As Maryland-Memphis approaches...
*The Tigers have won 26 games in a row. But the Terps sure sounded like a confident bunch in the locker room yesterday. They kept comparing Memphis to Wake Forest.
This from Dave Neal: "I mean, they're long, they're athletic, and they remind us a lot
like Wake Forest, a team we just recently beat. We've watched tape and
seen what they're weaknesses are. We're going to be ready to go to war
with them for 40 minutes tomorrow."
More Neal: "The biggest thing I think we did against Wake Forest that
pretty much sealed the win for us was the way we controlled the
boards. Memphis and Wake Forest, they're both teams that rely a lot on
their second-chance points."
Maryland obviously got a big boost by beating Wake Forest in the ACC tournament. The Terps earned it. And I don't want to spoil the party by suggesting Wake isn't talented. They are. But the Demon Deacons don't always play up to their potential -- don't always play smart basketball -- as evidenced by their 15-point loss to Cleveland State in the tournament last night.
Gary Williams also spoke of the Wake-Memphis similarities:
"They have big people, but they're both long. Both those teams are very long, and they both had
really good seasons that we had to play against. You really have to be on your game. We have to make up for some things when we play against a team like that. Hopefully, we'll be able
to do a good job and continue to play well. Memphis will certainly try to take us out of what we do, just like we did with them, and that's the key is to be able to do the things that we do pretty well."
