Cameron Tonight!

[rolliefingers]

Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.

[rolliefingers]

And seriously guys, enough with the refs crap. I've seen many games at Cameron where Maryland was getting bent over by the refs, but this was not one of them. MD had some big non-calls go their way, too. There were a few head-scratchers, but at least they went both ways. Reading this thread, it seemed like it was 2001 all over again, and you guys were scared that the Terps were going to lose this game. I wasn't worried for even a second, not even when Scheyer tied it with that 3. Have some faith!

The better team won, bottom line. The key to this team is just complete hustle by every guy on the floor, and every guy who gets on the floor for MD at this point has to have their head in the game 100 percent or Gary's yanking him. Case in point: Osby misses a perfect pass down low for an easy 2, and is apparently sent through the Dr. Evil Fire Pit Chair - he wasn't heard from again, seemed like.

They're just doing everything fundamentally well right now. I'm not going to say the two words that both begin with the letter "F" just yet, though. Let's see how long they can keep this up. But things are really looking up.

[EddieO's21]

B/c the rankings are stupid and don't mean anything. Those guys dont look at stuff like RPI and SOS. The rankings are so dumb, which is why college hoops is so much better than college football. In hoops, they don't matter, in football, tehy mean everything.

Oh but they do...they are used by the tournament committee as a 'blunt instrument' in gauging where the higher seeds should be placed. Obviously this is not the only factor, but it does matter in some way.

[JohnD]

The committee doesn't look at the rankings. NOT. AT. ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They use RPI, strength of schedule, and road wins. But they do not care one teensy weensy millimeter of a whim what a team's ranking is. It's not a blunt instrument. Just look at Gonzaga, repeatedly a few years ago, for evidence. The rankings mean nothing. Wins mean everything. Win and you take care of everything.

[sangell2007]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry I didn't get back to a few of you at the beginning of the thread. I was on press row at the top of the TV screen, equal with the foul line on the right side of the screen. I was wearing a red mock turtleneck, and I had a guy with a sloppily painted blue chest leaning all over me the whole game. Somehow, my shirt survived.

Actually the two guys who were standing right behind me were not that bad overall, although they really didn't know much about basketball in general. One of them asked the other "is that Gary Williams?" when Gary came out. He also seemed a little sketchy on some of the basic rules of basketball...not trying to be funny, he honestly didn't know what a few of the calls were. But they were OK overall, and I talked to them a couple times and they seemed downright civil. Although they did spit everytime they yelled, which was more than a little annoying. And I don't know about those finger wavings either...

Greivis gave the Crazies a death stare when he hit those two 3-pointers near the end of the half. Man was he fun to watch tonight. I talked to him after the game and you could tell that he just loved winning in this atmosphere...it's going to be a fun three more years with him.

Check out the game story on www.umterps.com . We normally don't have postgame notes or quotes for away games, but that was my contribution to legitimize my being in the building.

I have always thought that the cheer sheets are as pathetic as it gets when it comes to being a college basketball fan. And then I saw an actual cheer sheet. And it was much much worse than I could ever have imagined. Here are some examples:

"But don't lose sight of the fact that they have two freshman point guards...actually, you won't be able to miss one of them because he's that loud and obnoxious. Greivis Vasquez claims to love playing on the road, but let him have it anyway. During his first meeting with Gary Williams, he walked in and saluted his coach, use that if you can. Eric Hayes is the other one."

Oooooooh burn. Obnoxious! Saluted the coach! Likes playing in hostile crowds! Let's yell at him!

"They have a player named Mike Jones. Have fun with that."

A few random "Who?" shouts came out, but that was it. Man, deep burn there.

"We don't go after DJ Strawberry's dad: that's not classy, it's been done already and it has nothing to do with him. Come ujp with something better."

They didn't.

But the Cameron atmosphere is something worth experiencing, don't get me wrong. They are loud all the time, even in timeouts, and they stay and yell right to the end. At one point when Duke was mounting their comeback, the guy behind me (with the bad paint and the spittle) yelled "F*** cheers, just yell at 'em!" I was almost proud of him haha.

Anyway, I'm pretty drained now. I'll post more, including several pictures, in the next few days. Another classic ACC game, great win for the Terps!

[section18]

Great Win! Continued great guard play and we won the rebounding battle again. There's no limit on how far the Terps can go in the NCAA tourney. We are all about quickness and running. There are few teams in the country that will be able to match our guards and Osby and Ibekwe are doing enough to keep us in the lead with their rebounding and they are intimidating other teams offenses. We need Hayes to get untracked offensively on Saturday and in the ACC Tournement.

Another great coaching job by Gary and he continues to stay cool when the players make mistakes. No panic! Great job Gary.

Vasquez.....What can you say? He is everywhere and he gets the ball down court so fast. Attack! Attack! Attack! He is not intimidated by anybody or anyplace and it's rubbing off on the other players. Strawberry has really benefitted by Vasquez's fiery temperament and speed. National people say DJ is one of the quickest guards in the country. He seems to be getting three or four breakaway layups every game. Does this team look like they are having fun?

We need to get a few more players off the bench on Saturday because we will need to go with 10 guys during the ACC and the NCAA tourney to avoid the fatigue that bothers every team. Go Terps!!

[YardBirds13]

The committee doesn't look at the rankings. NOT. AT. ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They use RPI, strength of schedule, and road wins. But they do not care one teensy weensy millimeter of a whim what a team's ranking is. It's not a blunt instrument. Just look at Gonzaga, repeatedly a few years ago, for evidence. The rankings mean nothing. Wins mean everything. Win and you take care of everything.

I know both of us have said something about this like 4 different times each in different threads tonight, but seriously. Do people not know what they are talking about or what? The rankings mean nothing. What more do you have to say???

[JohnD]

Apparently one of us must go to Indy, kidnap a selection committee member, tape them saying it doesn't matter, and then post it on youtube.

[mweb]

Tremendous victory, it's too bad we missed some of it due to the Big East game and then the technical problems. Very impressed with Vasquez tonight besides a couple bad to's in the 2nd half. Also gotta love the way DJ and MJ have stepped up lately. Doubt you'll find many MJ bashers around now. I wasn't much of an Osby fan, but he's come up big on the glass lately, although his offensive game is lacking. Ibekwe and Gist blocking shots is such a huge key for MD and isn't talked about enough. It allows the perimeter players to gamble more and starts a lot of fastbreaks due to the extra steals and of course the blocks.

Concerning Duke, I was impressed with Henderson, that guy is going to be a stud, lets just hope for a Corey Maggette type situation.

BTW, this win is that much better due to the absurd cockiness displayed by a certain poster on here.

[square634]

Ibekwe and Gist blocking shots is such a huge key for MD and isn't talked about enough.

That's true, but by going for blocked shots absurdly often, they also get into foul trouble sometimes. When it works, it's great, though, and we do have a lot of depth in guys like Bowers and Neal that can come in and give up fouls.

[Dr. FLK]

I really don't want to hear about McRoberts ever again. Honestly, he's one of teh most overhyped players in NCAA. Does he have great ball skills? Absolutely. Can he dribble? I guess so. But, he just disappears when the game gets physical. He was a complete non-factor. If he leaves after this season, it will be an enormous mistake (for the record, I also think Hansborough will leave this year...also a huge mistake).

Gist continues to be a monster in the middle. He controlled the paint, just like did against UNC. And, the guards controlled the tempo. DJ got easy points - just like against UNC. And, Greivis just continues to be more and more fun to watch. Jones also was tremendous last night, and the guards could blow by the much slower Duke guards AT WILL to get into the paint. MD's guards are rolling just at the right time.

[YardBirds13]

Apparently one of us must go to Indy, kidnap a selection committee member, tape them saying it doesn't matter, and then post it on youtube.

Priceless.

[AgentOrange]

Priceless.

I still think its cool for MD to be ranked, it is very odd and it plays right into the "we don't get enough respect" angle.

That is all.

I think the fact the some people get this upset over people wondering why we aren't ranked is just as bad as well.

[AgentOrange]

Tremendous victory, it's too bad we missed some of it due to the Big East game and then the technical problems. Very impressed with Vasquez tonight besides a couple bad to's in the 2nd half. Also gotta love the way DJ and MJ have stepped up lately. Doubt you'll find many MJ bashers around now. I wasn't much of an Osby fan, but he's come up big on the glass lately, although his offensive game is lacking. Ibekwe and Gist blocking shots is such a huge key for MD and isn't talked about enough. It allows the perimeter players to gamble more and starts a lot of fastbreaks due to the extra steals and of course the blocks.

Concerning Duke, I was impressed with Henderson, that guy is going to be a stud, lets just hope for a Corey Maggette type situation.

BTW, this win is that much better due to the absurd cockiness displayed by a certain poster on here.

He still needs to defend better, but he has really picked it up recently.

[rolliefingers]

He still needs to defend better, but he has really picked it up recently.

I think he played very good defense last night. He's come a long way.

As for his offense, he's been doing that "Dixon Curl" for two games straight now, and it seems like he hasn't missed yet. I just hope that nobody figures out how to guard that any time soon.

I just wish he had figured this out two years ago, because this is what we've been expecting since he came to College Park. I'm pissed that we'll only get a month or so to see it, instead of three years.

But the thing I like about this team is that there are about four different players who can take over a game at any time - Jones, Vasquez, Gist and Strawberry. I like that we don't have to rely on just one guy to step up.