

Much appreciated mate.

 

[BASON]

Sticking to the same strategy for tonight's game:

Neb +1 FH

Until Maryland plays a great first half I will continue to play against them and then look at the second half.

 

[BASON]

Another FH winner going against MD, I will take half the profits and play:

MD -1.5 SH

 

[lowell]

Sticking to the same strategy for tonight's game:

Neb +1 FH

Until Maryland plays a great first half I will continue to play against them and then look at the second half.

Thanks for the winner

 

[OrlandoBronco]

Sticking to the same strategy for tonight's game:

Neb +1 FH

Until Maryland plays a great first half I will continue to play against them and then look at the second half.

Great call.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Keith 1]

Thank you for the 1st half winner

 

[BASON]

My please gentlemen, hope you jumped in for a little on the second half also.

 

[bombers3737]

My please gentlemen, hope you jumped in for a little on the second half also.

Great work!

 

[lowell]

Glad I bet both. I got 2 of the 10 units back that I lost on Georgia-1.5 10 pt teaser.
Good luck in soccer today.