Down with the Blue Devils! Congratulations Seniors!

What a fantastic team effort last night in College Park and it was the signature win that the Terps just didn’t have so far this season. I’m so thrilled for the three seniors and Gary, in particular. What a way to finish your career at Maryland, and GV, as he has done for 4 years now, stepped up and wanted the ball at the most critical times of the game. The last shot he made was a thing of beauty, one that you say “No Greivis,” and then as the ball rattled around and dropped in “YES Greivis!” It was so much fun to watch with Shelby, especially after several very stressful days in trial for her. She even had her Terps shirt on which clearly the difference!

I couldn’t be more proud of how the Terps kept battling and played hard and tough for 40 minutes. Jordan Williams was incredibly tough despite getting constantly banged around by that stiff Zoubek, and he made several critical foul shots as the game wound down. Overall I think the refs did a pretty good job of letting them play, but there were a couple horrible calls that went against the Terps at critical times but they were able to overcome them all. And just b/c a guy is 7 feet tall, (as Zoubek is or 7’1” whatever he is) it doesn’t mean that you can use your strength and height to grab rebounds standing behind players who have boxed you out. He constantly gets away with murder in the paint, but looking back over the years, Duke consitently has had big guys in the middle who get away with murder. See tape of Shelden Williams four years, and I could rattle off a few more players too, but what’s the point?The screens Zoubek sets on the perimeter are typically moving picks, and I referred to him last night as a rook in chess b/c that’s about as mobile as the guy is. One foul that was called late in the first half on a shot that Singler made was an NBA continuation play and I don’t know how the refs missed it. The replays showed his left foot was on the ground when he was fouled and then he “jumped”, approximately 7 inches off the ground, making the shot and the subsequent FT for the 3 point play. But to me, the most ridiculous foul was the one when Scheyer was shooting a 3 pointer as he kicks out his feet to draw the foul. He does this all the time and gets away with it but I have no idea why. The Terps got some calls too, but they were also playing at home which helps. Despite my complaints about the officiating, the Terps did what they needed to do and persevered. That’s a team that has developed the personality of its coach, and that’s awesome!

To me, the combination of only 11 TO’s and grabbing the same number of rebounds as Duke were the two biggest factors in this game compared to the first meeting. Of course it helped that we shot 50% from the field too. Adrian Bowie made some huge shots and didn’t miss a shot all night, and Mosley played very well again. He only had 3 rebounds which was very surprising to me, but he plays great defense and plays hard ALL the time. Making 17 of 19 FT’s was so huge too, and we made them when we needed to down the stretch. I’m still wondering what’s going on with Milbourne and think he may have an injury or be sick, b/c he only logged 18 minutes and they were uninspired at best. Let’s get it going Landon, we really need you for the next 10 games  Poor James Padgett too, who came in, grabbed a rebound and immediately turned the ball over. He looked lost, which at this point of the season is really disappointing. I expected a lot more from him this year and hope he can provide at least some valuable minutes down the stretch.

Saturday’s game now is for all the marbles, a tie for the ACC regular season title, and while I don’t often root for Carolina, I will be cheering for them against the Blue Devils on Saturday night. It will be senior night in Charlottesville Saturday for the Terps, so they can’t overlook this game and waste this golden opportunity to tie or win the ACC regular season. People will still say Duke is the “Class’ of the ACC, and that’s just the way it is, but we will all know better. Congratulations Terps, Greivis, Eric, Landon and Gary Williams, ACC Coach of the Year!!!!!! We are really going to miss you seniors! Fear the Turtle!!!!