Solid W over the Wolfpack, this Might Just Happen

Drink it in. That's the refreshing taste of a satisfying road win in the ACC. Just feels refreshing, doesn't it?

GREAT win at N.C. State Sunday night on the back of a vintage Good Greivis performance. How does 33 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and one turnover sound? Pretty good? You gotta give it to Grevis, when he is good, he is real good and can carry a team on his back like no one in a Terps uniform since a guy who wore #3, people. You know who I'm talking about. The guy currently riding the pine on the Wizards, which is a travesty for discussion on another day.

But I digress ... At 7-7 in the ACC with two challenging but winnable games left on the docket -- home vs. Wake and at UVa -- Maryland might just do it. And wouldn't that feel good Turtle fans? My thought is they have to win both and go 9-7 in the league, 20-10 overall to nail down a bid. If they go 1-1, I think Maryland has got to win at least one ACC tournament game, and even then they're not a shoe-in. But go 9-7 in the ACC and Maryland can't be ignored.

Here then, are a series of thoughts and observations following Sunday night's 71-60 win:

If there is a Dave Neal fan club, I would like to join it and if there is not, I would like to be president, so long as being president of the Dave Neal fan club does not require any actual commitment of time. I got lots of man love for Dave Neal. I mean this is a guy whose career in College Park could easily have been made up of a series of Mike Grinnon-like mop-up minute appearances.

But here is the beefy, lovable Neal in his senior year, playing big minutes and making big shots on a team that might just sneak into the tournament. Remember that Gary started the year starting Braxton Dupree at the center and probably hoped to use Neal for 10-15 minute a game, if that. But as the season evolved, it's been Neal who has seized the starter's role and given Maryland a consistent and, dare I say it, entertaining boost. What's better, I ask you, than watching DN pull up for a 3-point set shot and knock it down? Or take a pounding in the lane and get up off the deck full of red-faced intensity? Love that guy.

I'm liking the rotation that Gary has finally settled on -- starting Greivis at the point with the ball in his hands as much as possible (not the 2 or 3), Bowie at the two, Mosley at the 3, Milbourne at the 4, and Neal at the 5. Then at the 15-minute mark, Eric Hayes checks in and plays 30-35 minutes the rest of the way at point and 2-guard. Hayes has been very solid the last few weeks. Confident and clutch. The other rotation guys are Cliff Tucker on the wing, Dino Gregory up front, and Braxton Dupree buried on the bench.

We know Maryland can win at UVa next Sunday night, but can they beat Wake Tuesday night? Well, it won't be easy but it's not exactly impossible either. Wake is a solid 22-5, but before winning at UVa Saturday (70-60) they had lost their last four ACC road games, including Ls at Ga. Tech, Miami, N.C. State and Duke. So there you go, they ain't all that on the road.

After its three-part rectal examination of a series into the state of Maryland basketball last month, the Washington Post saw fit Sunday to run yet another enterprise story about Gary's program, this time with a focus on the recruitment of NY hoops hotshot, Lance Stephenson. Apparently Stephenson is being recruited not just by Maryland, but also by Under Armour, to potentially wear their moisture-wicking basketball shoes if he makes it to the NBA and they make basketball shoes.

Now, Under Armour is the official provider of athletic gear for Maryland teams, and founder Kevin Plank is on the university's Board of Trustees, so the Post went a diggin, and as far as I can tell, didn't find anything too scathing. Here's a link to the story, which I didn't read because I didn't feel like reading another 2500 words about the gross underbelly of college basketball, because it makes me not want to watch the games, and I really wanted to watch Maryland-N.C. State on Sunday night.

Before Kevin Plank named Under Armour, Under Armour, do you think he considered: "Polyester. Who knew?"

I really think Maryland will win its next two games and go to the tournament. We're doomed.

Gary Williams and the Talking Points - When is Enough Mediocrity Enough?

On Friday, The Washington Post's Michael Wilbon filed a column that presented the key talking points in support of Gary Williams:

Remind me, one more time, of how many national championships Maryland had won before Williams arrived? Remind me, one more time, how many Final Four trips Maryland had made before Williams arrived? Remind me, please, of who left a comfortable job with a perennial 20-win team at Ohio State to come bail out his alma mater, whose program was about to receive sanctions just short of the death penalty. Maybe their memories are short; mine isn't. Maryland basketball after Len Bias's death was on life-support. It was nothing.

These are bullet points A, B, and C in defense of Gary Williams: he brought the program back from the brink, he took the program to 2 Final Fours, he won a national championship.

And while I agree that these accomplishments have earned Gary the full respect and appreciation of Terps fans forever, I do not agree that they grant him a free pass forever.

Here's my gripe. And it's not a "fire Gary" kind of a gripe, but it's a "c'mon Gary, at least acknowledge that this isn't good enough," gripe.

Here it is: The Terps have not been a nationally relevant, week-in, week-out top 25 college basketball program since the 2002-2003 season. That's six seasons.

The Terps went on a great late-season run in 06-07, when D.J. Strawberry and company ran the table from 3-6 to 10-6 in the ACC to get back in the top 25 and earn a 5 seed in the tournament. But other than that run, and the John Gilchrist-led blitz in 2004 to win the ACC tournament, Maryland fans have watched rather average squads for a long period of time.

Whenever Gary is questioned about his recent record, or his recruiting, he falls back on the talking points: I brought this program back, I went to 2 Final Fours, I won a national championship. He's right, and no one can ever take those accomplishments away.

But that said, isn't it absurd that James Gist went to one NCAA tournament?

Gary always says, "judge me by my record. I stand by my record."

Here are the ACC records since 02-03: 7-9, 7-9, 8-8, 10-6, 8-8, and so far this year, 7-7. During that periond, Maryland has two NCAA tournament appearances and two wins.

The conference record comes out to exactly .500 for past six seasons time period, which isn't horrible, but at least a rung or two below the top tier in the ACC, which is where we want to be.

And here's one more point I never see anyone make: If it were not Gary, don't you think it would have been someone else?

What I mean to say is that had Gary Williams not "saved" Maryland basketball following Bias' death and the sanctions brought on the school in the wake of the Bob Wade era, don't you think Maryland basketball would have recovered eventually? Now, we may never have won a national championship -- and that's a BIG mark in Gary's favor -- but Maryland basketball was not going to stay down forever.

Before Gary Williams arrived in College Parks, fellas who wore the jersey included Buck Williams, Albert King, Len Bias, Len Elmore, Adrian Branch, Mo Howard, Ben Coleman, John Lucas, Brad Davis ... the list goes on. Maryland is, after all, a basketball school.

My point is not that Gary Williams does not deserve our respect and appreciation for everything he's done for Maryland basketball. But I am saying he is not above thoughtful criticism; and those who point to the 3 talking points (saved the program, went to 2 final fours, won a championship) in his defense, are relying on data that's now seven seasons old.

No matter what happens on the court this season, I don't see the university making a change anytime soon, and I personally don't want one.

I like Gary a lot as a coach and motivator and would like to see him get back on top. To be sure, the man has endured an avalanche of criticism this season, much of it justified. And as that has gone on, his troops have responded, playing their best ball of the season when it matters.

I guess the toughest part is drawing some sort of a line: how many 7-9 and 8-8 seasons and embarrassing losses to subpar teams warrant a change at the top? For everyone who loves Maryland basketball, I hope we never have to find out.

Duke - Md thoughts

I went to the game last night and here are some random observations.
This Maryland team is a lot like Greivis Vasquez the person. They can be fun to watch, exciting, exhilirating even. Then they can be frustrating, maddening and, well, not great.
Terps played great ball for 34.5 minutes, wasn't enough. Duke isn't great, but they are very good and much better (at least last night) at finishing a game.
Saw Johnny Rhodes leaving the arena.
Saw Walt Williams also, housing some fries and looking slick as ever.
Very surprised that coach K has relegated Greg Paulus to a back up role after three years as his starting PG. I don't think I've ever seen K do that to a senior before. He must really want to win and think his younger guys are better.
A lot of people are going to bitch about the refs last night. I think it's justified, they sucked. At the same time, complaining about the refs after you lose is just so whiney, so I'm not going to go there.
Maryland has 3 left - at NC State, home against Wake and at UVa. I predict 2-1 during those three and 8-8 for the ACC season; which would leave the Terps on the bubble, likely needing an ACC tourney win or two.
It's been a very interesting season. Gary has tinkered with the rotation throughout, trying to find the right mix. The last couple weeks, aside from the Clemson game, feels like this bunch has pulled together and found their roles.
Too little too late perhaps, but I do enjoy watching them play.

Carolina A Lot, Maryland Also a Lot, But Significantly Less than Carolina

So it goes. On to Georgia Tech with a chance to win.

Signs of Life

Good win over Miami.

Had to have it to get the season back on track.

My personal feeling is that reports of Maryland being "untalented" are exaggerated. They have excellent guards and wings.  

I love watching Adrian Bowie operate. Can you remember a guy his size getting more points at the rim? He's 6-2 and gets almost everything by out-quicking his man to the hoop and finishing when he gets there. Just a baller.

Seems to me that Greivis has toned down the histrionics quite a bit since the ridiculous display at home against Georgia Tech. At the same time, he had been in a big slump the last 5 game or so prior to the Miami game, coinciding with Maryland losing 4 of 5.  Hmmm.

Gary went on the air for his coach's show last Thursday and you would have thought nothing was going on with the program out of ordinary. It was an hour of talking about this player or that, getting ready for Miami, etc. Now I don't expect Johnny to grill Gary on the air, but he could have at least acknowledged the absolute shit-storm going on around Maryland basketball the last two weeks with a question like, "Coach, we know there's been a lot of off the court distraction recently, what would you like to say to Maryland fans who are concerned about the state of the program?" But no, we did not get any of that. 

Big game at UNC tomorrow if only for the opportunity to play against another great time and see if Maryland can hang. 

Here's the schedule the rest of the way. Maryland is now 14-7 and 3-4.  8-8 is the minimum required to get in the tourney (pending ACC tourney play, where Maryland makes a run every odd decade); so that means Terps would need to go 5-4. I have no idea what will happen, and neither does anyone else. But just looking at games where, right now, Maryland would simply be favored in the remaining nine, they would probably be @G. Tech (maybe, that one might bea toss-up), Va Tech (maybe, Tech is good, but they have lost a half dozen really close games this year), at NC State, and at UVa. My guess is that they'll be heavy underdogs at UNC, at Clemson, home vs. UNC, home vs. Duke and home vs. Wake.  

Feb. 3 at UNC

Feb. 8 at Ga. Tech

Feb. 14 Va. Tech

Feb. 17 at Clemson

Feb. 21 UNC

Feb. 25 Duke

3/1 at NC State

3/3 Wake

3/7 at UVa