Vasquez jumper exorcizes recent past

Tell me where have you heard this one before:

Greivis Vasquez scampers downcourt in the middle of the second half of a reasonably tight game.

Two options appear to be at his disposal.

Drive to the basket, hope for a foul (and not a charge) and see what happens.

Slow down, wait for his teammates to arrive and set the offense.

Vasquez chooses neither, instead reaching into his arsenal for a long jumper.

That's what happened when Maryland trailed by seven to William & Mary on Dec. 30. Vasquez clanked a fastbreak 3-pointer and the Tribe pushed the lead to nine on the next possession.

And it happened tonight when Vasquez stymied Florida State's best push with a 3-pointer with 9:01 remaining to give the Terps a 62-49 edge.

"I’m praying in that situation," coach Gary Williams said. "He’s earned that right. If he feels like he can make that shot, he’s going to take it. Now he’s not going to make it all the time, and I might get upset if he misses it, but I’ve always felt the players — and I just saw Juan Dixon in the hallway — nobody took more bad shots once in a while than Juan Dixon did, but in the last two minutes of the game, you wanted the ball in his hands because a lot of guys who are pretty big scorers don’t want the ball in the last two minutes.  That same thing is with Greivis.  He wants the ball in big situations, so he knew how he felt coming into that shot."

Vasquez, who became the first Maryland player since Walt Williams to rattle off six straight 20-point games, naturally understood the significance.

It's why the shimmy was on full display tonight. It's why the bravado that was missing for the early part of the season is now a fixture.

And in some ways, it's why Maryland snatched a victory to open conference play against a team that by all rights should present as many matchup problems as anyone else in the ACC.

"I loved it," Vasquez said. "I loved hearing because you know you think it’s a bad shot, but I’ve been working on that shot. I finally made it and it just completely changed the game.  It was a good shot and you have to be a man to take those type of shots with one of the best coaches in the ACC coaching you. I took the risk and we got the win."

Comments

[J.]

Patrick, great to see you continuing your outstanding coverage of Terps sports. Keep up the great work.