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Classic Carlos | GoDuke
| Chron
To
go by what Shavlik Randolph and Daniel Ewing say, the Blue Devils are sick and
tired of taking everyone's best shot and are
ready to give out some of their own. You have to back up that kind of talk,
but we like the attitude.
Duke is hoping to ratchet the defensive pressure
back up against the Terps Sunday, to take them out of their offense and,
presumably, get some easy points as a result.
Though Daniel Ewing describes
this game as a must-win, that's doubly true for Maryland. Their tournament hopes
already
in serious danger, Maryland could salvage a spot with a win over Duke, at
Duke, and one or two more along the way. But their offense has
turned into a problem, and it has affected their game in general. If Duke is
successful in ratcheting up the pressure, Maryland could be in trouble.
But
being the ACC, where Tech can lose at Virginia, UNC can blow a 24 point lead at
Florida State, and Clemson can knock off #2 State right after they knocked off
#1 Duke, you just never take it for granted. Could Maryland win? Of
course. Would the oddsmakers suggest they could? Of course not.
We'd
be interested, actually, in just how well oddsmakers do handicapping this
conference. If you grew up around here, you knew State might blow it at
Clemson, just as you might have guessed they would give Duke fits. But
that's inside knowledge, if you will. How do the pros do? We'd love
to find out.
We are surprised that Maryland has struggled so much this season.
We knew they were young, but they are talented, and we thought that success had
been institutionalized. Apparently, we were mistaken.
From what
we have seen so far, they have periodically looked like Maryland of several
years ago, pre-Blake if you will, when the Terps were much more committed to
running and pressing than in recent years. If you'll recall, those teams,
too, often stalled when it became a half-court game.
Still, we thought
the Terps would be much better than they are, and we do think they're dangerous
and they really, really need this one. You'd be crazy to take this game
for granted.