GAME THREAD: Maryland vs. North Carolina

[beaner]

And that's my issue. If the refs want to give UNC that much deference, fine. But Maryland shouldn't be doing the same thing. The first time it happened was classless. Why that lesson wasn't learned before it happened a second time is on Roy. Maryland needs to answer. I'm not saying you send a walkon out there with a dagger and stab a guy. But foul someone hard enough they feel it the next day. Enough deferring.

Fair enough. We'll see. I do think Carolina will beat Duke on Saturday, so maybe we'll get that matchup next Friday.

[The Epic]

Exactly..there was no malicious intent whatsoever. Like I said, I didn't love it either, but with it being Senior Night, I'm giving a pass. When Henson dunked at the end of the ame in College Park, Roy made a beeline over to Turgeon to apologize..It wasn't necessary tonight.

This.

For goodness sakes, it's Senior Night. And I'm sure that Blue Steel doesn't have the talent that Maryland does. If it pisses you off, stop them. Hell, foul them.

Also, with all of the ways a team could show disrespect to another team (like, say, leaving in the starters even when the game's well in hand), this is maybe a 2 on the 1-10 scale, right behind doing the stupid-as-heck "three-pointer" pose that guys are doing these days.

[Gofannon]

If there was no last-second Henson dunk, there would be no conversation about this at all. Senior walk-ons jacking up shots on Senior Night - that's sort of how it goes. I have no gripe with that.

If anything, this just underscores the issue from last game - it now means that both Maryland-Carolina games ended with last-second Carolina baskets in games that had already been decided. One was explainable, the other less so, but when it happens in both games it can rub people the wrong way.

[Dr. FLK]

So this is what it's come to? Complaining that walk-ons who bust their butts for 4 years to play approximately 8 minutes in their entire career are eager to get their name in the box score? I hate complaining about running up the score anyway - if you want the other team to stop playing, then why don't you just walk off the court yourself and quit first. But complaining about WALK-ONS running up the score on Sr. Night? Seriously? We got hammered by them, and now we're worried about fouling them hard next time to show how sad their walk-ons made us? Maybe we should worry ourselves with rebounding and/or interior defense instead.

Good for those kids. They work hard and never get to play. That game was way out of hand anyway, and I don't think those points made a shred of difference. Maybe the next time we play the Heels, we'll be in a better position and won't have to worry about the UNC walk-ons being mean to us.

[Danielos38]

So this is what it's come to? Complaining that walk-ons who bust their butts for 4 years to play approximately 8 minutes in their entire career are eager to get their name in the box score? I hate complaining about running up the score anyway - if you want the other team to stop playing, then why don't you just walk off the court yourself and quit first. But complaining about WALK-ONS running up the score on Sr. Night? Seriously? We got hammered by them, and now we're worried about fouling them hard next time to show how sad their walk-ons made us? Maybe we should worry ourselves with rebounding and/or interior defense instead.

Good for those kids. They work hard and never get to play. That game was way out of hand anyway, and I don't think those points made a shred of difference. Maybe the next time we play the Heels, we'll be in a better position and won't have to worry about the UNC walk-ons being mean to us.

I don't care who the players are and what the situation is. There is a certain etiquette that is universally accepted. UNC has violated those unwritten rules 2 straight times.

[The Epic]

I don't care who the players are and what the situation is. There is a certain etiquette that is universally accepted. UNC has violated those unwritten rules 2 straight times.

Nobody's arguing the Henson play at all.

It's their last time on the home court. They should play hard for their fans, and for their families that came to see them.

And FWIW, Maryland could very well be better than UNC next year. Either way, if they play at Comcast again, Maryland should be favored.

[ccbird]

So this is what it's come to? Complaining that walk-ons who bust their butts for 4 years to play approximately 8 minutes in their entire career are eager to get their name in the box score? I hate complaining about running up the score anyway - if you want the other team to stop playing, then why don't you just walk off the court yourself and quit first. But complaining about WALK-ONS running up the score on Sr. Night? Seriously? We got hammered by them, and now we're worried about fouling them hard next time to show how sad their walk-ons made us? Maybe we should worry ourselves with rebounding and/or interior defense instead.

Good for those kids. They work hard and never get to play. That game was way out of hand anyway, and I don't think those points made a shred of difference. Maybe the next time we play the Heels, we'll be in a better position and won't have to worry about the UNC walk-ons being mean to us.

Completely disagree. The walk-ons were all in with 4 or so min to play. I believe they all had chucked up and maybe even made a shot by the time the clock was inisde of 30 sec. To chuck up 2 more inside of 30 secwhen you not only got the start but were allowed to come back in and play the last 4 plus min of the game was overboard. If they had only got in for the last minute or minute and a half I probably could have dealt with it but they all had gotten some good run by the time the clock was under 30 sec. Walk on or not, senior or senior night or not, play the game the right way. Those walk ons are part of the UNC basketball team. That's a damn fine honor in itself and they know what they sign up for when they try out. They shouldn't be held to a different standard than anybody else on the team. I can tell you that a lot of coaches around the country, senior walk ons on senior night or not, would not have let their players chuck the ball up twice with under 30 up by 20+ points.

[Sports Guy]

So this is what it's come to? Complaining that walk-ons who bust their butts for 4 years to play approximately 8 minutes in their entire career are eager to get their name in the box score? I hate complaining about running up the score anyway - if you want the other team to stop playing, then why don't you just walk off the court yourself and quit first. But complaining about WALK-ONS running up the score on Sr. Night? Seriously? We got hammered by them, and now we're worried about fouling them hard next time to show how sad their walk-ons made us? Maybe we should worry ourselves with rebounding and/or interior defense instead.

Good for those kids. They work hard and never get to play. That game was way out of hand anyway, and I don't think those points made a shred of difference. Maybe the next time we play the Heels, we'll be in a better position and won't have to worry about the UNC walk-ons being mean to us.

Best post of the thread...This is a stupid argument to be having.

And I agree...there is no such thing as running up the score. When you stop playing, the game is over.

[Dr. FLK]

Completely disagree. The walk-ons were all in with 4 or so min to play. I believe they all had chucked up and maybe even made a shot by the time the clock was inisde of 30 sec. To chuck up 2 more inside of 30 secwhen you not only got the start but were allowed to come back in and play the last 4 plus min of the game was overboard. If they had only got in for the last minute or minute and a half I probably could have dealt with it but they all had gotten some good run by the time the clock was under 30 sec. Walk on or not, senior or senior night or not, play the game the right way. Those walk ons are part of the UNC basketball team. That's a damn fine honor in itself and they know what they sign up for when they try out. They shouldn't be held to a different standard than anybody else on the team. I can tell you that a lot of coaches around the country, senior walk ons on senior night or not, would not have let their players chuck the ball up twice with under 30 up by 20+ points.

I don't care if they are in for 8, 12, or 20 minutes. They are walk-ons. If you can't stop the walk-ons and must resort to begging them to give up, then you don't belong in the ACC. Just because the Terps players quit on defense, doesn't mean these walk-ons shouldn't be allowed to maximize their experience. If the roles were revered and the Terps were throttling UNC on Sr. Day, we'd all be thrilled if the "Earl Badu's of the World" were nailing 3s. The Henson dunk is one thing, but even that doesn't bother me much. Seriously, the beat you by a million points and you feel disrespected by the extra 2? But walk-ons...walk-ons....scoring because they finally get on the court? Really? I don't know...but I was bothered by a lot more in this game than that. Good for Roy letting these guys score and enjoy their experience. Bad for the Terps for not being able to (or not caring enough to) stop them.

You say playing for the Heels is an honor, and it is. So is playing for the Terps. So, if you're losing by a ton and still out on that court, try playing defense if the though of walk-ons draining a few 3s bothers you. If you can't muster that energy, I'm sure other guys would accept the honor of wearing a terps jersey (unless it's one of those ugly yellow ones...those could be more difficult to fill).

[Dr. FLK]

I don't care who the players are and what the situation is. There is a certain etiquette that is universally accepted. UNC has violated those unwritten rules 2 straight times.

The only thing I saw them violate was the Terps' interior "defense".

[Sports Guy]

I don't care who the players are and what the situation is. There is a certain etiquette that is universally accepted. UNC has violated those unwritten rules 2 straight times.

On senior night, when you walk ons are in there, the guys that help you in practice, the etiquette is to let them play and have their moment in the sun.

If you can't play defense against them and you allow them to score, that's on you.

Complaining about this situation is why the exact reason MD fans get such a bad wrap.

[Danielos38]

On senior night, when you walk ons are in there, the guys that help you in practice, the etiquette is to let them play and have their moment in the sun.

If you can't play defense against them and you allow them to score, that's on you.

Complaining about this situation is why the exact reason MD fans get such a bad wrap.

Play defense as the clock is running out an a walk-on is shooting at the buzzer in a 30 point game?! It's incredible that people would defend this behavior. I guess when there's a question of playing with class or taking a moment of glory, the classless approach wins.

[ccbird]

I don't care if they are in for 8, 12, or 20 minutes. They are walk-ons. If you can't stop the walk-ons and must resort to begging them to give up, then you don't belong in the ACC. Just because the Terps players quit on defense, doesn't mean these walk-ons shouldn't be allowed to maximize their experience. If the roles were revered and the Terps were throttling UNC on Sr. Day, we'd all be thrilled if the "Earl Badu's of the World" were nailing 3s. The Henson dunk is one thing, but even that doesn't bother me much. Seriously, the beat you by a million points and you feel disrespected by the extra 2? But walk-ons...walk-ons....scoring because they finally get on the court? Really? I don't know...but I was bothered by a lot more in this game than that. Good for Roy letting these guys score and enjoy their experience. Bad for the Terps for not being able to (or not caring enough to) stop them.

You say playing for the Heels is an honor, and it is. So is playing for the Terps. So, if you're losing by a ton and still out on that court, try playing defense if the though of walk-ons draining a few 3s bothers you. If you can't muster that energy, I'm sure other guys would accept the honor of wearing a terps jersey (unless it's one of those ugly yellow ones...those could be more difficult to fill).

Its not even about running up the score. I don't care if we were losing by 50 and they brought the walkons in to play. Let them run it up some more. It's not about us stopping them. We didn't quit playing defense and it really has nothing to do about us playing defense anyway. If the walkons are out there bombing 3 after 3 with 2 min left on the clock good for them. 1 min left on the clock good for them. Once you get inside of 30 sec, inside of where you can run the clock out you shouldn't be jacking up multiple shots. You run the clock out, if one of the seniors wants to take the last shot as the clock expires I don't like it but I can deal with it. For them to have the ability to run the clock yet choosing to maximize the time left to try and get off as many shots as possible is bad form. Case closed, end of story.

[ccbird]

Play defense as the clock is running out an a walk-on is shooting at the buzzer in a 30 point game?! It's incredible that people would defend this behavior. I guess when there's a question of playing with class or taking a moment of glory, the classless approach wins.

Exactly, it's classless but sadly yes, most people would take the moment of glory. I have no problem with the walk-ons bombing shot after shot and running up the score in general but not maximizing possesions and taking multiple shots inside of the 35 sec shot clock at the end of the game.

[Sports Guy]

Play defense as the clock is running out an a walk-on is shooting at the buzzer in a 30 point game?! It's incredible that people would defend this behavior. I guess when there's a question of playing with class or taking a moment of glory, the classless approach wins.

LOL...Walkons..senior night.

If you can't grasp this, that's on you.

I didn't see the end of the game but based on what is being said, it is very sad that any fan would even remotely complain about this, in this situation.

And I bet if the roles were reversed, you wouldn't even mention this.

BTW, classless is when teams fans throw objects at the other team's family. Classless is when a team's fans(any team) chant F U. Classless is when your athletic dept and coach implore you to stop acting like morons and yet you do it anyway. Classless is when a guy dunks at the end of a game when you are up by a lot.

Allowing your walk ons to have some moment of glory on their senior night isn't classless.