Early Season Scare

Holy crap. I forgot the Terps had a game last night (and it was actually on a TV channel I get, not ESPNU). I remembered this morning on my way to work, so imagine my surprise when I checked the box score and saw this. 74-72 Maryland over Northeastern in OT. I guess Maryland came out of this game better than a lot of the big name schools have fared in their early outings. Still, I remember a time when most of Maryland's non-conference schedule was a boring warm-up to ACC play. The outcome of the games was never in doubt, and the team just accumulated wins. Remember the 87 game home non-conference winning streak? Ancient history.

I haven't gotten a chance to watch the team at all this year (I know, I'm a shitty fan), but I'm still excited for the season. I have a feeling the team's going to be frustrating to watch at times, but very likable. We have a young core group of players, and it's going to be great watching them develop and grow as a team. I have the utmost confidence in Gary, but I think we're going to see the team suffer some bad losses this year as they continue to develop. I think we'll also see some surprising wins.

The Terps have #2 UCLA on Monday in the Semifinals of the CBE Classic. That should be a learning experience for the Terps, but UCLA would be unwise to overlook Maryland. Then on Tuesday, they will play either Missouri or #12 Michigan State. Next week will definitely be a trial by fire for a young Maryland team, but if nothing else, it should give the freshmen some big-game experience before the start of ACC season.

It Never Rains in College Park has a breakdown of some of the odd stats from the game.

My superficial box score analysis: we're not going to win many games where Greivis scores in the single digits. We're also not going to win many games when we get only 6 bench points. Bench scoring has been a key part of Maryland's success over the years, and with a young team we need everyone to contribute.