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Sunday, December 24, 2006
(Updated with additional links at 8:29 a.m.)
You hear the cliché “less is more” tossed around in a lot of different contexts, but seldom is it used when talking about defense in a basketball game.
That was the case Saturday afternoon in the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, though, where the host Terrapins turned a close game into a 66-54 win over visiting American by applying less defensive pressure on the visiting Eagles.
For most of the first half, the Terrapins employed a variety of full court traps against American, often to good effect. The Terps' first-half pressure resulted in 11 American turnovers, which Maryland converted into 18 points.
The problem for Maryland was, when American managed to beat the traps, the result usually was an open look at the basket. Shooting 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field in the first 20 minutes, all that separated the Eagles from the big boys from the Atlantic Coast Conference was five points, thanks mainly to some kind officials that sent Maryland to the foul line 9 times in the first half, where the Terps scored 5 of the 6 points that constituted their lead at the break.
Then came the second half, when Maryland abandoned the traps to play more of a straight-up man-to-man defense. The result: a 13-2 run to start the half that gave Maryland a double-digits lead it would hold the rest of the game.
“There was less pressure,” said American coach Jeff Jones. “But one of the things if you do handle a trapping defense, there are open plays. We didn't have those opportunities. They just kind of played a more grind-it-out defense there in the second half.”
Without the open looks they got in the first half, American found it much harder to score. The Eagles had one bucket the first 5:59 of the half and only two field goals the first 9:38 after the break. By then Maryland's lead was 16 and the suspense was over.
“Going into halftime, we thought we were right there, a bucket or two from keeping the pressure on them,” Jones said.
“We emphasized how important the first five minutes of the second half were going to be. Maryland was very good during that stretch. They made shots. They executed their offense. They were very aggressive defensively.”
Jones was right. Even though Maryland took off the trap, they didn't really let up on defense. That was particularly true in the paint, where the Terps simply dominated. The official box score shows each team with 26 points in the paint, but that is a misleading stat.
American's big men were never a factor offensively. The trio of starters Brayden Billbe and Paulius Joneliunas, and first big man off the bench Cornelio Guibunda, finished with a combined 8 points on 4 of 16 shooting. Billbe, who was shooting over 50 percent on the season coming in, was 2 for 10 from the field.
“They took away Billbe inside. His first shot, he took it pretty strong. Having it blocked – that had a psychological effect. He wasn't a factor in the game,” Jones said.
Offensively, neither was anybody else for AU, with the exception of Andre Ingram, who finished with 24 of AU's 54 points, despite sitting a seven minute stretch of the first half after picking up two fouls.
Ingram was 9 for 16 from the field. Take his shots out of the equation and American's already icy 34.9 percent (22 of 63) shooting percentage in the game drops to a frigid 27.7 percent.
The struggles were pretty much across the board. Arvydas Eitutauicius, usually a dependable source of offense, was 2 for 8 from the field, 0 for 4 from the arc, finishing with 4 points, less than half his season average of 10.8 points per game. Linas Lekavicius was 3 for 10 and Garrison Carr, American's best perimeter shooter, was 0 for 6, including 4 missed treys.
“It was kind of like, where is the offense going to come from,” Jones said. “We really did struggle.”
It didn't help that it seemed every time the Eagles tried to take it to the hole, a Maryland defender was there to swat the ball away.
“I don't know how many blocks they had, but they had a bunch of them,” Jones said.
The answer, by the way, is nine; five in the second half. It seemed like more.
In the end, Maryland's defense and free throw shooting were the difference. American actually held its own defensively, especially in the second half, when Maryland turned the ball over 9 times (20 for the game total) and went 9 for 23 (39.1 percent) from the field. If American had been able to make more than 8 buckets while taking 35 shots, it might have been different. That Maryland shot 21 free throws to AU's 8 would have been a bigger factor if the Terps were halfway decent from the foul line. They made just 13 (61.9 percent), but that still was a significant edge over the 6 American made.
“We just were not good enough. It is that simple,” Jones said.
“Maryland is bigger, more athletic, more talented. For us to be able to pull off one of those upsets, we needed to shoot a little better and execute better,” he added.
The loss was American's second in a row, following a loss at Yale back on Dec. 9, before finals. It won't get any easier for the Eagles after the holiday. AU returns to action Dec. 28 at 7-3 Virginia, which has not lost a game at home thus far this season.
NOTES: Maryland now leads the all-time series between the two schools 14-1 . . . Details on AU's only win are a little sketchy . . . It came in the first meeting between the two, back in the 1926-27 season . . . The exact date of AU's 21-16 win is uncertain, as is where the game was played . . . Of the other 13, 12 were played at Maryland, one on a neutral floor . . . The loss leaves Jones tied for third on AU's all-time wins list with 95 . . . Eitutavicius's streak of consecutive free throws is still intact. He never got a chance to extend it or to end it, failing to get to the line for just the third time in 11 games . . . Maryland's bench outscored AU's bench 15-9 . . . It was the first time an opponent's bench managed that feat since AU's first game of the season at Fairfield . . . Ingram, who was leading the Patriot League in defensive rebounds entering the game (4.9 per game) had just one defensive board against Maryland . . . Guibunda's block on an Ekene Ibekwe jumper at the 15:10 mark of the first half kept alive his streak of games with a blocked shot . . . Guibunda, who has 12 blocks in the nine games he has played in, has rejected at least one in the Eagles' last seven games.
| Gameblog | Postgame audio with Jeff Jones and Gary Williams | | | | |
You hear the cliché “less is more” tossed around in a lot of different contexts, but seldom is it used when talking about defense in a basketball game.
That was the case Saturday afternoon in the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, though, where the host Terrapins turned a close game into a 66-54 win over visiting American by applying less defensive pressure on the visiting Eagles.
For most of the first half, the Terrapins employed a variety of full court traps against American, often to good effect. The Terps' first-half pressure resulted in 11 American turnovers, which Maryland converted into 18 points.
The problem for Maryland was, when American managed to beat the traps, the result usually was an open look at the basket. Shooting 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field in the first 20 minutes, all that separated the Eagles from the big boys from the Atlantic Coast Conference was five points, thanks mainly to some kind officials that sent Maryland to the foul line 9 times in the first half, where the Terps scored 5 of the 6 points that constituted their lead at the break.
Then came the second half, when Maryland abandoned the traps to play more of a straight-up man-to-man defense. The result: a 13-2 run to start the half that gave Maryland a double-digits lead it would hold the rest of the game.
“There was less pressure,” said American coach Jeff Jones. “But one of the things if you do handle a trapping defense, there are open plays. We didn't have those opportunities. They just kind of played a more grind-it-out defense there in the second half.”
Without the open looks they got in the first half, American found it much harder to score. The Eagles had one bucket the first 5:59 of the half and only two field goals the first 9:38 after the break. By then Maryland's lead was 16 and the suspense was over.
“Going into halftime, we thought we were right there, a bucket or two from keeping the pressure on them,” Jones said.
“We emphasized how important the first five minutes of the second half were going to be. Maryland was very good during that stretch. They made shots. They executed their offense. They were very aggressive defensively.”
Jones was right. Even though Maryland took off the trap, they didn't really let up on defense. That was particularly true in the paint, where the Terps simply dominated. The official box score shows each team with 26 points in the paint, but that is a misleading stat.
American's big men were never a factor offensively. The trio of starters Brayden Billbe and Paulius Joneliunas, and first big man off the bench Cornelio Guibunda, finished with a combined 8 points on 4 of 16 shooting. Billbe, who was shooting over 50 percent on the season coming in, was 2 for 10 from the field.
“They took away Billbe inside. His first shot, he took it pretty strong. Having it blocked – that had a psychological effect. He wasn't a factor in the game,” Jones said.
Offensively, neither was anybody else for AU, with the exception of Andre Ingram, who finished with 24 of AU's 54 points, despite sitting a seven minute stretch of the first half after picking up two fouls.
Ingram was 9 for 16 from the field. Take his shots out of the equation and American's already icy 34.9 percent (22 of 63) shooting percentage in the game drops to a frigid 27.7 percent.
The struggles were pretty much across the board. Arvydas Eitutauicius, usually a dependable source of offense, was 2 for 8 from the field, 0 for 4 from the arc, finishing with 4 points, less than half his season average of 10.8 points per game. Linas Lekavicius was 3 for 10 and Garrison Carr, American's best perimeter shooter, was 0 for 6, including 4 missed treys.
“It was kind of like, where is the offense going to come from,” Jones said. “We really did struggle.”
It didn't help that it seemed every time the Eagles tried to take it to the hole, a Maryland defender was there to swat the ball away.
“I don't know how many blocks they had, but they had a bunch of them,” Jones said.
The answer, by the way, is nine; five in the second half. It seemed like more.
In the end, Maryland's defense and free throw shooting were the difference. American actually held its own defensively, especially in the second half, when Maryland turned the ball over 9 times (20 for the game total) and went 9 for 23 (39.1 percent) from the field. If American had been able to make more than 8 buckets while taking 35 shots, it might have been different. That Maryland shot 21 free throws to AU's 8 would have been a bigger factor if the Terps were halfway decent from the foul line. They made just 13 (61.9 percent), but that still was a significant edge over the 6 American made.
“We just were not good enough. It is that simple,” Jones said.
“Maryland is bigger, more athletic, more talented. For us to be able to pull off one of those upsets, we needed to shoot a little better and execute better,” he added.
The loss was American's second in a row, following a loss at Yale back on Dec. 9, before finals. It won't get any easier for the Eagles after the holiday. AU returns to action Dec. 28 at 7-3 Virginia, which has not lost a game at home thus far this season.
NOTES: Maryland now leads the all-time series between the two schools 14-1 . . . Details on AU's only win are a little sketchy . . . It came in the first meeting between the two, back in the 1926-27 season . . . The exact date of AU's 21-16 win is uncertain, as is where the game was played . . . Of the other 13, 12 were played at Maryland, one on a neutral floor . . . The loss leaves Jones tied for third on AU's all-time wins list with 95 . . . Eitutavicius's streak of consecutive free throws is still intact. He never got a chance to extend it or to end it, failing to get to the line for just the third time in 11 games . . . Maryland's bench outscored AU's bench 15-9 . . . It was the first time an opponent's bench managed that feat since AU's first game of the season at Fairfield . . . Ingram, who was leading the Patriot League in defensive rebounds entering the game (4.9 per game) had just one defensive board against Maryland . . . Guibunda's block on an Ekene Ibekwe jumper at the 15:10 mark of the first half kept alive his streak of games with a blocked shot . . . Guibunda, who has 12 blocks in the nine games he has played in, has rejected at least one in the Eagles' last seven games.
| Gameblog | Postgame audio with Jeff Jones and Gary Williams | | | | |
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