|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Maryland stumbles out of gate
Updated: Wednesday November 29, 2000 11:53 AM
A season preceded by lofty expectations got off to a dismal start last week for Maryland, which lost two of its three games at the Maui Invitational and dropped from sixth to 13th in this week's national rankings. Coach Gary Williams told me that he's concerned about his team's lack of toughness. Even though the Terps are bigger and more experienced up front than Illinois, the Illini grabbed 19 more rebounds during their defeat of Maryland in the semifinals. And senior forward Terence Morris, who's supposed to be an All-America candidate, took just seven free throws in the three games and appeared reluctant to take over at critical times. Williams told me it's just not in Morris' personality to bark out orders to his teammates, which typifies the Terps' main problem right now. "We've got a lot of nice guys," Williams said. "But when it comes time to play, you've got to put that aside and be as tough as the other team."
Orangemen make an impressionSyracuse, on the other hand, was the biggest surprise of Thanksgiving week as the Orangemen steamrolled their way to the championship of the Great Alaska Shootout. Syracuse lost four starters from last season's Sweet Sixteen team, but this appears to be one of the best offensive teams Jim Boeheim has had in years. Junior forward Preston Shumpert looked extremely polished in Alaska while averaging 26 points per game, and senior power forward Damone Brown created matchup problems with his perimeter skills. Boeheim told me the reason those two didn't score more last year was because he rarely ran plays for them. Meanwhile, Allen Griffin was an effective replacement for Jason Hart at point guard. The Orangemen still need to develop their inside players and their depth, but if this really is the sixth-best team in the Big East as the preseason voting indicated, it's going to be quite a year in that league.
Slipping under the radarHere are three freshmen who haven't gotten quite the billing that some of their classmates have, but are worth keeping an eye on: DePaul point guard Imari Sawyer was the revelation of the Alaska Shootout. The Chicago native set a tournament record by dishing out 30 assists while averaging 15 points per game. Another rookie point guard, Oregon's Luke Ridnour, hasn't put up quite the gaudy numbers that Sawyer has, but he did show promise last week with nine assists during a win over Portland State. And Charlotte's Rodney White is off to a monstrous start. The 6-9 forward is leading the 49ers in scoring with better than a 20-point average, and he also made six of his eight 3-point attempts during Charlotte's first three games. Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers the college basketball beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
