March 22, 2004
Maryland's season
Back on Jan. 3, I watched the Terrapins play in Comcast Center against little Mount St. Mary's zone defense. There might was well have been an acrylic shield walling off everything within the three-point arc. Whereas the Terps of yore would have piled up a 50-point victory, these "baby Terps" showed no ability to penetrate, even against a minor, non-ACC foe. They won by 33, but even so, they struggled to find half-court points.
Did Syracuse's coach Jim Boeheim see this weakness on video? No doubt, for it remained a problem throughout the season against more widely watched contests. On Saturday vs. Syracuse, this technical deficiency, along with blown foul shots, finally did Maryland in.
Players were further hampered by erratic foul calls, especially the outrageous one called against John Gilchrist when he was pinned by the neck by a huge Syracuse player. Jamar Smith wore a look of disgust after the whistles for just touching his opponents' shirt.
Gary Williams got a wee bit outcoached by his off-season golf buddy. Maryland's coach needed to have players drive the lane, not pass into it (which lead to whole series of interceptions). Williams did have the Terps deny Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara, but that left a lot of slack for Hakim Warrick to exploit. Coaches need to see three steps ahead of a rival, not one.
Nonetheless, the Terrapins played with colossal heart and nearly came back to tie the game. The contrast between the never-say-die Maryland players and North Carolina, which in its game later on Saturday seemed to punk out on coach Roy Williams despite his begging for some effort on defense, was obvious.
Every player on Maryland needs to spend the spring and the summer working on his perimeter and mid-range shots. And Gary Williams needs to scout the junior colleges to find someone who can either run with Gilchrist into the lane or provide some Lonnie Baxter-style heft under the basket.
Meanwhile, Ekene Ibekwe showed flashes of future talent. Nik Caner-Medley, however, has got to find the toughest summer league going if he is going to survive the ACC. Still, next year's team should be something to watch. As the Washington Post quotes Gary Williams:
"We have a history of working in the offseason in this program," Williams said. "That's when our best teams have really gotten better."Next season will be different, for the Terps will be more of a known commodity. The expectations will be right back where they have been for the last 10 years, to win games in the ACC and easily earn a berth the NCAA tournament.
