Chris Knocke On The Heartbreaking Terps Loss At Clemson
Chris Knocke does play-by-play for Maryland Terrapins basketball on the home of Maryland basketball, 105.7 The Fan.
Chris joined Ed & Terry Ford, in for Steve, to talk about the Terps double over-time loss to the Clemson Tigers, 77-73.
Chris Knocke
Chris said that to say the Terps are a team that finds a way to lose is a fair criticism. Chris mentioned how the Terps seem to play for lack of a better term "dumb" basketball, and that the way they finish games is maddening. They put themselves in position to win then have awful turnovers, miss free throws and find a way to drop the game.
Turnovers are always one of Chris' keys to the game. He says "if they turn the ball over, they have no shot. Yesterday, turnovers weren't an issue at Clemson. Shot selection was a large issue, particularly in the first half when they were up 9 and looked like they were on cruise control. Those kinds of things are maddening."
The fans aren't only disappointed in the team but also in Mark Turgeon, their head coach. Chris compares the Terps to Virginia and their recent success. "It didn't happen over night. Tony Bennet made it to the NCAA Tournament in year 3 but they were on life support when they got there. They were absolutely drilled. They were beaten the ACC Tournament, first round then they were drilled in the NCAA Tournament. Coming in where Turgeon did and when he did I think that there was a lot of work to do to restock, They think he's done that to some degree. They do need to get better in some areas. I just don't think that success is a birthright. Sometimes you have to wait for it a little bit."
Terry asks Chris about Roddy Peters, his apparent lack of development to this point and how much that has hurt the Terps this season. Roddy had 11 minutes of play time, had no turnovers and an assist in yesterday's game. Chris reminds the guys that yes, Roddy was a highly recruited player but he also missed his entire senior season due to a torn labrum.
The guys also talk about the disappointment overall at the guard position but Chris talks about how important the 4 and 5 position players are to a teams production. The play of the Maryland forwards has been severely lacking in the past few games. They've been averaging less than 10 points and they aren't catching passes. Those type of turnovers have really hurt the young Terps.
