Posts Tagged ‘Maryland’

Time to Move On

Monday, February 15th, 2010

I get a little tired of how caught up we all get with beating Duke.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pointing fingers, because I myself at times can be as guilty as anyone else.  But we have to start treating Duke just like any other game.  I knew it was a bad sign when we were playing UNC and the fans started chanting “We want Duke”.  That in itself drives me nuts, but when you consider that we still had a huge game against UVA prior to playing Duke, it’s enough to make me yell at the TV.  Does the Duke game count more in the win column than a win over UVA?  Of course not.  Does it look better on our resume?  We’ll sure, but so does finishing in the top three in the ACC.  This is a year where we just have to handle our business and we’ll be fine come selection time, not a year where we need that one “Hey look what we were able to do one night when we finally got our @$#@ together!” win and hope that’s enough to get us in.  But I’m not here to dwell on over optimistic chants or what happened in Durham because truth be told, there is no time to dwell.  We need to move on or pack it up.

Now I don’t doubt that this team can do just that.  After all we have a lot of experience in some key positions and these guys should know how to shake off bad losses, but this week is going to go far in determining just how we are going to finish up in the ACC.  If you stretch the week back to Saturday, we have Duke, UVA, @ NC State, and then Georgia Tech.  That is a lot of games back to back.  To hit some sort of skid at this point would be disastrous because when you think about it, we are going to play 1/4 of the ACC schedule over this week.

As I mention the good news is that we have experience, and we also have the remaining two of those three at Comcast, with the one road game against a very pedestrian NC State team.  But starting tonight against UVA we are going to see how this team responds. They come out strong and play well, then all order is restored, and the Duke debacle becomes just another game (like the Clemson loss).  We will still have a shot at winning the Conference and with Duke having to travel through Comcast one more time, there is nothing to panic over.  But if we lose tonight against UVA then the Duke loss becomes a turning point.

Now the bad news is, I think both Clemson and Duke have shown how you go about beating Maryland.  You don’t slack off, you stay in their faces on defense and you force the turnovers.  I mean it wasn’t hard to see the similarities in the Clemson and Duke losses, so that is something we are going to have to address, but when we’ll have time to address it is beyond me.  The other bad news is that if the game in Durham did trigger a sort of shame spiral, well it couldn’t have come at a worse time.  Like I said above, we are playing a quarter of the season in this one week alone so getting into a funk now can quickly wash away whatever we have accomplished to this point.

Personally I think we bounce back and continue to make a run at the Conference Title.  After all, UVA is facing the same schedule we are, so it isn’t like they are going to be rested up while we play tired.  We also have the leadership in place to move on, and I’m sure Gary will have them ready as well, but what probably helps the most is that we are in Comcast tonight.  We need a rowdy crowd who cares as much about beating UVA as they do Duke.  And if we can play a solid game, then we will be fine and the team will have showed that they have a short memory, and having a short memory is always good when you play in the ACC, especially when you have 4 games in 8 days.

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What is Going on in the Mid-Atlantics

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

I have no idea what is going on with the weather down there in the D.C. area, but you are getting more snow than I am in Boston this year, and I am not complaining!  I do feel bad for people like my parents, but then I get pictures of my little cousins snow boarding in their back yard, and you know they are loving it. So I am not sure what group you are falling into, but there is no doubt I am happy you are getting it instead of me.

As fate would have it, the snow has impacted Maryland Basketball yet again.  Last week it was Maryland’s advantage.  Tomorrow’s game against UVA has been postponed until Monday, and that could very easily be better for the Hoos.  As a Terp fan, I like the idea of them playing while things are rolling along nicely, with the chance that they pack Comcast with students again, but what are you going to do?

So what does this do for the Terps?  For one the students now get their wish.  They get the Dukies.  I was a little miffed they seemed to forget they had a scheduled game with UVA when they started the “we want Duke” chant after taking UNC to the wood shed.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE nothing more than beating Duke, but there are more than two games on the schedule, and those games are as important as any game against Duke.  Anyway, back to the Terps, it gives them a little rest and some more time to get ready for Duke, but on the other end it shortens the time they have to get ready for UVA.  I guess the same could be said for UVA as they also play Saturday. Still, I like them to get back on the court while they are rolling.  Actually it now means they will have three games in 5 days as they follow up the UVA game with a game at NCST on Wednesday.  Not exactly ideal.

Halfway through the ACC season, I think we have to be pleased with what we have seen so far.  Of the two losses, one was played pretty well (OT loss to Wake), and the other not so much.  All that said, I can live with the one clunker at Clemson.  You have to be pleased with the effort, the ball movement,the shooting and the team defense.  Individually, the Greivis Vasquez we expected to see is here, and Jordan Williams is giving me some hope for the future.  I expected the rebounds for the most part.  His offense and defense has been a pleasant surprise.  It has been a while since the Terps have had a big man that can make the opponents bigs fight for position down low. The other thing I have been totally impressed with are his hands.   He catches entry passes to the post, he can catch on the break.  Speaking of the break, I love the way he runs the floor, on offense and defense, he really busts it.

I hate to single out only two players, because they have really been playing good team basketball that has been absent at times in College Park for a while.  The bench has been there at times, the starters have been pretty consistent for the most part.

In all honesty I thought they would have been 5-3 at this point.  Going forward they have a long way to go, but the way things are trending, I will take it.  Sure they can still slip out of this race, but fighting for the ACC crown is far better than sweating out the NCAA bubble all of March.

So going forward there are some huge games on the schedule, starting with the big match up at Cameron on Saturday.  Follow that up with the make up game against UVA (another school we should all love to beat).  It is really important they take this one game at a time.  Nothing is written in stone yet, and they could easily go on a slide with the schedule that remains.  It is a great time to be a Terp, and it could soon be a season we never forget.

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Getting Back On Track

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Sure, there was a buzz building around the Terps hoops team over the past week.  I mean who could blame us.  They had rolled their four previous opponents (3 of them ACC teams).  It has been a while since us Maryland fans were sitting a top the conference standings, even if it was only 4 games in!

Then reality struck in Littlejohn Coliseum.  The Terps played their worst game since, I don’t know when.  I am sure if I dug through some bad memories I could pull a couple games.  You could look at that Clemson games two ways.  One, it was on the road, a game we didn’t really feel was a lock to win.  Two, they played as poorly as they possibly could, and still managed to fight back and take a second half lead.  But, they let a good opportunity to pick up a coveted road win pass them by.

I choose to live with the fact that despite how poorly they played, they were a contested made three pointer by Trevor Booker from possibly walking away with a win.   That shot kind of took the wind out of the sails I think.   When I was a student, and even up until we won the National Championship, I lived and died by every game.  A loss would make those couple days after a little gloomier.  A win, and I had a little extra bounce in my step.  These days, I seem to have allowed other aspects of my life set my mood a little more.All that said, that game hurt, but at the same time I don’t have a doom and gloom feeling.

Back to today’s Terps.  While that was another close loss on the road, they showed me a lot.  They could have packed it in and gotten blown out like last years visit to Clemson.  They hunkered down, forced Clemson into their own turnover problems and showed they were going to make Clemson really earn it.  To their credit, they did.

Moving forward, as fate would have it, Maryland gets another chance to get a nice road win.  We have one in the pocket, but it would be really good to get another one from Florida State on Thursday night.  I expect it to be a little different than the visit to College Park last month.  The key will again be how Jordan Williams (BTW kudos on a well deserved ACC Rookie of the Week), Landon Milbourne and company can contain Solomon Alabi.  He got in to foul trouble early in the last game, and the Terps were able to roll.

You think back to some of the great Terps teams of the past, and you could almost predict the type of performance you would get on a given night.  This team on the other hand, has the talent to make a nice run late into March, but you just never know what you are going to get from one game to another.  They can go a long way in calming me down by playing poised basketball again.  I would like to think that the Clemson game was just one of those nights, where everything went wrong, and we will see more efforts like we did against NCST, BC, and FSU.  So tune in Thursday night, if for no other reason to try and find out what this team is made of and see if they can improve on their weaknesses. They have to protect the ball under pressure, get tougher on the defensive boards, and continue to shoot well.  If they can improve in those areas, they should be able to contend all season long.  For more on the game check us out at Turtledroppings.  GO TERPS!

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Picking Up the Pieces

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

The 2009 Maryland Football season has been an interesting study in human psychology. In fact I’m learning a few things about myself. I’ve never been one to consider myself moody or emotional, but I guess this season of adversity is starting to wear on me. My optimistic self comes and goes like the sun on a mostly cloudy day. But those clouds are starting to get thicker and more frequent (I’m writing this on an airplane if you are wondering where all these cloud references are coming from).

I had the fortune this week of getting shipped out west from Sunday to Wednesday for work training, and though traveling for work is never as much fun as road trips and vacations, I welcomed this respite. No sooner than my Rutgers Tailgate hangover was lifting, I found myself in another time zone where nobody was talking about the most recent debacle. And being away from all those constant reminders has gone far to re-energize my optimistic side. But as I come back east, the clouds are starting to build again.

For my family there is no bigger game than Maryland-Clemson. My oldest sister and the best man in my wedding are both Tiger Alums. Though normally good folk, they are as passionate about Tiger Football as I am about the Terps. And this Saturday isn’t going to change how they feel (Note to self: order roofies for the tailgate party). So coming from a place where no one was talking Maryland football and heading into Maryland-Clemson week is worse than the old “Frying pan into the fire” analogy, it’s more like the back of the fridge into the fire.

Now I’d love to brush aside those clouds and come back home with the attitude that we are 0-0 in conference play and anything can happen. And we can start that “Anything” this Saturday. But even for a guy whose been in excile there just doesn’t seem to be much to hang those hopes on. Our best back can’t hold on to the ball, our defense can’t force turnovers, our place kicker is now replacing our All Conference punter, and we can’t keep the “Away” scoreboard from looking like a late 90’s tech stock ticker.

Now Ralph Friedgen refuses to budge from his goal of a Conference Championship, and I can’t blame him, it’s his job, but in order to maintain my own sanity, I’m just asking to see some signs this Saturday. I want to see the offense hold on to the ball. I want to see the Defense, if even for just a few plays, live up to the expectations Don Brown set for them. Heck I just want to cheer for anything at this point. Which brings us back to psychology again. I don’t know where bargining falls in the mourning process, but where ever it is, I’m there. Hopefully this Saturday things start to change, and even if we were to lose, we can at leat point to some signs that the sun maybe coming out. Who knows what will happen on Saturday, but at least I know a few people that will be happy. I just hope I’m finally one of them.

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Raider Revenge

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Let’s face it, the Terps learned a lot in Berkeley. Most of the things we didn’t really want to know, but some other stuff, we may be able to put to use. For example, Cal taught us how to become the perfect Home and Home rival.

Step 1- Politely show up at the opposing teams home stadium, bring in extra buzz and sell some seats, then treat the home crowd to what they want, a huge win for the good guys.

Step 2- Have that same team come to your stadium, maybe not create as much buzz or sell as many seats, but beat the crap out of the team as pay back for the year prior, and to give your fans a win they can leave the stadium feeling good about.

The Terps have already completed Step 1. I know most of us want to delete that memory and pretend it didn’t happen but this Saturday more than ever we have to keep it fresh in our minds. Now I throw the word “we” around a lot. It’s hard not to do when you are passionate about the Terps, but in this case when I say “we”, I’m not talking like I am on the team, I’m talking about we the fans.

We need to have Byrd Stadium rocking. Middle Tennessee State is a quality team, we know this far too well. We can’t have this be a typical early season vs. a non BCS school Saturday in College Park. The JMU game confirmed what a lot of us already suspected. Our margin of error is not that great this year. The Terps need every edge they can get regardless of the opponent. And though we can’t catch passes or block for the Offensive Line we can be as loud as possible, even if it is only MTSU.

Look, I want to be able to stick out my chest and say we can win the ACC, believe me nothing would make me happier, but the Terps don’t appear to be that team this year. Not saying that it can’t happen, or won’t happen, but the facts are before us. Like it or not the MTSU game is huge for us. In order for Maryland to claim any sort of success in this rebuilding year, we have to go to a bowl, and beating the Blue Raiders is a must win. And if this is a must win, that makes this a big game, and if you are any kind of fan you will treat it as such.

The Terps are young, and they are impressionable. There is plenty for this team to learn and build on for the rest of the season. The lessons have been taught, and there have been some humbling moments, but the key is to take those moments and make something out of them. That’s what Cal did to us in Berkeley, that’s what Top 15 schools do. They showed us how to react in this situation, and now it’s time to apply that knowledge. As fans we can learn stuff too, and the lesson we’ve been taught so far is that we can’t take any win for granted. This Saturday is big. Let’s treat it that way.

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