Should this be considered a successful season?

[Wish]

Considering their roster, yes.

[ccbird]

I don't like the whole "look at how good we did with nothing" argument too much. Who assembled this team? Is the team really young and building to the future? Did they see the rise of a bunch of freshmen that give us confidence heading into next season? This was pretty much a wasted year. The only real freshmen who developed is Mosely. Milbourne got worse as the season went on. This team wasn't assembled to win now, and it doesn't contain players who are in position to win in the future.

Here's to better recruiting classes....:beerchug1:

Yeah, I have no problem with someone taking the overall picture approach and answering NO to the question. In fact, I'm suprised more didn't take that view. The only reason this season can be considered successful is because of how low the expectations have been lowered in recent years, this year in particular. My concern is there seems to be too much praise and acceptance of an overachieving but still mediocre team.

[rolliefingers]

My concern is there seems to be too much praise and acceptance of an overachieving but still mediocre team.

Exactly. Let's not take our eyes off the real story here, which is that the terps should be a lot better than they are.

[glenn__davis]

Exactly. Let's not take our eyes off the real story here, which is that the terps should be a lot better than they are.

Yeah, I'm very surprised the poll is this one-sided. I understand the arguments for voting "yes", so I knew that the yays would probably have it, but I'm surprised it's that overwhelming. I wonder if the results would change if you asked this question in a month or so.

[Dr. FLK]

Yeah, I'm very surprised the poll is this one-sided. I understand the arguments for voting "yes", so I knew that the yays would probably have it, but I'm surprised it's that overwhelming. I wonder if the results would change if you asked this question in a month or so.

It just shows where this program really is now. The Terps have gone from National Champ to "Florida State" level in less than a decade. They aren't expected to win. They don't have loads of talent. They are good enough to make a decent run. And, if they win 2 games in the ACC tourney, knock off a top team in the reg season, and win 1 tourney game it's a "success" even though they finished below .500 and were on the bubble. I really don't see why we should be pleased with this season.

[Orioles West]

20 wins, two ACC tournament wins and a a round one victory at the show is a successful season by any NCAA measure. Every AD in the country would take that every chance they get.

Maryland was built up from not much to a solid, respectable program in the toughest conference in the country.

I'd love a national championship run every year, but it isn't realistic, even for programs like UNC, Duke, Kansas and Kentucky. All of them have had tough seasons along the way.

-Don

[Dr. FLK]

20 wins, two ACC tournament wins and a a round one victory at the show is a successful season by any NCAA measure. Every AD in the country would take that every chance they get.

Maryland was built up from not much to a solid, respectable program in the toughest conference in the country.

I'd love a national championship run every year, but it isn't realistic, even for programs like UNC, Duke, Kansas and Kentucky. All of them have had tough seasons along the way.

-Don

How many had 5-7 in a row?

[Mackus]

It just shows where this program really is now. The Terps have gone from National Champ to "Florida State" level in less than a decade. They aren't expected to win. They don't have loads of talent. They are good enough to make a decent run. And, if they win 2 games in the ACC tourney, knock off a top team in the reg season, and win 1 tourney game it's a "success" even though they finished below .500 and were on the bubble. I really don't see why we should be pleased with this season.

You're getting confused here.

The question asked was "Is this season a success?" to which the answer is undoubtedly 'yes'.

The question you think is being asked is "Is this the most we should expect any given season?" to which the answer is undoubtedly 'no'.

[Mackus]

How many had 5-7 in a row?

When has Maryland had 5-7 tough seasons in a row?

Certainly not since Gary Williams has been here.

Even the last 5 years, which have been the worst 5 years under Williams, we've had 2 NCAA tournament appearances both of which times we won our 1st round game. If you expand it to your 7 year timeframe add in another 2 NCAA appearances, 3 more NCAA wins, and an ACC Tournament championship.

There are probably only 30 or 40 programs that wouldn't trade their last 5 years for our last 5 years, and probably half of that number who wouldn't trade their last 7 years for our last seven years. And this is the worst stretch that Gary has ever had since coming here.

Do I want Maryland to have better results than they've had the last 5 years? Absolutely. Do I think there is anyone in the country who would do a better job of getting us back where we should be and keeping us there than Gary Williams? Absolutely not.

[Dr. FLK]

You're getting confused here.

The question asked was "Is this season a success?" to which the answer is undoubtedly 'yes'.

The question you think is being asked is "Is this the most we should expect any given season?" to which the answer is undoubtedly 'no'.

How is undoubtedly a success? They assembled a bad team and it finished slightly better than we thought? That's a success?

[Mackus]

How is undoubtedly a success? They assembled a bad team and it finished slightly better than we thought? That's a success?

They beat three top-10 teams, made the NCAA tournament and won a game there.

And when judging single seasons, you should compare the results to the expectations.

There is no possible way any rational person could view this season as anything other than a success. If you are claiming it isn't you are either clueless (which you've proven you aren't) or just being argumentative (which you've got a knack for being).

You are letting your frustrations with the last few seasons and the poor recruiting blind your analysis of what the players on this year's squad accomplished.

[Lucky Jim]

I think FLK is pretty frequently over-the-top in his criticism of the program. That said, I just don't understand Mackus's "Gary destroyed our expectations and then exceeded them in their lowered state = success" argument.

I can't call a team that was as overwhelmed and overmatched as the Terps were for much of the year a "success."

Which doesn't mean I didn't yell and cheer and scream and love the team. I did. But 21-13, 7-9 and a second round "out" in the tournament isn't a success to me.

[PaulBako]

If you look at this team, and see how undersized it was and how this team was projected to be last in the ACC, then yes, this season is a success.

But this should not be happening every year. Maryland is a big program and they need more talented players like Vasquez on the team. Considering the location of the school, we should be getting much better players from PG county and Baltimore. Please no more Parrish Browns or Dupree's. Williams and Padgett are a good start, but look at the 2010 recruiting class for Maryland. Probably the worst in the ACC. The Terps should not be having more seasons like these anymore.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I think FLK is pretty frequently over-the-top in his criticism of the program. That said, I just don't understand Mackus's "Gary destroyed our expectations and then exceeded them in their lowered state = success" argument.

I can't call a team that was as overwhelmed and overmatched as the Terps were for much of the year a "success."

Which doesn't mean I didn't yell and cheer and scream and love the team. I did. But 21-13, 7-9 and a second round "out" in the tournament isn't a success to me.

Where did you think this team was going to finish the year back on November 1? How about January 1?

[Lucky Jim]

If you look at this team, and see how undersized it was and how this team was projected to be last in the ACC, then yes, this season is a success.

But this should not be happening every year. Maryland is a big program and they need more talented players like Vasquez on the team. Considering the location of the school, we should be getting much better players from PG county and Baltimore. Please no more Parrish Browns or Dupree's. Williams and Padgett are a good start, but look at the 2010 recruiting class for Maryland. Probably the worst in the ACC. The Terps should not be having more seasons like these anymore.

Where did you think this team was going to finish the year back on November 1? How about January 1?

So, you're asking is it a success relative to itself? I'm not sure why or how that's important. I doubt a politician concludes his campaign was a success because he closed from 10 points down to 6 points down by Election Day.

Similarly, for instance, our game against Memphis wasn't a "success" because we lost by 19 after being down much bigger than that - avoiding losing by 40 isn't a success.

The deficiencies on this team are very apparent. And, while GW isn't to blame for every little thing gone wrong, he bears the ultimate responsibility for severe roster shortcomings.

I went from thinking that Gary should probably resign to being proud of the coaching job he's done.

I really enjoyed parts of this season. Doesn't make it a "success."