The run really starts with Cliff Tucker’s buzzer beater against Georgia Tech.  That is one of those games that I will remember forever.  I don’t think I am kidding when I say I have seen that shot fall over 100 times.  From that moment on, it seems as though Maryland is having one of those years where the things that happen just leave you shaking your head.

I don’t think any of us will forget Greivis Vasquez’s 41 points in the double overtime thriller at Virginia Tech.  I know a lot of fans from other teams can’t stand watching him, and at times I can’t say I blame them, but flat out this guy wants to win.  I don’t think anyone will argue that the Terps are not sitting atop the ACC without him this year.

Follow that up with the win on Senior Night against Duke, and I don’t think you could have scripted it any better for the last home game of Vasquez, Eric Hayes, and Landon Milbourne.  Even though I was watching the game up here in Boston, you couldn’t help but feel the emotion in the Comcast Center that night.  It was a great scene watching the players celebrate the big win with the students on the floor.  Now if we could just control what happens on Route 1 after those wins, and we might be on to something.

Looking ahead the Terps enter the ACC tournament as the number two seed and will face the winner of Thursday nights game between Georgia Tech and UNC.   I for one can not wait for the tournament to start.  The way this season has played out so far, it might be one of those special seasons.  I don’t know how deep into March this season will last, but I know I am going to sit back and enjoy every moment of that.  We are lucky to have a player like Greivis Vasquez leading the Terps going into the post season.  He has been one of those rare players to come through College Park, and I am going to cherish every second he is on the court.  GO TERPS!

Week 15
1. Duke – 1.00
2. Maryland – 2.25
3. Wake – 3.75
4. Virginia Tech – 4.00
5. Clemson – 5.00
6. Florida State – 6.00
7. Georgia Tech – 6.125
8. Virginia – 7.875
9. Boston College – 9.375
10. North Carolina – 10.625
11. North Carolina State & Miami (tie) – 11

Week 16:
1. Duke – 1.00
2. Maryland – 2.00
3. Clemson – 3.57
4. Virginia Tech – 4.57
5. Wake – 5.00
6. Florida State – 5.28
7. Georgia Tech – 6.57
8. Boston College/UVA – 8.71 (TIE)
10. NC State – 10.28
11. UNC – 10.57
12. Miami – 11.71

As you can see, the only consensus in the conference this year are that Maryland and Duke are the top 2 teams and Miami is at the bottom. The rest? Draw numbers, straws, whatever you want. It seems to change on a daily basis. Should make the ACC Tournament really interesting! Speaking of the ACC tournament, I’ll be doing a preview of Maryland’s chances of winning it, what it means if they don’t win it, and what seed Maryland will likely receive. So stay tuned!

Fight.

The comeback win at N.C. State. The Georgia Tech scrape. The reversal of fortune during the recent Clemson game. The Terps, who haven’t lost since the Feb. 13 blowout by Duke, are warriors. Last night it was a ranked team that fell, #4 Duke by a margin of 79-72, with Maryland demonstrating valor under fire. It isn’t just Greivis either- even when he disappears for a spell, or is getting a well-deserved break, others fill in with courageous clutch shots (particulary Adrian Bowie). While the team still has to travel to U.Va. to close out the campaign, they are one of the hottest college teams in the country going into their hallowed conference tournament, and have considerably improved their NCAA seeding lot.  I wouldn’t wanna face ‘em.

The manner in which Maryland has pulled out close ones, and erased deficits, has stoked the confidence of Jordy Williams. I don’t see how anyone could have hoped for more, going into 2009-10, than a tie for ACC season honors. It’s difficult to imagine one of Duke’s Three S’s (the big three) beating out Vazquez for ACC Player of the Year. Malcolm Delaney has a stronger argument.

Did you see Greivis’ dad after the game? That’s where the emotion comes from. These guys deserved a farewell court storm, and should still be on a cloud above College Park.

The season is far from over, but the foundation has been laid for far more than a token NCAA run. If recent past is prologue, we should all fasten our seat belts.

Every year we get Duke at home, it’s pretty much guaranteed by the schedule, but what the schedule can’t guarantee is how important the game will be at that time.  Well imagine we are playing Duke for a share of the top spot in the ACC, imagine it’s Senior night for one of the most accomplished players in Maryland history (Congratulations to Greivis on climbing to #4 on the All-Time scoring list at Maryland).  Imagine that it’s to avenge a game earlier in the year where the Terps were completely dominated.  Put all those ingredients together and you have every Maryland fan’s chocolate cake.

But as mom and dad point out “Ain’t nobody getting any chocolate cake until their spinach is gone”.  Now no offense to Virginia Tech, but even all these years later, I still don’t feel as though they are truly an ACC school (though I’m starting to get there).  This is a game no one gets excited for, unless you perhaps have family ties.  If I could rank the games I’d like to see in person each year they don’t crack the top 5 (Top 5 would be Duke, UNC, Wake, Clemson, and NC State).  Yet I do not expect this to be a walk over, quite the contrary, I think this is going to be a hard fought battle that goes down to the bitter end, and just like the plate of spinach, the Hokies could end up on top at the end of the day.

And this is where I’m glad I’m not Gary Williams, if I were I’d already be thinking about the cake, I’d have no desire to scarf down the spinach, but unlike me, the Terps have to take it one game at a time.  If we can’t beat Virginia Tech, we will still play Duke next week, but it certainly won’t mean as much.  So here’s to hoping the Terps can get the job done today in Blacksburg, because if they do, we have a pretty awesome dessert on tap, and I know a lot of Terps fans that are craving chocolate.

The one area that Seth Greenberg’s team excels in is team defense. The Hokies play some of the best half court defense in the ACC and will make you work for every possession on offense. Their pressure will frustrate opponents into taking bad shots that turn into run out opportunities for Virginia Tech. When opponents dribble penetrate the help defender will always swipe at the ball to get steals and deflections. Their defense really feeds their offense to a large extent. Terrell Bell is Seth Greenberg’s defensive stopper and he will almost surely get assigned the task of trying to shut down Greivis Vasquez. The excellent passing and offensive motion of Maryland versus the half court defense of Virginia Tech will be an interesting matchup. Note that Boston College’s flex offense gave the Hokies real trouble in both games they played against the Eagles. Virginia Tech is the only road venue that the seniors have not won a game in their four years at Maryland.

It was Déjà vu all over again. Of course, the Terps have been untouchable at the Comcast Center. But of late (throw out the blowout by Duke, they’ve been untouchable period). One reason has been frosh Jordan Williams, who chipped in a much-needed 18 last night. As I’ve stated, this unit will travel as far as Greivis’ supporting scorers can carry them. An off night by the best-of-the-rest, and they are sunk, whether the opponent is in conference, or next month’s Madness.

Hats off to Vazquez for being named a Naismith finalist (one of 30).

We were outrebounded again (this time 39-32), but Maryland sank  eight of 13 three-pointers, the Tigers heaved 30 and only made 11 for their efforts. A 20-7 overall mark, and 10-3 in the ACC is all one could have asked for this club to achieve so far, going into this season. They could lose out in their remaining two conference contests, and be bounced in the first round of the ACC tournament, and still earn like a five seed in the ncaa’S.

That wouldn’t be an ideal finish, and this bunch seems more capable than that. They’ll have to prove by pairing together two halves of sound basketball (most forgave last week’s sorry first 30 minutes vs. State as a side effect of a scheduling nightmare).

Now, on to the sports side, and more importantly trying to figure out where this Cliff Tucker Dagger fits into some of My Maryland Moments.  Joe Smith’s tip in for 40 points and the win at the buzzer in Duke.  Denton Hall, listening on the radio!  Can you imagine that, no cable in the dorms, and as a freshman sans ID, there was no chance I was getting into one of College Parks fine establishments that night.  As we listened to the call we went nuts jumping up and down.

You can add Steve Blake’s three pointer against UConn that sealed the deal for a return trip to the Final Four to the list.  I was actually sitting by myself watching that in my Girlfriends apartment while she was in Medical School in Hershey, PA.  When he hit that shot, I let myself  believe that was a done deal. Blake will actually get two moments.  The famous “Oh he steal” play at the end of the half as Blake stripped Jason Williams of Duke right before the half.  Is there really a better play than that?  I would have killed to have been in Cole for that one.  Instead, a living room in Annapolis with a bunch of friends will have to do.

Juan Dixon gets a nod for his scoring after Indiana had taken the lead in the Championship game.  His three pointer, and baseline fade away will forever stick in my mind as I sat what seemed to be about 500 feet above him in the Georgia Dome.

You can even throw Duane Simpkins layup against Georgetown in the mix.  That game was actually the night before my college visit with my parents to College Park.  The next day the campus just seemed to have some extra life to me.  Of course what did I know, that was only the second time I was ever on campus, but it seemed like there was excitement.  Walking through Stamp Student Union you could overhear people talking about it and it was covered quite extensively in the Diamondback.

Drew Nicholas, how could we forget about him?  All he did was bail the defending national champions out of a sure first round defeat against UNC-Wilmington with his length of the floor dribble and falling away three pointer at the buzzer.  I was at my parents with a group of former college roommates watching that one on about three tv’s.  We erupted, I think it nearly brought my mother to tears watching us get so excited.  I do have one problem with that shot though, at it is with CBS.  When they show great tournament moments, that is often left off the list.  Of course if the rolls where reversed and it was UNC-W hitting that shot, it would be jammed down our throats year after year.  Thank you Drew!

There are plenty more moments that stand out, but those are individual shots, most of them buzzer beaters that are just permanently ingrained in my mind.  Now thanks to Cliff Tucker, I have yet another one.  Seriously, how many of you thought there was any chance they were going to win that game after Favors put back?  Ok, now that Greivis hit the half court shot, AFTER the time out call, how many of you thought they were going to win?  Yeah, me either.  Cliff Tucker stuck it to the hearts of Georgia Tech that Saturday afternoon.  I think I have seen those two shots 50 times by now.  The shot being incredible and all, I think I enjoyed the celebration more.  Seeing Tucker take off, and the entire team trying to mob him is great.  There is nothing cooler than seeing that pure joy and excitement after things looked so dire.  The fans were just going bonkers jumping up and down.  It was just one of those cool sports moments, and for once, it was My Terps, that got all the press for the right reason all weekend long!

I am not going to go through the list of heart breaks we Terp fans have felt.  Back in 1996 we lost two games at the buzzer in Cole to Carolina and Duke.  Ugh.  There are plenty more, and we need not list them all out here.  This post was to thank the likes of Steve Blake, Juan Dixon, Joe Smith, Duane Simpkins, Drew Nicholas.  Cliff Tucker you have now joined the elite company of athletes, and single moments, I will cherish until I die!  Here’s to hoping this season has some more,  Go Terps!

Last April, I had the opportunity to go see Jordan Williams and James Padgett play in the Charm City Challenge up at Towson University. Although I was really impressed with the offensive production that Padgett put up, I was equally impressed with Jordan Williams who was able to grab rebounds, score (even though the offensive scoring that team U.S. ran didn’t really feature going inside to Williams very often), and also shut down Oklahoma commit Andrew Fitzgerald.

I was one of the people who thought Jordan would step into the starting role right away. And although Jordan did start initially, I think had Dino Gregory not been suspended at the start of the season, Jordan would have been coming off the bench. Looking back now, Dino’s suspension, which forced Jordan Williams into a starting role from the get-go might have been a blessing in disguise.

Jordan’s presence and performance on this team has exceed everyone’s expectations. I thought Jordan would average about 6 points and 3.5 boards a game this season. In reality, he’s averaged almost 9 points and over 8 boards a game. And he’s been getting better as the season has progressed. For a freshman, you often worry that they’ll begin to slow down or hit a wall towards the latter half of the season. That doesn’t appear to be the case for Jordan. Following their win against UVA on Monday night, I had the opportunity to ask Jordan about playing in the grueling ACC schedule and how he’s adjusted to it so far this season.

“I’m used to it now. I’ve been playing for a while, over 20 games into the season, so I think I’ve been getting used to it, so it’s not as much of a change as it was in the beginning. In the beginning, it was very difficult for me to adjust. I think I’ve adjusted now, now it’s just a matter of going out and performing.”

Going out and performing he is. He’s averaging over 11 points per game to go along with 9 boards in his last 6 games. A freshman center averaging almost a double-double in the middle of ACC play. The numbers are, in a word, amazing. Furthermore, not only is Jordan scoring and grabbing boards and doing so with great hands and a soft touch, he’s also opening things up for his teammates: setting screens, clearing out space in the lane for the guards to drive, catching the ball in the low post to draw a double team and then dishing it back out to an open teammate on the outside, and performing extremely well defensively, shutting down some of the best centers in the conference and in the country. All of these things are the result of Jordan’s presence inside. This is the first time we’ve had an inside presence like this since the days of Baxter and Jordan is light years ahead of where Baxter was his freshman year. By the time Jordan is a junior or senior, he very well might be vying for ACC player of the year honors.

Jordan has also turned into the number two scoring option on this team. When he gets the ball in the low post, he’s looking for for his shot and often times making it.

With Jordan playing this well, on a defensive oriented team with two senior guards, another very reliable and productive senior forward, and great production off the bench, the Terps are starting to become a scary team to face late in the season. How they play against Georgia Tech on Saturday and more importantly against Virginia Tech on the road next week will again be indicators as to whether we can raise our expectations for this team come March. I personally will be disappointed by anything less than the sweet 16. And I’m now starting to believe more and more that could become a reality.

I can’t wait to see how Jordan matches up with fellow ACC freshman Derrick Favors on Saturday, the other great ACC center and person Jordan is beginning to challenge for ACC Rookie of the Year.

Lets hope we see another dominant performance from the freshmen.

Here is where our Raycom bloggers think each team ranks, as of Monday, February 15th:
1. Duke – 1.11
2. Maryland – 2.77
3. Wake – 3.00
4. Virginia Tech – 4.00
5. Clemson – 5.66
6. Georgia Tech – 5.77
7. Florida State – 6.00
8. Virginia – 7.88
9. North Carolina – 9.33
10. Miami – 10.44
11. North Carolina State & Boston College (tie) – 11

What do you think? Is Virginia Tech ranked too low? Is North Carolina still ranked too high? We welcome your comments and feed back! Enjoy the games this week!

I have to admit, when I look at our remaining schedule I do that little  move where I push myself up using the arms of my chair and reposition my butt.  I don’t know what that move is called, but if you were a body language expert, you could probably conclude that I was under anxiety or stress.  Maybe I’ll dub it the reverse Greivis Shimmy since my mood seems to be at the opposite end of the emotions scale as compared to when he has just drained a 3 and looking to have a little fun.  Today we have Georgia Tech in Comcast, I’m not going to say this is a must win because I think the bar has been set at an ACC Championship and when it’s that high, there isn’t much room for error.  But of the games we have left, if you play the game “You have to bet your life on one of these remaining match up’s” I think I would seriously consider today’s.  Luckily for me that game is hypothetical.  If some of Greivis’s shot selections and errant passes drive you mad now, imagine what it must be like to watch him with your life hanging in the balance!

After today though, things get tough.  Clemson will be coming to town, and I don’t need to remind anyone of what happened the last time we met.  Then we hit the road against a surprising Virginia Tech squad, but as Raycom Blogger Matt writes Here don’t believe the Hookie hype as they have benefited from one of the easiest schedules in the Conference (You know, back when there was only 9 of us in the ACC, we didn’t have this problem…just saying).  But still, they are 8-3 and we are playing them on the road.  After our trip to Blacksburg we face probably the biggest game of the year, against Duke.  I don’t think I need to elaborate on that one.  Then we close out the year at the John Paul Jones Arena against a who knows UVA squad.  I do have to give UVA credit, of all the states that make up the ACC, we were all Colonies that fought the British (except Florida), shouldn’t there be more arena’s named after US Patriots?  Then again, our greatest Revolutionary War Figure in Maryland was named General Smallwood, so maybe it’s better this way.

So reviewing those last 5 games, we have an unknown in Georgia Tech (unknown in that we have yet to face them), an unknown in VT (see GT parenthesis), two teams who beat us rather decisively (you can debate how decisive the Clemson win over us was, but to me it felt decisive), then UVA.  This is a scary stretch, but also an intriguing one.  If we want the Conference Crown we HAVE to beat Duke at home, there is no question about that, but with help we can lose perhaps 1 of these 5 (as long as it isn’t Duke).  That of course would assume someone else could knock off Duke once, maybe twice in that span.  So the more you think about it, the more likely it is that we’d be required to run the table.

But if we were able to run this mine field and make it out unscathed, what a story it would be.   We would avenge 2 of our 3 losses, we would have one of our biggest road wins of the year in Blacksburg, and a season ending victory on the home court of our natural rival (Tangier Island should be ours, give it back!!).  I don’t know how the season is going to end, and the picture I painted is possible, but more realistically a long shot.  But if it could happen could you imagine a better way for the Terps and the Seniors to wrap up the season?  I’m not a novelist, nor am I a literary critic, but if that story were to unfold, and be captured on pages, that would be one book I’d certainly buy.