Sunday, February 17, 2013
How Len builds off Duke win
By Matt Giles
Alex Len was arguably the most important Terp in Maryland's recent defeat of Duke. The 7-foot-1 Len scored 19 points, and grabbed nine boards, and was instrumental in holding Mason Plumlee to an underwhelming four points. Though Mike Krzyzewski said Plumlee "... looked exhausted the whole game," Len was still a crucial factor in Maryland's upset.
We have written recently that Len is Maryland's catalyst; when he is in the game, Maryland typically is a staunch defensive unit, but when he is on the bench, UM struggles mightily. To add fuel for the Duke tilt, coach Mark Turgeon encouraged Len to be strong with Plumlee in the post, forgoing Plumlee's post moves.
It will be interesting to see how Len, and Maryland, builds off this win. Before the game, it would appear Maryland would miss the NCAA tournament this season, and while their profile is not pretty -- the Duke victory is arguably their sole top win this season -- UM has five winnable games before the season finale against Virginia. If Maryland wins out, and takes a game in the ACC tournament, the Terps could indeed dance.
