TERPS FANS BE PATIENT
by tholland6 on Mar 3, 2011 12:37 PM EST
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PrintWell, it looks like it's off to NIT'ville for Gary and the boys after last nights loss to the Miami Hurricanes. If they were on the bubble going in (and that's a stretch) they're free falling now. Only an ACC tournament title will get them into the NCAA tournamnet now. Let's face it, we should have seen this coming. In fact, we should have seen it before the season even started.
Maryland lost a lot of production from last year's co-ACC championship team when guards Greives Vasquez (the ACC player of the year), Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne's eligibilty ran out. These three players gave the Terps production in all of the important statistical areas of points, rebounds and assists. Though they may not have been the greatest threesome in Maryland history, Vasquez, Hayes and Milbourne were four-year players who knew Gary's system and what it took to win. Vasquez was the best all-around player of the three and Hayes and Milbourne knew their roles and how to feed off of Greives. Losing one good all-around player is tough much less three.
The players who have replaced them are trying, but just aren't as good. Adrian Bowie, James Padgett, Dino Gregory, Cliff Tucker and Sean Mosley may be upperclassmen, but they don't have the minutes or talent that the departed players had. So though sophomore Jordan Williams and freshman Pe'Shon Howard, Terrell Stoglin and Hauker Palsson have shown potential this team is just not NCAA tournament worthy. And we have to accept that and look towards the future which seems bright to me.
If Williams comes back for his junior year, the three freshman improve and top recruit Nick Faust of Baltimore City High turns out to be the player I think I saw last season when he led his team to the state title Maryland will be a better team next year. And if everyone comes back two years from now, they have a chance to be as good as the 2010 team, maybe better.
So Maryland fans we need to be patient. The team may be taking it's lumps this year, but they'll improve. We know they have the coach to do it. He will get every ounce out of them if they are willing to let him. To me, Gary has coached well this season with the team playing hard in every game except the first Virginia Tech contest. He just doesn't have the horses. At the moment.
So though we are frustrated with this season the future looks bright. And Gary should be given the benefit of the doubt and a chance to see this young group of players through. He's earned that right. If you don't think so just remember wha the program was like before he got there and how far he has brought it. Before Gary, we were happy with just making the NCAA's. Now we are spoiled. Unfortunately, the glory years of the early 2000's may be gone, but the future is not totally bleak.
To me, it may be very bright.
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nah, they still get an invite
if they can reel off 4 straight w’s, starting against uva, otherwise they have to win the ACCT.
Anyway, we thought the seniors would step up big time and play much better becaise they are seniors regardless of their prior playing time. I mean. Stogs and Pe’ are freshmen and they are playing better than the seniors. We expected experience and maturity to make up for less talent.
You make my pee-pee maker t-t-tingle.
If we keep Williams until his Sr year, that team will be VERY good...
I really think it likely unless Jordan really breaks out more next year.
He has been exposed the past 5 games. STILL A BEAST…don’t get me wrong, but the following holes will kill him at the next level:
Free Throw Shooting (improved of late, but wasn’t too good against Maimi-needs consistency)
UPS?? He honestly doesn’t have much jumping ability…at least it looked it against Miami-even though he made a HUGE jump this season, he has more work to do.
-Jumper? He couldn’t get his hooks/post moves because of Miami’s Monster in the Middle so he tried a lot of spin/fade jumpers from 5-6 feet. I saw ONE go in and it took it’s time finding the net.
-Conditioning
I am happy to see how much room he has to improve considering how great he already is…these are realistic areas he can improve (except for leaping ability) and the best way to do so is in school without the pressure of living up to a contract.
Padgett is only a sophomore
same class as JWill
wish he was a senior
and we could get rid of his scholarship as well. Footwork is awful and butter fingers.
by Charlotte NC Terp on Mar 3, 2011 1:46 PM EST up reply actions
Expectations for this season
Honestly, coming off of last year everyone knew what we lost, but was simply giddy to get back to work since the way last year ended. Bowie and Tucker were the two largest question marks on the team going into this season, whether they would mature into starting roles or flubb up and ultimately struggle…which we know the answer to that one. Mosley was a large question mark and he has been the same player that he was last year, but the major area that we needed him to mature in was scoring and he has taken a step backwards in that area.
The freshman have matured into good players and in Stogs case a great suprise player. Dino matured into a larger role then I ever thought possible and JWill matured to a level I didnt think we would see from him until the 2012 season. Their have been bright spots on this team this year, but ultimately the two Senior guards that had the biggest shoes to fill, did not live up to the challenge.
Im not trying to hate on Bowie and Tucker, but some players deliever and some faulter and both did the latter. Just as UNC did last year, some times you have to take some lumps in a transistion year and this is that year for us.
by El Goodd Terps13 on Mar 3, 2011 3:00 PM EST reply actions
Also, Out of Conferenece scheduling
this year was one of the toughest that Gary has scheduled in quite some time. You incorporate those tough OOC games with ACC play and a unproven and young team your asking an awful lot of players that do not have the experience.
Still no excuses, Bowie and Tucker have dropped the ball.
by El Goodd Terps13 on Mar 3, 2011 3:02 PM EST reply actions
GW had to schedule tough this year
If we had the traditional schedule we normally haveand then had to play in a down ACC, we would have been exactly like VTech was last year. GW had to schedule tough. I mean, if we won those games we were supposed to win this past November, finishing 9-7 or 8-8 in this year’s ACC would not have been bad (assuming that we beat 3 teams out of the Pitt, Illinois, Temple & Villanova games we played this year…all winnable by the way).
Unfortunately, we f’ed up against Temple, Pitt & Villanova…and then we lost at home to BC…then got blown out at home by VaTech…etc etc. So sad.
It is going to be a looong month for me this month…having to hear about all the NCAA banter, knowing that me Terps will be in the NIT. I see how UNC fans felt last year. This really hurts.
UNC
I remember UNC being terrible last year, but it wasn’t until I actually looked up the results that I realized they were 5-11 last year in ACC play. The year after the national championship. Ouch.
Maryland’s down years are never worse than 7-9 or 8-8 in the ACC.
Tim's response
Yes, Padgett is a sophomore. And yes he has a ways to go. And yes the seniors needed to play better. But my point is that maybe they just aren’t good enough. Trying hard and being talented are two different things. But I will watch tonight against N.C. State. And I will hold out for what little hope there is this season. Stranger things have happened.
Yahoo Sports article
And I wrote an article for Yahoo Sports called “Ten Little Known Facts About NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Champions”. Here is the link.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7832280/ten_little_known_facts_about_ncaa_mens.html
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