Maryland vs Wake Forest: ACC Tournament Preview
Written March 13, 2009 by Jordan Haimowitz
This Maryland Terrapins team is a very tricky bunch. One night they come out like gang busters and take down the Tar Heels and get a nice win @ NC State, then all of a sudden with the blink of an eye they lose a close game @ Wake Forest which leads to an awful loss @ Virginia. Maryland averages 72 PPG which you would think is superb, however in the ACC where defense has been optional this year it is not overwhelming. Maryland always has a reason to believe they can pull out a victory though when you have a star PG in Greivis Vasquez who does it all on the court including being the vocal leader of his team. The heart and soul Vasquez is. He averages 17 PPG, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Maryland’s X-factor for the most part this year has been forward Landon Milbourne. While Milbourne averages a decent 12 points and 5 rebounds a game he will most likely get the nod to guard Wake’s big time forward James Johnson who has tortured half of the ACC’s big men this year. If he is able to do so much as neutralize Johnson Maryland will have a very good chance to pull off a marquee victory tonight that could very well be a “win and you’re in game”. Maryland is 13-10-2 ATS this year. Stay tuned, this one will be fun.
For many months I have looked at Wake Forest as a team that is a bit overrated. They have one of the nation’s best players in Jeff Teague who averages 19 points 3 rebounds and 4 assists per game. James Johnson has been Wake’s X-factor this year putting up 15 points 8 rebounds and 2 assists a game. The Demon Deacons are one of the countries most explosive teams scoring 82 PPG and are a great rebounding team averaging 38 boards a game. The one major thing that has people scratching their heads in regards to this Wake team is their inability to handle inferior teams. They have five losses all year which four of them are against the mid-lower level teams in the ACC. They lost vs Virginia Tech, @ Georgia Tech, @ Miami, @ NC State. the other loss was an acceptable one @ Duke. Maryland would fit right in with those four losses against teams that should not be competitive vs the Deacons. The MAJOR match up will be as stated, Milbourne vs Johnson. Whichever will perform better for their team will have a real good shot at winning this game. Be careful here Deacons, do not think this will be a walk through. Wake Forest is 15-10 ATS this year. For those of you that do want to bet on the game, the line has been set at Wake Forest -6.5 over Maryland.
Haimo’s Hot Notes: Wake Forest won the first meeting at home by two points. We have seen a numerous amount of games so far from all conferences to where the desperate team is the one that comes out with the intensity. To name a quick couple that I have predicted correct. USC OVER CAL, CLEVELAND STATE OVER BUTLER & ALABAMA OVER VANDERBILT. All three losing teams had better records during the regular season however all three that lost punched their ticket to the dance prior to the start of the game. So for anybody going heavy on Wake think it over and make sure you feel ultra confident in that decision. In regards to everybody thinking Maryland will take this game keep in mind Milbourne MUST out play James Johnson to give the Terps an edge. This game will not lack intensity, so make sure to have a big bucket of popcorn and a nice cold beverage because you will need it.
Jordan’s picks 5-4 in my last nine games
3-0 BEST BETS
(Florida -3.5 is the best bet tonight)
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- 2009-10 Wake Forest Basketball Predictions
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