We really struggle against lengthy defenders, and Maryland has a lot of them. Too few guys that can create their own offense (I always hold my breath when Damonte starts dribbling) and the space for our shooters dries up when defenses are able to recover so quickly. Too many times where Ayo is just stuck in 2nd gear. He just stood there and did nothing while Maryland hit that late 3, and then immediately gives the ball up to Belo.
It doesn't look good when he forces it either, but it's just plain and simple that he can do things on the court other guys can't, and needs to take advantage wherever possible.
This team looks more and more like we thought it would -- we will go as far as Ayo and Kofi can take us. Our complimentary pieces can be a lot of help but rarely are we going anywhere if those two don't take us there. The 2nd half against NW underscored what that looks like when everything clicks -- this showed the opposite.
I'm fine with Belo struggling tonight. He's young and while it's painful, this gives Underwood a good reason to light his a** up in practice and give him material to learn from. If it weren't for the stupid
, he really does look like Nash out there at times. That dime to Kofi was just unbelievable.
On the plus side, Miller seems to be slowly getting his groove back. He's still too loose at times, but man does he have a beautiful looking shot. He may be our X factor come March, if he can continue to improve as most highly touted freshmen do. I would love to see him improve off the dribble, but we need guys knocking down shots too off Belo and Ayo.
I expected a comedown from NW, but this was certainly disappointing. All you can do at this point is learn from it and move forward. Let's go do that.