Vs. American

[Todd-O]

I have to admit... I'm a big Gary fan... but this has got to be absolute rock-bottom.

What the hell?

I thought FOR SURE that Gary would have them come out - after the last embarassing loss just about 12(?) days ago - and absolutely wax AU.

Are these guys really THAT BAD??????????????????

This truly is PITIFUL.

I guess the question becomes - and at this point this isn't something I support - but would Debbie You actually have the guts to fire Gary? I would guess that a Maryland opening would attract some major attention...

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE?

[Pushmonkey]

Maybe the players , being a young team, have lost hope that they can win and thus have lost the confidence to win.

[Jagwar]

Count me as one that is shocked... it is one thing to be young, its one thing to be a bubble team... its another to be losing to Ohio, and American on your home floor....... I don't get it at all.

You can say the talent is not there, but there is clearly more talent than they are showing... how can you possibly lose to those teams at home?

I've posted this before, it goes back to poor recruiting from 04-06

2004-05 - Gist, Ledbetter

2005-06 - Neal, P Brown

Throw in the fact that last year, Milbourne didn't get anything but token minutes, and Burney redshirted, and you have a really thin roster in terms of experience.

The only surprise I have this year is that Gist has really underperformed. Osby is really a role player at best, Hayes and Greivis are still sophs, and then they rely entirely on first year players

Like I said, you really can't be that surprised. An 8-8 conference record would have been (and still would be) an overachievement.

[BaltBird 24]

Atleast the teams with guys like John Gilchrist, Chris McCray, Nik Caner-Medley, Travis Garrison, DJ Strawberry, Mike Jones, Ekene Ibekwe, etc had talent. They might have played like complete idiots, but atleast you could see the raw skill was there. I'm not so sure the same can be said about the current crop, and I think everyone will agree that the previously mentioned players were a HUGE disappointment. We can probably only hope to someday say those same things with these current guys.

Other than that, maybe a complete crapper year or two will motivate GW to go out there and actually recruit and sign the real blue chip talent. It'd be nice to be able to keep a prized recruit every once in a while, too (Mr. Jennings).

[BaltBird 24]

I've posted this before, it goes back to poor recruiting from 04-06

2004-05 - Gist, Ledbetter

2005-06 - Neal, P Brown

That's an absoulte disgrace for a program like Maryland, IMO. How you can go two straight years signing only one guy that you can really expect to give you any sort of quality is beyond horrible.

I'm pretty sure any random joke of a JUCO team brings in more talent annually than our 2005-2006 recruiting class did.

[Jagwar]

That's an absoulte disgrace for a program like Maryland, IMO. How you can go two straight years signing only one guy that you can really expect to give you any sort of quality is beyond horrible.

I'm pretty sure any random joke of a JUCO team brings in more talent annually than our 2005-2006 recruiting class did.

It's magnified even more by the fact that the Terps don't have two extra upperclassmen on the team from those classes. Ledbetter and Brown are long gone, and this team has a huge freaking gap between Gist and the youngsters.

I never thought I would say this, but I think there is a real chance that Gary's job hinges on how this year's class and next year's class performs. What do you think would be the reaction if they only see 1 NCAA tourney bid in 4 years?

[Jagwar]

Atleast the teams with guys like John Gilchrist, Chris McCray, Nik Caner-Medley, Travis Garrison, DJ Strawberry, Mike Jones, Ekene Ibekwe, etc had talent. They might have played like complete idiots, but atleast you could see the raw skill was there. I'm not so sure the same can be said about the current crop, and I think everyone will agree that the previously mentioned players were a HUGE disappointment. We can probably only hope to someday say those same things with these current guys.

Other than that, maybe a complete crapper year or two will motivate GW to go out there and actually recruit and sign the real blue chip talent. It'd be nice to be able to keep a prized recruit every once in a while, too (Mr. Jennings).

I just don't know why they would want to sign at MD. The flex offense doesn't seem like the best landing site for blue chippers.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Atleast the teams with guys like John Gilchrist, Chris McCray, Nik Caner-Medley, Travis Garrison, DJ Strawberry, Mike Jones, Ekene Ibekwe, etc had talent. They might have played like complete idiots, but atleast you could see the raw skill was there. I'm not so sure the same can be said about the current crop, and I think everyone will agree that the previously mentioned players were a HUGE disappointment. We can probably only hope to someday say those same things with these current guys.

Other than that, maybe a complete crapper year or two will motivate GW to go out there and actually recruit and sign the real blue chip talent. It'd be nice to be able to keep a prized recruit every once in a while, too (Mr. Jennings).

Just think about all the complaints about having the "athletes" who couldn't play, and how much crap Gary took for it.

I just had a thought, and I'm not going to open a new thread for it, though it probably could get one.

It does take a couple years to get experienced players; that goes without saying, really.

How much of what we are seeing is simple lack of athleticism, and how much is lack of experience?

In two years, are we going to see a veteran-heavy team that can go deep in the tournament on skill over athletics? The two Final-Four teams were veteran-heavy, with only Wilcox as the real young-guy of the group (and also the best athlete).

Could Gary be trying to rebuild THAT?

[Sports Guy]

Just think about all the complaints about having the "athletes" who couldn't play, and how much crap Gary took for it.

I just had a thought, and I'm not going to open a new thread for it, though it probably could get one.

It does take a couple years to get experienced players; that goes without saying, really.

How much of what we are seeing is simple lack of athleticism, and how much is lack of experience?

In two years, are we going to see a veteran-heavy team that can go deep in the tournament on skill over athletics? The two Final-Four teams were veteran-heavy, with only Wilcox as the real young-guy of the group (and also the best athlete).

Could Gary be trying to rebuild THAT?

I find it amusing how Terps fans are now grasping for the "we are young" straws...Yet, last year, when that was one of Duke's obvious problems, many thought they were on their way out of being an elite program.

This is rather humorous.

[Guest BaltiJo]

As an AU grad, I have to say that this is one of the greatest moments in sports history.

[Pedro Cerrano]

As an AU grad, I have to say that this is one of the greatest moments in sports history.

Lol, a regular season victory in December against a below-average basketball team? Congrats!!!

[Dr. FLK]

I think that was one of the worst coached games I have ever watched. Gary has big men who completely dwarf anything on AU's roster. Yet, he never throws the ball into the low post. Gist hardly ever touched the ball. Dupree looked like he was double the size of the guys guarding him, yet he never catches the ball. But hey, why take advantage of an obvious advantage. That wouldn't be fair.

MD's offense tonight looked like 5 47-year-old guys who have never met playing in a pickup game. There was no flow. There was no apparent plan. It was just a typical Gary W. "give the ball to someone, let them dribble around like a chicken with their head cut off, and hope they make a crazy shot." I guess Gary decided to let them start Xmas vacation a few days early, because that game was a joke.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I find it amusing how Terps fans are now grasping for the "we are young" straws...Yet, last year, when that was one of Duke's obvious problems, many thought they were on their way out of being an elite program.

This is rather humorous.

Notice how many people think MARYLAND is now going that way.

But I guess a bunch of blow-hards on a message board (myself included) know more then a national-championship-winning basketball coach, right

[Miller192]

Maryland's recruiting classes have consistently been ranked outside of the top 25 over the last 7 years. In 2003 they were ranked 3rd, that was the Mike Jones class. Last year they were ranked 18th after sigining Vasquez and Hayes. I don't know how you can remain a top program with those kind of rankings. Gary needs to recruit better, pure and simple.

I think he gets the most out of his players and I credit him for that. But when you're recruiting mediocre talent you can expect mediocre play.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Maryland's recruiting classes have consistently been ranked outside of the top 25 over the last 7 years. In 2003 they were ranked 3rd, that was the Mike Jones class. Last year they were ranked 18th after sigining Vasquez and Hayes. I don't know how you can remain a top program with those kind of rankings. Gary needs to recruit better, pure and simple.

I think he gets the most out of his players and I credit him for that. But when you're recruiting mediocre talent you can expect mediocre play.

Except of course when we won with similar talent, right?