As I sit and look out the window while a record breaking snowstorm envelops the area in a pure, clean, white blanket, my thoughts turn to better times for the Maryland basketball team. It was just nine months ago that the Terps achieved the improbable and made it to March Madness with an undersized squad. Despite a tough tournament draw and second round exit against a talented Memphis team, 2008-2009 was deemed a success, and many felt Gary Williams had done his finest coaching job in his career. The 2009-2010 season seemed to hold so much promise.
Roughly a third of the way through a 2009-2010 season that started with the team ranked in the Top 25 and poised to contend in the ACC, the Terps are treading water. They are a C-average team at mid-term. Mediocre. The Terps aren’t in the “Others Receiving Votes” category. They aren’t in the national picture at all.
What can Maryland do to rectify its basketball sins from non-conference losses past? Can the Terps get a Christmas miracle for the second year in a row, do an about face before ACC play starts, and get on track to dance in March? The short answer is “yes,” but the players will have to be good boys for the rest of the year if they don’t want to wake up to coal in their postseason stockings. Here’s my short list for Christmas wishes for the team for the rest of this season.
* Greivis Vasquez should see a sports psychologist. I’m not kidding. The guy has so much talent and energy that the sky is the limit, but he has been playing with desperation this year. There is more to it than missing a couple of running jumpers. His father is sick. If he doesn’t make the NBA after this season, he faces the prospect of returning to Venezuela without the means to support his extended family. The kid has way too much pressure on his shoulders, and he’s showing signs of cracking. The Terps need Greivis to play his best, and to do so he’s got to get his head right.
* Eric Hayes needs to channel his inner Steve Blake. Shave your beard. Shave your head. Go Blake, Eric. Tell Greivis that he doesn’t need to handle the point, ’cause you got it. You have a week off. Call Steve Blake himself – he’ll answer the phone for you. Wish him a Merry Christmas and ask him how he would have handled this team. Write notes, and then execute. If you finally fulfill your destiny as Blake II Electric Boogaloo, the ball movement will improve, nobody will be able to pressure the Terps, and the team will actually look like a March contender with a true point guard. Gary’s offense needs you to do it.
* Change of plan – abandon the press. This might be a tough pill for Gary Williams to swallow, but he doesn’t have the depth and personnel on the floor to make the press work against good teams. Hey man, you recruited these players, so you know what you have. What you don’t have is a bunch of six-six, long, athletic tweeners that can give you extended, meaningful minutes. You have role players, and that’s not going to change for the rest of this year. Give-up the press and work on the good ol’ 1-3-1 a little more.
* Grow up fast. Twenty years ago, when talented sophomores still stayed in college, the excuse that “we’re a young team” may have been valid in certain situations. Now, every team is a young team. In order to succeed, the freshmen (that means you Williams and Padgett) need to hit their stride at this point in the season, and they need to play like veterans the rest of the way out. If they don’t, Maryland will not contend in the ACC this year.
* Bench Jin Soo Choi. It may not be in the Christmas spirit to single the guy out but, hey, he’s a waste of minutes out there. I’d like Santa to take all of his court time and give it to Dino. That’s all.
Can Gary Williams deliver another second half Christmas miracle from his over sized bag of gifts? That’s what it is going to take for this team to make it to March.
Happy Holidays!
-Ian (http://shell-games.com)
I agree on all counts, although I would also like a pony.
I would much rather have some quality wins under our belt, but I’m not panicing yet…yet. I agree with the last point in particular, but I really wish I didn’t.
Hey Scott, I got a tip for you, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I don’t even know if that applies here but it makes for a good quick quip. Having said that , I would also like a pony. A pony and my freedom.
Bob, I have a feeling that the Terps have somehow gone from overhyped to underrated in a very short period of time. Fear not, this team still has some life in it, and they play their best with their backs against the wall. They’ll pull it out if they can simply achieve everything I stated above.
Yeah, they’ll be fine. Maddening, but fine. I think we’ve all seen this movie before.