Basketball Season In Full Swing

I am so happy for college basketball season to be back. The Terps got off to a good start and even broke into the top 25. They then fumbled in the Maui invitational to Cincinnati and Wisconsin. Both of those teams look poised to do good things this season. And the Terps managed to persevere against the Indiana Hoosiers in the ACC-Big Ten challenge. Overall, my Terps are looking good this year. I've heard naysayers talk about how in a month the fans and Washington Post will be calling for Gary's head. But I'm not so sure.

First of all, I want to enjoy the success while it's going on. Why assume bad things are going to happen? I'm trying to be positive. Maryland has a good mixture of young and experienced players. The new big freshman will need to grow as players to make Maryland great, but I think they have done well so far. The defense is playing well so far.

For that reason, I think Maryland can do well. The Terps tend to rely on their star shooters, like Vasquez and when he doesn't come through, the Terps are lost. But this year they have the defense working for them. The shots will start to fall more. They will struggle on Vasquez off nights, but I don't think it will kill them. There shouldn't be any games like last season's Duke blowout loss. I think that will bode well for Maryland.

This team also looks like a group of hard workers. They seem to have a drive early in the season that Gary's teams sometimes appear to lack. Even in their lackluster performances, the team did not give up, they always looked like they were working hard. This is good. I don't want to watch a team that doesn't try, even in the pushover games. In recent years, Maryland has lost to some cupcake team and then started to spiral downward. I think that can be avoided this year.

I don't want to be waiting anxiously on Selection Sunday, I don't want to be strung along throughout the season and have my emotions played with again. I don't want to mourn Maryland and I don't want to call for Gary's head. So I'm hoping the experienced Terps are teaching the freshman and that Maryland continues to improve over the season.

I have high hopes, here's hoping the Terps don't let me down.

GO TERPS!!

Hope Springs Eternal

Yesterday afternoon a graphic kept flashing across the bottom of the Maryland-UNC game. It was every major win by an ACC team over a top 10 ACC opponent. Even UVA had one. But next to MD there was a question mark. Every time it came up I felt the need to just shake my head. It was a huge gaping hole in an already very questionable resume for a NCAA bid. Maryland wasn't even on the bubble before yesterday. Then it all changed with a yellow clad, red hot Greivis Vasquez.

With the first triple double for Maryland since 1987, he kept the Terps in the game in the first half until someone else managed to hit a shot. The Terps who hadn't led all game managed to tie it up and send the game into overtime with 76 points. But Maryland managed to step it up in OT. And walked away from the #3 ranked UNC with a huge win 88-85.

All of a sudden Maryland is back to 6-6 in the ACC. Two of their next four games are very winnable, with UVA and NCST coming up. If they can win those, they become a legitimate bubble team by finishing 8-8 in the ACC. If they can also pull an upset against Duke or Wake Forest, a tourney bid becomes a real possibility. This erratic season is killing me but I have no intention of complaining if they can come back from the dead and make something happen.

Less than a month ago I was mourning the death of the Maryland season, Gary Williams and Debbie Yow were having a very public feud about recruiting and the Terps had suffered there worst loss in years against a hated Duke team. They couldn't hold onto leads in the second half, and everyone just seemed demoralized. But somehow this team made it through all that and started working its way back to .500. I keep giving up on them and they keep coming back and giving me hope. This is why no matter how bad they are I can't seem to abandon them. I can't stop watching.

This undersized team seems to have a big heart. Next year with a legitimate big man hopefully they will be a force to be reckoned with. But this season might have renewed my faith in Gary. Let's see if they can continue to rise to the challenge and maybe even make the tourney. I'm giddy with anticipation.

GO TERPS!!!

Photo: AP/Rob Carr found at ESPN.com

Terps Are Undefeated

Last night, the Maryland mens basketball team had their season opener. They beat Bucknell 81-52 and are now undefeated on the season. Hopefully they will be able to continue winning on Tuesday when they play the Youngstown State Penguins. And since this is a team I've never heard of, I'm confident that the Terps can start the season 2-0. In fact, the Terps don't run up agianst any real competition until the fourth game of the season when they play against No. 7 ranked Michigan State. That will game will be a real test on these young Terrapins.

Regardless of how we do this year, it's always nice to start the season off with a few wins. It gets the confidence up and allows the team to find a good chemistry. And with the win over Bucknell last night, hopefully the team is finding a way to come together. Maryland was able to shoot 43% from the field and even managed a respectable 73% in free throws. For anyone who has watched this team in recent years, you have seen how terrible Maryland's free throw shooters have been. It's almost been like they don't want the easy points.

With only one senior on the team this year, David Neal, who isn't even a starter, the Terps are going to have to look elsewhere for leadership. If Vasquez has matured then he is the obvious choice. He has started since his freshman year, and led the team in minutes, rebounds and assists. He was second in scoring with 13 points, however he made only 5 of 16 shots, which probably means he still has work to do on his shot selection. Last year he had a tendency to try too hard and just throw the ball up there and make something happen. Hopefully this season he can learn to take less shots but score more points.

I'm hoping this team can come together during the beginning of the season and develop some great chemistry before heading into ACC play. The ACC is pretty stacked this year, with four teams ranked including the unanimous number 1. The Terps need to find their way before ACC play begins in January, otherwise, it's going to be a long spring, and another miserable March.