It's funny how things work out sometimes. Back in those halcyon days of October, I thought the Terps would finish 3rd or 4th in the ACC - either right ahead of Clemson or right behind them. Now in March the Terps' regular season is over, and it resulted in a tie for 5th place. Not terrible compared to expectations, right?
Not so much. The Terps finished up with an unsightly 13 losses, including losses to the likes of Boston College, Virginia, Ohio, American, and Missouri, none of whom are even close to NCAA Tournament at-large caliber teams. Even more disturbing, only one of those losses - the most recent against Virginia - came in a true road game. Net that against just one win against an at-large caliber team all season (the big one - @North Carolina) along with a maddening inability to slam the door on opponents late in the game plus a weakish ACC, and you have a rather empty fifth place finish.
A disasterous 2-5 finish to the regular season now means that any thoughts about the Terps making the Big Dance can go on hold at least until and unless the team beats Clemson on Friday night, and possibly until an unlikely win over Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. After the Clemson loss it was always going to be an uphill battle, but a stupifying 15 point loss to Virginia makes it all the more harder.
And what can be said about that game? It was more of the same. Porous perimeter defense, namely by Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne. Stupifying substitution patterns - did I really see Dave Neal on the court for nearly a dozen minutes? Lethargic play by supposed leaders like Hayes and James Gist.
I said in the preview for the game that the Terps could let Sean Singletary (27 pts, 8-15 FG) get his, but that they must stop the other Cavalier perimeter players. And boy did they not do that.
Adrian Joseph (13 points, 4-9 FG) busted out of his slump early due to the lax defense of Milbourne on his way to his most points in over a month. Mamadi Diane (12 points) and walk on Calvin Baker (11 points) once again put up nice scoring numbers while Lars Mikalauskas even managed to score 11 points down low for his fourth straight game in double figures. The only positive was former Terp commit Jeff Jones finishing up a flop of a freshman season with only a missed shot and a turnover to show for his 10 minutes of play.
In the end the Virginia game was more disgusting than infuriating, unlike the Clemson game which was a nice mix of the two. The Terps will head to Charlotte starting on Thursday for one last chance to dance. Can they do it? They've surprised me before, many times, this season. Hopefully they can do it again.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Looking Forward
So almost a week has passed since the Clemson debacle. Any true Maryland fan probably still feels their stomach drop when they think about it, but by this point some of that has subsided. The team can't look back so neither should the fans. The focus is now on winning some upcoming games in order for the Terps to get back to the NCAA Tournament rather than facing the prospect of a third NIT in four seasons.
It starts on Sunday with a game at Virginia that Maryland simply must win. The winning must continue on Thursday the 13th when the Terps tip off the ACC Tournament as either the 5th or 6th seed. And then the next day the Terps will face off in a rematch against either Clemson, Miami, or Virginia Tech, three teams that Maryland went winless (0-4) against in the regular season. Even with a weak field of bubble contenders, Gary & Co. will likely need to win that game to secure an at-large bid to the Big Dance.
But for now, the focus must be on Virginia. The Cavaliers are currently in a three way-tie for 10th (or last, depending on how you look at it) at 4-11 in the ACC. Depending on the results this weekend, UVA could finish anywhere from 10th to 12th in the regular season.
What seems clear is that the Cavs are the best of those three teams, having swept three games against the Wolfpack and the Eagles. Boston College started the year 3-0, but have now lost 11 of their past 12. The Wolfpack started slowly before righting the ship at 4-4; now they have lost 7 in a row. Virginia started out with a ghastly 1-9 record before winning 3 of its past 5. Granted, two of those wins are against the aforementioned 4-11 squads, but improvement is improvement.
The only distinguishing characteristic about the Cavaliers is Sean Singletary. He isn't just the heart and soul of this Virginia team. He's the whole damn body and clothing, too. Singletary will take the lion's share of his team's shots - 27.4% while on the court this season. The next highest such percentage for a regular on the team is Adrian Joseph's 22.7% mark, good for 26th in the ACC.
But yet stopping Singletary has not been the key to beating Virginia this season. When Singletary, who averages 19.6 points per game, scores 20 or more points in a game, Virginia is just 6-7. When he doesn't, Virginia is actually 8-7. I don't think anyone would argue that UVA is better when their star doesn't have a prolific scoring night, but it does illustrate the point that shutting down the team's secondary players might be just as important as shutting down Singletary. He will get his points, win or lose, so shutting down secondary players like Calvin Baker, Adrian Joseph, and Mamadi Diane is just as important. If one of those players scores 16-20 points in addition to Singletary, it will be a long night for the Terps.
It starts on Sunday with a game at Virginia that Maryland simply must win. The winning must continue on Thursday the 13th when the Terps tip off the ACC Tournament as either the 5th or 6th seed. And then the next day the Terps will face off in a rematch against either Clemson, Miami, or Virginia Tech, three teams that Maryland went winless (0-4) against in the regular season. Even with a weak field of bubble contenders, Gary & Co. will likely need to win that game to secure an at-large bid to the Big Dance.
But for now, the focus must be on Virginia. The Cavaliers are currently in a three way-tie for 10th (or last, depending on how you look at it) at 4-11 in the ACC. Depending on the results this weekend, UVA could finish anywhere from 10th to 12th in the regular season.
What seems clear is that the Cavs are the best of those three teams, having swept three games against the Wolfpack and the Eagles. Boston College started the year 3-0, but have now lost 11 of their past 12. The Wolfpack started slowly before righting the ship at 4-4; now they have lost 7 in a row. Virginia started out with a ghastly 1-9 record before winning 3 of its past 5. Granted, two of those wins are against the aforementioned 4-11 squads, but improvement is improvement.
The only distinguishing characteristic about the Cavaliers is Sean Singletary. He isn't just the heart and soul of this Virginia team. He's the whole damn body and clothing, too. Singletary will take the lion's share of his team's shots - 27.4% while on the court this season. The next highest such percentage for a regular on the team is Adrian Joseph's 22.7% mark, good for 26th in the ACC.
But yet stopping Singletary has not been the key to beating Virginia this season. When Singletary, who averages 19.6 points per game, scores 20 or more points in a game, Virginia is just 6-7. When he doesn't, Virginia is actually 8-7. I don't think anyone would argue that UVA is better when their star doesn't have a prolific scoring night, but it does illustrate the point that shutting down the team's secondary players might be just as important as shutting down Singletary. He will get his points, win or lose, so shutting down secondary players like Calvin Baker, Adrian Joseph, and Mamadi Diane is just as important. If one of those players scores 16-20 points in addition to Singletary, it will be a long night for the Terps.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Oh My God
I have no idea what to say. I was going to write a long analysis of what went wrong last night and this season as a whole, but who cares? That has been and will be covered in great detail elsewhere so there's no sense in even wasting the bandwidth.
It's unbelievable to think that the game last night actually happened. Gary Williams led an epic collapse, one rivaled in Maryland history only by the infamous ten point lead that evaporated against Duke in 0:54 at Cole Field House in 2001. But even that team got a chance to redeem itself, and did just that by going to the Final Four. There will be no such redemption for this team whose attention now turns to somehow squeaking out victories in its next two or three games just to make the tournament.
It's times like these that make you wonder why you bother even following sports. Andrew's post after the Virginia Tech loss covered this in detail, but the question still remains. Sure, the highs are euphoric, but how much joy can you really derive from living vicariously through others' successes?
So it is what it is. I still can't believe that it happened. I can't believe that Gary Williams allowed it to happen. As much as a fan of his I might be, he blew it in a big way last night. We will see if the team can recover, but at this point, does anyone really care?
It's unbelievable to think that the game last night actually happened. Gary Williams led an epic collapse, one rivaled in Maryland history only by the infamous ten point lead that evaporated against Duke in 0:54 at Cole Field House in 2001. But even that team got a chance to redeem itself, and did just that by going to the Final Four. There will be no such redemption for this team whose attention now turns to somehow squeaking out victories in its next two or three games just to make the tournament.
It's times like these that make you wonder why you bother even following sports. Andrew's post after the Virginia Tech loss covered this in detail, but the question still remains. Sure, the highs are euphoric, but how much joy can you really derive from living vicariously through others' successes?
So it is what it is. I still can't believe that it happened. I can't believe that Gary Williams allowed it to happen. As much as a fan of his I might be, he blew it in a big way last night. We will see if the team can recover, but at this point, does anyone really care?
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Depressed.
I haven't spoken a word since there were about 17 seconds left in the game.
"What do you think? Oglesby for three. Or maybe Mays inside for a cheap foul, which the refs will definitely give them."
Steve just shook his head and stared blankly onto the floor. As I saw who was in the game for Clemson out of the timeout, I confirmed my gut instinct.
"Yup. Oglesby for three."
It wasn't a difficult call. He was one of their best outside shooters, yet somehow Maryland defenders found a way to lose track of him several times during the game. And that was enough for him to tally nine points.
As the clock started to wind down, I saw it unfold before me just as I had predicted. Oglesby hit a three with 2.8 seconds left and a hand in his face, and Clemson won 73-70. It was the most deflating loss I have witnessed in Comcast. Sure the loss to American earlier this year stung. But we had this game in the bag. A 20-point lead with about 12 minutes to go on Senior Night, on your home floor, with great crowd support, with momentum. You can't ask for much more than that. But tonight, the Terps had all that, with an NCAA Tournament Bid practically riding on the line, and let it slip away.
The only positive I take away from this game can be summed up in one word: bench. This was the best game of Jerome Burney's career, and one of the best of Adrian Bowie's. That is all.
Despite earlier losses to Ohio and American, I haven't once this season seriously questioned Gary's coaching. At this level, a coach's job is to recruit the best possible players to come to his or her school, to train current players in practice to help them improve, and to put together the best strategy to help his or her team win games.
This strategy includes putting the best available team on the floor. Foul trouble, fatigue, and injury/illness obviously prevent the best 5 players from playing a full 40 minutes. But with the game on the line, with a Tournament bid riding on the line, why was Dave Neal in the game, and where was Adrian Bowie? I realize Bowie for Neal is not a straight substitution that can be made due to matchups, but Bowie was playing a much better game than Landon Milbourne. Sure, Boom had 4 fouls, but Burney was having the best game of his young career, so why go to Dave Neal instead? I just don't get it. Gary just didn't do his job very well tonight.
On a side note, I seem to have several late game strategies that differ with most college coaches. I scream at my television for late game fouling usually a full possession or two before the team actually 'hears me.' And in situations like the one tonight, I prefer to foul with a tie game. I have a feeling that if a poll was conducted asking the 5 members of this suite if my strategy makes sense, I would lose 4-1. But hear me out.
I understand defense is half of the game, but when I play defense in a game, or when I'm watching the Terps on defense, I'm always hoping for an empty possession by the other team. I don't hope for a block or steal or that a player draws a charge. Sure those are great, but I simply hope that they score no points, that the score remains the same until we get the ball back. It's this mentality that makes me want to foul in situations like tonight. Logically, my strategy makes NO sense. The game is tied. With an empty possession, the game goes to overtime. For some reason, I would rather foul, make Clemson (a notoriously bad FT-shooting team even though they hit a better percentage than we did tonight) hit the front-end of a 1-and-1, and then get the ball back with enough time to run a good play. Sure, if we end up with an empty possession, we lose. But I would rather have the ball on offense with a chance to make something happen, as opposed to playing defense while the other team can win with any made basket, or a crappy call by the refs.
Then again, that's why I'm just a fan and not a coach.
"What do you think? Oglesby for three. Or maybe Mays inside for a cheap foul, which the refs will definitely give them."
Steve just shook his head and stared blankly onto the floor. As I saw who was in the game for Clemson out of the timeout, I confirmed my gut instinct.
"Yup. Oglesby for three."
It wasn't a difficult call. He was one of their best outside shooters, yet somehow Maryland defenders found a way to lose track of him several times during the game. And that was enough for him to tally nine points.
As the clock started to wind down, I saw it unfold before me just as I had predicted. Oglesby hit a three with 2.8 seconds left and a hand in his face, and Clemson won 73-70. It was the most deflating loss I have witnessed in Comcast. Sure the loss to American earlier this year stung. But we had this game in the bag. A 20-point lead with about 12 minutes to go on Senior Night, on your home floor, with great crowd support, with momentum. You can't ask for much more than that. But tonight, the Terps had all that, with an NCAA Tournament Bid practically riding on the line, and let it slip away.
The only positive I take away from this game can be summed up in one word: bench. This was the best game of Jerome Burney's career, and one of the best of Adrian Bowie's. That is all.
Despite earlier losses to Ohio and American, I haven't once this season seriously questioned Gary's coaching. At this level, a coach's job is to recruit the best possible players to come to his or her school, to train current players in practice to help them improve, and to put together the best strategy to help his or her team win games.
This strategy includes putting the best available team on the floor. Foul trouble, fatigue, and injury/illness obviously prevent the best 5 players from playing a full 40 minutes. But with the game on the line, with a Tournament bid riding on the line, why was Dave Neal in the game, and where was Adrian Bowie? I realize Bowie for Neal is not a straight substitution that can be made due to matchups, but Bowie was playing a much better game than Landon Milbourne. Sure, Boom had 4 fouls, but Burney was having the best game of his young career, so why go to Dave Neal instead? I just don't get it. Gary just didn't do his job very well tonight.
On a side note, I seem to have several late game strategies that differ with most college coaches. I scream at my television for late game fouling usually a full possession or two before the team actually 'hears me.' And in situations like the one tonight, I prefer to foul with a tie game. I have a feeling that if a poll was conducted asking the 5 members of this suite if my strategy makes sense, I would lose 4-1. But hear me out.
I understand defense is half of the game, but when I play defense in a game, or when I'm watching the Terps on defense, I'm always hoping for an empty possession by the other team. I don't hope for a block or steal or that a player draws a charge. Sure those are great, but I simply hope that they score no points, that the score remains the same until we get the ball back. It's this mentality that makes me want to foul in situations like tonight. Logically, my strategy makes NO sense. The game is tied. With an empty possession, the game goes to overtime. For some reason, I would rather foul, make Clemson (a notoriously bad FT-shooting team even though they hit a better percentage than we did tonight) hit the front-end of a 1-and-1, and then get the ball back with enough time to run a good play. Sure, if we end up with an empty possession, we lose. But I would rather have the ball on offense with a chance to make something happen, as opposed to playing defense while the other team can win with any made basket, or a crappy call by the refs.
Then again, that's why I'm just a fan and not a coach.
Friday, February 29, 2008
The Anti-Ballers
Becoming a good basketball player requires skill, athleticism, and countless hours of practice. If we, the Says Things Bloggers, would spend even half the time in the gym playing basketball as we do sitting around discussing it, we might be decent. Actually, we’d probably still be pretty bad. But at least we’d be potentially respectable in the UMD basketball pickup circuit in the Armory, Ritchie Coliseum, and the ERC.
The way things are currently though, we only make the walk to one of the above gyms about two or three times per week, which means we only play about once or twice a week. There’s usually a one-in-three shot that we walk all the way to the gym, and end not playing for one reason or another, such as the gym being packed, closed for volleyball, or my personal favorite, the week Ritchie was closed for a rhythmic gymnastics competition.
As a team, our skill set isn’t great. We’re not in shape, so we get tired easily in full-court games. We don’t have a lot of size, as Andrew, Steve, and I are only about 6’1”. So when we finally make it to the gym and are looking to play, we can’t just play against anyone. Guys who can dunk, quick ball handlers, and guys in prestigious basketball camp jerseys would destroy us. We have to be selective. Sure, shorter, slower people who can’t jump are the obvious choices to play against, but there are other special people we enjoy playing because we don’t like losing…
Guy in Jeans – Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy a good pair. And they’re pretty much all I wear during winter. But jeans have no place in basketball. They inhibit your range of motion and are heavy, slowing you down. So you, jeans-wearer, make an ideal target to drive by on the perimeter.
Also in this category: Guy in Cords, Dockers, or any Pants Other than Sweats
Chucker with the ugly jumpshot – It’s one thing to not be able to shoot well and have problems making three-pointers. It’s a whole different problem if you know shooting isn’t your game and you continue to chuck anyways. Drive, slash, crash the boards. Do anything, but stop chucking from out of your range. Sooner or later, your team will stop passing you the ball, making it a 5 on 4 advantage for us.
Also in this category: Awkward, Lanky Guy who Forces Post Shots Despite Being Triple-teamed
Guy in Collared Shirt – Were you on your way to take a girl out to dinner? Then you probably shouldn’t be playing basketball at the gym. Did you feel underdressed in your t-shirt? Well now you’ll pay the price by sweating twice as much as everyone else and possibly leave bad sweat stains on a nice shirt. Nice work.
Also in this category: (One of the only things worse than Guy in Collared Shirt) – Guy in Collared Shirt who Pops his Collar after Making Basket
Guy with Hiking Shoes – I understand if you don’t want to pay the money for a nice pair of basketball shoes. But those Nike mock-hiking boots aren’t really suitable for basketball. The only climbing you’ll be doing is out of the hole that we put your team in after we score the first 5 because you can’t play. Technically, you didn’t wear Timberlands, so you tried to wear something decent, but you just came up short.
Also in this category: Guy in Cargo Shorts (tried, but didn’t quite get it)
Guy who’s Old Enough to be Your Grandfather – Most likely, you’ve either come back to school to take college credits for some absurd reason or actually paid for a UMD CRS membership because you live close to campus. How anyone would be stupid enough to pay for absurd hours and intramural badminton tournaments is beside the point. Your crew socks, sweatbands, and walking shoes probably make you a better fit for the step-aerobics class. You can’t run the floor very well, and even though you may have a decent set-shot, your teammates probably won’t pass it to you in fear of your Arthritic wrists and hands.
Also in this category: Guy who Looks like Your 70-Year-Old Professor
Guy with Hat – Expecting a blinding glare off the floor, you wore a baseball cap to the gym to play basketball. If this was the early 90’s, if you were as good as Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson were in White Men Can’t Jump, and if you could pull this look off, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal. But it’s almost 20 years later, you’re playing crappy pickup ball in a UMD gym, and I’m pretty sure that look faded out with Zubaz. There are zero advantages to wearing a hat while playing basketball indoors. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t just take your hat off and set it on the side. Guy in Jeans can’t do that because he probably isn't wearing shorts. Guy who’s Old Enough to be Your Grandfather can’t do anything about his age. You have the option of making yourself less of a target. Take off your damn hat.
Also in this category: Not much compares to Guy with Hat.
The way things are currently though, we only make the walk to one of the above gyms about two or three times per week, which means we only play about once or twice a week. There’s usually a one-in-three shot that we walk all the way to the gym, and end not playing for one reason or another, such as the gym being packed, closed for volleyball, or my personal favorite, the week Ritchie was closed for a rhythmic gymnastics competition.
As a team, our skill set isn’t great. We’re not in shape, so we get tired easily in full-court games. We don’t have a lot of size, as Andrew, Steve, and I are only about 6’1”. So when we finally make it to the gym and are looking to play, we can’t just play against anyone. Guys who can dunk, quick ball handlers, and guys in prestigious basketball camp jerseys would destroy us. We have to be selective. Sure, shorter, slower people who can’t jump are the obvious choices to play against, but there are other special people we enjoy playing because we don’t like losing…
Guy in Jeans – Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy a good pair. And they’re pretty much all I wear during winter. But jeans have no place in basketball. They inhibit your range of motion and are heavy, slowing you down. So you, jeans-wearer, make an ideal target to drive by on the perimeter.
Also in this category: Guy in Cords, Dockers, or any Pants Other than Sweats
Chucker with the ugly jumpshot – It’s one thing to not be able to shoot well and have problems making three-pointers. It’s a whole different problem if you know shooting isn’t your game and you continue to chuck anyways. Drive, slash, crash the boards. Do anything, but stop chucking from out of your range. Sooner or later, your team will stop passing you the ball, making it a 5 on 4 advantage for us.
Also in this category: Awkward, Lanky Guy who Forces Post Shots Despite Being Triple-teamed
Guy in Collared Shirt – Were you on your way to take a girl out to dinner? Then you probably shouldn’t be playing basketball at the gym. Did you feel underdressed in your t-shirt? Well now you’ll pay the price by sweating twice as much as everyone else and possibly leave bad sweat stains on a nice shirt. Nice work.
Also in this category: (One of the only things worse than Guy in Collared Shirt) – Guy in Collared Shirt who Pops his Collar after Making Basket
Guy with Hiking Shoes – I understand if you don’t want to pay the money for a nice pair of basketball shoes. But those Nike mock-hiking boots aren’t really suitable for basketball. The only climbing you’ll be doing is out of the hole that we put your team in after we score the first 5 because you can’t play. Technically, you didn’t wear Timberlands, so you tried to wear something decent, but you just came up short.
Also in this category: Guy in Cargo Shorts (tried, but didn’t quite get it)
Guy who’s Old Enough to be Your Grandfather – Most likely, you’ve either come back to school to take college credits for some absurd reason or actually paid for a UMD CRS membership because you live close to campus. How anyone would be stupid enough to pay for absurd hours and intramural badminton tournaments is beside the point. Your crew socks, sweatbands, and walking shoes probably make you a better fit for the step-aerobics class. You can’t run the floor very well, and even though you may have a decent set-shot, your teammates probably won’t pass it to you in fear of your Arthritic wrists and hands.
Also in this category: Guy who Looks like Your 70-Year-Old Professor
Guy with Hat – Expecting a blinding glare off the floor, you wore a baseball cap to the gym to play basketball. If this was the early 90’s, if you were as good as Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson were in White Men Can’t Jump, and if you could pull this look off, it wouldn’t be as big of a deal. But it’s almost 20 years later, you’re playing crappy pickup ball in a UMD gym, and I’m pretty sure that look faded out with Zubaz. There are zero advantages to wearing a hat while playing basketball indoors. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t just take your hat off and set it on the side. Guy in Jeans can’t do that because he probably isn't wearing shorts. Guy who’s Old Enough to be Your Grandfather can’t do anything about his age. You have the option of making yourself less of a target. Take off your damn hat.
Also in this category: Not much compares to Guy with Hat.
Terps win takes the Wake!
So apparently Gary Williams (who is indeed a baller) can only struggle against former Big East teams. His Terps beat a surging Wake Forest team on the road to run his team's record to 8-6 en route to handing the Deacons just their second home loss of the season, 74-70.
Greivis Vasquez and James Gist must play well for the Terps to beat any competitive opponents and tonight they did just that. Gist asserted himself from the beginning by hitting a number of jump shots in the first half including three triples in the game. He also manned the inside, taking a dozen foul shots and grabbing 11 boards to go along with a career high 31 points including the free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Vasquez had his usual outstanding game with 24 points, 8 assists, and 4 boards plus just 4 turnovers on 9-15 shooting. The defining sequence for Vasquez saw him post up his miniature defender (Teague?) in order to score on three consecutive trips down the court.
The Terps led for the majority of the game, but that doesn't mean that tonight wasn't without some tense moments. After taking a 68-57 lead midway through the second half on an Eric Hayes' three, the team went ice cold. Cold enough that they went the final 9:10 without making a shot from the field. The Terps missed nine straight shots to finish the game, often settling for threes. BOOM was held scoreless while playing limited minutes due to illness, a big cause of the team's inability to get high percentage shots down the stretch.
The defense, along with torrid early shooting, played a huge part in winning the game. Wake shot just 37.9% from the field, similar to their earlier pathetic shooting performance against the Terps at Comcast Center. James Johnson, a freshman from Wyoming (they play ball there?), was incredible on his way to 25 points, but his only scoring help came from seven foot near-stiff Chas MacFarland.
The win moves the Terps back into a tie for fourth place with Virginia Tech. As it stands now the Hokies own the tiebreaker meaning that Maryland would face Virginia in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Next up is Clemson (8-5 ACC) on Sunday. It will be Senior Night for James and BOOM so expect the emotion to be there. Hopefully the execution will be as well.
Greivis Vasquez and James Gist must play well for the Terps to beat any competitive opponents and tonight they did just that. Gist asserted himself from the beginning by hitting a number of jump shots in the first half including three triples in the game. He also manned the inside, taking a dozen foul shots and grabbing 11 boards to go along with a career high 31 points including the free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Vasquez had his usual outstanding game with 24 points, 8 assists, and 4 boards plus just 4 turnovers on 9-15 shooting. The defining sequence for Vasquez saw him post up his miniature defender (Teague?) in order to score on three consecutive trips down the court.
The Terps led for the majority of the game, but that doesn't mean that tonight wasn't without some tense moments. After taking a 68-57 lead midway through the second half on an Eric Hayes' three, the team went ice cold. Cold enough that they went the final 9:10 without making a shot from the field. The Terps missed nine straight shots to finish the game, often settling for threes. BOOM was held scoreless while playing limited minutes due to illness, a big cause of the team's inability to get high percentage shots down the stretch.
The defense, along with torrid early shooting, played a huge part in winning the game. Wake shot just 37.9% from the field, similar to their earlier pathetic shooting performance against the Terps at Comcast Center. James Johnson, a freshman from Wyoming (they play ball there?), was incredible on his way to 25 points, but his only scoring help came from seven foot near-stiff Chas MacFarland.
The win moves the Terps back into a tie for fourth place with Virginia Tech. As it stands now the Hokies own the tiebreaker meaning that Maryland would face Virginia in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Next up is Clemson (8-5 ACC) on Sunday. It will be Senior Night for James and BOOM so expect the emotion to be there. Hopefully the execution will be as well.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Most Erudite Blog You Shall Read All Day
It has come to my attention that many of the readers of this beloved blog are unlearned in the ways of the world. Not to sound condescending but the readers are, shall we say, uncouth. They do not know of the finer things in life. They are unaware of the sophistication that is But Then Came Gary Williams. In an effort to make the readers more cosmopolitan, I will take the time to educate them on the more subtle aspects of living. Be forewarned, the knowledge contained herein may be unsuitable for all. If the reader wants to become civilized, do read ahead. If not, go to some other trash you Philistines.
It has come to my attention that many of you have the dreadful habit of using the word "prank." The hallowed Oxford English Dictionary defines prank as "A pleat, fold," and mentions that it is obscure and rare. It is also defined as a verb meaning to perform the action of a "prank." I am all for bringing back the rich heritage of Middlee Englishe, but as you may very well know these are advanced times we live in and so we must use advanced terminologies. No longer can we use such simple, outdated terms just as we can longer use such simple, outdated machines like the inclined plane. To quote the Steve Austin's creators, "We have the technology. . .we can make [it] better. . ." and so we shall.
I would like to be the first to welcome you all to a new era. It may very well become the greatest era of enlightenment and achievement the human race has ever known. From henceforth, the word "prank" and the action of "pranking" shall be known as "hax" or "haxing." The word hax is pronounced like the word "hacks." Likewise, haxing in pronounced "hacksing."
There is also one more caveat. Unlike "pranks," when one is haxing one must be sure to announce that one is indeed in the act of performing a hax. This can be done in one of two ways. The first, more simple way to do this is to merely announce to your victim that he or she has been haxed. This can be done during the haxing, after the haxing, or when the victim finds out what has been haxed.
The second way to do this is similar to the first. The announcement of the haxing is done at the same times, except this time the type of hax is also announced to the victim. Determining the type of hax is somewhat tricky, ever for a person experienced in the art. If you follow a few rules though, it can be quite easy.
Godspeed!
It has come to my attention that many of you have the dreadful habit of using the word "prank." The hallowed Oxford English Dictionary defines prank as "A pleat, fold," and mentions that it is obscure and rare. It is also defined as a verb meaning to perform the action of a "prank." I am all for bringing back the rich heritage of Middlee Englishe, but as you may very well know these are advanced times we live in and so we must use advanced terminologies. No longer can we use such simple, outdated terms just as we can longer use such simple, outdated machines like the inclined plane. To quote the Steve Austin's creators, "We have the technology. . .we can make [it] better. . ." and so we shall.
I would like to be the first to welcome you all to a new era. It may very well become the greatest era of enlightenment and achievement the human race has ever known. From henceforth, the word "prank" and the action of "pranking" shall be known as "hax" or "haxing." The word hax is pronounced like the word "hacks." Likewise, haxing in pronounced "hacksing."
There is also one more caveat. Unlike "pranks," when one is haxing one must be sure to announce that one is indeed in the act of performing a hax. This can be done in one of two ways. The first, more simple way to do this is to merely announce to your victim that he or she has been haxed. This can be done during the haxing, after the haxing, or when the victim finds out what has been haxed.
The second way to do this is similar to the first. The announcement of the haxing is done at the same times, except this time the type of hax is also announced to the victim. Determining the type of hax is somewhat tricky, ever for a person experienced in the art. If you follow a few rules though, it can be quite easy.
- Firstly, the announcement is always [type of hax] hax. Never the other way around. For example, if I took the victim's keys and hid them, I would announce "key hax." Never would I say "hax keys."
- Note: Saying "I haxed your keys" is a perfectly acceptable way of announcing the hax
- Secondly, the type of hax is determined by what has most been affected by the hax or what was used to do the haxing. For example, if someone's pencils were placed in jello, it would be known as a jello hax. It would not be a pencil hax. However, if the pencils were merely taken and hidden, it would only be a pencil hax.
- A special case of the Second rule is when the haxing is done to imitate someone. If the person's personal effects are taken and used to perform the hax, then the announcement is not "[personal effects] hax." Instead it is "[name of person]" hax.
Godspeed!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
