Some observations compiled during the first half of the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s season-opener against Bucknell…
-The Terps started with Eric Hayes, Greivis Vasquez, Cliff Tucker, Landon Milbourne and Braxton Dupree. It would have been interesting to see if Sean Mosley would have started instead of Tucker had Mosley not missed some practice and the exhibition game with a sprained ankle. Gary Williams wouldn’t say on Thursday who would start beyond Hayes, Vasquez and Milbourne, so there’s really no way to know.
-Wouldn’t you know it, after Tucker badly missed a jumper off the backboard about three minutes in the game, Gary emphatically waved Mosley off the bench to replace Tucker. Mosley got big cheers when he took his sweats off.
-Former Terp quarterback Boomer Esiason was the honorary captain before the game, and he is sitting courtside with a girl that I have to assume is his daughter. Boomer’s assumed daughter may or may not be very good looking, but they are sitting kind of far away from me so it’s hard to tell how old she is, and I probably shouldn’t comment any more on that.
-Always nice to start a basketball season by missing your first eight shots. Especially when most of them are fairly high-percentage. Gotta love a 5-3 lead at the 16-minute media timeout. Almost as much as 7-3 at the 12-minute timeout. Gary looks dumbfounded.
-I like Mosley running the point. He can push the tempo, and he opens up shots on the wings for Vasquez and Hayes.
-Rough half for Dino Gregory. He knocked two rebounds out of a teammate’s hands, and wasn’t in the right spot on one offensive set resulting in Vasquez throwing a pass to nobody out of bounds.
-Save us, Jin Soo! Jin Soo Kim received a huge ovation when he checked in for the first time with 10:23 remaining and the Terps leading 9-3. He immediately chucked a 20-footer of the back rim.
-The Terps started to improve their shooting, but their offensive sets look stagnant and they aren’t getting great looks at the basket.
-Greivis Vasquez blew a kiss toward the student wall after he made his first three-pointer late in the half. I wonder if he’ll do that every time.
-When your opponent shoots 7-for-27 from the floor in the first half and commits 14 turnovers, it masks a lot of your deficencies. 33-17 Terps at halftime.