Terps Basketball: Mixed Message

Are they or aren't they? Will they or won't they?

The 2008-2009 men's basketball season has been a wild ride for the University of Maryland. While they looked brilliant in pre-ACC play, they lost to in-state, lower-division, rival Morgan State. That loss made victories against Michigan State and Michigan look so far away. When the regular season began, after winning against Georgia Tech, much more an omen for the misery the Yellow Jackets would face than the prowess of the Terps, Maryland lost five out of their next seven teams leaving them where an invitation to the consolation tournament, the NIT, looked like a long shot. Soon the Terps looked like a challenger, and after beating the North Carolina Tar Heels on February 21st, Gary Williams boys looked like they could write their own ticket to an NCAA tournament berth despite games upcoming against Duke and Wake Forest. They could lose those, but still look strong enough to make the field. The bottom line would appear to dictate at least a 9-7 record in ACC play. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, they lost those two games but also lost an embarassing game to Virginia to conclude the season. Few would have kept them on the bubble after that defeat.

The ACC Tournament beckoned with a slight chance for salvation. Maryland was up to the challenge disposing of NC State once again and then outlasting top 10, Wake Forest. Maryland made it to the semi-finals to face Duke, but clearly had run out of gas never quite strong enough to challenge Duke for the win.

Maryland stands at 20-13 overall. From a bird's eye view, that would look good enough for the big show, but within those numbers is 7-9 in conference play, but 2-1 in the conference tournament.

All said, Maryland could make it. The field is tough and the bubble is huge. Should Maryland fail to make the cut, Maryland fans cannot feel slighted given just how low Maryland's weakest performances took them. Such poor play can make their transient triumphs look smaller when the big picture is viewed on the whole.

Gary Williams will have much to account for in the offseason. The miserable graduation rate, especially given this isn't in any way due to players leaving for the NBA, and horribly uneven play demands answers. Recruiting better players and working on academics must be priorities.

Gary Williams has done so much for his alma-matter taking them from the era that began with Len Bias's tragic lethal cocaine overdose through the Bob Wade years and NCAA sanctions. Gary's loyalty was beyond doubt as he build a team that was a regular in the NCAA Tournament and finally a National Champion in 2001. Since then, Maryland has fallen off tremendously. New talent and new approaches are required or Gary Williams' era at Maryland could be nearing an end if the 2009-2010 season doesn't show a turnaround.