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!

Greetings from the Florida!

Hello all! It's been quite a tumultuous few days weeks months for me here at the Says Things blog. Due to contract holdouts, I haven't been able to blog regularly about things and such. Of course, in that time the blog has fallen off precipitously. Also, I amaze myself that I just spelled "precipitously" correct in one try.

As I'm sure you've already heard by now by the collective screams coming out of College Park, Augustus P. Gilchrist has reneged on his commitment. If you're keeping count here, that's two in the past month. That's not so bad though. Recruits make commitments and break them all the time. That's why they're selfish assholes who I hate/adore. Of course, most of the time that's a verbal commitment that's broken.

And it's not in May/July when seniors have already graduated.

And have selected schools.

And aren't in high school anymore.

And when it's easier to find another recruit

DAMMIT!

For what it's worth, here's the Terps' roster for next year, broken down by class:

Seniors: One. David "El Tiempo de Dave" Neal
Juniors: Three. Eric "Professional Sex Machine" Hayes, Landon "Not Dining Hall" Milbourne, and Greivis "¡Arriba!" Vasquez.
RS Sophmore: One. Jerome "Fills the Cup" Burney
Sophomores: Five. Adrian "From Greenbelt Not From" Bowie, Braxton "Manatee" Dupree, Dino "In the Doghouse" Gregory, Clifton "P" Tucker, David "Walk-on" Pearman.
Freshman: Null Set

Yes, that's right ladies and folks. Your Maryland Terrapin's current roster for the 2008-2009 basketball season features four (4) less players than when the season ended in March. We have ten men on our team. A five man bench. Let that wash over for you for a little bit. Have you let it sink in yet? Good. Shocking, isn't it? Sucks, don't it?

Yup, that's the Maryland Men's Basketball team. True, we could always find a random JuCo transfer before August. Or we could find some scrap heap player who just graduated. Or we could have a team with four walk on players. I mean, last year UNC had no scholarship freshman, and they went to the Final Four. So it's possible, right?

To think that I wanted to come back to school so I could have another season of free basketball tickets.

Ugh

Is there anything worse than getting swept by a garbage Virginia Tech team? A win tonight would have solidified the Terps' status as NCAA tournament participants, but instead they lost for the second time to the Hokies. Now with road games coming up against Miami and Wake Forest (two teams that just handed Duke its first two conference losses) and a home date with third place Clemson, the Terps might once again have a hill to climb just to make it to the field of 65.

I hate Virginia Tech more than Duke. That might sound wacky, but it's true. At least Coach K has earned some respect through his consistent winning over the past two decades. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, is led by Seth Greenberg, someone who I have no respect for. Greenberg seems particularly salty after losing prized recruit Gus Gilchrist to Maryland this fall making the teams' two dates frosty. After the win was sealed tonight, Greenberg turned to the crowd and pumped his fist while talking shit. The post game handshake between him and Gary Williams may or may not have actually included any contact.

The Terps had a 14 point first half lead, but dubious foul calls sent Greivis Vasquez, James Gist, and BOOM to the bench. With Cliff Tucker still sidelined by the flu, the Terps were missing four of their top six players at one point, forcing Gary Williams to reach deep into his bench. The starting corps was shaky even when they were in the game, with the exception of BOOM and Greivis. Eric Hayes was terrible again, getting routinely beaten off of the dribble on defense by Hank Thorns and Malcolm Delaney and throwing up several shots on offense that failed to even carom off of the rim.

The Terps only lost by four, but that's no consolation because this should have been an easy win at home over an inferior team. While the team started out with a torrid stretch to begin the game offensively, there was no consistent offense after that. BOOM put the ball in the basket a few times even while getting hacked, but James Gist was virtually nonexistent on the inside.

I haven't read Bill Simmons in ages, but I'm pretty sure this loss qualifies as a Stomach Punch Game. Even if not by the definition, every Terp fan probably feels like they've been punched in the gut right now. Ugh.