Lance Stephenson to Delay Announcement

Tonight is the McDonald's All-American game, which shows off the best high school talent in the country. One player that will be participating is 6'5 shooting guard Lance Stephenson (read about him here) of Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, NY. Tonight is also the night when Stephenson was supposed to announce which college he will attend next year. He has decided to postpone that, however. Although neither Memphis nor Kentucky seemed to be a likely suitor, ESPN reports that Calipari's uncertain future with the Tigers could play a role. 

Right now, Stephenson has made it known that there are still three schools in the running - national powerhouse Kansas, local St. John's out of the Big East, and the somewhere in between University of Maryland. 

In early February, especially after his visit to campus to watch the Terps take down the Miami Hurricanes at home, Maryland was considered by many to be the favorite to land Stephenson. He was supposed to be the recruit that would "save Gary Williams' job," back when it seemed that Gary Williams' job needed saving. Players have openly talked about him; Greivis Vasquez got press (surprise) when he announced that if Stephenson came to Maryland, then Vasquez would be back for his senior season.

Since then, though, it appears that Kansas has overtaken Maryland as Stephenson's college of choice. As warm of a reception as Stephenson got at Maryland, he got a better one at Kansas. Stephenson has also said that the primary factor in his choice of school was his desire to win a national championship. Undoubtedly, Kansas is closer to that goal then Maryland at this point. St. John's is basically out of the running.

Right now, between message boards all over and small hints from Stephenson himself, I would put the percentages at: Kansas, 75%; Maryland, 20%; St. Johns, 5%. So no, I don't think that when Stephenson announces his choice, Maryland fans will be celebrating. I do stil think there's a shot, though. His mother has gone public and said that her choice for her son was Maryland. He fits into Gary Williams' style of play perfectly. He would be "that guy" at Maryland, whereas he would be just another great player at Kansas. He would be closer to home at Maryland. His high school teammate, James Padgett, has already committed to Maryland and wants Stephenson to join him. 

If Stephenson does become a Terp for next season, it will immediately make Maryland a top 25 team. A potential starting lineup of Greivis Vasquez, Lance Stephenson, Sean Mosley, Landon Milbourne, and Jordan Williams would be fast, strong, and very solid defensively. Stephenson and Vasquez could both average around 20 ppg for the season. It would be Maryland's highest rated recruit of the past ten years, with the possible exception of bust Mike Jones.

That being said, if Kansas is the choice, Maryland fans should not despair. It was a good sign that Maryland even got this far in the recruiting process, and shows that Gary still has pull when he really feels like it. This is not to mention Stephenson's alleged attitude problems, and the fact he is certainly a "one and done" player, and Williams likes recruiting four year players. This would also open up the team to recruit Baltimore product Terrell Vinson, a 6'7 foward who is a St. Frances product, the same high school Sean Mosley attended. Vinson still apparently has around 10 suitors, and Maryland is one of them. Without Stephenson, they will have the roster spot. 

I'll be following it, and you guys will know first thing where Stephenson ends up. If it happens, it will be great for the school. Don't get your hopes up too high, though. 

(Photo Credit: lance-stephenson.com ... yes, he has his own website)

Washington Nationals 2009 Preview: Infield

With all the injuries the Nationals faced in 2008, their infield was a rotating door at all but one position: shortstop. Cristian Guzman had his best year as a National, hitting .316 with 9 home runs and 55 RBIs. He was a model for consistently, hitting .290 or above in every month except for July, in which he hit .250.

Guzman will be the Nationals' 2009 opening day shortstop and should have another solid year. He won't be batting leadoff (Milledge will for the beginning of the season), but will slide to the 2-hole instead. That shouldn't matter much for Guzman, because he hit .311 from there in 2008. He's been a good hitter ever since his laser-eye correction surgery after the 2005 season.

Next to Guzman will be the face of the franchise, Ryan Zimmerman, at third base. Zimmerman was injured for a solid portion of 2008 and only played in 106 games, down from all 162 in 2007. He came on strong at the end and finished with a .283/14/51 line. His defense is still spectacular and should continue to improve, but he needs to work on his discipline and needs to hit for more power. This year, he has support around him, mostly in the form of Adam Dunn, who will give him some protection. Zimmerman should see more pitches to hit but also needs to remember to be patient, because he has a legitimate power threat behind him who can drive him in with one swing. I look for a .285/25/95 kind of season from him, and possibly a gold glove.

At second base, Anderson Hernandez was slated to be the starter before his hamstring injury. It's unsure if he'll be ready for opening day, but regardless, he's the second basemen the team will be counting on for the future. The team traded reliever Luis Ayala for him last season, and Hernandez took full advantage: he hit .333 with 17 RBIs and a 10/8 K/BB ratio in 28 games. He's never had a chance to break the Mets' lineup but now has his chance in Washington. His defense is way above average, and I think he can have a real good year and cement himself as the team's starting second basemen. Behind him is Ronnie Belliard, who had a solid year as a spot starter all over the infield. Belliard's a good bench player because of his power and versatility. If Hernandez cannot go on April 6th, I expect Belliard to start in his place. Willie Harris could also start, so he's a possiblity as well.

First base is the most interesting position on the infield. The oft-injured Nick Johnson will be the opening-day starter, and will be a big boost to the lineup. He has a wonderful batting eye and will draw walks like a fiend. The problem is that he's always injured. I expect him to miss significant time again, which would mean Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham would split time in left field and first base. Neither can match Johnson's defense, especially Dunn. If Johnson can stay healthy, though, they could swing him for a solid prospect at the deadline (if they are out of contention).

Behind the plate will be young Jesus Flores. He was inconsistent last season and got worse as the year went on. He started off fantastic, but struggled and failed to draw many walks to go along with a high strikeout rate. He's still young and has potential, but his ceiling is getting lower and lower with each stretch of batting problems. Luckily his defense is good and pitchers love working with him. I think he'll be pretty good this year, possibly something like .260/15/80. But if he struggles, the Nationals may have to look to prospects Luke Montz and Adrian Nieto as other possible long-term catchers.

On Wednesday I'll go over the bullpen for the Nationals, and on Thursday I'll talk about the rotation. Those two will be the team's weakness. Sunday I will predict a record for the team and division finish. Stay tuned!

Washington Nationals 2009 Preview: Outfield

Well, Opening Day is in just a week away, so I'm going to start with my 2009 Washington Nationals preview. My first post will be on the outfield, which is the most interesting part of the team going into the season.

The Opening Day roster will have the following players who play outfield: Lastings Milledge, Austin Kearns, Elijah Dukes, Adam Dunn, Willie Harris (though he will play more 2nd base) and Josh Willingham.

Left field will have Adam Dunn as its primary starter. Dunn, who signed just before spring training, has hit 40 home runs in 5 consecutive seasons. He will add a big-time home run threat that the lineup has lacked since 2006, when the team had Alfonso Soriano in left. Dunn may strike out a lot and play poor defense, but he is just about a lock for 40 home runs (barring injury) and will draw tons of walks. Seeing him drive balls into the right field seats will be a great sight. There isn't much to say about Dunn; he's been remarkably consistent

Playing center field will be Lastings Milledge, who will also bat leadoff. Milledge had an inconsistent 2008 but hit .299 after the all-star break and hit .336 with 6 home runs in August. He was hurt for part of the year and hit cleanup when the roster was decimated with injuries. He actually hit over .300 at the 4 spot, but luckily the lineup will be much deeper and he won't be hitting there anymore. Now he is at leadoff, which was an interesting decision by manager Manny Acta. Milledge doesn't draw many walks, but has improved his discipline and is a potential 25/25, which is rare at a leadoff spot. Milledge can hit for power but has had a terrible spring. It will be interesting to see how he does to start the season and how long Acta will keep Milledge at leadoff if he struggles.

Right field is by far the most competitive. The favorite is Elijah Dukes, who had a rough start to 2008 but finished strong and could very well end up being a complete, 5-tool player. Hard to imagine the Nationals got him for a pitcher who will most likely never see the majors. I slot Dukes in at RF to start the season, with Austin Kearns getting one start a week. Kearns was terrible in 2008, but you could attribute that to injury; personally, I think he's just a mediocre hitter but a solid defender. Kearns is an expensive fourth outfielder but he will be on the roster unless the team can swing him in a trade (if he plays well, a team could use him in July). Former Marlin Josh Willingham will also be backing up Dukes (and Dunn) and should be solid off the bench. He will get some starts in both left and right and could see some time at first base as well.

Manager Manny Acta has some juggling to do, and a lot will depend on the health of first baseman Nick Johnson. If Nick gets hurt - and history says he will - then Dunn and Willingham will help out at first, giving everyone more playing time. For the first time in a while, the Nationals have actual depth. Willingham could start on a lot of teams. Having him and Kearns off the bench will be a huge boost.

Look for more previews as the week goes by, and eventually I'll give my prediction for the 2009 Nationals season, and also look for some MLB talk on the show, maybe even tomorrow.

Frozen Four

This weekend, the men's division-one college hockey tournament started, and it started with a bang. On Friday, Air Force and Miami (OH) upset Michigan and Denver, who were the fourth and third overall seeds, respectively. University of Minnesota-Deluth scored two goals in the final 39 seconds - the last being with 0.8 seconds remaining - against Princeton and ended up winning in overtime. Minnesota-Deluth will face the Redhawks of Miami tonight at 9pm on ESPNU.

Today, New Hampshire came back from a third period 5-3 deficit and one-upped Minnesota-Deluth by tying the game with .3 seconds left. After the intermission at the end of regulation, UNH scored 45 seconds in to advance to play the winner of #1 overall seed Boston University and Ohio State (currently 3-0 BU in the first period as I type this) on Sunday.

The men's basketball tournament may have the national attention (and deservedly so), but this tournament is just as good, if not better. Sure, only sixteen teams get in (and the 16 are decided by a computer), and there really isn't the prospect of a "Cinderella" team, but the emotion and excitement are, in my opinion, only matched by the NHL playoffs. Many of the games go down to the wire and the games get more physical as the tournament goes on. Playoff/tournament hockey overtimes are unmatched in sports because the game could be decided at any point and when the winning goal is scored, the relief and pure joy is amazing to watch.

Oh, and the Frozen Four (the final four teams) is taking place in Washington, D.C. this year. Tickets are at a premium (sold out at this point), but that doesn't mean you won't be able to watch. Games are on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com. If you have nothing else to watch tomorrow evening (there isn't much on), check out the 2nd round of the tournament. The games should be great - every team has a chance in every game and the games usually go down to the wire.

Update

After a busy week when I didn't get time to do that second part of the Terrapin offseason preview, I decided to hold off on it until March 31 or April 1, when Lance Stephenson makes his decision. That will be one less thing we have to worry about. Until then, good luck Lady Terps and Maryland lacrosse. 

A Costly Mistake

Can you imagine rushing to the hospital to see a dying relative, only to be held up at gunpoint outside the hospital? Well, that happened to Ryan Moats in Dallas today. Officer Robert Powell held up Moats and his wife at gunpoint while Tamishia Moats' mother died.

This story is disturbing on so many levels. I understand that the officer wanted to do his job (Moats ran a red light), but a nurse and security guard confirmed that Moats' mother was dying and the officer still wouldn't let them leave.

Disturbing to say the least. I, for one, hope this cop is fired. He showed no compassion and I hope the Dallas Police show him the same.

Terp Basketball Offseason 1: The Returning Players

I was going to do a 2009-10 season outlook, but I realized there are way too many question marks still out there about the personnel that will be playing next year. So, I decided to do a two-part post about the possible personnel for next season. The first post will be a discussion on those players definitely returning to contribute to the team next year, and the second post will be about the question marks.

DEFINITE PLAYERS ON THE ROSTER NEXT SEASON

1. Landon Milbourne (SR): Milbourne followed a terrible freshman campaign (1.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg) with a so-so sophomore season (8.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg), and just followed that with a good junior season (11.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg). Terp fans can only hope he continues to progress and have a great senior year. Although his level of play diminished in ACC season because he was continually overmatched being a 6'7 power forward, Landon showed great toughness and the rare ability to consistently make a mid-range jumper.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Milbourne is a definite starter next season. It could be at either forward position, but he will be in the starting lineup from the first to the last game, barring injury.

2. Sean Mosley (SO): Mosley was a fan favorite last season because of his incredible grittiness and determination. In only one season, he established himself as the Terps' best defender. Throughout the course of the season, he was matched up man-to-man with team's leading scorers, whether they were a guard or forward. He played much larger than his size (6'4), and often forced jump balls. Offensively, Mosley needs plenty of work. He showed flashes of terrific spin moves and ability to get into the lane, but rarely finished down low. His jump shot always looks good coming out of his hand, but his 37% FG% and 24% FG% (3-PT) need to improve. It would also be good to see his FT% (70.7%) jump up about five percentage points.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Mosley started 16 of 35 games this year, including the last 15 games of the season. His role largely depends upon other personnel, but Mosley will probably (75%) start at either the shooting guard or third guard position next season.

3. Eric Hayes (SR): Hayes is almost as big of a "love him or hate him" type player as Greivis Vasquez was for the team this year, largely because it seemed that if you loved GV, you hated Hayes, and if you hated GV, you loved Hayes. Either way, nobody can argue with the seeming revitalization of Hayes, starting in the ACC tournament. After being one of the key factors in the loss to UVA to end the season (he missed his first six three-point attempts), Hayes singlehandedly led the team to victory against Wake Forest, and kept the team fighting against Duke. To Hayes's credit, after losing his starting job to Sean Mosley following the BC loss, Hayes never complained, and embraced his role as sixth man for the Terps. As the team's second best returning three point shooter and one of three seniors, Hayes will have a big role for the team next year.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: This is going to be one of the more interesting cases next year. Hayes will likely start if Vasquez leaves, but likely will come off the bench if Vasquez does indeed leave, so I'll call it 50%. Either way, he will get his minutes.

4. Adrian Bowie (JR): Bowie was arguably the most inconsistent player on an inconsistent team this season. He saw his points and assists greatly improve from his freshman to sophomore season (3.7ppg and 0.9 apg to 9.0 ppg and 3.0 apg) but also saw his FG% decrease from 58% to 45%. Bowie will almost always be the fastest player on the court when he plays, but teams (Memphis especially) were able to game-plan for him by sagging off him in the half-court and forcing him to take jump shots, which he could not consistently convert. His size often was a liability on defense, as he had to fight extra hard to get through screens on the perimeter, but his speed in the transition game was invaluable.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Bowie started 28 of 35 games as a sophomore, but will likely be squeezed out of a starting spot as a junior because of the team's ability to field a serviceable front-court. Since the Terps will most likely play almost exclusively man-to-man defense next year, Bowie's minutes will largely depend on the opposing team's speed.

5. Cliff Tucker (JR): Tucker returns as the team's best three point shooter, and when he gets in, he is a key part of the team's offense. He didn't see much time during the year, though - a mere 12.2 mpg - because of his lackluster defense and apparent poor practice habits. Coach Williams is known to give minutes to those who do both of those things well, and has hinted that Tucker has disappointed him in both regards. Because of what he gives the team offensively, though, there will be minutes for Tucker if he can step up on the defensive end. As they say, he just needs to pretend he's playing against UNC every game (whom he averaged 20 points against).

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: There is likely going to be minutes for either Bowie or Tucker next year, but not both. Because of that, depending on the game, it is very likely that Bowie and Tucker's minutes will come inversely proportional to one another. I have a hard time imagining many scenarios where both are on the court at the same time next year.

6. Dino Gregory (JR): Gregory was bested only by Dave Neal as the team's biggest surprise this season. At 6'7 with not much weight on him, Gregory was undersized every time he stepped on the court, especially because he was forced to play center for a lot of his minutes. He made up for it defensively, though, because of his supreme leaping ability. He also probably took more charges than anyone else on the team. Offensively, he was not able to get much more than about one put-back on an offensive rebound per game, but he showed flashes of an ability shoot a short jumper. He should get with Keith Booth and focus on acquiring some low post moves this summer.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Dino's going to play next year, and he may play a lot. Ideally, he and the two freshman will play in a three-man rotation at the two big positions, but Gary might be reluctant to constantly fill two positions on the court with three players who have a combined one year playing experience (Gregory only got in 16 games as a freshman). He probably won't start, but he will be one of the first two "bigs" off the bench.

7. Jordan Williams (FR): I have never seen Williams play, so all I can tell you is what I have seen on this page. Instantly, what has to jump out at you is his size: at 6'10, 240, Williams is going to be a big body for the Terps down low. Other than that, we will have to wait and see.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: I see Williams starting next year from day one. Don't get fooled into believing that what Dave Neal did this year (be a serviceable starting center in the ACC at 6'7) can be relied upon to be replicated. Williams is going to be the only player on the Terps with real size, and will be thrown into the fire early and often.

8. James Padgett (FR): Same deal with Williams. I've never seen him in person, so you can know what I know by reading this. At 6'8 with a little weight on him, he has good build for apower forward. I like the comments about him, especially about his toughness. This is the guy that scored 50 in a game this year. I don't care if that means he played against bad competition; I want a guy that can score 50 in a game on my team.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Padgett has about a 25% chance of starting. He will start if either of the following happens: he outplays Williams in practice, or the Terps want to play a traditional lineup, but don't sign Terrell Vinson. If he doesn't get the starting nod, he will be a contributor for the team off the bench.

I'll be posting soon (likely tomorrow) about the players whose roles on the team are uncertain at this point.

(Photo Credits: umterps.com)

Celebrations

Anyone who follows the NHL regularly has heard about this topic extensively for the last two weeks or so. It started with this rant from Canadian hockey analyst Don Cherry. The sparknotes version:

• Ovechkin's classic celebration (kissing glove, jumping into teammates/glass) is soccer-like and completely over-the-top.
• What Ovechkin does is not what we should be teaching young hockey players.
• Cherry cites some examples of Ovechkin's celebrations, most of which came from big goals: hat tricks, overtime winners, etc.
• Cherry wants players to act like classic Canadians, not Europeans like Ovechkin.
• Cherry predicts that someone will send Ovechkin into a million pieces.
• Cherry compares Ovechkin to Sean Avery, which basically means Ovechkin is classless.

Well, Cherry is known for being anti-European on his show, and in the past he's favored Canadians over Europeans time and time again. So this is certainly not a surprise move by Cherry. But my rebuttal, which is the rebuttal of every Caps fan out there: Ovechkin's celebrations are spontaneous, full of emotion, excitement, and passion, three qualities every young hockey player should have. Ovechkin exemplifies love of the game. He's not trying to draw attention to himself or anything, he's just having fun and showing his excitement in playing the game he loves. I, personally, love the jumping into the glass, because it involves the fans. I find it interesting that Canadian players have done just what Ovechkin does (if not more), and Cherry fails to notice it. Sidney Crosby has copied the "jump-into-the-glass," but yet not a word is said.

As if to stick it to Cherry, Ovechkin went out of his way to celebrate his record 50th goal in a celebration that mirrored some of the recent NFL celebrations. You can see it here. As you can see from the video, Ovechkin joined elite company with the goal: only Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky have accomplished what he just did.

Tampa Bay players and head coach Rick Tocchet told the media after the game that they felt disrespected and will be looking to get Ovechkin next game (as Cherry predicted). Well, they had two periods to try, and couldn't, and won't be able to this Friday. Also, Ovechkin doesn't mean disrespect, he's just having fun, and the celebration wouldn't have happened if Cherry never said anything in the first place.

Still, people can't help but draw conclusions to players like Chad Johnson or Terrell Owens, two NFL players who had many pre-planned celebrations like Ovechkin. The difference between Alex and those two is that Alex did it to be funny, but CJ and TO do it to get attention. Ovechkin's usual celebrations are not even close to anything those two have done, so that gets thrown out the window. Ovechkin will most likely never do a pre-planned celebration again.

I can't understand why so many people are getting upset over celebrations. The NFL has banned the use of the ball in celebrations so that players won't "taunt" other teams so that they don't "feel bad." The NCAA has dolled out 15-yard penalties for something as simple as a ball flip. Luckily, the NHL hasn't gotten that far. I'll be sick if they ban Ovechkin's celebrations. It will be a sad day in sports, indeed. It's getting kind of ridiculous. I can understand the ban on prop-filled celebrations: they can be over-the-top. But there's too much of an emphasis these days on making sure nothing can be offensive or make someone feel bad.

Before you know it, leagues will be penalizing high-fiving or any sort of congratulatory act. God forbid we make the other team feel bad about giving up a touchdown/goal.

A Round of Applause for Gary Williams

Gary Williams' 20th season at Maryland was certainly one to remember. Sure, he didn't win the ACC Championship. Nor did he win the NCAA Tournament. But what he managed to do this past season was nothing short of amazing.

Sure, his team lost games they should have won - most notably against Boston College, Miami, Virginia, and Morgan State - and was left for dead after finishing 7-9 in the ACC regular season. All they had to do was beat Virginia, and they would probably be in the tournament. They lost, and many, including Tony and I, believed the team would not show up for the ACC Tournament after choking away their season in Virginia.

Both Gary and the team proved us wrong, and they beat N.C. State and upset Wake Forest before losing to Duke for the third time this season (though the team looked much better in the last two meetings than in the first). It looked as though the Terps had saved their season. They were seeded 10th in the West Region when the NCAA Tournament brackets were announced and would play 7th-seeded California.

Maryland then went out and beat the Golden Bears before falling to 2-seed Memphis, in a game in which every shot the Tigers took went in, especially from 3-point land. The talent difference was obvious, but you have to applaud the Terps for all they accomplished this year, and I believe Gary deserves most, if not all, of the credit.

He took a team that had 6'7" Dave Neal - who probably wouldn't crack the roster on most of the top teams in the nation - as its starting center to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. He had no front court, one established scorer, a freshman who played great defense but couldn't make a layup to save his life, inconsistent backup guards (Bowie, Tucker, Hayes), and disappointing seasons from big men Braxton Dupree and Jerome Burney. Williams had to rely on Neal, Landon Milbourne (who is generally a small #4), and Dino Gregory to handle other teams' centers and fowards, who almost always were bigger, stronger, and better.

Still, Williams got his team to fight every game. He got them to fight for him while questions about his future at the school circulated. He controlled his explosive superstar as much as he could, and helped him develop into a great all-around guard. Next year's outlook is suddenly much more optimistic for Terps fans than it was 2 weeks ago. Williams already has two top recruits coming in, both of which while contribute to the team's front court as freshmen. Oh, and he could end up getting Lance "Born Ready" Stephenson to commit to Maryland as well (who will announce April 1st). Even if Stephenson doesn't come to Maryland, next year looks promising - though Vasquez's senior year is up in the air at this point.

The more I think about it, the more amazed I am at what the Terps did this year. Tony and I thought they had a chance at the tournament because of a soft non-conference schedule. We knew it was a little optimistic to predict a tournament appearance, but they surpassed that and actually won a game. The only thing I can do is tip my hat to Gary and his staff; he really is one of the best in the country at maximizing talent and getting players to fit his system.

(Photo: Washington Post)

March truly is, well, Madness

I have no problems telling you that I am by no means a hardcore basketball fan. I think the NBA is by far the most boring professional sport to watch and even have a hard time watching a regular college basketball game.

Even if it's Celtics vs. Lakers, I can fall asleep. The constant stoppages, traveling, fouls for getting run over, one-man teams, everything about it bores me and leaves me disinterested. Most college games are more of the same, though top matches can be great for a couple reasons: the emotion, the run-and-gun play that can erupt, the student section, the role players who come up huge, everything. I can really enjoy a good college basketball game.

Luckily for me, the NCAA Tournament combines the best aspects of college basketball (excitement, clutch players, buzzer-beaters, overtimes, emotion, upsets, Cinderella stories) into a couple weeks of action. The first day of play saw a scare for some top teams, such as the Terps' second round oppenent Memphis, but was relatively uneventful in terms of upsets (One could call Maryland's win an upset, but certainly not one on the level of some other games).

The second day was, however, fantastic. Number-one seeded Pittsburgh barely got by East Tennessee State, Cleveland State upset fourth-seeded Wake Forest, Wisconsin beat Florida State in overtime, and Siena's Ronald Moore took Ohio State to double-overtime and then won it himself with 4 seconds remaining.

The Siena game in particular was great. Back-and-forth the whole game, momentum shifts, huge shots, it had everything. And, oh yea, double overtime. Overtime in any sport is exciting. In the NCAA Tournament, it is madness. Every shot is huge and a turnover or foul can be extremely costly. During the Siena-Ohio State game, every fan was standing and I'm sure the players' hearts were pounding about a thousand beats per minute. I can't even tell you what state Siena is, but I was rooting for them to pull it out, and not just because I picked them in my bracket (I always love when a non-BCS school upsets a team like Ohio State, just like most of America does).

Cleveland State's upset of Wake Forest - really, it was a shellacking - was awesome in every sense of the word. A thirteen seed who would not have gotten in if it didn't upset Butler in its conference tournament put a beating on a powerhouse ACC team that at one point was the #1 ranked team in the nation. The game was never even close. The Vikings wanted the game more and, behind their point guard Cedric Jackson, annihilated the Demon Deacons. Usually, I want the underdog to win on a buzzer-beater or something, but yesterday's domination was even better. Wake Forest was shell-shocked. I loved it.

Hopefully we continue to see the teams that are too small and less talented, with no five-star recruits and no all-Americans, play on and make this year's tournament one to remember. Because the more madness that there is, the more I enjoy it.

(Photo credit: Newsday)

Maryland vs. Memphis: You Know the Drill

I was thinking about doing a long, elaborate post on how it is not likely, but that Maryland can beat Memphis in round two. 

But ... you knew that. And you know exactly as I do how it's going to happen. Or how it won't happen. 

I'm here to tell you right now that Maryland's second half against California should be considered nothing less than what it was, and that is a thing of beauty. They were running and gunning, and executing their press to perfection. The Greivis Vasquez (pictured, left) show was in full effect, and Dave Neal was proving all the doubters - once again - that they're all completely wrong. 

And that's how Maryland can beat Memphis tomorrow. 

When Maryland does what it can do, there is not a single team in America that will consistently be able to beat them. Here's a short list of what that is:

1. Get to the line, and when there, make the free throw (the 67% against Cal has to improve). 

2. Greivis Vasquez is a star, and he needs to put up 25+, 6+, and 6+. He can. Wheeling and dealing into the lane, he opens up shots for his teammates as well as anyone in the country. When his three point shot is falling, he is impossible to guard. 

3. Landon Milbourne can't force his game. Landon needs to be happy taking his shot when he gets a good look, which has been rare of late. Because of this, he has had to overcompensate and take contested shots that often end up blocked. When it's there, take the shot. When it's not, get it out of there.

4. Adrian Bowie and Sean Mosley just need to make their lay-ups. That's all they need to do, because their defense is spectacular. 

5. Dave Neal needs to hit the pick-and-pop. It's his greatest asset to the team, and if he can't step outside and drill the open J, Dino Gregory should be in. 

6. Eric Hayes needs to play with confidence. I'm not saying anything about making his shots, because I think there's a direct correlation. Hayes has shown over the past week that he's a different, smarter, more confident player coming off the bench. He's a quiet leader on this team. 

... That's it. Yeah, I just listed six things, but which one of those is unrealistic? None. I'm telling you, because of the way Maryland rebounds as a unit, particularly in their zone, they can hold their own on the backboard. The players just need to mesh together.

So I ended up doing the long post I promised not to. Bottom line: if the players play like they can play, I do not think for one second that Memphis will trounce Maryland. If Hayes plays scared, Vasquez plays out-of-control, and Milbourne plays frustrated, though, it will be a long day. Time will tell. Go Terps. 

(Photo Credit: AP)

The Good and the Bad about the NCAA Tournament (thus far)

What a great start to the NCAA tournament. If you're at all like me, you can barely turn away from the TV. If you're like me, as well, you've already given up rooting for your bracket because 1) your bracket is terrible, and 2) rooting for the upsets is way too much fun. But hey, I don't want to spoil the rest of the post. 

THE GOOD

- ETSU versus Pitt, one of my favorite games that I watched. If you didn't see it, don't be deceived at all by the final, Pitt winning by 10. This one was close for 38 minutes. A few times in the second half, it looked like Pitt was finally going to pull away, but Eastern Tennessee State showed as much heart as anyone in this tournament because they kept coming back. They were shooting with confidence, and crashing the offensive glass with a crazy vigor. Number one seeds are now 100 for 100 in the first round of the NCAAs, but I definitely thought ETSU could pull this one off. 

- Day 2, which made up for a sort-of boring day one. Western Kentucky-Illinois was a great game, but other than that, Thursday lacked the typical drama we come to expect from March Madness. Friday, on the other hand, was just ridiculous. Oklahoma St.-Tennessee, Ohio St.-Siena, Marquette-Utah St., Pitt-ETSU and FSU-Wisconsin were great nail-biters. 

- The fact that anything above a 4-13 is basically a crap shoot. It seems that this has become the trend, and I like it. Every year, there seems to be one upset in the 16 games played by seeds 1-4. A two-seed going down happens about once every six or seven years, but it seems every year now either a three or a four is going to go down. That's definitely the line, though, because the other 16 games are anyone's guess. Three five seeds fell, and Purdue wasn't comfortable with their win. Only one six seed won, but both UCLA and Marquette were taken down to the wire by VCU and Utah St., respectively. Cal, BC, and Clemson all tanked as seventh seeds. BYU and Ohio State both lost as 8 seeds, and Oklahoma State was forced to sweat. It makes filling out your bracket impossible. 

THE BAD

- The ACC, which absolutely embarrassed itself on Friday. It had a strong show Thursday, with Maryland pulling the upset over Cal, and UNC and Duke taking care of their opponents. The only team to fail was Clemson, but hey, they always fail. Then Friday happened. Wake looked like the 13 seed playing when they were positively clobbered by Cleveland State. Tyrese Rice apparently forgot he was good, and USC blew the game open against BC. FSU somehow figured out a way to blow a 12 point lead against a Wisconsin team who actually makes you cringe as you watch their offense. Oh, by the way, all four ACC teams that lost were higher seeds than their opponents, and there were only ten higher seeds to lose in the first round. 

- TV timeouts, which are the most maddening things ever created. Games lose all momentum because of them. There's one every four minutes, plus coaches get a full timeout and three 30-second timeouts per half. Add in the fact that CBS sees one 30-second timeout equal to one 30-second commercial, and games take entirely too long. 

- The fact that every single game is on CBS. Yeah, yeah, I know they're online. And I know nothing will be done about this because obviously CBS was the highest bidder. But come on. With so many close games all at the same time, it's impossible not to miss a crazy ending because you're watching another one. Not only that, but sometimes CBS makes some questionable decisions as to when to switch from game-to-game. As Maryland and Cal were battling back and forth during the second half on Thursday, CBS thought it was necessary to show the end of the Northern Iowa-Purdue game. Fine, fine, even as the most die hard of all Terp fans, I can accept that. However, CBS needs to learn that when a team is up by four points with two seconds remaining in the game, THE GAME IS OVER. It doesn't do anything for my blood pressure either to see that apparently the network thinks my time is better spent watching players shake hands than players on other teams battle it out on the floor. Just saying. 

That was obviously a bit of a stretch, but hey, I like balance in my posts. Here's hoping the endof the weekend is as good as the start of it. 

Maryland vs. Cal

Sorry this is late, loyal readers. I've been back and forth on this whole California game. When the draw came out, at first, I couldn't have been happier. A small team from the Pac-10? Please. Show me the Memphis game film right now. 

Then I did bracket research, and my faith kinda sunk. I didn't know Cal was that good at shooting the three. Like, number one in the nation, 43.4% good. As in, our best three point shooter on our team is Cliff Tucker, who is 40%. And they have a team that averages 3.4% better than that. 

And our three point defense is that bad? Like, 184th in the nation? Trailing, in order, Manhattan, Vermont, Rider and UCF. Uh oh. 

Then, I took comfort, because I realized the obvious solution, and if I realized it, Gary Williams realized in 1/10 of the time that I did and had perfected it by the time it even hit my mind. Maryland's three point defense numbers are completely a result of the team's strategy, not talent. It should not be forgotten why Adrian Bowie (pictured, left) is on this team. I'll give you a hint: it's not for his offense. He's just as bad as Mosley at this whole making-lay ups business, and his shooting numbers (both free throw and three point) are abysmal. But he still starts because he's tough, he's fast, and he's a tenacious defender. Sean Mosley has even less offense, but starts for an NCAA tournament team because he positively refuses to back down to anybody on defense. And don't you forget the jobs defensively that Greivis Vasquez did  last season to Tyrese Rice of Boston College and A.D. Vassallo of Virginia Tech. Landon Milbourne can't do anything against a good power forward and Dave Neal does little more than hold his ground (when he's not foolishly going over the back for a steal), but the team has good defensive guards. 

And that's why the Terps are going to beat California. Offensively, it's going to be simple. Run, run, run, and when you can't run, Vasquez will put the ball on his shoulder and go prancing into the lane and throw up shots you hate him for until they go in. This isn't Wake Forest, Cal doesn't have the athletic shot blockers to keep him out. If they go zone and collapse on him, the only player that may be on the court for the Terps that isn't afraid to step out and knock down the triple is Dino Gregory (who, if you've noticed, actually has developed a decent mid-range game). 

On defense, this team has been the most successful when it has gone to a 3-2 zone, particularly with Mosley (pictured, right) at the top of it. That's because big men in the ACC like Tyler Hansbrough, Kyle Singler, KC Rivers, Gani Lawal, and Al-Farouq Aminu would absolutely eat up our low post players one-on-one. Cal doesn't have any of those guys. Their top scorer? 5'10 Jerome Randle, known for his speed. Stick Bowie on him and let them duke it out all game. Next? 6'5 Christopher Patrick. Christopher Patrick, meet Sean Mosley. Next? 6'6 forward Theo Robertson. 6'6 and likes playing outside? Meet the General, Greivis Vasquez. Stick the team's three best defenders on their three leading scorers and trust that neither Jamal Boykin nor Jordan Wilkes, averaging a combined 14.4 points per game, won't beat you inside.

Cal's best basketball is far behind them, and their three point shooting has come back to earth as well. Maryland knows they can play with any team in the country, and are hot at the right time. There's no reason the Terps shouldn't win this one, but they'll make it interesting for us anyway. 

The prediction? Maryland 76, Cal 71. 

(Photo Credits: umterps.com)

Nationals release Shawn Hill, Sign Joe Beimel

For the past three years, Shawn Hill has teased the Nationals. In 2007, he was fantastic, posting a 3.42 ERA in sixteen starts. Of course, he was injured a large part of the year, much like 2006. It looked like 2008 would be Hill's breakout year, except that he began the year on DL, made 12 starts (with a 5.83 ERA), and then spent the rest of the year on the disabled list.

This spring, the team claimed that they would not count on Hill being in the rotation; he would have to stay healthy and earn his spot. Naturally, after his first start, he said that he felt some tightness in his forearm and missed about a week or two. He returned Monday to pitch a scoreless inning against the Marlins.

Today, the team told him he had been released. The Nationals had had enough of the injuries and cut ties. Now, he will have to try to prove to the rest of baseball that he can stay healthy and pitch.

I have been a big fan of Shawn's for the past couple years. He's got some wicked stuff and is a poor man's Brandon Webb when he is on. He can be downright unhittable. That potential though, seems all but gone, and he cannot stay healthy. His story is similar to that of John Patterson: one fantastic year as a National, followed by injury problems and constant DL trips. The team cut Patterson before last season, and has now had enough of Hill. I wish nothing but the best to Shawn, but it does the team good to not have to worry about a player who may feel soreness after 45 pitches.

Coincided with the news of Hill's release was the announcement that the team had signed left-hander Joe Beimel to a one-year, $2 million contract. Beimel, who had spent the last three seasons with the Dodgers, will be the eighth-inning setup man to closer Joel Hanrahan. Last year, Beimel pitched in 71 games, posting a 2.02 ERA.

Beimel is a veteran lefty who will help stabilize a bullpen that has tons of question marks. Closer Joel Hanrahan is currently playing in the World Baseball Classic, but his job is safe. Saul Rivera will pitch the seventh, but he has also been pitching in the WBC. After that, Mike Hinckley, Garrett Mock, Gustavo Chacin, Steven Shell, Jason Bergmann, and rule-V pick Terrell Young are all competing for jobs. None of those pitchers has been steady so far in spring. Beimel adds a soft-tossing lefty to setup a hard-throwing righty in the 9th.

The Nationals cut ties with a pitcher who had frustrated both the team and fans for three years and signed a proven veteran to help out the biggest weakness - the bullpen. Not too shabby for acting GM Mike Rizzo's first real moves as GM (I'm not counting minor league signings such as Kip Wells or Julian Tavarez).

Spring Training Blog: Monday

Greetings from Fort Lauderdale, Florida!!

We were able to catch the Nats vs. Marlins today in Jupiter on yet another hot, sunny day. The Nationals won 3-1 behind a dominating pitching performance by five different pitchers.

The two pitchers that I was excited to see - Shawn Hill and Jordan Zimmermann - did not disappoint. Hill only pitched one inning, but had 2 strikeouts and looked good. I know he is unreliable when it comes to staying healthy, but man what a boost it would be to have a healthy and productive Shawn Hill.

Jordan Zimmermann was...well, nasty. There's really no other terms to describe him. He was ahead of just about every hitter, had six strikeouts (all of which involved at least one pitch that made the hitter look foolish), and only gave up two hits. He was confident and challenged every hitter. If he isn't in the rotation to start the season, I will be pissed.

Some other notes:

• Anderson Hernandez with another solid day. No mistakes on defense and was 2-3 at the plate. One of his hits was a textbook bunt; it rolled up the first base side and ended up in no-mans land next to first.
• Austin Kearns was great. 1 hit in 2 ABs and 2 walks. He's got great discipline and whatever Rick Eckstein did with his stance has worked so far. He's hitting .357 in spring and is making his case for starting RF - though I don't think he deserves to make it over a guy like Elijah Dukes, who is the future (and someone I hope to see Wednesday). Though the better he plays, the better his trade value is.
• Lastings Milledge is making his case for leadoff hitter. He was 3-4 today with a double, and his only out was on a hard-hit ball that hit the pitcher and bounced right to the second baseman. He could be great at leadoff or at the second slot, behind Guzman.
• It was nice to see the bullpen step up, especially Hinckley and Mock (who earned the save). The Marlins had a lineup with a lot of major league players, and the pitching staff was fantastic (no ER, 12 K, no BB, 3 H). Hinckley gave up the lone run after a throwing error by Willie Harris at 3rd. Hopefully both Hinckley and Mock keep it up, because the team needs some reliable middle relievers.
• Wily Mo Pena is terrible. Swings at everything, no defense...no worth. The team should just cut him and take the hit.

Tomorrow the Nats are off but we have tickets to Caps-Panthers at night. Don't expect any blog posts tomorrow simply because we'll be back late from the Caps game and I probably won't have any pictures. Here is the link to the facebook photo album (flickr is too annoying) that everyone can view.

Bubble? What Bubble?

Editor's Note: I originally wrote that Maryland played California in Anaheim. They actually play in Missouri. 

The brackets are out, and, I won't lie, when CBS announced that Arizona had made it in the field as a number 12 seed, my heart sank a little bit. "They took our spot." Lo and behold, though, only a few minutes later Maryland was announced as a number 10 seed in the West. It's a better seed than any Maryland fan could have ever hoped for. Sure, you can nitpick, and there's room to. Maryland's playing their first round game against California, and then if they win that they get the opportunity to play the best defensive team in the country, Memphis. To look at it like that, though, is wrong. One game at a time. California is a true 7 seed, and will be a good test. 

I'm going to be posting about March Madness this entire week, so I will keep this initial post short.  Gary Williams is, without a doubt, one of the best pure coaches in college basketball. In no way am I retracting any of the anger I felt earlier this year about the team and their lack of talent, because that is still all on him. What is amazing, though, is that Gary took a team that last year went to the NIT and turned them into a tournament team. He did that while losing two senior big men, including one who was third team All-ACC, and replacing them essentially with a freshman who played tough D but couldn't be counted on to make a layup. He somehow turned Dave Neal, the laughingstock of every announcer who ever covered the Terps, into a functional center in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He calmed down the most hyperactive player in the history of college basketball and somehow got him to be one of the leaders in the conference in assist to turnover ratio. This is all not to mention the fact the team really only went eight men deep the entire year, and all the drama surrounding him and his team midseason. 

He needs to recruit better, so this offseason I give myself permission to say whatever I like. In season, though, I'll keep my mouth shut. 

Spring Training Blog: Sunday

Greetings from Jupiter, Florida! I am currently in a Courtyard Marriott after traveling the majority of the day (flight at 8:35, driving 1 hour to Viera, another hour after the game to Jupiter) and am exhausted. I have some pictures from today's Nationals-Tigers game that can be found here.

Here are some of my favorites:








Pete "Warrior" Orr before his bunt single.










Ronnie Belliard after his bare-handed throw to first.




















Steven Shell warms up after relieving Gustavo Chacin.















Huntington Beach's very own Collin Balester delivers a pitch in the second inning.











Some notes from the game:

• Anderson Hernandez should be the opening-day second baseman. He had 2 hits today, both of which were well hit, and played real good defense. Him and Guzman work well on double-play balls and a combination of Hernandez + Johnson (who had some nice snags of his own at first) on the right side of the infield will be real good (until, of course, Johnson gets hurt).
• Collin Balester was a little wild today, despite not giving up any runs. He got hit hard and had a lot of pitches in the dirt (I joked to my dad that they told him to test Valentin's defensive work to see how he could do as Flores' backup). He ended up with 3 walks and 2 hits against, but his pitch count was high; I can't remember him being ahead 0-2...ever. And this is against a lineup of minor-leaguers.
• The offense was...abysmal. I can't expect the offense to be on everyday, but I only recognized one pitcher (Rodney) for the Tigers. Lastings Milledge was particularly bad. He swung at everything. Everything. He had some real ugly swings. About the only player who showed up offensively was the aforementioned Hernandez.
• Steven Shell actually showed up and pitched well. Sure, he let two inherited runners score (after coming in with the bases loaded), but it was on a ground ball to third base that would've at least been one out had Ryan Zimmerman been playing the position. Minor leaguer Jose Castillo is certainly not the talent Zimmerman is. Shell then got ahead of hitters and got mostly ground balls. It was good to see a reliever actually pitch well.
  
• I'm REALLY excited for tomorrow. I get to see my boy Shawn Hill (though he's very close to being cut for his "issues") AND Jordan Zimmermann. I'm stoked. I'll definitely have to watch the game much closer tomorrow to see how Hill and Zimmermann do. Hill is only scheduled for 25 pitches/1 inning, but I hope he can go 2 strong innings and then let Zimmermann go 4-5. Hopefully the offense (depending on who actually travels...it should be a good mix of starters/bench players, because the second round of cuts is tomorrow) shows up to score some runs and make the games more than a three-hour sunburn party.
  
• Pete "Warrior" Orr had a beautiful bunt single. He showed his blazing speed as he beat out what was supposed to be a sacrifice. Unfortunately, the team couldn't convert, as Milledge and Freddie Bynum struck out, and Kory Casto lined out at the wall.
  

That's all for today. I'm sure Tony will have an extended post on Maryland playing California in Kansas City as well as the NCAA Tournament as a whole. I should have more pictures tomorrow night and should be able to post pictures/thoughts every night this week up until I leave Friday.

It Should Be Enough

Maryland lost to Duke today, but only by six. It looked like it could go either way at halftime, and then things got bad. With about seven minutes left, Maryland was down by 12. Then, thanks to some last-minute heroics by Eric Hayes, the deficit decreased by six instead of gaining more. Only playing an eight-man rotation really hurt the Terps, as the Blue Devils ran by them in the second half on their way to controlling the game. It was really apparent with the lack of big men; Dave Neal looked gassed for the majority of the game, and Landon Milbourne didn't produce the way he normally does against Duke. 

Either way, it looks like the Terps will be dancing this coming week, most likely as an 11th seed. In three different projections I've seen, the Terps have drawn Marquette, Xavier and Arizona State. The Terps could take any of those teams. That's for tomorrow now. For now, to recap today:

The Good

- Memphis eased through the Conference-USA tournament, crushing Tulsa 64-39. Book Memphis for a number 1 seed; book Tulsa for the NIT. 

- Tennessee beat Auburn. If Auburn had beaten Tennessee and gotten that on their resume, they would have been hard to ignore even if they lost in their next game. This way, Tennessee can still win the SEC championship game and save an at-large bid, as well. 

- Missouri beat Baylor. Baylor was making everyone sweat, but for once, a Big 12 team took care of business and put the Bears (who were 5-11 in conference in the regular season) down. 

- Temple, who was definitely in bubble consideration, is no longer a factor since they beat Duquesne in the A-10 championship game. It was unfortunate Temple got there in the first place, but good that they held off Duquesne and limited the Atlantic 10 to only three bids. 

- Utah squeaked by San Diego State to win the Mountain West title. San Diego State is squarely on the bubble along with Maryland, so it would have been devastating for them to get the automatic qualifier bid. 

The Bad

- LSU proved just how terrible the SEC is by losing to Mississippi State. How MS ST can even be considered by some to be a bubble team now is beyond me; LSU was literally the first ranked team they had faced the entire season. In any case, MS ST is now in the SEC championship game. If they were to win, it would steal an at-large bid from somebody. 

- USC delivered a huge blow to the Terps' at-large hopes by beating Arizona State in the Pac-10 title game. The Terps are definitely one of those teams in "the last four in/out" right now, so, for example, if they were the second to last team in after losing to Duke, they became the last team in after USC got in. 

The Two Things Left That Could Go Wrong

- Utah State could lose to Nevada tonight. That would put Utah State into the at-large field, and they would definitely be on the bubble. I'm not sure whether they would or would not get a bid, but it would be an extra headache. In any case, it's definitely not as bad as if ...

- Mississippi State beats Tennessee tomorrow. If the Terps don't get in the tournament, that could very well be the game that keeps them out. Tennessee will be in, probably as a seventh seed or so, and there's no chance that Mississippi State's resume stacks up favorably compared to the Terps' if the Bulldogs lose tomorrow. 

So, that's about it for Championship Weekend. I'll be back tomorrow after the selection committee is done breaking hearts tomorrow. 

Day 3: Bring Out Your Missouri Jersey

... and Utah. And Memphis. And LSU. And you could probably buy out a sporting goods store with the amount of teams that, as a bubble fan, you need to win today. A look at all the important games today and why they're important (team to root for in bold):

- 11:35: Tulsa/Memphis: This is the Conference-USA final game. If Memphis wins, in all likelihood they will become either a number one or two seed. If they lose, they're in the tournament no matter what. If Tulsa loses, they will be playing in the NIT. 

- 1:00: Mississippi State/LSU: Mississippi State served their purpose by eliminating fellow bubble team South Carolina yesterday. Now, we don't want them pulling a Georgia and winning the SEC championship and stealing a bid. LSU will be in no matter what, so root for them to be one step closer to securing that automatic bid. 

- 3:15: Tennessee/Auburn: This is just about the exact same scenario as the one above, but replace "South Carolina" with "Florida," "LSU" with "Tennessee," and "Mississippi State" with "Auburn."

- 4:00: Maryland/Duke: The Terps are about 75% in as of this point. If they win, they up that to 100%. Of course, for all other bubble fans, this is highlighted as one of the biggest games of the day so they can root against the Terps.

... Then, there's the 6:00 trifecta. Other than the Memphis game, these are the three most important games of the day for Terp fans, and they may be even more important than the Maryland game itself. All three are the exact same scenario, so I'm just going to lay it out here. Team A (on left) is an intruding team. Prior to their conference tournament, they had no aspirations of playing in the NCAA tournament. Now, though, they've won a few games and are in their conference tournament final. Were they to win, they would steal an at-large spot because team B (bold, on right) will be in the tournament no matter what (with the possible exception of Temple). It sounds like a good story, until you realize that bubble spots are hard to come by nowadays. Anyway ...

- USC/Arizona State

- Baylor/Missouri

- Duquesne/Temple

Those are the three. Be in front of your TV or computer from 6:00 to 8:00 if you're any kind of college basketball fan. 

Also, I didn't list them, but remember to root for Utah at 7:00 and Utah State at 10:00 so they can win their conference tournaments and not drop themselves into the at-large field. 

So go Terps, Owls, Sun Devils, Aggies, Utes, Volunteers, and three different types of Tigers (weird, huh?). Today's going to be a huge day. 

All Signs Point to the Terps Dancing

After tonight's 75-64 win for the Maryland Terrapins over #9 Wake Forest, it looks like under-sized, under-talented, under-recruited, under-coached, under-performing Maryland Terrapins will be headed to the big dance.

The wins puts Maryland at 20-12 overall as the team finally reaches that elusive twentieth win - a mark that I feel the selection committee cannot ignore. 20 wins overall, three of which came against top ten teams? Sounds like an at-large to me.

In Maryland does indeed make it, Gary Williams will have proved to both Maryland fans and the nation that he does NOT need top talent to succeed. He does NOT need to use third-party recruiters and utilize some shady recruiting methods many teams use. He simply needs players who work for him. Tonight, that was especially on display as Sean Mosley not only made a layup for the first time in weeks, but hit crucial shots down the stretch, and Dino Gregory came up with some huge rebounds and buckets early on in the game.

Tony and I figured this team was done after their lost to UVA. "How would they get up for NC State after not showing up against the Cavs?" We said. "Even if they beat the Wolfpack, how can they beat a good Wake Forest team?"

Well, Gary, Greivis, Sean, Eric, everyone just proved us wrong. And I'm loving every second of it.

(Photo credit: ESPN)

10:30 Update: Win, Now Are They In?

What a great win by Maryland. Say what you will about Wake's shooting, and it was poor, but the Terps played some great defense tonight. They played their zone perfectly, confusing Jeff Teague, whose only solution was to try to draw as many fouls as he could. Meanwhile, Maryland attacked early and often, getting to the line over 20 times (compared to the two times the first time Maryland and Wake met). Vasquez continued his stellar play and Neal continued to be, somehow, the second best player on the team. It was great to see Milbourne and Mosley step up to have their first good games in what seems like a month. There's probably about a 75% chance Maryland is in the tournament now, but there will be a 100% chance they will be in if they get another victory tomorrow. 

Unfortunately, Baylor and Temple are doing all they can to take away at-large spots from Maryland and other bubble teams. This will in all likelihood be the last post of the day, so let's recap:

The Good

- (from earlier): Michigan State is making Minnesota sweat on the bubble; UNC eliminated Virginia Tech's at-large hopes; LSU did the same to Kentucky

- South Carolina suffered a crippling defeat at the hands of Mississippi State. The Gamecocks are all but out of at-large consideration now. It is looking more and more like the SEC will be a two-bid league, unless Florida sneaks in. 

- Memphis continues to roll through the Conference-USA tournament, beating Houston by 25. They play in the finals tomorrow. 

- Illinois beat Michigan, another game with huge implications. Michigan is considered by many to be in the NCAA tournament anyway, but when fellow bubble team Maryland has the head-to-head advantage, Michigan can't feel too good. 

The Bad

- Wisconsin couldn't hold off Ohio State in a typically ugly, slow-paced Big 10 game. Ohio State can now consider themselves to be a lock for the NCAA tournament. 

- Xavier choked and got upset by Temple. Not only is Temple definitely in the conversation for an at-large bid, but they have a good chance to automatically qualify, as they play in the A-10 title game tomorrow. Bubble teams everywhere were counting on the Atlantic 10 to be a two-bid league, but Temple is doing it's best to make sure it gets to 3. 

- Baylor wasn't even on my radar, but they play in arguably the most important game of tomorrow for Terp fans (besides the Maryland game itself). If Baylor does in fact win the Big 12 title game, there's another bid lost, and Maryland's chances may drop from about 75 to 50%. 

Still in progress

- BYU needs to beat San Diego State so they can end State's bubble chances and make sure nobody but them or Utah wins the MWC tournament, but they are down three.

- Utah State is down by one point to New Mexico State; if Utah State were to lose, they would be on the bubble, and may take Maryland's place. 

- Duquesne is making bubble teams' fans nauseous. They are up double digits with a little over two minutes left against Dayton. Dayton's going to get in, so the A-10 has become a 3-bid league. If Duquesne can beat Temple tomorrow, it may even get talked up as a 4-bid league. 

- Finally, for a piece of good news: Purdue is stomping on Penn State, which should be enough to kick Penn State out of serious bubble contention. As I write this, I see Purdue actually just beat Penn State. 

- Florida-Auburn is a one point game at the half. If Auburn were to win and then lose their next game, it is a distinct possibility the SEC would only send LSU and Tennessee. 

Later Tonight

- Root for UCLA to squash USC's bubble and Utah to beat Wyoming to get to the MWC title game. 

Check It Out

I normally don't advertise for myself (wait, who am I kidding, yes I do), but, as you can see from the publish date, I've been working on a post about national championship talent for about a week now. Things on here get published by when they get started, so it's buried on the second page beneath all the updates Tyler and I have been doing now that it's tournament time. I just wanted to alert you guys to it and tell you to take a look. It's pretty interesting. 

Here it is. 

3:30 Update: So Far, So Perfect

The early games of the day started off nicely. Here's a look at what's happened to far today that's gone in Maryland's favor. There won't be an update until after the Maryland game tonight. 

They may already be in, but Minnesota's loss to Michigan State is definitely going to make them sweat a bit. With no bad losses, the Gophers have a very positive resume, highlighted by their win against Louisville. Maryland may need to win their next to games to pass Minnesota, but every little bit helps. 

In a wild finish, UNC beat Virginia Tech. VT would have been in if they had gotten the win, but because they didn't, they are likely on the outside. Maryland has an overall better resume than the Hokies at this point. 

Kentucky had only a very outside chance at the tournament, but that was squashed with their loss to LSU. It also guarantees LSU, an SEC lock, will keep going and have a chance to win their tournament. 

Currently, Wisconsin is beating Ohio State, a loss for the Buckeyes that would put them in a precarious position indeed. 

Before the Maryland game, be sure to root for Mississippi State against South Carolina, Memphis against Houston, Illinois against Michigan, and Xavier against Temple. 

A Brand New - And More Important - Day

After Wyoming ended the day on a high note by all but eliminating New Mexico from at-large consideration, Friday begins. And while Thursday eliminated its share of bubble teams (Miami, Rhode Island and Kansas State to name a few), Friday has a chance to put some teams in the tournament, particularly those that play in the Big 10. Rooting interest now almost solely lies in rooting against other bubble teams, although it is as important as ever to root for Memphis to win the Conference USA, Utah State to win the WAC, either BYU or Utah to win the MWC, and Xavier or Dayton to win the A-10. I'll be back at around 3:00 to talk about the huge impacts that the Minnesota-Michigan State, UNC-VT and LSU-Kentucky games will have on the picture. 

Last Update of the Day

Well, the most important game of the day went Maryland's way - I am, of course, referring to Maryland's gutsy comeback performance against NC State. When all looked lost (and for the majority of the first half, all definitely looked lost), Maryland managed to find a way. Kudos to Eric Hayes for singlehandedly preserving Maryland's NCAA hopes. Without him, Greivis just would have gotten frustrated and turning the ball over, and Maryland may never have gotten out of their first half rut. Wake Forest presents matchup problems galore tomorrow, but the Terps have shown that when they take care of the ball and shoot well, they can play with anyone. 

Now, only one more bubble game of the day - Wyoming at New Mexico. A loss by New Mexico would be huge, but is not absolutely necessary: a defeat of Wyoming isn't exactly a big-time win. 

As for the rest of the day ...

The Good

- (from earlier) Louisville popped Providence's bubble; Virginia Tech popped Miami's bubble; BYU is still on track to win the Mountain West; Arizona State ended Arizona; Texas ended Kansas State

- from 5:30: Utah State took care of Fresno State to stay in control for winning the WAC

- from 6:30: Rhode Island's chance for an at-large bid ended with a 4-point loss to Duquesne

- from 7:00: Memphis scared everyone, but ended up beating Tulane by 10 to stay in the Conference USA tournament

- from 9:00: Utah, thanks to a game winning three pointer as time expired, beat TCU to put themselves one step closer to the MWC championship

The Bad (and sadly there was a lot more of it in the later games)

- (from earlier) Xavier keeps going; Minnesota may have locked up a bid against Northwestern; Iowa didn't give Michigan a game; Temple gets a resume-boosting win against St. Joseph's

- from 5:00: Penn State beat Indiana. It won't help the weakest part of Penn State's resume, their RPI, but they have a chance for a huge win tomorrow now

- from 5:30: San Diego State, in contention for an at-large bid from the MWC, rolled past UNLV

- from 7:00: Oklahoma State secured an at-large bid by defeating Oklahoma

- from 9:00: Boston College may have had an at-large big anyway, but they secured it with an easy win over Virginia

Dayton can feel good about their at-large chances as well after their victory over Richmond

- from 9:45: Arkansas could not pull off the upset over bubble team Florida

That's all for today. I'll be back tomorrow for more of the same. 

6:30 Update

The success from earlier in the day carried on to the afternoon - almost. Three of the five relevant games that took place at 2:30 or 3:00 went the Terps' way. Here's the final look at the bubble picture before the Maryland game tonight. 

Arizona State beat Arizona by 10, which could prove huge. Arizona State is well in, but Arizona was about as square on the bubble as a team could possibly be. Even with the loss, the Wildcats will still have a better resume than the Terps with a single win tonight, but if the Terps can take down Wake Forest as well, Maryland should leapfrog them. 

BYU, who is considered to be a lock coming out of the Mountain West, took care of business against Air Force, so no Cinderella there. 

Another huge win was Texas's versus Kansas State. Texas would have had to have been absolutely destroyed for them to even consider themselves on the bubble, so the rooting interest was against Kansas State, who, if they were to win a few Big 12 tournament games, would have a valid case. This loss crippled Kansas State's chances. 

Temple beat St. Joseph's, which went against the Terps, but Temple will likely need more than that to be chosen for an at-large selection. 

Michigan also destroyed Iowa, which doesn't bode well. Michigan could be close to locking up an at-large, but they would need a win tomorrow to make things certain. It bears worth repeating that if things came down to Maryland vs. Michigan, Maryland would have the head-to-head advantage. 

All of this is for naught (for Terps fans at least) if Maryland lays the egg they are expect to lay against NC State tonight. Even if that happens, though, I'll still be here because the bubble will still be in flux. It helps that I've given up faith in the Terps so I'm looking at them like their loss is a given. Be back around 9:30 tonight. 

2:00 Update

The Terps (and bubble teams everywhere, minus those who have played and lost) went 3-1 in the 12:00 games.

 

Virginia Tech gave a death blow to Miami's bubble chances with a solid beat-down. Miami is now 7-10 in conference and has concluded a disappointing season. Virginia Tech, on the other hand, has put themselves in good position if they can get a win against UNC tomorrow. If not, then VT looks eliminated as well. 

Louisville beat Providence badly, all but assuring the Friars of an NIT berth. Louisville looks to capture the Big East title, which would all but assuredly give them a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. 

Xavier took care of St. Louis. Xavier is going to make the NCAA tournament no matter what, so hopefully they will take care of the A-10 tournament and not let any extra bids sneak in. 

The only game that went against the Terps from the early starts was Northwestern-Minnesota, a battle of two teams on the bubble. The day started with Minnesota on the right side, and Northwestern on the wrong side. After the win, Minnesota can now be considered a lock, while Northwestern's very slim chances have disappeared. 

The next update will be before the Maryland game this evening, after the five noteworthy 2:30 and 3:00 games have transpired. If you happen to catch any, Iowa, St. Joseph's, BYU, Arizona State and Texas could all use your cheers. 

Here We Go

It's the beginning of the two best weekends of the year - at least for college basketball fans. And while the Terps don't finish their game for another 10 hours (10 more hours to hope for a miracle), it's time to focus on the bubble. So sit back and do nothing, ladies and gentlemen, because there are a total of 21 games that will start at 12 PM and end at 1:30 AM that will have an impact on the Terps' chances. I'll be constantly updating. 

Offseason brings high turnover in NFL

Every offseason of the NFL means free agency, the draft, coaching changes, and trades. Players change teams more than ever and fans and teams alike do not blink when their best player tests the free-agent market like Albert Haynesworth did this year.

What is interesting, however, is how there seems to be lots of players being moved who were once considered mainstays of teams. Players who spent ten or more years with one team were traded or tested free agency.

Today's news of the Rams releasing Orlando Pace, the #1 overall pick in 1997, is just one example of a player who many figured would spend his whole career with one team. Now, he could go anywhere. I know it will be weird for me, personally, when Brian Dawkins (pictured, left) suits up for the Broncos and Lito Sheppard plays for the Jets. Both were players I figured would never leave Philadelphia and I can't imagine their defense without them.

Marvin Harrison may be catching passes from a quarterback not named Peyton Manning and Torry Holt will not be in St. Louis next year. Strange.

Players are not the only people changing colors. This past offseason saw Tony Dungy and Mike Holmgrem retire and Jon Gruden, Mike Shanahan, and Herman Edwards fired, five coaches who have been around for as long as I've been an NFL fan. It will be odd seeing Jim More Jr. stoll the sidelines in Seattle and someone other than Dungy coaching the Colts.

I'm sure a large part of the reason for the high turnover is the fact that the Falcons, Dolphins, and Ravens had great success with young coaches. The salary cap is obviously another reason but teams like the Ravens and Chargers found ways to keep their long-time faces on the team despite potential salary cap hits.

Still, the 2009-2010 NFL season will be one of new faces all over the league. Players and coaches alike have changed teams and I wonder how guys like Harrison and Holt will do on new teams (Jerry Rice had a tough time as a Raider and Seahawk, and how weird was it seeing him there?) and what kind of impact Pace, Dawkins, Shepperd, etc. will have on their respective teams.

The Big Post

"It's not all about talent." You hear that all the time about sports teams. "You can have all the talent in the world, but that doesn't mean anything." You hear that too. "A great coach is worth more than a few great players." That may ring a bell as well.

Next time somebody tells you any of that, just tell them they're lying, because they are, even if they don't know it yet.

Time for bold so you don't miss this. 19 of the past 20 national champion teams in college basketball have had at least three players go on to play in the NBA, and all 20 have had two. Now, I recognize there's a difference between playing in the NBA and actually being good in the NBA. I get all that. I also get that you have to have some talent to get there in the first place.

Don't believe me? See for yourself. The following is the list of teams and the players for those teams who have gone on to play at least one minute in the NBA. Bear in mind that the Gators of 2005-07 and Jayhawks of 07-08 could still send people to the NBA. 

1989 Michigan Wolverines (4): Loy Vaught, 10 years; Glen Rice, 15 years; Terry Mills, 11 years; Rumeal Robinson, 7 years

1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels (3): Greg Anthony, 11 years; Stacey Augmon, 17 years; Larry Johnson, 10 years

1991 Duke Blue Devils (5): Bobby Hurley, 6 years; Antonio Lang, 6 years; Brian Davis, 1 year; Christian Laettner, 13 years; Grant Hill, 15+ years
1992 Duke Blue Devils (6): Bobby Hurley, 6 years; Antonio Lang, 6 years; Brian Davis, 1 year; Christian Laettner, 13 years; Grant Hill, 15+ years; Cherokee Parks, 10 years

1993 North Carolina Tar Heels (6): Eric Montross, 9 years; Jeff McInnis, 13+ years; Derrick Phelps, 1 year; Rasheed Wallace, 14+ years; Kevin Salvadori, 2 years; Jerry Stackhouse, 14+ years

1994 Arkansas Razorbacks (3): Corliss Williamson, 12 years; Corey Beck, 3 years; Clint McDaniel, 1 year

1995 UCLA Bruins (5): Tyus Edney, 4 years; Toby Bailey, 1 year; Charles O'Bannon, 2 years; George Zidek, 3 years; Ed O'Bannon 3 years

1996 Kentucky Wildcats (9): Tony Delk, 10 years; Antoine Walker, 13 years; Walter McCarty, 10 years; Derek Anderson, 11 years; Ron Mercer, 8 year; Mark Pope, 6 years; Jeff Sheppard, 1 year; Wayne Turner, 1 year; Nazr Mohammed, 10+ years

1997 Arizona Wildcats (4): Mike Bibby, 11+ years; Michael Dickerson, 4 years; A.J. Bramlett, 1 year; Jason Terry, 10+ years

1998 Kentucky Wildcats (5): Scott Padgett, 7 years; Nazr Mohammed, 10+ years; Jeff Sheppard, 1 year, Wayne Turner, 1 year; Jamaal Magloire, 8+ years

1999 Connecticut Huskies (3): Richard Hamilton, 10+ years; Jake Voskuhl, 10+ years; Khalid El-Amin, 1 year

2000 Michigan State Spartans (4): Charlie Bell, 2 years; Mateen Cleaves, 6 years; Morris Peterson, 9+ years; Jason Richardson, 8+ years

2001 Duke Blue Devils (6): Carlos Boozer, 7+ years; Chris Duhon, 5+ years; Jay Williams, 1 year; Dahntay Jones, 6+ years; Shane Battier, 8+ years; Mike Dunleavy, 7+ years

2002 Maryland Terrapins (4): Lonny Baxter, 3 years; Steve Blake, 6+ years; Juan Dixon, 7+ years; Chris Wilcox, 7+ years

2003 Syracuse Orangemen (2): Carmelo Anthony, 6+ years; Hakim Warrick, 4+ years

2004 Connecticut Huskies (6): Hilton Armstrong, 3+ years; Josh Boone, 3+ years; Ben Gordon, 5+ years; Emeka Okafor, 5+ years; Charlie Villanueva, 4+ years; Marcus Williams, 3+ years

2005 North Carolina Tar Heels (6): Raymond Felton, 4+ years; Sean May, 4+ years; Rashad McCants, 4+ years; David Noel, 1 year; Jawad Williams, 1 year; Marvin Williams, 4+ years

2006 Florida Gators (5): Corey Brewer, 2+ years; Taurean Green, 1 year; Al Horford, 2+ years; Joakim Noah, 2+ years; Chris Richard, 1 year

2007 Florida Gators (6): Corey Brewer, 2+ years; Taurean Green, 1 year; Joakim Noah, 2+ years; Marreese Speights, 1+ year; Al Horford, 2+ years; Chris Richard, 1 year

2008 Kansas Jayhawks (4): Darrell Arthur, 1+ year; Mario Chalmers, 1+ year; Darnell Jackson, 1+ year; Brandon Rush, 1+ year

... So why did I just spend the past few days of my life compiling this? A couple of reasons. First, when you make your bracket this coming week, make sure your national champion team has three potential NBA players on it (or two + Carmelo Anthony). Second, I wanted to make a point about Maryland. 

Do you know how many players since the national championship team have played a game in the NBA? One. DJ Strawberry. Maybe Vasquez will get in, maybe he won't. My point is that sure, the 2002 national champion team has been heralded as the team of non-stars. Steve Blake is starting for a playoff team right now, though. Chris Wilcox has been a productive sixth man for his entire career. Juan Dixon has been bounced around from team to team, but always ends up on a team. If Lonny Baxter didn't fire a gun in front of the White House, who knows where he would be. That team had talent.

This team? Well besides Vasquez, who's going to go pro? Milbourne? He may get a few looks but there's no way he's tough enough defensively. Before the season, people were touting Mosley as that guy, and he could develop into a great player still, but first I want to see him make a layup. 

Next year, though ... say Lance Stephenson decides that Maryland is the school for him (he will make his decision on April 15). If he comes, Vasquez has already announced that he will come back. That's two probable NBA players right there. I'm not saying Maryland has a chance to win the national championship because they don't. They could at least give it a fighting shot, though, because, if Stephenson comes, they will have some talent. I think this post has proven above everything that on national championship teams, NBA talent is the common denominator.