One thing I didn't mention in my recap of the Maryland game is that the Terps had 16 second half fast break points. After all, we've seen a lot of that sort of thing this season. It was the talk of the post-game interviews however. First Roy Williams:
How frustrating was the defensive effort?
It’s very frustrating. At times it is effort, and at times it’s just execution. It’s not a big play in the game, but near the end of the game Dexter [Strickland] dribbled the ball to the right side and John Henson went down to screen for David Wear, and Sean Mosely didn’t allow himself to be screened, deflected the ball and went in for the dunk. It is execution and getting in the right spots.
Then Marcus Ginyard:
They had 16 fast break points in the second half. How were they able to get on the run like that?
We weren’t doing a good job of getting back. We had all five guys looking at the ball, and it wasn’t a priority for us to get back. That’s the way we played out there, and it wasn’t a big deal for everyone to sprint back on defense, and it killed us.
Will Graves:
They had 16 fast break points in the second half. Why was that?
We just didn’t get back on defense. It’s simple; we just got to get back and have defensive balance and do what we’re supposed to do on offense.
Deon Thompson:
How do you guys get back on defense better?
We've just got to get back. We can’t leave our point guard back there in 3-on-1. If we score the ball, it lets us get back, but if you have turnovers and have guys running ahead, it’s hard to get back. We just need to not turn the ball over and score.
Well, if you wanted senior leadership and the calling out of what the problems are, there you go. Of course, the fast break that stuck with me the most was when Will Graves slacked off on Dino Gregory right before he got a pass fro Vasquez on the break, and had to commit a bad foul to stop the easy bucket. Gregory made both free throws. Identifying the problem and actually fixing it are two different things.