2008 Woodie Awards
Terrapin men's basketball notebook: Bench making impact for Terps
Andrew Zuckerman
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: Sports
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In a twist of irony, the Terp reserves are playing as well as they have all season, yet the team has lost four of its past five games. When the Terps' bench wasn't producing, the Terps were actually winning.
It doesn't make sense, but that's the way it has been.
In the past five games, the Terps got an average of 11.8 points per game from their bench, and that includes a zero-point effort against Virginia Tech. Before that string, though, when the Terps won five of six, they were only getting 7.2 points per game from the bench.
Along with the scoring, the bench's overall production has certainly gone up, most notably from Jerome Burney and Adrian Bowie. Burney has established himself as the top big man off the bench and has played well when James Gist and Bambale Osby are in need of a breather.
Bowie has been lights out from the field, shooting 12-for-14 in the past two games. He scored 12 points against Clemson and a career-high 15 against Virginia.
"Adrian Bowie has really picked it up down the stretch here," coach Gary Williams said. "He's really established himself as a player that's going to have a good future at the University of Maryland."
But even with Bowie's increased production, it doesn't solve the mystery that is the Terps' bench.
n Flu strikes again
Freshmen Dino Gregory and Shane Walker missed the Virginia game with the flu. Neither one made the trip to Charlottesville, Va., with the team.
Gist also down with the flu during the week.
"I was sick earlier this week, but you can't use that as an excuse getting ready to play this game," Gist said after the Terps' 91-76 loss to the Cavaliers.
n Subdued atmosphere tomorrow?
The Terps playing Boston College in Charlotte, N.C., on a Thursday night at 9:30 is not exactly the type of game to draw herds of fans.
In fact, the final game on day one of the ACC Tournament will probably be the least attended. Both the Terps and Eagles are far away in proximity, and Boston College fans are notorious for not traveling well to games.
The first-round games historically do not draw as many fans as the later rounds, and with Duke, North Carolina and Clemson all having first-round byes, that could be truer than ever this season.
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Jerry
posted 3/12/08 @ 6:49 AM EST
The reason we're losing despite the bench finally playing better is because at the same time several "starters" (Hayes, Gist, Milbourne) have had very poor shooting nights. (Continued…)
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