M A R Y L A N D - Terps Basketball Thread

[MasonsInquiries]

are you serious? american university? it officially can't get any worse.

[waj0527]

Can it get any worse? Yes and it will. Just wait until ACC play starts. I fully expect blowout losses to Duke (twice), Carolina, Virginia (twice), and Clemson. We'll lose to Miami in Coral Gabels and at Virginia Tech. We're a joke. The state of this program is a joke.

[fanofterps]

time for Gary to retire. He had his day and its time to move on. 1 NCAA the last 4 years and likely 2 in 6 years(if he stays) is not good enough for me or most fans.

Originally Posted by waj0527

Can it get any worse? Yes and it will. Just wait until ACC play starts. I fully expect blowout losses to Duke (twice), Carolina, Virginia (twice), and Clemson. We'll lose to Miami in Coral Gabels and at Virginia Tech. We're a joke. The state of this program is a joke.

[waj0527]

Originally Posted by fanofterps

time for Gary to retire. He had his day and its time to move on. 1 NCAA the last 4 years and likely 2 in 6 years(if he stays) is not good enough for me or most fans.

I agree. Coaches in their 60's with fading programs end to go quietly into the night and that is what will happen with Gary. It ended for Denny Crum at age 64 after 30 years at Louisville with 6 final fours and 2 national titles. He was criticized for not being able to adjust to the 3-point shot.

The reasons for Gary's demise are well documented:

- Failure to adopt to the 3 pt shot and changing college game. Top programs have outstanding guard play and are balanced between 3 point shooting and inside play. Maryland is not. Nor has it been under Gary for the most part.

- Unwillingness to personally involve himself in recruiting. I am personally offended by his lack of effort and arrogance in this area. Coaches in the Baltimore Catholic League see a lot of head coaches when their kids are being recruited, but no Gary. If you want blue chip prospects the head coach has to be involved.

- Recruiting players to be starters in the ACC that would be in support roles in most ACC programs.

- Not adapting his playing style to match his talent.

- Never having his teams prepared to play against the zone. That Butler game last year still irks me the way we tried to force the ball inside all the time.

- Creating an environment that is not appealing to blue chip talent. Gary wouldn't start Steve Francis over Terrell Stokes at the point. WTF?? Forget the loyalty. Play the best players!!!!

The college game has passed Gary Williams by. This happens to lots of coaches in their sixties in major sports all the time. The older you get the energy and focus required to compete with the younger coaches just fades along with the ability to relate to the players. It's a natural thing and I will wait patiently knowing that the end is near and a new exciting era of Maryland basketball will be starting soon. Thanks Gary for the wonderful things you did for Maryland basketball. Time to move on.

[House3780]

American has fallen to some perrenial powerhouse basketball schools this year.... Fairfield, Morgan State, Loyola, Md. and Maryland-Baltimore County.

Good thing none of those schools are on our schedule this year cause I think MD could seriously lose to all of them.

I havent liked Gary for a while now.. There is so much of Brian Billick in the man but the two that get to me the most are..

His teams consistently underachieve. The terps, like the ravens play down to the competition and only bring out the A-game against powerhouse opponents. If only they could treat every team like they were Duke.. If only the Ravens played the Dolphins and every other team this season like they played the Patriots. Motivation is up to the coach.. its up to the coach to bring out the best from his or her players and neither Gary W. or Brian B. can do it each and every game.

Both like to live in the past. I didnt like Gary Williams ever since a couple years ago when his team missed the NCAA tournament and in an interview he said.. people fail to realize we won the championship a few years ago and he went on to mention his now long ago streak of tourney appearances a la Brian Billick bringing up his superbowl victory and spotty playoff appearances.

Both should know for any sporting team it is a what have you done for me lately business. When I hear something like that it makes me believe the coach thinks that he gets a free pass to have mediocre performances for the next decade because of one good year.

He now even goes as far as complaining about his teams not being invited to the NCAA tournament saying his teams deserved to go just because they broke even in the ACC. Little does he realize he has been scheduling cake out of conference games which havent been impressing anyone and lately he can't even win those to artificially pump up his records.

And if his teams have been slighted out of the NCAA tournament why hasnt he won an NIT yet?? Maybe his teams werent motivated to play hard because somehow they believed they deserved better. Well this year they will be WISHING they could get invited to the NIT because they wont even get invited to that this year even if they can somehow pull of a miracle and break even in ACC play.

[MasonsInquiries]

Originally Posted by House3780

American has fallen to some perrenial powerhouse basketball schools this year.... Fairfield, Morgan State, Loyola, Md. and Maryland-Baltimore County.

Good thing none of those schools are on our schedule this year cause I think MD could seriously lose to all of them.

terps played morgan on 12/6/07 and won 89-65. even thought the bears are MUCH better this year, i didn't really expect them to when that game. before maryland begins ACC play, they still have savannah state, delaware, unc-charlotte, and holy cross left. let's hope we don't have anymore out-of-conference surprises.

[fanofterps]

His effort in recruiting is what has bothered me most over the years. He does attend summer/spring AAU events but recruits very little at high school regular season games compared to other head coaches.
It's very rare to see him at more that 2-3 games a year in the high school winter season .

Originally Posted by waj0527

I agree. Coaches in their 60's with fading programs end to go quietly into the night and that is what will happen with Gary. It ended for Denny Crum at age 64 after 30 years at Louisville with 6 final fours and 2 national titles. He was criticized for not being able to adjust to the 3-point shot.

The reasons for Gary's demise are well documented:

- Failure to adopt to the 3 pt shot and changing college game. Top programs have outstanding guard play and are balanced between 3 point shooting and inside play. Maryland is not. Nor has it been under Gary for the most part.

- Unwillingness to personally involve himself in recruiting. I am personally offended by his lack of effort and arrogance in this area. Coaches in the Baltimore Catholic League see a lot of head coaches when their kids are being recruited, but no Gary. If you want blue chip prospects the head coach has to be involved.

- Recruiting players to be starters in the ACC that would be in support roles in most ACC programs.

- Not adapting his playing style to match his talent.

- Never having his teams prepared to play against the zone. That Butler game last year still irks me the way we tried to force the ball inside all the time.

- Creating an environment that is not appealing to blue chip talent. Gary wouldn't start Steve Francis over Terrell Stokes at the point. WTF?? Forget the loyalty. Play the best players!!!!

The college game has passed Gary Williams by. This happens to lots of coaches in their sixties in major sports all the time. The older you get the energy and focus required to compete with the younger coaches just fades along with the ability to relate to the players. It's a natural thing and I will wait patiently knowing that the end is near and a new exciting era of Maryland basketball will be starting soon. Thanks Gary for the wonderful things you did for Maryland basketball. Time to move on.

[waj0527]

Originally Posted by House3780

I havent liked Gary for a while now.. There is so much of Brian Billick in the man but the two that get to me the most are..

I wouldn't go as far as to say I don't like the man personally. Billick from what I hear is an ass on and off the field. Gary, on the other hand, is an affable guy. I've had the opportunity to meet him a few times and he's been a joy to be around esp. after a couple of beers.

The University neewds to handle this situation very, VERY carefully. You can't dismiss the guy who rebuilt your program. Gary gave up a pretty sweet deal at Ohio State to take over a program that was in shambles. Gary consistently built the Terps into a winner, then a national power and, of course, a National Champion. What may be most important is Gary's role as a fund raiser. Gary Williams is the national face of the University. Debbie Yow can't just throw him to the wayside. Advise him to move on, honor him in whatever way is appropriate for a coach with his resume (they can't name the floor yet b/c Comcast paid a few million to do that when the building opened) and create a Ass't AD for Fundraising position for him.

The only problem is Gary is stubborn. He's not going to do this anytime soon unless he's pressed into it. I hope Debbie Yow handles this well.

[cgunna]

Originally Posted by waj0527

I wouldn't go as far as to say I don't like the man personally. Billick from what I hear is an ass on and off the field. Gary, on the other hand, is an affable guy. I've had the opportunity to meet him a few times and he's been a joy to be around esp. after a couple of beers.

The University neewds to handle this situation very, VERY carefully. You can't dismiss the guy who rebuilt your program. Gary gave up a pretty sweet deal at Ohio State to take over a program that was in shambles. Gary consistently built the Terps into a winner, then a national power and, of course, a National Champion. What may be most important is Gary's role as a fund raiser. Gary Williams is the national face of the University. Debbie Yow can't just throw him to the wayside. Advise him to move on, honor him in whatever way is appropriate for a coach with his resume (they can't name the floor yet b/c Comcast paid a few million to do that when the building opened) and create a Ass't AD for Fundraising position for him.

The only problem is Gary is stubborn. He's not going to do this anytime soon unless he's pressed into it. I hope Debbie Yow handles this well.

You most certainly can. Happens all the time. Gary did play a huge part in getting the program to where it is today. However, Paterno or Bowden he ain't. And as far as him being a great guy, many of his players (well ex-players) don't even like him. I am talking on a personal level. I know this for a fact.

If we can no longer compete in the ACC, then why exactly is he still here?

[waj0527]

Originally Posted by cgunna

You most certainly can. Happens all the time. Gary did play a huge part in getting the program to where it is today. However, Paterno or Bowden he ain't. And as far as him being a great guy, many of his players (well ex-players) don't even like him. I am talking on a personal level. I know this for a fact.

If we can no longer compete in the ACC, then why exactly is he still here?

What programs have fired coaches with Gary's resume and no track record of off the court issues? Please name some.

Gary is the face of resource development at the university. You piss him off and you potentially piss of millions and millions of dollars. The Gossetts, the single source of the majority of Maryland private athletic funding, love Gary to death. Debbie Yow wouldn't piss them off by improperly handling Gary.

What players hate him? No, Gary isn't friends with them, but for the most part his guys respect him and what he's done as a coach and for the university. Just because a kid doesn't respond well to Gary and his tactics doesn't mean they hate him.

[StevenW]

So you guys don't think Maryland will turn it around and start getting better this year?

[PeterSmith]

I don't think the season is lost, and there is a glimpse of hope left, but it's not looking good, that's for sure.

The good news is that Maryland plays fairly well against man-to-man defenses. UCLA played mostly man, and we played them fairly well when they were #1. Illinois played man on all but one play, and we beat them. Missouri played man the first half, but switched to zone the second half, and that is when the game really got away. The mid-majors have all played zone, which Maryland has no answer for. The team can't shoot, and there are no dominant big men to pass to down low.

Luckily, most teams in the ACC, perhaps no team in the ACC, plays zone a whole lot. I might be reaching here, but it's our last ray of hope. Gist needs to get it together though.

[waj0527]

Maryland never has an answer to zone. That's Gary's fault.

[StevenW]

Maybe he should buy Dean Smith's 4 corners book?

[House3780]

grrrr

[House3780]

grrrr

[House3780]

:o

[StevenW]

sick and twisted.... and sad.

[waj0527]

Originally Posted by House3780

I forgot another reason Gary sucks... MD has like the worse graduation record.. I believe Gary has graduated no one on time in the past 6 years at least.. and no one within 6 years either.. Cant win on the court, cant win in the classroom.. GO TERPS!

grrrr

This is technically false. Gary graduated 4 players last season (Bowers, Ibekewe, Chikura, and Brown). Transfers (Miller, Andre Collins and the other kid who went to Loyola) and players who leave early for the NBA (Dixon, Baxter, Wilcox, McCray, Strawberry) count against the NCAA 6-year reporting period. Top-programs are a victim of their own success in this regard.

Don't believe the hype.

[StevenW]

That's a relief!