Hey You... You in the White... (Part 1)

This weekend we've been treated to a little bit of Spring like weather-- a taste of things to come, so to speak. As Terps Basketball typically holds onto the slimest of hopes of a winning season, Terps Football signs its 2009 recruits, and the NFL Draft buzz heats up, I keep finding myself asking some variation of this question...

"Which one of these dudes is gonna drive me to drinking next year?"

So, with that in mind, over the next week or so I'll share my thoughts on the offseason for the Terps and Skins, and why we could be bringin home 2 National Titles and a Lombardi Trophy Baby!!!

...but probably won't.

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"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said 'thank you,' and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to." - Col. Nathan Jessep, A Few Good Men

Let's be honest, Gary's attempts to defend himself in the press the last few weeks haven't sounded too dissimilar to Mr. Nicholas before he so famously gave Tom Cruise the truth that he so badly wanted. But, even if his arguments are tired, he makes some pretty good points.

He did bring the program back into national prominence after the best basketball player in league history dropping dead in Washington Hall and the tough NCAA sanctions. He does have the most wins in Maryland history. He did bring us to 11 tourneys in a row including several sweet sixteen finishes. We've all come to love the traditional pre-game fist pumps.

That's to say nothing about the 2004 ACC Championship (easily one of the greatest moments of my life) and the 2001 National Championship (probably THE greatest moment of my life. I watched it in Cancun...).

But seriously, we all know all of that already. We lived it and it was great.

What is frustrating, aside from the few awful years we've had to deal with recently, is the occasional story of a high profile area recruit deciding to go elsewhere after being treated poorly on a recruiting visit. Most notably, for me, is Donte Greene's, Towson Catholic graduate who spent a year at Syracuse on his way to being an NBA lottery pick, account of his unofficial visit to Maryland.

On top of these anecdotes, everybody can see the 800 lb gorilla in the room. How, despite being deep in the heart of one of the most talent rich areas of the country, do we have so much trouble keeping any local talent?

Well, I can think of two good reasons.

1. For anybody watching Maryland basketball for the first time, one thing inevitably strikes you. "Damn, this coach is out of his mind!" This was particularly clear in the dwindling moments of the Georgia Tech game last Sunday as the Terps gave a foul, up 3 with 18 ticks on the clock. As the camera focused on Gary going justifiably apeshit, everyone could figure out what he was screaming. "You're a fucking asshole!" (Admittedly, if I didn't say it, I was thinking the same thing).

Yea, athletes are used to getting yelled at, and Gary clearly gets results, but if you're shopping around for the program that's going to help you grow into a successful college basketball player, are you gonna pick the guy that's probably going to call you a fucking asshole everytime you make a horrible play? Probably not.

2. This is what grinds my gears the most. Why is the "these players should want to stay local" argument being taken so seriously? If you're a star basketball player from one of P.G. County's less than stellar areas, which there are a couple, how is anybody gonna win you over with the "I know you've got potential, and you can go play anywhere, but why don't you stick around here for 3 or 4 more years" pitch?

Don't get me wrong, I love College Park, but would I have wanted to live there for more than 4 or 5 years? No chance. If I had put in 18 years in Upper Maralboro or Fort Washington, and somebody tried to convince me to make it 22 if I had better options, I would have punched them in the face. Fact.

With hurdles like that, sometimes I feel like Gary would have just as much of a shot pulling talent into Garyland using a strategy once used by Sophomore Dan Chimera to encourage an attractive blonde to be his classmate as she sat courtside in a silent Comcast Center prior to the national anthem.

Dune: Hey You! You in the white! You should go to Maryland!!

Gary definitely has a lot of overcome, but bringing Keith Booooooooooooooth along seems to make sense for countering the obstacles.

Next year's recruiting class has some promise. Granted, when compared to the other ACC classes, we're near the bottom, but that's nothing new. All I care about is that we've got some height and some beef coming in.

Even more importantly, Gary is not done. Reportedly, we're still aggresively recruiting one of the best shooting guard prospects in the nation, Lance Stephenson. (He's from Brooklyn so you know he's good). Keith Booth apparently did some man flirting as Lance visited Maryland for the Miami game, and apparently Lance enjoyed his visit. He's a high school teammate of James Padgett, who has already committed to Maryland, which clearly helps.

Do I think we'll land this 5 star recruit? No, but isn't it refreshing to know that we've got a shot?

My heart tells me we're gonna make a run at the pivotal 9 conference wins here, and although my head tells me we're gonna fall short, I feel like we're bringing some pieces together to be consistently competitive for awhile.

So here's a big fist pump to you Gary. Let's turn this around huh?

Reeling Me Back In

"And then you do something like that and.... TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!"

Ok, it wasn't quite that impressive. We still have Gonzaga today, and a match up with either GTown or Tennessee tomorrow. But, completely changed my attitude about this Maryland team. I didn't feel good about where they were headed this year, and clearly I misspoke.

The main reason I was convinced I was going to spend the next 4 months crying myself to sleep (aside from a lack of rebounding ability and 0 depth) was an impression I got of the team at the Terps v. Cal football game in September.

On my way to get some food, I spotted some basketball players wandering around the concourse. Fittingly leading this posse around was Mr. Vasquez. There he was, leading the younger players around like the pied piper, proudly wearing his OWN JERSEY. I can understand why he felt that nobody would recognize him since we were so terrible last year, but really? Your own jersey?

They say you should dress for the job you want, not the job you have. To me, his display that day told me that he was happy with the mediocrity. Didn't exactly exude confidence.

That being said, what was great about the win over the Spartans last night was that it was less about Greivis and more about the supporting cast, which is exactly what we'll need if we want to make any noise this year. Actually running plays on offense and making the extra pass was nice to see, and I don't know if I've seen a Maryland team draw more offensive fouls than they did last night. They're playing like a team because players are finally looking like they want to force the action.

Most notably, Hayes. I had a lot of negative things to say about him after last year, and into this summer, but he's really shown me something in the first four games. 13-6-5 last night was fantastic, but even better are the things he's doing that don't show up on the score sheet. Great D, hustle, and solid off the ball play tells me maybe his trip to train with Steve Blake this summer for a week ignited the fire in him.

Bowie is somebody I was excited for last year despite some things I heard about his lack of ACC quality potential from guys that had seen him in high school. He feels like your typical role player that Gary turns into a game changer. Dude can shoot, he crashes the boards, and he is fast. Gotta feel like when Mosley gets comfortable that he and Bowie are going to be a nasty duo in the next two seasons.

Two words... Dave Neal. Three words... three point shooter. What?

I don't think that all of a sudden we've shed all our vulnerabilities. We still don't have much down low. Vasquez is still shooting 8 3s a game, and although he seems to be taking care of the ball, the numbers don't really reflect his horrific shots late in the shot clock that should count as turnovers. And as far as last night, this team is not going to shoot 42% from outside while running into teams shooting 44% from the line that often either.

All of that being said, there is significant reason for optimism. Last year at this time, we were getting waxed by UCLA and Missouri, and we looked awful. In fact, in the post-BB&T tournament era (now just one game), we really haven't done well at all in these preseason tournaments. We'll see how the rest of this tournament plays out, but you've gotta feel like we're playing with house money the rest of the way in Orlando.

The best part is that I'm excited to watch them again. Gary, I'm sorry I doubted you. Clearly this is your kind of team.

As this team came to life last night, I felt dumb, and then dumber. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to redeem myself as a Maryland basketball fan.

Go Terps.