It’s often been said that Greivis Vasquez “wears his emotions on his sleeve.” That also means Vasquez exhibits an unusual degree of honesty and openness with the media, at least compared to other players and coaches.
I like that. Yesterday, during the Terps typical day-before-game media availability, Vasquez sounded off on the team’s rebounding issues:
“It’s an attitude thing. Last year, we were rebounding the ball better and we had, you know, a small team. We have to put some pressure on ourselves. If I have to get 14 rebounds and, you know, Jordan [Williams] is our best rebounder, he might need to get 20. I mean, why not?
“I’m tired of people saying, ‘He’s a freshman,’ he’s this and that, but we all know he can do so much better. That’s his role. His role is maybe not to score 20 points but maybe get 20 rebounds, same thing with James [Padgett]. If you come into the game, you should know you have to rebound for us. Dino [Gregory] the same thing, you gotta get rebounds for us. That’s what we need. And we gotta get better at that, I mean, the whole team, not only those three guys. It’s unaccpetable the way we’re rebounding the ball lately. [Tonight] we have to try to get better.”
Vasquez isn’t exactly calling out any of his teammates. He’d later go on to say how impressed he’s been with Williams’ performance so far, especially the way he handled his short-lived benching in favor of Gregory.
But rarely do you hear a player even approach that line when it comes to discussing his own.
Terrence Ross re-opening his recruitment
This one was anticipated for a little while, ever since the Terps’ prized 2010 recruit told InsideMDsports.com “I’m not even sure right now,” as to his status with the Terps. That was roughly three weeks ago. The 6-foot-5 Montrose Christian guard and Portland native gave a verbal commitment to Maryland in the spring.
But now, Ross’s decommittment looks somewhat more official. He apparently also made it clear Maryland was still in his “top five” on his Facebook page.
The four-star recruit hasn’t returned calls from The Diamondback. In November, Ross told our Jeremy Schneider how much he was looking forward to playing with fellow 2010 Terp commit Terrell Stoglin:
“Terrell is like my brother,” Ross said. “We have a whole lot of fun. We just can’t wait to actually get here and start gelling with each other.”
Inside the box score: William & Mary’s win against Wake Forest
After losing to then No. 3 Villanova in the BB&T Classic, Gary Williams pointed to tonight’s game against William & Mary as another opportunity of sorts, when asked about missing out on a significant nonconference win. Williams cited the Tribe’s Nov. 28 win at Wake Forest as evidence that coach Tony Shaver’s boys were legitimate.
William & Mary won that game 78-68, and never trailed after the 12:27 mark of the first half. At halftime, the Tribe led 31-22. Wake Forest got within four points with 15:37 remaining in the second half, but never any closer.
The Tribe did hit an efficient 7-of-17 three-point attempts, but you’d expect them to make more in a road upset of a team as athletically gifted as the Demon Deacons. William & Mary averages 27 three-point attempts per game.
It’s clear Demon Deacon forward Al Farouq-Aminu’s ineffectiveness was a major factor. The sophomore and potential NBA lottery pick shot just 4-of-18 from the field, including an 0-for-7 mark from long distance.
William & Mary was able to hold its own on the glass – Wake outrebounded the Tribe 45-41 – and used a bad Demon Deacon shooting night to its advantage.
Check back later today and tonight, to see if William & Mary can repeat that performance.
Aaron Kraut is The Diamondback’s sports editor. He can be reached at akrautdbk@gmail.com.