To ring in the new season, and celebrate FEAST WEEK, we bring you the Coors Light SIX PACK O QUESTIONS, in leiu of an outright season preview. But it's not questions, it's more like topic/question hybrids. These responses will appear here with the original copy storied in a hermetically sealed mayonaisse jar on Funk & Wagnall's front porch. Without further whimsy, away we go.
1. How Will Terrell Stoggins Adapt - It's no secret early on that there has been something of an adjustment period between the Turge and Stogs (see Parker over Stogs in Sunday's starting five). It's also no secret that this team - both now and at least for next year - will only go so far as Stoglin takes them. There's no doubt that he's going to be a great scorer for the Terps. Only five men - Smith, Branch, Lucas, Rhodes, and King - scored more points for the Terps as freshmen. The real question is whether he can move beyond that and be a great leader. The Turge has moved him off the ball in favor of Nick Faust, himself better suited to play on the wing, but Stoglin will only become an elite player if he proves capable of running the offense again, this time in a way that maximizes his teammates opportunities as well as his own.
2. Ashton "The X-Factor" Pankey - New nickname! I have to admit that I never really envisioned Pankey doing much here. He signed as a fairly lightly regarded recruit, picking the Terps over Houston, then injured himself and missed his last year of high school ball. He played one minute last year in the season opener against Seattle and injured himself again, earning a redshirt season. It's never good when you have a big man two years removed from competitive play and a growing history of lower body injuries. So far, however, Pankey has been outstanding, having 13 and 8 against UNC-Wilmington in his de-facto debut.. Granted it was one game against a weaker opponent, but even the very solid Dino Gregory rarely did that, to say nothing of your Braxton Duprees or Steve Goins. A good performance in Puerto Rico would be very interesting indeed.
3. How will this team play? - After 20 years at Maryland and 30 as a head coach, it was pretty easy to know what you'd get with Gary as your coach. A fast pace, the flex offense, man to man defense, lots of pressure, and eight or nine man rotation, and a postseason berth. Now in comes Mark Turgeon who will make us acclimate ourselves to a whole new style. His teams at both Wichita State and Texas A&M played a slower, grind it out pace, and while Turge has said he would play differently if he had the personnell, his track record doesn't really indicate that. I'm not so sure a slower style is better for the long term, but on the other hand, even if it isn't, perhaps the team will be better able to use a zone defense, even if only as an occasional gimmick to throw at teams that can't shoot. Of course we won't really know much about this until next season because given the lack of scholarship bodies available, a more deliberate pace is almost an absolute necessity.
4. Recruiting - Lefty once said that recruiting is like shaving - you need to do it every day or else you look like a bum. There's no doubt that this staff adheres to that adage, but the results so far have been mixed. Not bad at all, mind you, but given the overall deficiencies in the program right now, there's no doubt that they have more to do. Jake Layman and Shaq Cleare are an awesome start, but the team needs another guard, preferably a ballhandler, and another big or two, depending on the development of the current roster. 2012 has a few possibilities, but this year's juniors are where to look for the next earth shattering committment. If either the Harrisons or Nate Britt were to commit during the winter, or perhaps a similar name not currently off the radar, it would give the program a huge boost both on the court in a few years, but also immediately in the buzz-susceptible world of recruiting.
5. Fan Support - Fans surely realize that this will be a tough year, but hopefully that doesn't deter them from coming out and supporting THEIR team as Mark Turgeon tries to build the progam up once again. Early results seem less than promising, and of course results could dictate how attendance looks in the new year. If the team can remain competitive early on and get a boost from the returns of Alex Len and MVPe', Comcast could be difficult in February. On the other hand, a dismal showing in Puerto Rico followed by a loss to, say, Florida International (already having nightmares about this one) could mean a sea of open red seats in the Castle.
6. Can this team go .500 or better - It's been a long time since Maryland finished with a sub .500 overall record, but this year it will be a challenge to extend that streak. Given the givens, even my somewhat optimistic predictions only cranked out a 15-15 record for the regular season. There's also the equally long streak of winning at least 7 games in the ACC, which probably goes hand in hand with the former goal this season. Neither "streak" is really much to be proud of or care about, but it will be an interesting benchmark nonetheless.
Happy watching, Terps fans!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
A New Era
A new era dawned, unofficially at least, on Friday night at the Comcast Center when new coach Mark Turgeon led a skeleton crew of eight scholarship players into an exhibition battle against the Northwood Seahawks of Big Faced Rollie Massimino. The atmosphere was a bit odd, with a surprisingly sizable, if quiet, student crowd surrounded by a nearly non existent general public. The game seemed to lack fanfare, and the Terps seemed lethargic at times. They went up by almost 20 early in the second half, but never really blew the doors off of Northwood the way they should, allowing them to come nearly all the way back before holding them off for a single digit win.
Of course there's no reason to panic for two reasons:
a) More than one team has already lost an exhibition game this preseason, including Arizona, Butler, West Virginia, and Utah. Even Duke beat the powerhouse from Shaw University by only 14 and
b) We're simply not going to be that good anyway, so why get too heated about anything. There really can't be any concourse games if the expectations are nil.
That's not to say you have to give up, but the first two months of the season without Alex Len and Pe'Shon Howard will be rough. The point guard situation is pretty dire, what with the backup spot being held down by a committee of freshman SG Nick Faust and walk-on Jonathan Taylor Thomas of Tiger Beat fame. The big man situation will not be much better with a three man rotation. The walk ons didn't even get a minute last night, so it would seem that if foul trouble hits the lineups will get really unconventional. Nick Faust may have to do his best Magic Johnson impersonation and play every spot on the floor at some point.
Let's focus on the good things here. Nick "Swag" Faust did quite a bit to live up to his advanced billing, scoring 14 points in 27 minutes before missing most of the second half. His scoring included 4 threes, one of which was a highlight half court (plus) buzzer beater. Bmore what up. Even with the great seasons put up the past two years by Stogs and Jordan Williams as freshmen, it doesn't seem like a stretch to say that Faust could have the most impact of any freshman in College Park since Joe Smith, at least statistically. With the lack of depth and scorers, Faust could very easily average a dozen a night, even without being particularly efficient.
Sean "Bonecrusher" Mosley and Stogs also looked pretty nice offensively, combining for 43 points. You can't expect that to happen every night, but you almost have to expect that in most wins they'll be closer to that then the 20 or so they combined for last season.
Ashton Pankey also looked pretty great. Maybe not great, but damn good. This guy was a lightly regarded recruit coming in who hadn't really played (save for one single minute against Seattle last year) in the past two years due to various injuries, but he showed a lot last night. He's got the size and build to be successful, and he showed a lot of toughness. He scored a dozen points, doing everything from post moves to putbacks to face up shots.
Inspector Padgett also had a nice game, nearly getting a double double and missing only one shot on the night. Also of note is that he recorded two assists. As you may (not) recall, he somehow failed to get a single assist last year despite playing nearly every game. It seems pretty hard to do that even if you tried. Even the great Ekene Ibekwe managed to record double digits in that category every season of his career.
We also got our first taste of Alex Len which will be, of course, our last taste for another seven weeks or so. He's clearly a mountain of a person, living up to his 7-1 listed height. He wound up with 4 and 6 in 16 minutes, not exactly setting the world on fire, but showing enough potential that we will all eagerly anticipate the first game after Christmas to see what he can do in a real game.
As for the negatives, well, there were a few. The team was extra sloppy with 23 turnovers, 10 of them by Mosley and Stogs. The defense was also lacking. Berend Weijs may have gained ten pounds, but still wasn't much of a factor, playing only 11 minutes. He'll certainly play much more with Len out for a few months, but as much as I like him, it's tough to hope for much more than a few blocks and about 15 minutes a game.
Mychal Parker had a pretty awful game. Actually it wasn't so much awful as completely uneventful. He had only 4 points on 3 shots in 26 minutes. At times it was tough to remember that he had even been in the game. It's tough to remember at this point that he was a consensus top 50 recruit who was highly sought after. Of course he'll play quite a bit no matter what and will have plenty of chances to prove me wrong here, but he will have to improve if he wants to still get that time when and if Howard comes back later this winter. It was pretty striking to compare him to Faust last night, a guy who is a year younger and a similarly touted recruit.
I don't think we really learned too much about the team after this game. Time will tell. The conversation we had was how many wins it would take to make this a satisfying season. Not necessarily one that you're happy with, but one you won't starting bitching about Turge after.
It's a tough question. You can start by chalking up 8 wins against the cupcakes. Even though recent history has shown us that these games do indeed sometimes end up as losses, it's not unrealistic to think that even with a weak team we should beat every team that we pay to come to Comcast Center. The field in Puerto Rico is not especially strong so winning one of the final two games - likely to be a weak Colorado team and then either Iona or Western Michigan - is realistic. Let's say the team loses at home to Illinois, at the BB&T against Notre Dame (of course), and then against Temple at the Palestra. That puts us at 9-5 in the non conference. Given how week the ACC is, let's shoot for six wins there - let's just say Wake, UVA, Boston College at home, a sweep of Georgia Tech, and one wild card in there somewhere. Totally believable, right?
So there you have it. Here in College Park we're shooting for 15-15. Average starts here?
Of course there's no reason to panic for two reasons:
a) More than one team has already lost an exhibition game this preseason, including Arizona, Butler, West Virginia, and Utah. Even Duke beat the powerhouse from Shaw University by only 14 and
b) We're simply not going to be that good anyway, so why get too heated about anything. There really can't be any concourse games if the expectations are nil.
That's not to say you have to give up, but the first two months of the season without Alex Len and Pe'Shon Howard will be rough. The point guard situation is pretty dire, what with the backup spot being held down by a committee of freshman SG Nick Faust and walk-on Jonathan Taylor Thomas of Tiger Beat fame. The big man situation will not be much better with a three man rotation. The walk ons didn't even get a minute last night, so it would seem that if foul trouble hits the lineups will get really unconventional. Nick Faust may have to do his best Magic Johnson impersonation and play every spot on the floor at some point.
Let's focus on the good things here. Nick "Swag" Faust did quite a bit to live up to his advanced billing, scoring 14 points in 27 minutes before missing most of the second half. His scoring included 4 threes, one of which was a highlight half court (plus) buzzer beater. Bmore what up. Even with the great seasons put up the past two years by Stogs and Jordan Williams as freshmen, it doesn't seem like a stretch to say that Faust could have the most impact of any freshman in College Park since Joe Smith, at least statistically. With the lack of depth and scorers, Faust could very easily average a dozen a night, even without being particularly efficient.
Sean "Bonecrusher" Mosley and Stogs also looked pretty nice offensively, combining for 43 points. You can't expect that to happen every night, but you almost have to expect that in most wins they'll be closer to that then the 20 or so they combined for last season.
Ashton Pankey also looked pretty great. Maybe not great, but damn good. This guy was a lightly regarded recruit coming in who hadn't really played (save for one single minute against Seattle last year) in the past two years due to various injuries, but he showed a lot last night. He's got the size and build to be successful, and he showed a lot of toughness. He scored a dozen points, doing everything from post moves to putbacks to face up shots.
Inspector Padgett also had a nice game, nearly getting a double double and missing only one shot on the night. Also of note is that he recorded two assists. As you may (not) recall, he somehow failed to get a single assist last year despite playing nearly every game. It seems pretty hard to do that even if you tried. Even the great Ekene Ibekwe managed to record double digits in that category every season of his career.
We also got our first taste of Alex Len which will be, of course, our last taste for another seven weeks or so. He's clearly a mountain of a person, living up to his 7-1 listed height. He wound up with 4 and 6 in 16 minutes, not exactly setting the world on fire, but showing enough potential that we will all eagerly anticipate the first game after Christmas to see what he can do in a real game.
As for the negatives, well, there were a few. The team was extra sloppy with 23 turnovers, 10 of them by Mosley and Stogs. The defense was also lacking. Berend Weijs may have gained ten pounds, but still wasn't much of a factor, playing only 11 minutes. He'll certainly play much more with Len out for a few months, but as much as I like him, it's tough to hope for much more than a few blocks and about 15 minutes a game.
Mychal Parker had a pretty awful game. Actually it wasn't so much awful as completely uneventful. He had only 4 points on 3 shots in 26 minutes. At times it was tough to remember that he had even been in the game. It's tough to remember at this point that he was a consensus top 50 recruit who was highly sought after. Of course he'll play quite a bit no matter what and will have plenty of chances to prove me wrong here, but he will have to improve if he wants to still get that time when and if Howard comes back later this winter. It was pretty striking to compare him to Faust last night, a guy who is a year younger and a similarly touted recruit.
I don't think we really learned too much about the team after this game. Time will tell. The conversation we had was how many wins it would take to make this a satisfying season. Not necessarily one that you're happy with, but one you won't starting bitching about Turge after.
It's a tough question. You can start by chalking up 8 wins against the cupcakes. Even though recent history has shown us that these games do indeed sometimes end up as losses, it's not unrealistic to think that even with a weak team we should beat every team that we pay to come to Comcast Center. The field in Puerto Rico is not especially strong so winning one of the final two games - likely to be a weak Colorado team and then either Iona or Western Michigan - is realistic. Let's say the team loses at home to Illinois, at the BB&T against Notre Dame (of course), and then against Temple at the Palestra. That puts us at 9-5 in the non conference. Given how week the ACC is, let's shoot for six wins there - let's just say Wake, UVA, Boston College at home, a sweep of Georgia Tech, and one wild card in there somewhere. Totally believable, right?
So there you have it. Here in College Park we're shooting for 15-15. Average starts here?
Monday, October 24, 2011
Maryland Football Has Left the Building
It's really bad when you write a "Maryland Football has Arrived" post and then have to immediately rescind it upon emerging from your two month disappearance. But hey, that's what happens when you go ahead and get beaten...by Temple...by 31...at home...in week 3...with Randy Edsall at the helm.
Now, let's be real, things haven't been ALL terrible. The games against Georgia Tech and (especially) Clemson and West Virginia could easily have been wins. Even with the blowouts against Florida State and Temple, this team could easily be 4-3 coming out of the tough part of the schedule and well in line to at least make another bowl. And, realistically, that should have been the expectation this season. Some people will say that winning at least 9 games again with Danny O'Brien back under center should have been no problem, but even with DOB (and Kenny Tate) back, the team lost plenty, including it's three most relevant receivers - Adrian Cannon and the Raven's duo of Torrey Smith and Laquan Williams - plus several key defensive players, most notably Alex Wujciak who had about six billion tackles in his four years here as the starter at the MIKE LB spot.
Of course, I'm going to stop right there before this seems like any kind of an excuse for how piss poor the Randy Edsall era has started. It began with Sarge hiring two coordinators that were on thin ice at their old schools, with one of those schools being Southern Mississippi. It continued with moving future first round pick Kenny Tate from his natural safety position to linebacker where it became clear that the smallish Tate was physically overmatched. Its first year will be punctuated in the winter with a recruiting class that currently ranks tenth in the league, behind even Wake Forest.
This really isn't anymore than a rant. The team started out with so much excitement, and now, no one cares. There are two home games left against North Carolina State and Wake, and those two games could be as poorly attended as any in the latter years of the Fridge. The team will need a minor miracle just to pull out another Military Bowl bid, which, even at 6-6, would not be a certainty.
I wanted to become a season ticket holder back in August, but now the incentive just isn't there. That's not to say I'm off the bandwagon or anything like that, but it's clearly not a good sign for the long term health of the program that would-be diehards aren't connecting with the program the way they should. What is most galling is that the Athletic Department replaced the Fridge because of a lack of excitement around the program and then immediately replaced him with someone seemingly incapable of generating any himself. I'm not still bitter that we didn't hire Mike Leach, but that didn't mean we had to find his polar opposite. Even James Franklin has VANDERBILT possibly on its way to a bowl game, and with him at the helm you can bet that Danny O'Brien wouldn't have had as poor a year as he's had so far.
Moral of the story - 11 days until hoops.
Now, let's be real, things haven't been ALL terrible. The games against Georgia Tech and (especially) Clemson and West Virginia could easily have been wins. Even with the blowouts against Florida State and Temple, this team could easily be 4-3 coming out of the tough part of the schedule and well in line to at least make another bowl. And, realistically, that should have been the expectation this season. Some people will say that winning at least 9 games again with Danny O'Brien back under center should have been no problem, but even with DOB (and Kenny Tate) back, the team lost plenty, including it's three most relevant receivers - Adrian Cannon and the Raven's duo of Torrey Smith and Laquan Williams - plus several key defensive players, most notably Alex Wujciak who had about six billion tackles in his four years here as the starter at the MIKE LB spot.
Of course, I'm going to stop right there before this seems like any kind of an excuse for how piss poor the Randy Edsall era has started. It began with Sarge hiring two coordinators that were on thin ice at their old schools, with one of those schools being Southern Mississippi. It continued with moving future first round pick Kenny Tate from his natural safety position to linebacker where it became clear that the smallish Tate was physically overmatched. Its first year will be punctuated in the winter with a recruiting class that currently ranks tenth in the league, behind even Wake Forest.
This really isn't anymore than a rant. The team started out with so much excitement, and now, no one cares. There are two home games left against North Carolina State and Wake, and those two games could be as poorly attended as any in the latter years of the Fridge. The team will need a minor miracle just to pull out another Military Bowl bid, which, even at 6-6, would not be a certainty.
I wanted to become a season ticket holder back in August, but now the incentive just isn't there. That's not to say I'm off the bandwagon or anything like that, but it's clearly not a good sign for the long term health of the program that would-be diehards aren't connecting with the program the way they should. What is most galling is that the Athletic Department replaced the Fridge because of a lack of excitement around the program and then immediately replaced him with someone seemingly incapable of generating any himself. I'm not still bitter that we didn't hire Mike Leach, but that didn't mean we had to find his polar opposite. Even James Franklin has VANDERBILT possibly on its way to a bowl game, and with him at the helm you can bet that Danny O'Brien wouldn't have had as poor a year as he's had so far.
Moral of the story - 11 days until hoops.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
This...is ACC Football!
So here at the Says Things Blog, there will be a renewed emphasis on two things this fall. The first of which is actually blogging more frequently (than never) whilst the second is focusing on football. Or at least not making it completely secondary to basketball. Now that we are in the Under Armour Age (briefly the Edsall Era, formerly Fridge Fever until the Fever broke in about 2007), it's important to recognize the football team's greatness lest anyone think that we're jumping on the bandwagon when the teams wins its first BCS Title in 2014. So today I begin the weekly* ACC Power Rankings wherein you can track your favorite team in this sack of crap league known officially as the Food Lion Raycom Woodmen of the World ACC sponsored jointly by Bojangles and Havoline! (FLRWotW ACC sjbBaH~!)
*almost assuredly NOT weekly
1. FSU - They're the preseason favorite, and while they've played two directional schools so far, they've won convincingly (96-10 total), which actually counts for a lot in this league. EJ Manuel is the only QB in the league standing in DOB's path to the awards, and unfortately he's been awesome so far (581 yards). A win next week would probably make FSU a heavy favorite for the BCS Title game.
2. VT - Tech crushed App State the first week but struggled big time in a 17-10 win at ECU this saturday. It's a road win against a bowl team, but one that had maybe the worst defense in I-A last season. If the Pirates could have caught the ball they would have won handily. From what I saw they dropped two interceptions (one that would have gone for six) as well as an easy touchdown on a pass inside the redzone. Not that impressive for a possible the presumptive Coastal champ.
3. Maryland - Granted that Miami was without its starting QB and several other key players, Maryland largely dominated in everything but the score, getting two defensive TDs and making it into the red zone seven times in eight offensive possesions. The Terps, had they been a little bit more efficient in the RZ, could easily have scored 45-50 points.
4.Miami - The 'Canes are in disarray, but still managed to be a few minutes away from a win against the Terps on the road in a great atmosphere. This week will show a lot about them as they return home for a huge game against a very beatable Ohio State team (ask Toledo), one of four (WVU-MD, Auburn-Clemson, FSU-Oklahoma) huge nonconference games for the ACC against ranked teams. They do get their starting QB Jacorry Harris back, although realistically Morris could well be starting for them again by October.
5. North Carolina - This is mainly a default spot (though they could arguably have been ahead of Miami I suppose) for displaying mere competence in the first two weeks. They handled James Madison and slid by a bad Rutgers team at home. The main reason for optimism is a still exceedingly talented defense (even after losing Austin and Sturdivant) plus QB Bryn Renner who has been outstanding (42-49) so far this year.
6. Georgia Tech - Tech has smashed a I-AA team and a team from the Sun Belt in the first two weeks, a year after returning just 12 starters from a sub-.500 team. They may very well be a good team, possibly capable of contending in the Coastal this season, but I'll reserve some judgment until they show they can beat Kansas and North Carolina at home the next two weeks.
7. Virginia - The Cavs missed their third straight bowl last year, but they're 2-0 this season including a win at Indiana this week. Granted, Indiana might well be the worst team in the Big Ten, but Virginia failed to win a road game all last season, so that's big. That's particularly bad when you consider that they played Duke on the road last year - and allowed 55 points in a loss. The Cavs get UNC (road), Southern Miss and Idaho heading into their bye so 5-0 isn't off the table. But then, neither is 2-3, in reality.
8. Wake Forest - This is when you get into the bag of crap that is the ACC...even moreso. The good news is that the Deacs thoroughly outplayed Syracuse on the road and NC State at home for most of the game the first two weeks. The bad news is that the Orange came back to win that game and State almost did as well. Sophomore Tanner Price (586 yards) has been greatly improved so far as compared to last year when he led an aerial attack that generated more yards than only Georgia Tech's triple option attack amongst ACC teams.
9. Clemson - I'm inclined to think Clemson finishes a bit higher, if only because they do have more talent than several of the teams above them, and haven't failed to qualify for a bowl since the '90s. The year started off badly when they struggled with Troy, which wasn't so bad when you consider that they're the perennial Sun Belt champions. But struggling with Wofford, and only coming away with a narrow eight point win, is pretty bad. Seriously, Wofford? With Auburn, FSU and @VT the next three weeks, things could get really ugly for this team.
10. North Carolina State - Are you ready for another NC State coaching search? Chairman Yao may be leading another one, sure to be a roaring success, given the way that Tom O'Brien's team has looked, struggling with Liberty and playing a largely uncompetitive game against Atlantic bottom-feeder Wake Forest. Even worse for their delusion fanbase, this team could have contended had Heisman candidate Russell Wilson not transferred to Wisconsin (who themselves are now a National Title contender). NC State actually has to get to 7-5 to go bowling. That ain't happening.
11. Boston College - OK, they're missing their top rusher, but they've now lost at home to Northwestern and gotten waxed by UCF (30-3) in their first two weeks. So, uh, yeah, congrats to all the Mensa members that picked them ahead of the Terps this season. Given that they were last offensively in the ACC last year, maybe this seasons early struggles should be expected without perhaps their best weapon. Next week they have Duke at home, and if they can't win that, well, that ain't good.
12. Duke - The answer here is Duke, Duke, a million times Duke. The fact that they only lost 44-14 at home the Andrew Luck and Stanford has to count as a success. They managed to lose to I-AA Richmond in week 1, which isn't so bad when you consider how good they are for a I-AA team. What is so bad is that this is the third time in six seasons that Duke has lost to Richmond. Maybe stop scheduling Richmond guys? Not that anyone in Durham or New Jersey really cares what Duke football does.
*almost assuredly NOT weekly
1. FSU - They're the preseason favorite, and while they've played two directional schools so far, they've won convincingly (96-10 total), which actually counts for a lot in this league. EJ Manuel is the only QB in the league standing in DOB's path to the awards, and unfortately he's been awesome so far (581 yards). A win next week would probably make FSU a heavy favorite for the BCS Title game.
2. VT - Tech crushed App State the first week but struggled big time in a 17-10 win at ECU this saturday. It's a road win against a bowl team, but one that had maybe the worst defense in I-A last season. If the Pirates could have caught the ball they would have won handily. From what I saw they dropped two interceptions (one that would have gone for six) as well as an easy touchdown on a pass inside the redzone. Not that impressive for a possible the presumptive Coastal champ.
3. Maryland - Granted that Miami was without its starting QB and several other key players, Maryland largely dominated in everything but the score, getting two defensive TDs and making it into the red zone seven times in eight offensive possesions. The Terps, had they been a little bit more efficient in the RZ, could easily have scored 45-50 points.
4.Miami - The 'Canes are in disarray, but still managed to be a few minutes away from a win against the Terps on the road in a great atmosphere. This week will show a lot about them as they return home for a huge game against a very beatable Ohio State team (ask Toledo), one of four (WVU-MD, Auburn-Clemson, FSU-Oklahoma) huge nonconference games for the ACC against ranked teams. They do get their starting QB Jacorry Harris back, although realistically Morris could well be starting for them again by October.
5. North Carolina - This is mainly a default spot (though they could arguably have been ahead of Miami I suppose) for displaying mere competence in the first two weeks. They handled James Madison and slid by a bad Rutgers team at home. The main reason for optimism is a still exceedingly talented defense (even after losing Austin and Sturdivant) plus QB Bryn Renner who has been outstanding (42-49) so far this year.
6. Georgia Tech - Tech has smashed a I-AA team and a team from the Sun Belt in the first two weeks, a year after returning just 12 starters from a sub-.500 team. They may very well be a good team, possibly capable of contending in the Coastal this season, but I'll reserve some judgment until they show they can beat Kansas and North Carolina at home the next two weeks.
7. Virginia - The Cavs missed their third straight bowl last year, but they're 2-0 this season including a win at Indiana this week. Granted, Indiana might well be the worst team in the Big Ten, but Virginia failed to win a road game all last season, so that's big. That's particularly bad when you consider that they played Duke on the road last year - and allowed 55 points in a loss. The Cavs get UNC (road), Southern Miss and Idaho heading into their bye so 5-0 isn't off the table. But then, neither is 2-3, in reality.
8. Wake Forest - This is when you get into the bag of crap that is the ACC...even moreso. The good news is that the Deacs thoroughly outplayed Syracuse on the road and NC State at home for most of the game the first two weeks. The bad news is that the Orange came back to win that game and State almost did as well. Sophomore Tanner Price (586 yards) has been greatly improved so far as compared to last year when he led an aerial attack that generated more yards than only Georgia Tech's triple option attack amongst ACC teams.
9. Clemson - I'm inclined to think Clemson finishes a bit higher, if only because they do have more talent than several of the teams above them, and haven't failed to qualify for a bowl since the '90s. The year started off badly when they struggled with Troy, which wasn't so bad when you consider that they're the perennial Sun Belt champions. But struggling with Wofford, and only coming away with a narrow eight point win, is pretty bad. Seriously, Wofford? With Auburn, FSU and @VT the next three weeks, things could get really ugly for this team.
10. North Carolina State - Are you ready for another NC State coaching search? Chairman Yao may be leading another one, sure to be a roaring success, given the way that Tom O'Brien's team has looked, struggling with Liberty and playing a largely uncompetitive game against Atlantic bottom-feeder Wake Forest. Even worse for their delusion fanbase, this team could have contended had Heisman candidate Russell Wilson not transferred to Wisconsin (who themselves are now a National Title contender). NC State actually has to get to 7-5 to go bowling. That ain't happening.
11. Boston College - OK, they're missing their top rusher, but they've now lost at home to Northwestern and gotten waxed by UCF (30-3) in their first two weeks. So, uh, yeah, congrats to all the Mensa members that picked them ahead of the Terps this season. Given that they were last offensively in the ACC last year, maybe this seasons early struggles should be expected without perhaps their best weapon. Next week they have Duke at home, and if they can't win that, well, that ain't good.
12. Duke - The answer here is Duke, Duke, a million times Duke. The fact that they only lost 44-14 at home the Andrew Luck and Stanford has to count as a success. They managed to lose to I-AA Richmond in week 1, which isn't so bad when you consider how good they are for a I-AA team. What is so bad is that this is the third time in six seasons that Duke has lost to Richmond. Maybe stop scheduling Richmond guys? Not that anyone in Durham or New Jersey really cares what Duke football does.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Maryland Football has Arrived
Since I first came to Maryland in 2005, there have only been two games at Byrd Stadium with close to the hype of last night's game against The U - the 2006 game over thanksgiving against Wake Forest and 2008 against FSU, both of which had divisional title implications. Last night's atmosphere was ridiculous, especially considering that the weather was awful and the game was on a Monday night. Add in that it was the first game of the Edsall era, and last night felt like a turning point for the program.
And oh yeah, there were THE UNIFORMS. After unveiling a whole new line of Under Armour unis two weeks ago, the team debuted an alternate before ever wearing any of the sixteen (!) new combinations. The team ran out of the tunnel wearing white on white - but with a twist. On one side of the helmet and shoulder yokes was the white and red cross of the state flag while the trademark black and gold bars of the other half of the flag adorned the other side. It was, in some ways, incredibly simple yet at the same time it broke completely new ground in uniforms.
We could debate the aesthetics of the uniforms (although not really because those who didn't like them are wrong), but what is certain is that they did their job, which was to get the Terps noticed. Needless to say we've all seen the reactions by now, much of which was negative. ABC asked if they were the ugliest uniforms ever on their national, prime time newscast. LeBron James took time out from being the most hated basketball player alive to tweet his disapproval. ESPN dedicated a large swath of SportsCenter following the game to the design. Carmelo, Deion Sanders and the Today Show chimed in as well.
When was the last time Maryland FOOTBALL was this relevant? Never. The reality is that Ralph Friedgen was fired not because he didn't win enough but because the program had stagnated to the point where even a 9 win season and a great freshman QB still resulted in dismal attendance and no buzz. Now the stadium is packed and people are talking about us. Even if they're talking shit, do we care? We're Maryland, and they're not. We're used to our role as the black sheep. Let's keep embracing it.
the Fighting Kevins, Anderson and Plank, have a threefold goal as it relates to athletic department as a whole and the football program in particular. One is to establish Maryland as the flagship Under Armour program and to reap the mutual benefits resulting. The second is to increase recognition around the program as a whole. The third is to rebrand the athletic department from a marketing standpoint as the school representing Maryland as a whole to increase pride in our teams everywhere from the mountains in Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore. I'd say last night was a great first step. Go terps!
And oh yeah, there were THE UNIFORMS. After unveiling a whole new line of Under Armour unis two weeks ago, the team debuted an alternate before ever wearing any of the sixteen (!) new combinations. The team ran out of the tunnel wearing white on white - but with a twist. On one side of the helmet and shoulder yokes was the white and red cross of the state flag while the trademark black and gold bars of the other half of the flag adorned the other side. It was, in some ways, incredibly simple yet at the same time it broke completely new ground in uniforms.
We could debate the aesthetics of the uniforms (although not really because those who didn't like them are wrong), but what is certain is that they did their job, which was to get the Terps noticed. Needless to say we've all seen the reactions by now, much of which was negative. ABC asked if they were the ugliest uniforms ever on their national, prime time newscast. LeBron James took time out from being the most hated basketball player alive to tweet his disapproval. ESPN dedicated a large swath of SportsCenter following the game to the design. Carmelo, Deion Sanders and the Today Show chimed in as well.
When was the last time Maryland FOOTBALL was this relevant? Never. The reality is that Ralph Friedgen was fired not because he didn't win enough but because the program had stagnated to the point where even a 9 win season and a great freshman QB still resulted in dismal attendance and no buzz. Now the stadium is packed and people are talking about us. Even if they're talking shit, do we care? We're Maryland, and they're not. We're used to our role as the black sheep. Let's keep embracing it.
the Fighting Kevins, Anderson and Plank, have a threefold goal as it relates to athletic department as a whole and the football program in particular. One is to establish Maryland as the flagship Under Armour program and to reap the mutual benefits resulting. The second is to increase recognition around the program as a whole. The third is to rebrand the athletic department from a marketing standpoint as the school representing Maryland as a whole to increase pride in our teams everywhere from the mountains in Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore. I'd say last night was a great first step. Go terps!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Like a Rock
24 hours ago, Maryland Basketball was rocked by the news of Jordan hiring an agent and staying in the draft. It hurt, but nothing could compare to the devestation that's spreading from Comcast Center this afternoon.
My first reaction was that it's better to have Gary go out on his own terms, rather than having the press and some terrible fans asking for his resignation during the epic 15-12 season that is facing the Terps this season.
But then I watched this video. 5 times in a row. Tell me it doesn't give you goosebumps and bring a tear or two to your eye. Or this one...
Thank you, Gary for 22 amazing years. You took the program from its darkest hours to the top of the college basketball world, and always brought a tremendous amount of passion and dedication to campus every day. You have been the face of Maryland basketball for years and your retirement will be felt by all Terp fans. In other words, you will be missed. In this lig, there were none classier, and none who I'd rather have on the sidelines of Comcast. *FIST PUMP!*
My first reaction was that it's better to have Gary go out on his own terms, rather than having the press and some terrible fans asking for his resignation during the epic 15-12 season that is facing the Terps this season.
But then I watched this video. 5 times in a row. Tell me it doesn't give you goosebumps and bring a tear or two to your eye. Or this one...
Thank you, Gary for 22 amazing years. You took the program from its darkest hours to the top of the college basketball world, and always brought a tremendous amount of passion and dedication to campus every day. You have been the face of Maryland basketball for years and your retirement will be felt by all Terp fans. In other words, you will be missed. In this lig, there were none classier, and none who I'd rather have on the sidelines of Comcast. *FIST PUMP!*
Friday, April 1, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Awards Season, Part One
It's that time of the year. As the college basketball regular season has ended and the postseason is gearing up, the individual hardaware is being handed out. All-Conference selections have been made, and national awards like the Wooden and the Naismith are still pending. Here at the Says Things blog, we're starting our own tradition by handing out some alternative awards to honor those who may have been overlooked by the various media and coaches that dole out the usual honors.
Bob Wade Achivements in Coaching Award - Sidney Lowe, NCSU
In the end it was a tough choice between Lowe and Jeff Bzdzelik of Wake Forest. Lowe gets the nod because whereas Wake Forest was historically terrible, at least they were expected to be awful having lost so much from last year's tournament team. This - in year 5 of the Sidney Lowe era - was supposed to be the turning point, fueled by a great recruiting class. Despite that, it ended in just another 5-11 season. [Ed. Note: Sidney Lowe has since resigned as NCSU head coach]
Exree Hipp Senior of the Year Award - Cliff Tucker, Maryland
Named in honor of the Maryland wing (Hipp's scoring average dropped from 13.6 to a four year low of 6.8 in his senior year), this award honors another Maryland player. Tucker averaged 11.7 points a night over the team's first twenty games, but finished out the season scoring just 5.4 over the final 11 as as the team lost 6 of those games.
John Calipari Award for Audacious Cheating - Bruce Pearl, Tennessee
It's bad enough to cheat. It's even worse when you cheat despite having gained notoriety in the basketball world as a snitch (whistleblower if you so choose). It takes things to another level when you cheat AGAIN four days after giving a tearful apology in re: your prior transgression. Even Cal shakes his greasy head at the balls on his cheating SEC East brother.
John Goldsberry Random Turd Award - Rion Brown, Miami
You may remember Goldsberry from the Terps' first round victory over UNC-Wilmington in 2003 a.k.a The Drew Nicholas Shot Game. Goldsberry sank 8 of 8 threes despite averaging just 5 points a night that season. Brown came into the Canes game with the Terps averaging less than 4 per game having not scored in double figures since a November tilt against McNeese State. Naturally, Brown would score 19 on 6-7 shooting from deep on a night where Gary Williams inexplicably zoned Miami well past the point of futility.
Jim Valvano Never Give Up Award - Wake Forest Basketball
It's one thing to be bad, but this bad? Wake Forest lost 15 times in an ACC that was realtively weak by its own standards, and as if that weren't bad enough, it lost 14 of those games by 14 points or more. The season was punctuated by going 0-4 with an average margin of defeat of 26.8 ppg against the next two worst teams in the conference (Georgia Tech and NC State).
AC Green Abstinence Award - Brigham Young University
I suppose I can respect sticking to your principles. On the other hand, as a sports fan, it's insane to suspend your third leading scorer for having some consensual extracurriculars with a coed, particularly when you're a mid-major with the best player in the country and a legit shot at a Final Four or more. Tough lost, mormons.
Schadenfraude Award - Korie Lucious, Michigan State
Korie you really screwed me over good with that fucking buzzer beater. But now that you've found yourself charged with a DUI, kicked off the Michigan State team, and transferring to Iowa State, I can't help but smile even though that makes me an abysmal, soulless person. Godspeed playing in the cornfields.
Tyler Hansbrough "Player of the Year Award" - Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame
Remember back in 2008 when PSYCHO T won the Wooden Award (among several other national POY honors) over Kevin Love and Michael Beasley, despite either of the two being clearly better by most metrics? Somehow his brother may have one-upped him this year by winning the Big East Player of the Year Award. Not only did the younger Hansbrough beat out Marshon Brooks (24.6 ppg, second nationally) of Providence, he beat clear favorite Kemba Walker of UConn (8 games of 30+ points). Seriously? That's worse awards voting than when the Big East decided to name a ten man "All Conference" team because of the outlandish size of the conference.
Please stay tuned for the Postseason Awards, coming to this blog early next month!
Bob Wade Achivements in Coaching Award - Sidney Lowe, NCSU
In the end it was a tough choice between Lowe and Jeff Bzdzelik of Wake Forest. Lowe gets the nod because whereas Wake Forest was historically terrible, at least they were expected to be awful having lost so much from last year's tournament team. This - in year 5 of the Sidney Lowe era - was supposed to be the turning point, fueled by a great recruiting class. Despite that, it ended in just another 5-11 season. [Ed. Note: Sidney Lowe has since resigned as NCSU head coach]
Exree Hipp Senior of the Year Award - Cliff Tucker, Maryland
Named in honor of the Maryland wing (Hipp's scoring average dropped from 13.6 to a four year low of 6.8 in his senior year), this award honors another Maryland player. Tucker averaged 11.7 points a night over the team's first twenty games, but finished out the season scoring just 5.4 over the final 11 as as the team lost 6 of those games.
John Calipari Award for Audacious Cheating - Bruce Pearl, Tennessee
It's bad enough to cheat. It's even worse when you cheat despite having gained notoriety in the basketball world as a snitch (whistleblower if you so choose). It takes things to another level when you cheat AGAIN four days after giving a tearful apology in re: your prior transgression. Even Cal shakes his greasy head at the balls on his cheating SEC East brother.
John Goldsberry Random Turd Award - Rion Brown, Miami
You may remember Goldsberry from the Terps' first round victory over UNC-Wilmington in 2003 a.k.a The Drew Nicholas Shot Game. Goldsberry sank 8 of 8 threes despite averaging just 5 points a night that season. Brown came into the Canes game with the Terps averaging less than 4 per game having not scored in double figures since a November tilt against McNeese State. Naturally, Brown would score 19 on 6-7 shooting from deep on a night where Gary Williams inexplicably zoned Miami well past the point of futility.
Jim Valvano Never Give Up Award - Wake Forest Basketball
It's one thing to be bad, but this bad? Wake Forest lost 15 times in an ACC that was realtively weak by its own standards, and as if that weren't bad enough, it lost 14 of those games by 14 points or more. The season was punctuated by going 0-4 with an average margin of defeat of 26.8 ppg against the next two worst teams in the conference (Georgia Tech and NC State).
AC Green Abstinence Award - Brigham Young University
I suppose I can respect sticking to your principles. On the other hand, as a sports fan, it's insane to suspend your third leading scorer for having some consensual extracurriculars with a coed, particularly when you're a mid-major with the best player in the country and a legit shot at a Final Four or more. Tough lost, mormons.
Schadenfraude Award - Korie Lucious, Michigan State
Korie you really screwed me over good with that fucking buzzer beater. But now that you've found yourself charged with a DUI, kicked off the Michigan State team, and transferring to Iowa State, I can't help but smile even though that makes me an abysmal, soulless person. Godspeed playing in the cornfields.
Tyler Hansbrough "Player of the Year Award" - Ben Hansbrough, Notre Dame
Remember back in 2008 when PSYCHO T won the Wooden Award (among several other national POY honors) over Kevin Love and Michael Beasley, despite either of the two being clearly better by most metrics? Somehow his brother may have one-upped him this year by winning the Big East Player of the Year Award. Not only did the younger Hansbrough beat out Marshon Brooks (24.6 ppg, second nationally) of Providence, he beat clear favorite Kemba Walker of UConn (8 games of 30+ points). Seriously? That's worse awards voting than when the Big East decided to name a ten man "All Conference" team because of the outlandish size of the conference.
Please stay tuned for the Postseason Awards, coming to this blog early next month!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
ORLY
Things I did tonight:
a) watched an NIT Selection Show on ESPNU
b) sat in disbelief as I realized that Maryland was not even good enough to make the NIT.
17 straight years of postseason play. With 100 teams making the NIT or NCAA Tournament, Maryland was not one of them. Thankfully I just turned to CBS College Sports just in time for a Seth Greenberg interview.
a) watched an NIT Selection Show on ESPNU
b) sat in disbelief as I realized that Maryland was not even good enough to make the NIT.
17 straight years of postseason play. With 100 teams making the NIT or NCAA Tournament, Maryland was not one of them. Thankfully I just turned to CBS College Sports just in time for a Seth Greenberg interview.
Are the Doilies Even Coming in the Mail?
I'm seriously sitting here on Selection Sunday pondering the somewhat legitimate chance that we don't make the NIT field. As in, not even invited. As in "sorry, your team isn't good enough to make this tournament that fans use only to derisively taunt less fortunate opponents." What. The. Fuck.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
His Name is Frank Haith
Last night was a tough lost. Of course, nearly every time Maryland basketball loses I'm inclined to describe it as such. I care too much. With Terps football, I expect it to be second fiddle on campus and can subsequently live with the expectations of 4 or 5 losses in a normal year. My beloved Orioles have lost 90 games a season since I was in elementary school (note: I am now a grad student (allegedly)), and I simply don't care enough about the NFL to have that kind of emotional attachment to the Ravens outside of big conference and playoff games. Certainly not on the day to day.
There's actually a very specific set of criterion for a Maryland loss that won't cause me to - at very least - stare at the wall in shock (possibly after punching it):
a) It has to be early in the season. Nothing that could come close to irreparably damaging our tournament seeding, conference finish, or bubble status. I need to be able to rationalize how we can reel off 7 of our next 8 and be in great shape.
b) It has to be against a good team (likely top 10), but that team cannot be Duke. Any loss to Duke ipso facto (!) a painful loss.
c) It has to be close, but not too close. Certainly no buzzer beater daggers or anything close enough that I can point to a play or two that turned the tide and lost us the game.
d) Similarly, there can't be one glaring weakness. If we lose by 7 to a top 10 team in December, that's cool, but if we shoot 14-27 from the line, I'm going to be up in arms.
This really has nothing to do with the main point of this post. I'm really just justifying the way I am to myself because I am whatever you say I am otherwise. I just felt that it would be instructive to look back at the last few years of losses to ACC newcomer/bottom feeder Miami. It's damn sure more exciting than watching Wake get blown out at home by a 3-11 Georgia Tech team.
3/2/11 - Miami 80, Maryland 66. Nothing to really say here given that this just happened, other than to say that I just realized the Terps shot 12-44 from inside the three point line last night. So yeah, that doesn't help.
1/14/09 - Miami 62, Maryland 60. This was a game that the Terps led 52-35 with 12 and a half minutes left. Surely we would cruise to victory and get to 2-0 in the conference to take the sting off the loss at home to Morgan State the week before. It was not to be. The Canes hit 7 threes from that point on including one by Jack McClinton with 0:24 that would be the decisive shot. Maryland wasted a career-high 23 points by Anthony Bowie (I believe this was his debut), and as was frequently a theme, got just 5 bench points on the night.
2/23/08 - Miami 78, Maryland 63. This was not unlike last night's game in that it was a complete blowout to shut the door on our tournament hopes*. I remember this as being the first time that I realized that Gary was completely owned by Frank F Haith, and please say the Motherfucking. The game was close at halftime (Canes by 3), but was less so after the intermission. I am pretty sure there was a thunderous putback dunk by Jerome Burney during this game as he had a career night (4/5 in 12 minutes).
*not exactly true but we are NOT discussing Senior Night vs Clemson.
3/8/07 - Miami 67, Maryland 62. Oh yeah, this was a game. The Terrapins were FLYING HIGH, winners of seven straight to take a share of third place in the conference. They had beaten Duke and a top 5 North Carolina team (in one of the best games ever played at Comcast) during that stretch. They were a threat to win the whole tournament in a strong, but wide open ACC. They were a dark horse Final Four contender. They were a kenpom log5 darling! Bad news #1 was that we lost the tiebreakers to VT and BC (because, you know, there's no chance we could actually beat those either) so we got the 5 seed and the misfortune of playing a first round game rather than a bye. Bad news #2 was that we again played like steaming, smouldering shit, this time going down by 13 at the half en route to another sub 40% shooting night. Miami was 3-12 against the rest of the ACC, but they cleaned up against us this season.
1/10/07 - Miami 63, Maryland 58. It's nights like this that I need a support group. First of all, this one was actually a home game. Maryland shot 13-58 (!!!) that night, a sizzling 22.4%. From INSIDE the arc, we were just 7-35, good for 20%. That's hardly believable. If we had shot just 40% on two pointers - which is still fairly wretched - we win by close to double digits. Of course that was not to be, as the team was "led" by a particularly bad (1-11) night by Greivis which I didn't remember until looking at the box score. And,oh yeah, I punched a hole in a wall because of this game.
1/7/06 - Miami 74, Maryland 60. This game was in the interregnum between the time of "Chris McCray decides to skip a fucking final despite being a senior" and "Chris McCray gets kicked off the team for being a dumbass and failing his class because he skipped a fucking final" when we still had a chance to be a decent team. I seemed to recall this being at the height of the Terps never, ever defending the three point line. Indeed we were 270th in the country (note: lower numbers are better) that season and let Miami shoot 12-19 from range. This was even pre-Jack McClinton daggering his home team on the regular, as Miami was led by Guillermo Diaz, Robert Hite, and some clown named Anthony King. Seriously, I follow ACC basketball as much as anyone, and remember the first two vividly, but there's no chance 22 points wasn't a career high for Anthony King. I mean, come on, Anthony King!?
2/5/05 - Miami 75, Maryland 73 OT. Wow, now we're going back to when I was in high school. A time when the Terps were ranked. A time when the Terps hadn't missed a tournament in since 1993. This was the same week as loss #1/3 to Clemson. While I do remember a Clemson loss or two, I would be lying if I claimed to remember this one. But yeah, this would be one of the reasons we were in the NIT Final Four that year. At least it went to OT.
And there you have it. Each of these... 7....losses has taken a little piece of my soul. I suppose this means that if some upstart young wizard tries to kill me I will only be an undead spirit rather than a corpse. I will now light myself on fire for rehashing these losses and capping this post with that reference. Yup, these are my losses.
There's actually a very specific set of criterion for a Maryland loss that won't cause me to - at very least - stare at the wall in shock (possibly after punching it):
a) It has to be early in the season. Nothing that could come close to irreparably damaging our tournament seeding, conference finish, or bubble status. I need to be able to rationalize how we can reel off 7 of our next 8 and be in great shape.
b) It has to be against a good team (likely top 10), but that team cannot be Duke. Any loss to Duke ipso facto (!) a painful loss.
c) It has to be close, but not too close. Certainly no buzzer beater daggers or anything close enough that I can point to a play or two that turned the tide and lost us the game.
d) Similarly, there can't be one glaring weakness. If we lose by 7 to a top 10 team in December, that's cool, but if we shoot 14-27 from the line, I'm going to be up in arms.
This really has nothing to do with the main point of this post. I'm really just justifying the way I am to myself because I am whatever you say I am otherwise. I just felt that it would be instructive to look back at the last few years of losses to ACC newcomer/bottom feeder Miami. It's damn sure more exciting than watching Wake get blown out at home by a 3-11 Georgia Tech team.
3/2/11 - Miami 80, Maryland 66. Nothing to really say here given that this just happened, other than to say that I just realized the Terps shot 12-44 from inside the three point line last night. So yeah, that doesn't help.
1/14/09 - Miami 62, Maryland 60. This was a game that the Terps led 52-35 with 12 and a half minutes left. Surely we would cruise to victory and get to 2-0 in the conference to take the sting off the loss at home to Morgan State the week before. It was not to be. The Canes hit 7 threes from that point on including one by Jack McClinton with 0:24 that would be the decisive shot. Maryland wasted a career-high 23 points by Anthony Bowie (I believe this was his debut), and as was frequently a theme, got just 5 bench points on the night.
2/23/08 - Miami 78, Maryland 63. This was not unlike last night's game in that it was a complete blowout to shut the door on our tournament hopes*. I remember this as being the first time that I realized that Gary was completely owned by Frank F Haith, and please say the Motherfucking. The game was close at halftime (Canes by 3), but was less so after the intermission. I am pretty sure there was a thunderous putback dunk by Jerome Burney during this game as he had a career night (4/5 in 12 minutes).
*not exactly true but we are NOT discussing Senior Night vs Clemson.
3/8/07 - Miami 67, Maryland 62. Oh yeah, this was a game. The Terrapins were FLYING HIGH, winners of seven straight to take a share of third place in the conference. They had beaten Duke and a top 5 North Carolina team (in one of the best games ever played at Comcast) during that stretch. They were a threat to win the whole tournament in a strong, but wide open ACC. They were a dark horse Final Four contender. They were a kenpom log5 darling! Bad news #1 was that we lost the tiebreakers to VT and BC (because, you know, there's no chance we could actually beat those either) so we got the 5 seed and the misfortune of playing a first round game rather than a bye. Bad news #2 was that we again played like steaming, smouldering shit, this time going down by 13 at the half en route to another sub 40% shooting night. Miami was 3-12 against the rest of the ACC, but they cleaned up against us this season.
1/10/07 - Miami 63, Maryland 58. It's nights like this that I need a support group. First of all, this one was actually a home game. Maryland shot 13-58 (!!!) that night, a sizzling 22.4%. From INSIDE the arc, we were just 7-35, good for 20%. That's hardly believable. If we had shot just 40% on two pointers - which is still fairly wretched - we win by close to double digits. Of course that was not to be, as the team was "led" by a particularly bad (1-11) night by Greivis which I didn't remember until looking at the box score. And,oh yeah, I punched a hole in a wall because of this game.
1/7/06 - Miami 74, Maryland 60. This game was in the interregnum between the time of "Chris McCray decides to skip a fucking final despite being a senior" and "Chris McCray gets kicked off the team for being a dumbass and failing his class because he skipped a fucking final" when we still had a chance to be a decent team. I seemed to recall this being at the height of the Terps never, ever defending the three point line. Indeed we were 270th in the country (note: lower numbers are better) that season and let Miami shoot 12-19 from range. This was even pre-Jack McClinton daggering his home team on the regular, as Miami was led by Guillermo Diaz, Robert Hite, and some clown named Anthony King. Seriously, I follow ACC basketball as much as anyone, and remember the first two vividly, but there's no chance 22 points wasn't a career high for Anthony King. I mean, come on, Anthony King!?
2/5/05 - Miami 75, Maryland 73 OT. Wow, now we're going back to when I was in high school. A time when the Terps were ranked. A time when the Terps hadn't missed a tournament in since 1993. This was the same week as loss #1/3 to Clemson. While I do remember a Clemson loss or two, I would be lying if I claimed to remember this one. But yeah, this would be one of the reasons we were in the NIT Final Four that year. At least it went to OT.
And there you have it. Each of these... 7....losses has taken a little piece of my soul. I suppose this means that if some upstart young wizard tries to kill me I will only be an undead spirit rather than a corpse. I will now light myself on fire for rehashing these losses and capping this post with that reference. Yup, these are my losses.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Same Old Story, Same Old Song and Dance
NOTE: This is a draft of a post I started writing 2-3 years ago. It was meant to be a sweet awesome compilation, but I got lazy and never finished. I feel like sharing this with you because I know I'll never finish it :( Here goes...
As a student at the University of Maryland, I've had the opportunity to get tickets to hundreds of Division 1A sporting events where I've been able to watch some of the best amateur athletes in the world. No offense to the Wrestling, Golf, Women's Tennis, or any of the 24 other sports of the "27 Sports, 1 Team" of Maryland athletics, but other than a few soccer games. one lacrosse game, and one baseball game, I've only ever gotten tickets to Men's Basketball and Football games. It's definitely not a stretch to say that these 2 teams are the most popular on campus, as well as in the minds and hearts of fans and alumni across the country.
I've witnessed 5 and a half combined seasons of Terps football and basketball since enrolling in Fall 2006. I've seen home games in person at Byrd and Comcast, and I've watched road games on ESPN, ABC, and the Raycom/Lincoln Financial and Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Splits. After tonight's Boston College meltdown, I've realized this can't be a simple case of deja vu. Too many times I've asked anyone who'd listen, "Haven't we seen this before?" Too many times I've turned to Steve right before a crucial play and predicted it perfectly (See my psychic abilities here).
So I've come to the conclusion that Terps athletes are simply paid actors acting out the same script over and over again, with the gridiron or the hardwood as their stage. This basketball season has followed the script to the T, and given me everything I've come to expect in an up-and-down Maryland sports season:
ACT I: The game we had no business winning on paper, but somehow pulled out
(This act is pretty much self explanatory. Going up against a seemingly better, more talented team, the Terps find a way to win. "That's why they play the games." This win always brings a sense of false hope to a young or seemingly hopeless season. Note: Apparently beating superior competition is as simple as knowing who you're going up against, and not letting them off the hook. Thank you, Dennis Green.)
2008-09 Basketball: 11/27/08 vs (6) Michigan State at the Old Spice Classic
Gary led his (3-0) Terps into this Thanksgiving Weekend tournament after a shaky performance at home against an inferior Vermont team that was saved only by a buzzer-beater three from the general at the end of regulation. Expected to compete for a while, but ultimately fall to the top-ten team due to a lack of an inside game, the Terps recieved a gift when the Spartans' best post player, Goran Suton, was sidelined with an injury. Dave Neal stepped up and took advantage in a HUGE breakout game, using what Gary called "YMCA moves" to torch the Michigan State D for 17 PTS on only 10 FGA, including a perfect 3-3 3FG, and 5 REB in only 17 minutes. Greivis also had a solid all-around night with 17PTS 4REB 6AST, while Hayes added 13PTS 6REB 5AST and Big Sexy chipped in 13PTS 2REB 2AST. It was a great team performance and at that point, seemed to answer some questions regarding the Terps' ability to play in big games.
Final Score: Terps 80, (6) Michigan State 62
2007-08 Basketball: 1/19/08 at (1) North Carolina
Last year, the Terps headed down to Chapel Hill for their matchup with the undefeated and top-ranked Tar Heels with a sloppy 11-7 record, which included unexpected home losses to Ohio and American (see ACT II), and a neutral court loss to VCU in the BB&T Classic. With such inconsistent play, the Terps left many fans wondering if they could even keep the game close. The first half went back and forth, with each team leading at times, but Maryland went into the locker room up by 6 thanks to James Gist who had a monster half with 13PTs 9REB, and Greivis who dished out 7AST. James and Boom ultimately were the key to containing All-American forward Tyler Hansbrough. Although he finished with 17PTS 14REB, the duo of Osby (12PTS 5REB) and Gist (22PTS 13REB) kept him below his season scoring average. General Greivis also ran the offense efficiently, as the Terps posted 82PTS on only 64FGA, and he finished with 12PTS 6REB 11AST. Thanks to a late game bucket that was ALMOST a travel by everyone's favorite Terp, Maryland left the Dean Dome with a W.
Final Score: Terps 82, (1) UNC 80
2007 Football: 11/10/07 vs (8) Boston College
There are very few games after which I save my computer-printed student ticket stub, but this is one of them. It was by far the most memorable game I've ever seen at Byrd Stadium. It was late in the season, it was cold, and apparently the game wasn't important enough for Andrew and Rob. Nevertheless, Steve, Zach, and I braved the low temperatures to sit through a seemingly inevitable loss at the hands of a more talented and successful team led by a Top-5 NFL Draft Pick. What we got was one of the best games in recent UMD Football history.
Final Score: Terps 42, (8) BC 35
2006-07 Basketball: 2/25/07 vs (5) North Carolina
My freshman year, despite attending almost every home game, I was unable to get a ticket to the Duke game, so the most memorable game I saw at Comcast was against the fifth-ranked Tar Heels. After a 4-point home loss to UVA 3 weeks earlier, the Terps managed to string together 4 consecutive wins vs Duke, at NC State, at Clemson, and vs Florida State. All three starting seniors, Ibekwe, DJ, and Mike Jones (WHO?), continued their hot play, and ultimately won the game for the good guys. UNC came roaring out of the gate, winning the tipoff and getting an easy layup for their star, the aforementioned Hansbrough, to go up by two just 24 seconds into the game. The lead was stretched to 13 on two seperate occasions, but by halftime it had been cut to 3 behind 10PTS from DJ Strawberry and 8PTS from Gist. Maryland was able to keep the game close for the first 10 minutes of the second half, staying within single digits until the 10:21 mark, when Ty Lawson hit a 3 to put UNC up 69-59. The defecit was 12 with 7:13 remaining. From that point, Mike Jones (WHO?) and DJ just took over.
Final Score: Terps 89, (5) UNC 87
ACT II: The game that we, NO MATTER WHAT, should not have lost, but somehow didn't win
(I hope you enjoyed ACT I, because from here on out, this script is a tragedy. There are some games under which no circumstances is a loss expected, or acceptable. These are the cupcake games, the gimmes, the final scores that are so lopsided they make you say, "Wow, did I read that box score right?" Unfortunately, they DID force you to ask yourself that question, but not because of the margin of victory, but because the Terps didn't end up on the winning side. These games also help destroy that sense of hope instilled in ACT I.)
2008-09 Basketball: 1/7/09 vs Morgan State
After terrible home losses during winter break the year before to Ohio and American (see below), it appeared the Terps had navigated the potentially dangerous waters of the non-conference schedule with only (10) Gonzaga and (16) Georgetown as blemishes on their 11-2 record (for more on the Georgetown game, see ACT IV below). Of all the non-conference teams we were scheduled to play this year, Morgan State seemed to be the biggest cupcake of them all. We had survived Vermont, and logged solid wins against Charlotte, American, and even a solid Michigan team at home already. What did we have to fear against Morgan State and Todd Bozeman? The answer was a 6'4" junior guard from Baltimore who played HS ball with Bonecrusher. Reggie Holmes exploded for 25PTS 8REB on 10-22FG including 5-11 3FG. Sadly, this game could also be considered an ACT III performance. With a 11:39 remaining, the Terps enjoyed a healthy 14 point lead. Holmes simply took over the game. From that point, he scored 16PTS on 6-8FG 4-6 3FG while adding 5REB and 1STL. No play was bigger than the offensive rebound/tip-in with 1:30 remaining to put the Bears up 63-61... except for the dagger 3 he hit to put Morgan State up 66-63 with 0:49 left after Dave Neal had hit 2FT to tie the game at 63. It's amazing how a player shooting that well was able to get that many open looks. Oh wait, he probably was being guarded by Eric Hayes.
Final Score: Terps 65, Morgan State 66
2008 Football: at Middle Tennessee State
Final Score:
2007-08 Basketball: vs ohio, vs american
Final Score:
ACT III: The Epic Fail
(In this act, no matter whether we were underdogs, favorites, or evenly matched, we found a way to accrue a faily large lead late in the game, but managed to blow it. These games are the epitome of choke. They also could easily appear on FAIL BLOG. If ACT II didn't destroy your hope for the season, this will certainly do the trick.)
2008-09 Basketball: 1/14/09 at Miami
The first ACC road game of the season turned out to be a memorable one for most Terp fans. Sure, the game was close and there was a slight chance Greivis's 27 foot heave from the top of the key at the buzzer could have fallen, giving the Terps a great W. But we never should have let McClinton shoot the 'Canes back into the game. With 12:32 remaining in the game, Dino (he went to my high school) hit a layup off a pass from Greivis, and we went up 52-35. So how in the world do we end up with the L? From that point on, the Terps scored on only 8 points on 16 possessions, including shooting 3-15 FG, 0-5 3FG, grabbing only 4 OREB, and committing 4 TO. As much as I love me some Adrian Bowie and his 23PTS 5REB 3AST 2STL, he turned the ball over on 3 consecutive possessions with under 2 minutes to play, and those 3 TO led to 5 Miami points. Good teams don't blow 17-point second-half leads. Sadly, though, this isn't anywhere NEAR the worst ACT III performances.
Final Score: Terps 60, Miami 62
2007-08 Basketball: 3/2/08 vs (22) Clemson
There already exists an entire post of my thoughts and feelings which was written hours after the game, which can be seen here, but I will attempt to take a more statistical analysis regarding the game in this post. Despite some early season losses, the Terps managed to turn the season around by upsetting (1) UNC on the road and continued their hot play throught much of the conference season. Realistically needing to win out to get an NCAA Tournament bid, the Terps welcomed the 22nd ranked Tigers and their 20-7 record to the Comcast Center for an expectedly close ACC conference game. What they got was a jarring, confidence-shaking loss that further exaggerated the Terps inability to close out games. Simply put, this was the most frustrating, demoralizing game I've ever seen in person. To this day, all other losses are measured relative to the Oglesby game. With 11:21 remaining, Greivis scored a putback off a missed layup by Cliff Tucker, putting the Terps up 20, 59-39, forcing Oliver Purnell to call a timeout. Purnell's speech during that timeout must have been damn good, as the Tigers outscored the Terps 34-11 to finish the game. Let me repeat that. 34-11. That is inexcusable. Offense should never simply shut down that badly, and defense should never allow an opponent to score almost as many points in the last 1/4 of the game as they have total through the first 3/4 of the game. The lead was still 13, 68-55, with 4:48 left. Yet in the final 4:48, the Terps managed just 2 points on 8 possessions, shooting 1-6 FG including 0-3 3PTFG and 0-1 FT with 3TO. When your opponent is putting together a solid run to claw back into the game and you can't stop them on D, you have to find a way to keep pace. Sadly, the Terps were just out of steam. After a dunk by James Mays tied the game at 70 with 0:45 remaining, a missed jumper by Greivis and a defensive rebound by Sam Perry allowed Clemson to take a timeout and set up a play. "Oglesby for three?" I remember asking Steve. Sure enough, OGLESBY! Dagger three, and we lose 73-70. Each of us walked back to our dorm separately, not saying a word. After looking at the box score, even though it seemed Oglesby was the reason we lost, it was James Mays who came up biggest down the stretch, recording 9PTS 2REB 1STL on 4-4 FG and 1-1 FT in the last 4:09. A few statistical bright spots for the Terps included Bowie shooting a perfect 6-6 FG for 12PTS, James Gist leading Maryland scorers with 15PTS 8REB 2AST 3BLK, and a solid all-around game from Greivis with 13PTS 8REB 7AST. Along with those 7AST came 7 of the Terps' 21TO. After this deflating loss, the Terps went on to lose at Virginia and in the first round of the ACC Tournament against BC. Less than three weeks after being NCAA Tournament hopefuls, we were off on our third trip to the NIT in four years thanks to Terrence Oglesby and his dagger three.
Final Score: Terps 70, (22) Clemson 73
2007 Football: 9/22/07 at Wake Forest
Although the basketball team has mastered the art of the late game collapse, Ralph and the football team have choked here and there too. None was more deflating than the loss at Wake Forest early in the 2007 season.
Final Score: Terps 24, Wake Forest 31 (OT)
Although the basketball team has mastered the art of the late game collapse, Ralph and the football team have choked here and there too. None was more deflating than the loss at Wake Forest early in the 2007 season.
Final Score: Terps 24, Wake Forest 31 (OT)
ACT IV: The Game that Could Have Been
(In this act, Maryland entered a game with significant pre-game buzz surrounding either a huge upset, or a possible postseason berth, but came away with neither. Not only did we lose, we lost BIG. These losses are embarassing, although not quite as crushing as the ACT III flops, in which we managed to accumulate a lead only to lose. These make you scratch your head and wonder if the team was ever mentally ready to play in the first place.)
2008-09 Basketball: 1/24/09 at (2) Duke
It's really hard for me to put into words how bad we looked this past Saturday.
Final Score: Terps 44, (2) Duke 85
2008-09 Basketball: 11/30/08 vs (16) Georgetown at the Old Spice Classic
Coming off of that huge win against (6) Michigan State in Orlando, the Terps ran into a hot Gonzaga team the next night and were demolished 59-81. After a day of rest, and a day for the media to go crazy with the prospect of the two powerhouse programs in the DC-metro area going head to head for only the third time since 1980, and the first meeting since the 2001 NCAA Tournament, where the Terps defeated the Hoyas 76-66 en route to their first ever Final Four. The press was blowing up the game in terms of historical and regional significance, and local bragging (and definitely some recuiting) rights were on the line as well. Expectations were high, but the Terps' FG% was not.
Final Score: Terps 48, (16) Georgetown 75
Final Score: Terps 48, (16) Georgetown 75
2008 Football: 11/22/08 vs Florida State
Despite insufficient funding in the Athletic Department, which prevented free t-shirts from being passed out, Byrd was officially blacked out for the last home game of the year, senior night. It was freezing, but Terps fans came out to cheer on their team with a shot at the ACC title on the line. Had Wake lost earlier that night, the Terps could have punched their ticket to the Dr. Pepper ACC Championship game with a win over the Noles. Wake won on a drive late in the fourth quarter, so the Terps needed to win at home vs FSU and on the road the following week at BC to keep their hopes alive. In the words of my esteemed colleague Turd, [Fuck you Bob] Maryland shat the bed. After a scoreless first quarter, FSU posted 21 in the second quarter thanks to a 22YD fumble recovery taken to the house. After a third quarter which featured 1FG by each team, the Noles completely slammed the door on the Terps' ACC title hopes with a 13-point fourth. We were outrushed 172-103. Turner was sacked 6 times and picked twice. Terps fans left Byrd cold, disappointed, and looking to next season.Final Score: (22) Terps 3, Florida State 37
2007 Football: 9/13/07 vs West Virginia
After being destroyed on the road against WVU the year before (see below), the Terps hosted the Mountaineers for a Thursday night blackout game. The ESPN crew was there, the Army sent paratroopers, and the fans were loud and looking for their Terps to move to 3-0. Quite frankly, the team just forgot to show up.Final Score: Terps 14, WVU 31
2006 Football: 9/14/06 at West Virginia
I remember this game mainly because I only watched about 5 minutes of it. As a freshman taking HONR100, I was forced to attend a dance performance this particular Thursday night at CSPAC. I can't remember a damn thing about the dance, but I can tell you when I got out, ran across the street to Denton and up 5 flights of stairs to turn on the TV in my room, the score was already 31-7 and it wasn't even worth watching. I only include it on this list because the 'rivalry' with the Mountaineers was supposed to be a good one. This game was not. Steve Slaton ran for 195YDS on 21CAR including 2TD. Pat White ran for 85YDS on 12CAR and 1TD, and added another TD through the air. Terps QB Sam Hollenbach racked up 211YDS 2TD 2INT, but most of the yards came after the game had already been decided.Final Score: Terps 24, WVU 45
________________________________________
By the end of these performances, it's easy to see that we are never as good of a team as we could be. We choke, we can't string wins together, and ultimately, we fall short of our goal. The Championship run was only seven years ago, but it, as well as the exciting turn of the millennium seem like forever ago. Gone are the days when we can be considered "elite" by any standards, especially Nike's, who's other Nike Elite schools include programs that are actually GOOD, like Kansas, Syracuse, Arizona, Ohio State, Florida, and Duke. That's perfectly okay, though, because we no longer wear Nike Elite uniforms. Now we're OWNED by Under Armour. WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE...unless we feel like giving the game away to the likes of Reggie Holmes or Oglesby.
Another NIT
I really hope that Gary Williams is planning his retirement.
Now longtime readers and friends of the blog will know that I've said things like that before. Most of them, however, have been in the heat of battle when I'm prone to hyperbole. Few things cause me to get madder than a bad Maryland loss (as if there is any other kind) so I'll often vent my frustrations to avoid a stroke. But this isn't the same. I'm not mad, nor was I mad after the UNC embarrassment. I'm indifferent. Considering that I've been a "watch every game" type of fan since I was about six, that's not good.
At this point it's tiresome to constantly hope that we don't get relegated to the NIT (this will be 4 times in 7 years, for those counting, with one of the other three seasons having us sweating until Selection Sunday). We can talk about the recruiting missteps, as there are and continue to be plenty, but even worse are the coaching gaffes and lack of player development from a coach that has been so good at those things in the past.
The amount of zone defense played tonight was outright laughable. Zone works well if you're Syracuse and drill it into your kids' heads from the time they step onto the campus. It works as a change of pace to confuse poorly coached teams. It works when you have key guys out of the game and need to work around matchup problems. Here's when it doesn't work. It doesn't work when you play 90% man-to-man defense ordinarily and then decide to throw a zone at a team that both makes and shoots a large, large number of three point shots. It's beyond baffling that this simple fact wasn't figured out by our HOF coach until Miami had rained in a dozen threes on just over 20 attempts. That certainly wasn't our only reason for losing (Stoglin had even less help than usual on offfense tonight), but it's frustrating when the coach can't see what the fans at home can see.
As for player development, the upperclassmen in the backcourt have all regressed. Sean Mosley was a much, much better player (a very good starter) at the end of his freshman year and into his sophomore year. Now he's a poor decision maker who rarely seems to score outside of five feet. Cliff Tucker was once an enigmatic scorer who could do a lot of different things off the bench. After a great start to his senior season, he seems completely disinterested and unable to do much of anything besides make mistakes. Even Adrian Bowie who started for most of the season two years ago, is at best inconsistent and certainly no better than he was during the past two years. Sure, Dino Gregory has developed, and Jordan Williams has been fantastic in his two years here, but the success ratio is well down from what Gary did with Juan Dixon or even Obinna Ekezie.
So now Maryland is 7-8 in a weak ACC, despite having a sophomore averaging 17 and 12 and a freshman who will have a legitimate shot to break the school's all-time scoring record. Perhaps the most frustrating part in re: recruiting is that we HAVE recruited some high level players over the past half dozens season (Vasquez, Stoglin, Williams), but simply haven't been able to put together any kind of a solid supporting cast. That should be the easy part, but when the head coach puts so little effort into recruiting and doesn't regularly go to scout players during the season, it's hard to put together a strong roster.
It's depressing to think that less than ten years after scoring a national title, back-to-back final fours, and building a beautiful new arena, we're going to be relegated to a postseason that will start with a showdown against Drexel before 4,000 fans at the Comcast Center.
I can only hope that Gary will begin to reevaluate his future in coaching. I would never, ever seriously want him to be fired. He means far too much not only to the basketball program but to the school at home to be treated with anything other than respect. Be that as it may, the basketball program is not reaching its full potential, and loyalty to the university eventually trumps loyalty to the coach. We are capable of much, much better, and I simply cannot imagine that Gary, who will turn 66 on Friday, is the man to provide it.
Now longtime readers and friends of the blog will know that I've said things like that before. Most of them, however, have been in the heat of battle when I'm prone to hyperbole. Few things cause me to get madder than a bad Maryland loss (as if there is any other kind) so I'll often vent my frustrations to avoid a stroke. But this isn't the same. I'm not mad, nor was I mad after the UNC embarrassment. I'm indifferent. Considering that I've been a "watch every game" type of fan since I was about six, that's not good.
At this point it's tiresome to constantly hope that we don't get relegated to the NIT (this will be 4 times in 7 years, for those counting, with one of the other three seasons having us sweating until Selection Sunday). We can talk about the recruiting missteps, as there are and continue to be plenty, but even worse are the coaching gaffes and lack of player development from a coach that has been so good at those things in the past.
The amount of zone defense played tonight was outright laughable. Zone works well if you're Syracuse and drill it into your kids' heads from the time they step onto the campus. It works as a change of pace to confuse poorly coached teams. It works when you have key guys out of the game and need to work around matchup problems. Here's when it doesn't work. It doesn't work when you play 90% man-to-man defense ordinarily and then decide to throw a zone at a team that both makes and shoots a large, large number of three point shots. It's beyond baffling that this simple fact wasn't figured out by our HOF coach until Miami had rained in a dozen threes on just over 20 attempts. That certainly wasn't our only reason for losing (Stoglin had even less help than usual on offfense tonight), but it's frustrating when the coach can't see what the fans at home can see.
As for player development, the upperclassmen in the backcourt have all regressed. Sean Mosley was a much, much better player (a very good starter) at the end of his freshman year and into his sophomore year. Now he's a poor decision maker who rarely seems to score outside of five feet. Cliff Tucker was once an enigmatic scorer who could do a lot of different things off the bench. After a great start to his senior season, he seems completely disinterested and unable to do much of anything besides make mistakes. Even Adrian Bowie who started for most of the season two years ago, is at best inconsistent and certainly no better than he was during the past two years. Sure, Dino Gregory has developed, and Jordan Williams has been fantastic in his two years here, but the success ratio is well down from what Gary did with Juan Dixon or even Obinna Ekezie.
So now Maryland is 7-8 in a weak ACC, despite having a sophomore averaging 17 and 12 and a freshman who will have a legitimate shot to break the school's all-time scoring record. Perhaps the most frustrating part in re: recruiting is that we HAVE recruited some high level players over the past half dozens season (Vasquez, Stoglin, Williams), but simply haven't been able to put together any kind of a solid supporting cast. That should be the easy part, but when the head coach puts so little effort into recruiting and doesn't regularly go to scout players during the season, it's hard to put together a strong roster.
It's depressing to think that less than ten years after scoring a national title, back-to-back final fours, and building a beautiful new arena, we're going to be relegated to a postseason that will start with a showdown against Drexel before 4,000 fans at the Comcast Center.
I can only hope that Gary will begin to reevaluate his future in coaching. I would never, ever seriously want him to be fired. He means far too much not only to the basketball program but to the school at home to be treated with anything other than respect. Be that as it may, the basketball program is not reaching its full potential, and loyalty to the university eventually trumps loyalty to the coach. We are capable of much, much better, and I simply cannot imagine that Gary, who will turn 66 on Friday, is the man to provide it.
0-5 at Miami's arena?
Apparently it's not that hard to out-coach Gary these days. I have been quick to reprimand S.Terpleton in his displeasure for Gary recently, but after tonight's game, there is simply no other excuse. Here's why Gary needs to reconsider things:
Yes, the refs didn't help and missed SEVERAL calls in tonight's game. But Gary didn't switch into a man-to-man until there were 5 minutes left and Miami had just hit back-to-back threes to go up 15. That's too late. In the Duke game, Singler hit shots over his man on three straight possessions late in the second half, and even then, Gary still wouldn't change things up with a 3-2 zone. Hint: It would've been too late anyways. Sticking to things that don't work doesn't make you stoic, Coach. It makes you look stupid and embarrasses your team's fans. Perimeter defense has been one of the four major things plaguing the Terps all year (see also: FT shooting, defensive rebounding, and shot selection). To combat that, you have to change up defenses and not collapse on every player that drive into the paint. I hope this isn't news to a future HOF coach, but if it is, I apologize I waited until now to post it.
Every backup guard cannot have a career game against your team if you consider yourself an NCAA Tournament team. You can't go through 7 minute stretches where you don't make a FG (not really an issue tonight, but has been a huge problem in the past), and you have to have senior leadership. The senior guards have proven to be nothing but glorified role players who coasted for the past three years while Greivis and Hayes did all the work. Dino has pleasantly surprised in most games, but also has a knack for not being able to pull down rebounds when they matter most. Forgetting to recruit 3 and 4 years ago is coming back to bite Gary this year.
NIT here we come! I just hope we don't end up facing Michigan State again...
In Stoglin and Williams we trust!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Dear Gary
Please retire. The game has passed you by. Thank Rob Ehsan for finding Terrell Stoglin for us on your way out.
Love,
Garyland
Love,
Garyland
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Konerko + Dunn >> Pujols
"If [owner Jerry Reinsdorf] gave me $30 million right now, I'm not going to spend it on one guy. Sorry, White Sox fans," Williams said, according to CSN. "But I tell you what, I'm going to take that $30 million and I'm going to distribute it around. My team is going to be better as a whole than it is with one player who might get hurt. Then you're done. Sorry, that's just me. And that's no disrespect to a future Hall of Famer, first ballot, one of the greatest players in history."
Chicago signed Adam Dunn to a $56 million, four-year contract and brought Paul Konerko back for three years at $37.5 million.
I have to hand it to Kenny Williams here - he can tell that diversifying his risk by signing two aging sluggers who won't provide anything on defense for $25M is better than signing the best baseball man on the planet for about the same price. After all, the White Sox have been the hub of fiscal prudence over the last half decade.
Friday, February 18, 2011
A List
Kevin Durant, Josh Selby, Thomas Robinson, Michael Beasley, Wally Judge, Rodney McGruder, Naji Hibbert, Uche Echefu, Jason Clark, Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, Henry Sims, Tyler Thornton, Quin Cook, Nolan Smith, Tywon Lawson, Marcus Ginyard, Isiah Armwood, Tristan Spurlock, Terrell Vinson, Josh Hariston, Rudy Gay, Josh Boone, Carmelo Anthony, Kris Joseph, CJ Fair, Mike Sweetney, Melvin Scott, Marshall Strickland, Linas Kleiza, Gerald Brown, Dante Taylor, Patrick Ewing, Dajuan Summers, Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen, Scottie Reynolds, Eric Atkins, Roscoe Smith, Chris Braswell, Roy Hibbert, Eddie Basden, Anthony McClain, Markel Starks, Jarrett Jack, Nigel Munson
How does the old saying go? Fool me once, shame on you; fool me times two through fifth shame on me? Indeed.
How does the old saying go? Fool me once, shame on you; fool me times two through fifth shame on me? Indeed.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
A Series of Unfortunate Events
When we think of failures we think of New Coke, the Magic Hour and the Carter administration. We think of those because they're highly publicized, highly visible examples of failure. They crashed and burned in a spectacular manner. What we don't think of are the lesser failures, those that peter out with nary a reverberation felt my most humanoids out there. Were we to chronicle these events in the annals of history, Maryland football would be deserving of at least a footnote in the chronicles. This post intends to examine the recent failures of the aforementioned program. To wit:
-Naming James Franklin as Head Coach in Waiting: Naming a head coach before firing the old one (or having him announce his retirement) is an odd proposition to begin with. It may make sense when you're FSU and you hire a Jimbo Fisher and everyone knows that Bobby Bowden is going dadgum stop coaching soon enough. It makes sense when you have an assistant so coveted (Will Muschamp) that he was good enough to be named the coach at Florida to succeed Urban Meyer. But for Maryland, with James Franklin? That makes less sense. I was never as down on Franklin as others. I thought he would have been a perfectly viable candidate during an open search. But that's the key - during an open search. For all the negatives that Debbie Yow had during her tenure as Athletic Director, locking the football program into this situation may well have been the most egregious. Even worse was the $1M guaranteed to Franklin were he to have stayed and not been named head coach for the 2012 season. Yikes. I've never run a business admittedly, but I simply can't imagine many good reasons for saying "hey, you've never done this job before, but I'm guaranteeing you a position doing just that, even though it isn't currently open. And for doing me the favor of taking this extremely well-compensated position, I'm going to give you seven figures if someone else gets the job. Cheers!" The scrilla strip mall will NOT be run like that.
-Bringing back Fridge following a 2-10 season: Sure, there were reasons for this, ranging from the capital Fridge had earned over his first eight seasons to (much more importantly) the ostensible lack of money to cover a buyout and hire a new coach at a competitive salary. But coming off a season where the program only wins once in eleven tries against I-A opponents, significant changes needed to be made. Instead, essentially the entire coaching staff, from the head man on down to the coordinators and assistants, were brought back. Does this sound like a program that wants to win? I remember a quote about doing the same things over and expecting different results, but we all know how that one goes.
-Guaranteeing Fridge's return in 2011: Now we get into the Kevin Anderson era. An era that once seemed so wildly promising in its salad days. Giving Fridge a positive vote of confidence that included his return for 2011 seemed like the right thing to do at the time, I'll admit. And it's certainly understandable that decisions change based on the facts on the ground themselves changing. Despite that, it's imperative that when such a declaration is made, the Athletic Director shouldn't be going back on his word a mere month later. But when Anderson said what he did about the future, the dismal attendance and the lack of a long-term, post-2011 succession plan were both well known. Yet by the end of December, with Franklin's departure, it seemed as if plans had been thrown into disarray, even though Anderson had made some less-than-subtle comments that called into question the idea of Franklin succeeding Fridge. Just what was the plan or did it not exist at all? Clearly a Fridge extension was not on the table, nor was Franklin getting the job. A lame duck coach in 2011 may have been the only thing worse than what actually transpired (excluded the parallel universe where Chuck Amato was extended an offer).
-The Press Conference: Kevin Anderson made his decision. Whether or not it was the right one is besides the point. He made a bold move and now it was his turn to sell it. To his credit, he and Dr. Loh did so by rallying the fanbase talking about the need for "transformative excellence" in the words of Loh. That was awesome, no doubt. The idea was that Maryland had slid into mediocrity under Fridge. Love or hate the big man, it was a true statement irrespective of a top 25 ranking this season. Given the stature (or lack thereof) accorded to Maryland football, the candidates weren't exactly lining up to take the post. There was one man, and only one man, who represented anything approaching proven excellence, and that was Mike Leach. Hiring him was the easy move. But instead, we...
-Hired Randy Edsall: Just like any of the above items, I'm willing to accept this in isolation. Edsall is a fine coach. His team finished playing in a Fiesta Bowl not a week earlier. He built a program from a I-AA also-ran to the champion of a BCS conference. Kudos to him, but his overall record is worse than that of Friedgen. While the comparisons may not be exactly analogous, it's hard to sell the new coach as an upgrade when the most fundamental comparison and indicator of quality, wins and losses, does not tilt in his favor. Perhaps Leach wasn't the right guy. I'm willing to take a chance on a loose cannon, but by many emerging accounts, Leach's interview went poorly and took him from the presumptive favorite to out of the running. Speculation about the powers-that-be and their motives and preferences aside, there have been enough questions raised about Leach to help understand the rationale, but even then, it's a bitter pill for the fans to swallow.
-The first 90 days: The real impetus for this post was the latest indignity for the program - losing fantastic DC Don Brown. As if losing him weren't enough, he made a lateral move to "go home" to be take the same position at ... UCONN! Again, perhaps the stated reasons for Brown's departure (desire to go back to New England, where he had coached all his life) are legitimate. Maybe this is explainable. But Brown was the most respected coach on last year's staff by fans but seemingly players as well. Just two weeks ago it was announced the Brown would be back, but somehow he never quite got around to signing a new contract before the expiry of his previous one on February 1. And what makes this all look even worse is that it went down just two days after National Signing Day. Had it happened last week, it would be a safe bet that at least a couple of Maryland's newly signed recruits would have been looking elsewhere. Not good, at all.
The next step is obviously to fill Brown's shoes, and that needs to be done with a big hire from outside the program, preferably one with local ties as Edsall's staff has only its two holdovers - OL coach Tom Brattan and WR coach Lee Hull, the newly minted local recruiter - who can claim any sort of local ties. Will Edsall make the right hire here? I'm not exactly sure what that is, but after the past two years, here's hoping the Maryland football program can do something to show us that the people in charge have a clear idea how to move from mediocrity to something a little better.
At least there's everybody's All-American, Danny O'Brien.
-Naming James Franklin as Head Coach in Waiting: Naming a head coach before firing the old one (or having him announce his retirement) is an odd proposition to begin with. It may make sense when you're FSU and you hire a Jimbo Fisher and everyone knows that Bobby Bowden is going dadgum stop coaching soon enough. It makes sense when you have an assistant so coveted (Will Muschamp) that he was good enough to be named the coach at Florida to succeed Urban Meyer. But for Maryland, with James Franklin? That makes less sense. I was never as down on Franklin as others. I thought he would have been a perfectly viable candidate during an open search. But that's the key - during an open search. For all the negatives that Debbie Yow had during her tenure as Athletic Director, locking the football program into this situation may well have been the most egregious. Even worse was the $1M guaranteed to Franklin were he to have stayed and not been named head coach for the 2012 season. Yikes. I've never run a business admittedly, but I simply can't imagine many good reasons for saying "hey, you've never done this job before, but I'm guaranteeing you a position doing just that, even though it isn't currently open. And for doing me the favor of taking this extremely well-compensated position, I'm going to give you seven figures if someone else gets the job. Cheers!" The scrilla strip mall will NOT be run like that.
-Bringing back Fridge following a 2-10 season: Sure, there were reasons for this, ranging from the capital Fridge had earned over his first eight seasons to (much more importantly) the ostensible lack of money to cover a buyout and hire a new coach at a competitive salary. But coming off a season where the program only wins once in eleven tries against I-A opponents, significant changes needed to be made. Instead, essentially the entire coaching staff, from the head man on down to the coordinators and assistants, were brought back. Does this sound like a program that wants to win? I remember a quote about doing the same things over and expecting different results, but we all know how that one goes.
-Guaranteeing Fridge's return in 2011: Now we get into the Kevin Anderson era. An era that once seemed so wildly promising in its salad days. Giving Fridge a positive vote of confidence that included his return for 2011 seemed like the right thing to do at the time, I'll admit. And it's certainly understandable that decisions change based on the facts on the ground themselves changing. Despite that, it's imperative that when such a declaration is made, the Athletic Director shouldn't be going back on his word a mere month later. But when Anderson said what he did about the future, the dismal attendance and the lack of a long-term, post-2011 succession plan were both well known. Yet by the end of December, with Franklin's departure, it seemed as if plans had been thrown into disarray, even though Anderson had made some less-than-subtle comments that called into question the idea of Franklin succeeding Fridge. Just what was the plan or did it not exist at all? Clearly a Fridge extension was not on the table, nor was Franklin getting the job. A lame duck coach in 2011 may have been the only thing worse than what actually transpired (excluded the parallel universe where Chuck Amato was extended an offer).
-The Press Conference: Kevin Anderson made his decision. Whether or not it was the right one is besides the point. He made a bold move and now it was his turn to sell it. To his credit, he and Dr. Loh did so by rallying the fanbase talking about the need for "transformative excellence" in the words of Loh. That was awesome, no doubt. The idea was that Maryland had slid into mediocrity under Fridge. Love or hate the big man, it was a true statement irrespective of a top 25 ranking this season. Given the stature (or lack thereof) accorded to Maryland football, the candidates weren't exactly lining up to take the post. There was one man, and only one man, who represented anything approaching proven excellence, and that was Mike Leach. Hiring him was the easy move. But instead, we...
-Hired Randy Edsall: Just like any of the above items, I'm willing to accept this in isolation. Edsall is a fine coach. His team finished playing in a Fiesta Bowl not a week earlier. He built a program from a I-AA also-ran to the champion of a BCS conference. Kudos to him, but his overall record is worse than that of Friedgen. While the comparisons may not be exactly analogous, it's hard to sell the new coach as an upgrade when the most fundamental comparison and indicator of quality, wins and losses, does not tilt in his favor. Perhaps Leach wasn't the right guy. I'm willing to take a chance on a loose cannon, but by many emerging accounts, Leach's interview went poorly and took him from the presumptive favorite to out of the running. Speculation about the powers-that-be and their motives and preferences aside, there have been enough questions raised about Leach to help understand the rationale, but even then, it's a bitter pill for the fans to swallow.
-The first 90 days: The real impetus for this post was the latest indignity for the program - losing fantastic DC Don Brown. As if losing him weren't enough, he made a lateral move to "go home" to be take the same position at ... UCONN! Again, perhaps the stated reasons for Brown's departure (desire to go back to New England, where he had coached all his life) are legitimate. Maybe this is explainable. But Brown was the most respected coach on last year's staff by fans but seemingly players as well. Just two weeks ago it was announced the Brown would be back, but somehow he never quite got around to signing a new contract before the expiry of his previous one on February 1. And what makes this all look even worse is that it went down just two days after National Signing Day. Had it happened last week, it would be a safe bet that at least a couple of Maryland's newly signed recruits would have been looking elsewhere. Not good, at all.
The next step is obviously to fill Brown's shoes, and that needs to be done with a big hire from outside the program, preferably one with local ties as Edsall's staff has only its two holdovers - OL coach Tom Brattan and WR coach Lee Hull, the newly minted local recruiter - who can claim any sort of local ties. Will Edsall make the right hire here? I'm not exactly sure what that is, but after the past two years, here's hoping the Maryland football program can do something to show us that the people in charge have a clear idea how to move from mediocrity to something a little better.
At least there's everybody's All-American, Danny O'Brien.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Luck, #340 Maryland, -0.131
So it goes that despite being number 1 in the country in defensive efficiency, Maryland is just 11-6 with a one point win over College of Charleston being by far the best accomplishment of the not-so-young season. Either that or a 23 point rout of Penn State on the road. I'm really not sure which of those is more depressing to have as a signature win.
To be sure, luck only accounts for some of the team's struggles. It's going to be hard to convince anyone that missing free throw after free throw has anything to do with luck, and aside from that, the team's five backcourt regulars all seemingly range from average (on a good day) to downright bad as long distance shooters. Eric Hayes, they are not.
The latest loss was the toughest, and there doesn't need to be much said about it at this point other than that the Terps blew a 12 point lead on the road because they allowed a staggering 19-0 run. After playing so well for the first 30 minutes - hitting jumpers, getting the ball to Jordan Williams, playing outstanding man to man and pressure defense - the team absolutely crumbled in the final minutes, not for the first time in recent years. It wasn't quite the collapse that we saw against Clemson in 2008, but it wasn't that far off either.
The team's outlook is grim, but with a an All-American in the middle and a suffocating defense most nights combined with a soft league schedule and three extra tournament berths available, the team should still expect to be in the position to have its name called by Greg Gumbel on Selection Sunday.
Perhaps my optimism is misplaced. After all, Midseason Wooden Award Candidate Jordan Fucking Williams is only one man, even if he is an 18-12 kind of man. Up next for the Terps leading into the rematch with Duke (and their only other chance this season for a marquee win) will be home games against Virginia Tech and Clemson followed next week by road dates with Georgia Tech and Virginia. The Terps, even despite their struggles, ought to be favored in each game. If they could manage to hold serve, it would give them quite a bit of breathing room and potential to make noise in the ACC race, one which Duke still controls but not nearly as handily as if Kyrie Irving were still healthy.
The most interesting thing in the past month has been the what is happening in the frontcourt. Dino Gregory has stepped up huge this season. Given his increased propensity to knock down the open mid-range jumper he might be called a poor man's Landon Milbourne. Never having had a ton of love for Landon's game, I'd disagree and go as far as saying that he's about as good as Milbourne. Not as reliable on the offensive end, perhaps, but probably much better on the defensive side. Dino blocks shots, takes charges, and generally doesn't allow many big games for the guy he is assigned to guard.
The backup spot is increasingly going to Hawk Palsson. In the first three conference games plus the Nova game, the Hawk has logged 47 minutes compared to just 19 for Inspector Padgett (who got his first DNP of the season on Saturday). The Flying Dutchman Berend Weijs also didn't see minutes against Villanova and played just five combined in three conference games. As big as the rotation seemed a few weeks back, it looks like Gary is paring it back to his traditional eight man core plus optional ninth man (in this case Padgett).
Of course the game tonight against Virginia Tech is huge. A loss, at home, against a team thought to be about as good as Maryland means it's almost officially time to think about the NIT. Given that the ACC will probably get three or four at-large/non-Duke bids, it's imperative to win games like the next two at home against fellow contenders VT and Clemson. Plus who wouldn't love to see us beat that loud mouthed, whiny POS Seth Greenberg again after losing to him all too often when the Hokies first joined the league. Plus it would also be nice to send out one of Bmore's finest, Malcolm Delaney, with a loss in his last game at the Comcast Center. Hopefully we can make them pay for talking shit about our fans leading up to the game.
To be sure, luck only accounts for some of the team's struggles. It's going to be hard to convince anyone that missing free throw after free throw has anything to do with luck, and aside from that, the team's five backcourt regulars all seemingly range from average (on a good day) to downright bad as long distance shooters. Eric Hayes, they are not.
The latest loss was the toughest, and there doesn't need to be much said about it at this point other than that the Terps blew a 12 point lead on the road because they allowed a staggering 19-0 run. After playing so well for the first 30 minutes - hitting jumpers, getting the ball to Jordan Williams, playing outstanding man to man and pressure defense - the team absolutely crumbled in the final minutes, not for the first time in recent years. It wasn't quite the collapse that we saw against Clemson in 2008, but it wasn't that far off either.
The team's outlook is grim, but with a an All-American in the middle and a suffocating defense most nights combined with a soft league schedule and three extra tournament berths available, the team should still expect to be in the position to have its name called by Greg Gumbel on Selection Sunday.
Perhaps my optimism is misplaced. After all, Midseason Wooden Award Candidate Jordan Fucking Williams is only one man, even if he is an 18-12 kind of man. Up next for the Terps leading into the rematch with Duke (and their only other chance this season for a marquee win) will be home games against Virginia Tech and Clemson followed next week by road dates with Georgia Tech and Virginia. The Terps, even despite their struggles, ought to be favored in each game. If they could manage to hold serve, it would give them quite a bit of breathing room and potential to make noise in the ACC race, one which Duke still controls but not nearly as handily as if Kyrie Irving were still healthy.
The most interesting thing in the past month has been the what is happening in the frontcourt. Dino Gregory has stepped up huge this season. Given his increased propensity to knock down the open mid-range jumper he might be called a poor man's Landon Milbourne. Never having had a ton of love for Landon's game, I'd disagree and go as far as saying that he's about as good as Milbourne. Not as reliable on the offensive end, perhaps, but probably much better on the defensive side. Dino blocks shots, takes charges, and generally doesn't allow many big games for the guy he is assigned to guard.
The backup spot is increasingly going to Hawk Palsson. In the first three conference games plus the Nova game, the Hawk has logged 47 minutes compared to just 19 for Inspector Padgett (who got his first DNP of the season on Saturday). The Flying Dutchman Berend Weijs also didn't see minutes against Villanova and played just five combined in three conference games. As big as the rotation seemed a few weeks back, it looks like Gary is paring it back to his traditional eight man core plus optional ninth man (in this case Padgett).
Of course the game tonight against Virginia Tech is huge. A loss, at home, against a team thought to be about as good as Maryland means it's almost officially time to think about the NIT. Given that the ACC will probably get three or four at-large/non-Duke bids, it's imperative to win games like the next two at home against fellow contenders VT and Clemson. Plus who wouldn't love to see us beat that loud mouthed, whiny POS Seth Greenberg again after losing to him all too often when the Hokies first joined the league. Plus it would also be nice to send out one of Bmore's finest, Malcolm Delaney, with a loss in his last game at the Comcast Center. Hopefully we can make them pay for talking shit about our fans leading up to the game.
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