If the ACC seems like a gauntlet of teams armed with quality big men, you might be a Terp fan.
In the first five ACC games, the guard-oriented Terps have faced some of the conference’s most talented front courts.
With a freshman starting center, going up against the likes of Florida State’s Solomon Alabi, Wake Forest’s Al-Farouq Aminu, N.C. State’s Tracy Smith and Miami’s Dwayne Collins could’ve caused the Terps extreme problems.
So far, it really hasn’t.
Utilizing an effective strategy that usually ensures a guard, often Greivis Vasquez, is ready to double-down when the star big man receives the ball, the Terps have more than held their own.
That was particularly evident in recent blowout wins against N.C. State and Miami. The strategy sufficiently rattled the Wolfpack offense. They often settled for jump shots instead of establishing Smith inside. The 6-foot-8 forward finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but many of those came on putbacks.
Collins fared even more poorly against Jordan Williams and Co. The Hurricanes’ leading scorer finished with five points and three turnovers in 24 minutes.
“It’s team defense,” Terp coach Gary Williams said of his team’s simple approach. “You match up a certain way, but you do things to try not to let really good players isolate on any particular player.”
That parade of quality forwards continues Sunday at Clemson when the Terps will go up against the Tigers’ leader Trevor Booker.
In last season’s 29-point Tiger win at Littlejohn Coliseum, Booker put up an incredibly efficient 11 point and 14 rebound effort on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting. Williams said he appreciates Booker’s “motor” inside, an ability to work into quality position inside against bigger opponents and cull back-breaking garbage points.
And while the Terps’ ability to match-up inside has keyed their early success, Williams offered no guarantee the strategy will continue to work against the 6-foot-7, 240-pounder, who has shown his ability to step out and hit a shot more this season.
“We’ll try to do the same thing with Booker,” Williams said, “But he’s a little different because he can go outside a little more than those two guys. He knows how to play on the perimeter, so it’s not as easy to get help on him—so hopefully, we can.”
Eric Detweiler is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team beat writer. He can be reached at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/edetweiler.