All-Time Maryland Basketball Team

FIRST Team:

G: Juan Dixon (All-Time Leading Scorer, 3 Time All ACC First Team)

G: John Lucas (4th All-Time Leading Scorer, 3 Time All ACC First Team)

F: Len Bias (2nd All-Time Leading Scorer, 2 Time All ACC First Team)

F: Joe Smith (Only AP National Player of the Year, 2 Time All ACC First Team)

C: Tom McMillan (7th All-Time Leading Scorer, 2 Time All ACC First Team)

SECOND Team:

G: Steve Blake (1st All-Time in Assists, All ACC First Team)
G: Walt Williams (2 Alley Oop Reverse Dunks against UNC, All ACC First Team)

F: Albert King (3rd All-Time Leading Scorer, All ACC First & Second Team)

F: Buck Williams (4th All-Time Leading Rebounder, 2 Time Second Team All ACC)

C: Len Elmore (1st All-Time Leading Rebounder, All ACC First & 2 Time Second Team)

BENCH:

- Adrian Branch (4th All-Time Leading Scorer, 2 Time Second Team All ACC)

- Lonnie Baxter (2nd All-Time Leading Rebounder, 6th All-Time Leading Scorer, All ACC First & 2 Time Second Team, Gun Shooter)

COACH:

Lefty Driesell (Ousted in his prime for reasons beyond his control, gets slight nod until Gary hangs banner #2)

ALMOST:

- Steve Francis (would have been second team if he stayed for a second season)

ACC Talent Comparison (Since 1990)

Here are a few stats on the 147 players that played in the ACC during the past 19 years and made it to the NBA. 60% of the talent came from four schools. It is surprising to see that Georgia Tech has only had two fewer NBA players than Duke and UNC.

Team Breakdown:

Duke (24)
- Alaa Abdelnaby (256 gp)
- William Avery (142 gp)
- Shane Battier (558 gp)
- Carlos Boozer (395 gp)
- Elton Brand (314 gp)
- Brian Davis (68 gp)
- Luol Deng (284 gp)
- Chris Duhon (300 gp)
- Mike Dunleavy (481 gp)
- Daniel Ewing (127 gp)
- Grant Hill (705 gp)
- Bobby Hurley (269 gp)
- Dahntay Jones (246 gp)
- Christian Laettner (868 gp)
- Antonio Lang (143 gp)
- Trajan Langdon (114 gp)
- Corey Maggette (568 gp)
- Roshown McLeod (113 gp)
- Josh McRoberts (8 gp)
- Cherokee Parks (472 gp)
- Shavlik Randolph (79 gp)
- J.J. Redick (72 gp)
- Jay Williams (75 gp)
- Shelden Williams (145 gp)

UNC (24)
- Vince Carter (697 gp)
- Pete Chilcutt (584 gp)
- Hubert Davis (685 gp)
- Raymond Felton (237 gp)
- Joseph Forte (25 gp)
- Rick Fox (930 gp)
- Brendan Haywood (524 gp)
- Antawn Jamison (717 gp)
- George Lynch (774 gp)
- Sean May (58 gp)
- Rashad McCants (191 gp)
- Jeff McInnis (576 gp)
- Eric Montross (465 gp)
- Makhtar N'diaye (4 gp)
- David Noel (68 gp)
- Derrick Phelps (3 gp)
- Kevin Salvadori (39 gp)
- Jerry Stackhouse (844 gp)
- Rasheed Wallace (943 gp)
- Matt Wenstrom (11 gp)
- Marvin Williams (223 gp)
- Scott Williams (743 gp)
- Shammond Williams (325 gp
- Brandan Wright (38 gp)

Georgia Tech (22)
- Kenny Anderson (858 gp)
- Drew Barry (60 gp)
- Jon Barry (821 gp)
- Travis Best (721 gp)
- Chris Bosh (362 gp)
- Will Bynum (15 gp)
- Jason Collier (151 gp)
- Javaris Crittenton (50 gp)
- Matt Geiger (552 gp)
- Dion Glover (294 gp)
- Matt Harpring (602 gp)
- Jarrett Jack (240 gp)
- Alvin Jones (23 gp)
- Malcolm Mackey (22 gp)
- Stephon Marbury (823 gp)
- Ivano Newbill (134 gp)
- Brian Oliver (118 gp)
- Luke Schenscher (31 gp)
- Dennis Scott (629 gp)
- Fred Vinson (13 gp)
- Mario West (64 gp)
- Thaddeus Young (74 gp)

Maryland (18)

- Mustaf: 4 years, 179 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 apg, $5M in career earnings
- Massenburg: 15 years, 683 gp, 6 ppg, 4 rpg, $11M in career earnings
- Williams: 13 years, 708 gp, 12 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg, $35M in career earnings
- Lewis: 1 year, 3 gp, 1 ppg, 1 rpg, $200K in career earnings
- Burns: 1 year, 23 gp, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, $1.6M in career earnings
- Smith: 13+ years, 893 gp, 12 ppg, 7 rpg, 1 apg, $54M in career earnings
- Booth: 2 years, 45 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.1M in career earnings
- Jasikevicious: 2 years, 138 gp, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 3 apg, $8M in career earnings
- Francis: 9+ years, 576 gp, 18 ppg, 6 rpg, 6 apg, $80M in career earnings
- Profit: 4 years, 135 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.9M in career earnings
- Ekezie: 4 years, 143 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 0 apg, $3.0M in career earnings
- Morris: 3 years, 139 gp, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 apg, $1.8M in career earnings
- Dixon: 6+ years, 386 gp, 9 ppg, 2 rpg, 2 apg, $11.1M in career earnings
- Baxter: 4 years, 162 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 0 apg, $3.3M in career earnings
- Wilcox: 6+ years, 386 gp, 10 ppg, 6 rpg, 1 apg, $22M in career earnings
- Blake: 5+ years, 350 gp, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 4 apg, $7.6M in career earnings
- McCray: 1 year, 5 gp, 0 ppg, 0 rpg, 0 apg, $161K in career earnings
- Strawberry: 1+ year, 33 gp, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, 1 apg, $427K in career earnings

Florida State (12)
- Sam Cassell (993 gp)
- James Collins (23 gp)
- Tony Dawson (6 gp)
- Doug Edwards (85 gp)
- Randell Jackson (28 gp)
- Alexander Johnson (102 gp)
- Tharon Mayes (24 gp)
- Bob Sura (657 gp)
- Irving Thomas (26 gp)
- Al Thornton (79 gp)
- Von Wafer (46 gp)
- Charlie Ward (630 gp)

NC State (10)
- Chris Corchiani (112 gp)
- Todd Fuller (225 gp)
- Anthony Grundy (12 gp)
- Tom Gugliotta (763 gp)
- Julius Hodge (23 gp)
- Brian Howard (95 gp)
- Rodney Monroe (38 gp)
- Josh Powell (138 gp)
- Cedric Simmons (57 gp)
- Kevin Thompson (14 gp)

Wake Forest (9)
- Randolph Childress (51 gp)
- Tim Duncan (824 gp)
- Josh Howard (348 gp)
- Chris King (103 gp)
- Rusty LaRue (98 gp)
- Chris Paul (222 gp)
- Rodney Rogers (866 gp)
- Darius Songaila (333 gp)
- Anthony Tucker (62 gp)

Clemson (9)
- Greg Buckner (507 gp)
- Elden Campbell (1,044 gp)
- Dale Davis (1,094 gp)
- Sharrod Ford (3 gp)
- Devin Gray (27 gp)
- Harold Jamison (37 gp)
- Will Solomon (62 gp)
- Chris Whitney (579 gp)
- Sharone Wright (203 gp)

Virginia (6)
- Cory Alexander (307 gp)
- Junior Burrough (61 gp)
- John Crotty (477 gp)
- Roger Mason (185 gp)
- Jamal Robinson (6 gp)
- Bryant Stith (586 gp)

Boston College (6)
- Troy Bell (6 gp)
- Bill Curley (147 gp)
- Jared Dudley (73 gp)
- Howard Eisley (786 gp)
- Craig Smith (159 gp)
- Sean Williams (73 gp)

Miami (5)
- Guillermo Diaz (6 gp)
- Robert Hite (12 gp)
- Tim James (43 gp)
- James Jones (290 gp)
- John Salmons (441 gp)

Virginia Tech (2)
- Jimmy Carruth (4 gp)
- Bimbo Coles (852 gp)

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of April, 2008.

2008 MD Basketball Haikus

Hayes:
Not a good dribbler
Can't get open for a shot
Can play much better

Gist:
Highlight reel slam dunks
Loves the fade away jumper
Headed for Europe

Vasquez:
Maryland's best player
Excels in taking bad threes
Lots of turnovers

Osby:
Good two year career
Extremely raw on offense
Get passport photo

Milbourne:
Nice FSU Dunk
Teammates ignore him often
Next year's most improved

Gary Williams:
Underachievement
Looks like Hopper in Hoosiers
Time to make changes

GW Countdown #1 and #2

This year's team was the fifth-worst in GW's nineteen years in College Park. Here are a couple perspectives on the state of MD basketball (glass half-full / glass half-empty):

1. Overall (glass half-full): The median season over the past nineteen years was last year's team that advanced to the second round of the tournament and finished #23 in the nation. There were nine teams that were better than last year and nine teams that were worse.

2. Six years since the title (glass half-empty): 2003 (#17), 2004 (#24), 2005 (Unranked), 2006 (Unranked), 2007 (#23), and 2008 (Unranked). This is not exactly capitalizing on success. The recruiting rankings were significantly higher than performance. The 2003 class (Caner-Medley, Gilchrist, McCray, and Garrison) was ranked #2 in the nation. The 2007 class (Vasquez, Hayes, Milbourne, Burney, Osby) was ranked #22.

Chalk 2008 up as another year in a continuing trend whereby MD had talented players individually that collectively didn't play well together as a team. The fact that MD has had only two players selected in the NBA draft over the past five years (Blake and Strawberry; both second-rounders) doesn't help recruiting.

The glass is half-empty. This is clearly a program in decline.

=====

#1:

2002:
Final USA Today Ranking: 1
Record: 32 - 4
ACC: 15 - 1 (first)
ACC First Round: Beat FSU by 26
ACC Second Round: Lost to NC State by 4
NCAA Seed: 1
NCAA Round 1: Beat Siena by 15
NCAA Round 2: Beat Wisconsin by 28
NCAA Round 3: Beat Kentucky by 10
NCAA Round 4: Beat UConn by 8
NCAA Round 5: Beat Kansas by 9
NCAA Final: Beat Indiana by 12
NCAA Champion: Maryland
- Dixon (Sr): 20 - 5 - 3 - ACC1 - ACCPOY -- NBA (6+ years, 371 gp, 9 ppg, 2 rpg, 2 apg, $8.6M in career earnings)
- Baxter (Sr): 15 - 8 - 1 - ACC2 -- NBA (4 years, 162 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 0 apg, $3.3M in career earnings)
- Wilcox (So): 12 - 7 - 1 - ACC3 -- NBA (6+ years, 374 gp, 9 ppg, 5 rpg, 1 apg, $15M in career earnings)
- Mouton (Sr): 11 - 5 - 2
- Blake (Jr): 8 - 4 - 8 - ACC3 -- NBA (5+ years, 325 gp, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 4 apg, $3.3M in career earnings)
- Nicholas (Jr): 7 - 2 - 2
- Holden (Jr): 6 - 3 - 1

#2:

2001:
Final USA Today Ranking: 4
Record: 25 - 11
ACC: 10 - 6 (third)
ACC First Round: Beat Wake by 18
ACC Second Round: Lost to Duke by 2
ACC Final: Lost to Duke by 13
NCAA Seed: 3
NCAA Round 1: Beat George Mason by 3
NCAA Round 2: Beat Georgia State by 19
NCAA Round 3: Beat Georgetown by 10
NCAA Round 4: Beat Stanford by 14
NCAA Round 5: Lost to Duke by 11
NCAA Champion: Duke
- Dixon (Jr): 18 - 4 - 3 - ACC1 -- NBA (6+ years, 371 gp, 9 ppg, 2 rpg, 2 apg, $8.6M in career earnings)
- Baxter (Jr): 16 - 8 - 1 - ACC2 -- NBA (4 years, 162 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 0 apg, $3.3M in career earnings)
- Morris (Sr): 12 - 8 - 2 - ACC3 -- NBA (3 years, 139 gp, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 apg, $1.8M in career earnings)
- Mouton (Jr): 10 - 4 - 1
- Blake (So): 7 - 3 - 7 -- NBA (5+ years, 325 gp, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 4 apg, $3.3M in career earnings)
- Nicholas (So): 7 - 2 - 3
- Miller (Jr): 5 - 3 - 2
- Wilcox (Fr): 4 - 2 - 1 -- NBA (6+ years, 374 gp, 9 ppg, 5 rpg, 1 apg, $15M in career earnings)

#1. 2002: 32 - 4 (#1 in Nation; #1 Seed - NCAA Champions)
#2. 2001: 25 - 11 (#4 in Nation; #3 Seed - Lost to Duke in NCAA Final Four)
#3. 1999: 28 - 6 (#8 in Nation; #2 Seed - Lost to St. Johns in NCAA Third Round)
#4. 1995: 26 - 8 (#11 in Nation; #3 Seed - Lost to UCONN in NCAA Third Round)
#5. 1994: 18 - 12 (#11 in Nation; #10 Seed - Lost to Michigan in NCAA Third Round)
#6. 2003: 21 - 10 (#17 in Nation; #6 Seed - Lost to Michigan State in NCAA Third Round)
#7. 1998: 21 - 11 (#22 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Arizona in NCAA Third Round)
#8. 2000: 25 - 10 (#25 in Nation; #3 Seed - Lost to UCLA in NCAA Second Round)
#9. 2004: 20 - 12 (#24 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Syracuse in NCAA Second Round)
#10. 2007: 25 - 9 (#23 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Butler in NCAA Second Round)
#11. 1997: 21 - 11 (#32 in Nation; #5 Seed - Lost to College of Charleston in NCAA First Round)
#12. 1996: 17 - 13 (#47 in Nation; #7 Seed - Lost to Santa Clara in NCAA First Round)
#13: 2005: 19 - 13 (Lost to South Carolina in NIT Semi-Finals)
#14. 1990: 19 - 14 (Lost at PSU in NIT Second Round)
#15. 2006: 19 - 13 (Lost to Manhattan in NIT First Round)
#16. 1991: 16 - 12 (Banned from NCAA Tournament)
#17. 1992: 14 - 15 (Banned from NCAA Tournament)
#18. 1993: 12 - 16 (Did not make NIT or NCAA Tournament)


Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

MD - Minnesota Notes

Nice win. Minnesota's leading scorer (McKenzie) only played three minutes due to an injury.

Here are a few random comments about tonight's game:

- At the 6:33 mark in the second half, Minnesota used 1:18 off the clock with a SIX offensive rebound possession and capped it off with a tip-in. This may be the longest a team has gone without crossing half-court so far this season. It seemed like an eternity because Minnesota kicked it back out to re-start the offense on four of those rebounds. Somehow, MD didn't cave like they had the past four weeks of the season and managed to pick up the win.

- It boggles my mind why teams don't press MD more often. MD's press break is a freakin' circus because neither Vasquez nor Hayes can dribble.

- MD only shot 40% from the floor; Minnesota shot 31%.

- Gary Williams' rotation inconsistency never ceases to amaze me. Tonight, out of nowhere, he decides to dust off DuPree and give him 14 minutes of PT (that is double the collective total he played in over the prior seven games). DuPree delivered (6 pts, 5 boards, and an overall solid active performance on the offensive boards). Neal played 38 minutes over those seven games.

- Burney: He only played two minutes (one less than Neal; I guess that it is a GW requirement). Burney had a very nice finish on a break; not sure why he didn't see more PT.

- Comedy: Vasquez was pressured in the backcourt before using his dribble and proceeded to dribble straight out of bounds (oblivious to the out-of-bounds line). ESPN zoomed in on GW screaming "Why?", "Why?", "Why?" (Nancy Kerrigan-esque). . . it may not seem funny, but, if you watched it, it was hilarious.

- Jimmy Dykes: This guy is always good for at least one comment during the game that makes you wonder why he is still pulling paychecks from ESPN. Tonight's first comment was his take on how Williams Arena is one of the best venues in college basketball because there are some seats that have obstructed views completely blocked by pillars.

- Later, Dykes said that Williams Arena is a unique setting with the court three feet above the ground. I think it would have been better stated as an "ACL waiting to happen" setting.

- Finally, he said that Ryan Anderson may be the top NBA prospect coming out of the PAC 10. I am thinking that he should have prefaced that statement with, "Other than Lopez, Mayo, Bayless, Love, and Westbrook. . ."

GW Countdown #3 and #4

Listed below are the third and fourth best teams in the GW era. It is interesting to note that the 1999 team had six future NBA players. GW has had a total of 17 NBA players in his 19 years at MD (18 if you count Vasquez).

$50,000,000.

This is the amount of money that Joe Smith lost by turning down a seven year, $80M contract with the Warriors in 1998. He earned a total of $30M in the following seven years. I am guessing that Walt Williams thought it was a bad idea to turn down that contract.

#3:

1999:
Final USA Today Ranking: 8
Record: 28 - 6
ACC: 13 - 3 (second)
ACC First Round: Beat FSU by 24
ACC Second Round: Lost to UNC by 7
NCAA Seed: 2
NCAA Round 1: Beat Valpo by 22
NCAA Round 2: Beat Creighton by 12
NCAA Round 3: Lost to St. Johns by 13 (Artest)
NCAA Champion: UCONN
- Francis (Jr): 17 - 5 - 4 - ACC1 -- NBA (9+ years, 576 gp, 18 ppg, 6 rpg, 6 apg, $65M in career earnings)
- Morris (So): 15 - 7 - 2 - ACC1 -- NBA (3 years, 139 gp, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 apg, $1.8M in career earnings)
- Profit (Sr): 15 - 5 - 3 - ACC3 -- NBA (4 years, 135 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.9M in career earnings)
- Ekezie (Sr): 13 - 6 - 2 -- NBA (4 years, 143 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 0 apg, $3.0M in career earnings)
- Dixon (Fr): 7 - 3 - 1 -- NBA (6+ years, 371 gp, 9 ppg, 2 rpg, 2 apg, $8.6M in career earnings)
- Baxter (Fr): 7 - 4 - 1 -- NBA (4 years, 162 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 0 apg, $3.3M in career earnings)
- Stokes (Sr): 4 - 3 - 2

#4:

1995:
Final USA Today Ranking: 11
Record: 26 - 8
ACC: 12 - 4 (Co-Champion)
ACC First Round: Beat FSU by 7
ACC Second Round: Lost to UNC by 4
NCAA Seed: 3
NCAA Round 1: Beat Gonzaga by 24
NCAA Round 2: Beat Texas by 14
NCAA Round 3: Lost to UConn by 10 (Allen)
NCAA Champion: UCLA
- Smith (So): 21 - 11 - 1 - ACC1 - ACCPOY - APPOY -- NBA (13+ years, 868 gp, 12 ppg, 7 rpg, 1 apg, $52M in career earnings)
- Rhodes (Jr): 14 - 5 - 4 - ACC3
- Hipp (Jr): 14 - 4 - 3
- Booth (So): 11 - 7 - 2 -- NBA (2 years, 45 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.1M in career earnings)
- Simpkins (Jr): 11 - 2 - 5
- Lucas (Jr): 7 - 4 - 1
- Bristol (Sr): 4 - 1 - 1

#3. 1999: 28 - 6 (#8 in Nation; #2 Seed - Lost to St. Johns in NCAA Third Round)
#4. 1995: 26 - 8 (#11 in Nation; #3 Seed - Lost to UCONN in NCAA Third Round)
#5. 1994: 18 - 12 (#11 in Nation; #10 Seed - Lost to Michigan in NCAA Third Round)
#6. 2003: 21 - 10 (#17 in Nation; #6 Seed - Lost to Michigan State in NCAA Third Round)
#7. 1998: 21 - 11 (#22 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Arizona in NCAA Third Round)
#8. 2000: 25 - 10 (#25 in Nation; #3 Seed - Lost to UCLA in NCAA Second Round)
#9. 2004: 20 - 12 (#24 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Syracuse in NCAA Second Round)
#10. 2007: 25 - 9 (#23 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Butler in NCAA Second Round)
#11. 1997: 21 - 11 (#32 in Nation; #5 Seed - Lost to College of Charleston in NCAA First Round)
#12. 1996: 17 - 13 (#47 in Nation; #7 Seed - Lost to Santa Clara in NCAA First Round)
#13: 2005: 19 - 13 (Lost to South Carolina in NIT Semi-Finals)
#14. 1990: 19 - 14 (Lost at PSU in NIT Second Round)
#15. 2006: 19 - 13 (Lost to Manhattan in NIT First Round)
#16. 1991: 16 - 12 (Banned from NCAA Tournament)
#17. 1992: 14 - 15 (Banned from NCAA Tournament)
#18. 1993: 12 - 16 (Did not make NIT or NCAA Tournament)

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

MD - BC Notes

This team is a complete disaster. Train wreck.

When BC took the lead at 40 - 39 (after trailing 20 - 5), every MD fan who has watched this team this year knew it was over. No heart. This is a dead horse. This team quit on Gary Williams three weeks ago. They have the fast-forward button down on 3X and are trying to get to the end of the season.

21 Turnovers. This was the story of the season. It is almost as if this team needed a free safety to play in the backcourt to stop the break-aways. There has never been a MD team that was worse at handling the basketball.

Vasquez's Mom saw a version of his game that we didn't see all year. No passion. It is almost as if he heard teammates complaining about his forced offense and he was playing passive to prove a point. He did play solid defense on Rice in the first half. . .not sure why GW decided to use Bowie so much on Rice in the second half. That match-up didn't go well.

Memo to Gary Williams: There is a reason why MD gets dominated on the boards and teams feast on MD inside when Dave Neal is on the court. I have no idea what goes through GW's head when he makes the decision to put in Neal instead of Burney at CRITICAL points in games.

I am not sure Osby could score double-digits right now if he was left alone in an empty gym for forty minutes. The only explanation for his unbelievably inept offensive game has to be lingering effects from the flu. I haven't seen a player's offensive skills erode this fast since Exree Hipp.

Gist was solid for portions of the game. GW did a nice job taking him out of the game when MD went up fifteen to cool him down. . . What exactly was the reason for that substitution? The only explanation is the fear factor with cramps.

MD will get a home game for the NIT next week. GW should do what he should have done three games ago. . . bench Hayes and put in Bowie.

There are 120 minutes to divide up between the 1, 2, and 3 next year:

35 for Vasquez
25 for Milbourne
25 for Bowie
20 for Tucker
15 for Maze

This leaves 80 minutes for the bigs:

25 for Burney
25 for Gilchrist
20 for DuPree
9 for Walker
1 for Neal

I hate to say it. . . but, this looks like another middle of the ACC pack, border-line NCAA tournament caliber team.

Some blogs are calling for Gary Williams to step down. No chance. He is signed through 2011 and there are not better options out there not named Mike Montgomery.

Six years after MD won its first national title, who would have thought that a MD basketball blog would end with these six words. . .

Comcast Center: Women's Basketball Lives Here.

GW Countdown #5 and #6

#5:

1994:
Final USA Today Ranking: 11
Record: 18 - 12
ACC: 8 - 8 (fourth)
ACC First Round: Lost to UVA by 6
NCAA Seed: 10
NCAA Round 1: Beat St. Louis by 8
NCAA Round 2: Beat UMass by 8
NCAA Round 3: Lost to Michigan by 7 (Fab Four)
NCAA Champion: Arkansas
- Smith (Fr): 19 - 11 - 1 - ACC1 -- NBA (13+ years, 868 gp, 12 ppg, 7 rpg, 1 apg, $52M in career earnings)
- Hipp (So): 13 - 4 - 3
- Rhodes (So): 13 - 7 - 4
- Simpkins (So): 12 - 3 - 5
- Booth (Fr): 11 - 6 - 2 -- NBA (2 years, 45 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.1M in career earnings)
- Lucas (So): 5 - 4 - 0
- Bosnic (Fr): 3 - 2 - 1

#6:

2003:
Final USA Today Ranking: 17
Record: 21 - 10
ACC: 11 - 5
ACC First Round: Lost to UNC by 12
NCAA Seed: 6
NCAA Round 1: Beat UNC Wilmington by 2 (Nicholas Buzzer Beater)
NCAA Round 2: Beat Xavier by 13
NCAA Round 3: Lost to Michigan State by 2
NCAA Champion: Syracuse
- Nicholas (Sr): 18 - 4 - 3 - ACC2
- Randle (Sr): 13 - 7 - 1 - ACC3
- Blake (Sr): 12 - 4 - 7 - ACC1 -- NBA (5+ years, 325 gp, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 4 apg, $3.3M in career earnings)
- Holden (Sr): 9 - 4 - 2
- Caner-Medley (Fr): 9 - 4 - 1
- Smith (Jr): 6 - 4 - 0
- McCall (Sr): 5 - 3 - 2

#5. 1994: 18 - 12 (#11 in Nation; #10 Seed - Lost to Michigan in NCAA Third Round)
#6. 2003: 21 - 10 (#17 in Nation; #6 Seed - Lost to Michigan State in NCAA Third Round)
#7. 1998: 21 - 11 (#22 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Arizona in NCAA Third Round)
#8. 2000: 25 - 10 (#25 in Nation; #3 Seed - Lost to UCLA in NCAA Second Round)
#9. 2004: 20 - 12 (#24 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Syracuse in NCAA Second Round)
#10. 2007: 25 - 9 (#23 in Nation; #4 Seed - Lost to Butler in NCAA Second Round)
#11. 1997: 21 - 11 (#32 in Nation; #5 Seed - Lost to College of Charleston in NCAA First Round)
#12. 1996: 17 - 13 (#47 in Nation; #7 Seed - Lost to Santa Clara in NCAA First Round)
#13: 2005: 19 - 13 (Lost to South Carolina in NIT Semi-Finals)
#14. 1990: 19 - 14 (Lost at PSU in NIT Second Round)
#15. 2006: 19 - 13 (Lost to Manhattan in NIT First Round)
#16. 1991: 16 - 12 (Banned from NCAA Tournament)
#17. 1992: 14 - 15 (Banned from NCAA Tournament)
#18. 1993: 12 - 16 (Did not make NIT or NCAA Tournament)

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

GW Countdown #7 and #8

#7:

1998:
Final USA Today Ranking: 22
Record: 21 - 11
ACC: 10 - 6 (third)
ACC First Round: Beat GT by 18
ACC Second Round: Lost to UNC by 10
NCAA Seed: 4
NCAA Round 1: Beat Utah State by 14
NCAA Round 2: Beat Illinois by 6
NCAA Round 3: Lost to Arizona by 8
NCAA Champion: Kentucky
- Profit (Jr): 16 - 5 - 3 - ACC3 -- NBA (4 years, 135 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.9M in career earnings)
- Elliot (Sr): 15 - 7 - 2 - ACC3
- Ekezie (Jr): 13 - 7 - 2 -- NBA (4 years, 143 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 0 apg, $3.0M in career earnings)
- Jasikevicious (Sr): 12 - 3 - 4 -- NBA (2 years, 138 gp, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 3 apg, $8M in career earnings)
- Morris (Fr): 7 - 4 - 1 -- NBA (3 years, 139 gp, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 apg, $1.8M in career earnings)
- Mardesich (Fr): 5 - 4 - 1
- Stokes (Jr): 5 - 3 - 5

#8:

2000:
Final USA Today Ranking: 25
Record: 25 - 10
ACC: 11 - 5 (second)
ACC First Round: Beat FSU by 21
ACC Second Round: Beat NC State by 3
ACC Final: Lost to Duke by 13
NCAA Seed: 3
NCAA Round 1: Beat Iona by 15
NCAA Round 2: Lost to UCLA by 35
NCAA Champion: Michigan State
- Dixon (So): 18 - 6 - 4 - ACC1 -- NBA (6+ years, 371 gp, 9 ppg, 2 rpg, 2 apg, $8.6M in career earnings)
- Morris (Jr): 16 - 9 - 2 - ACC2 -- NBA (3 years, 139 gp, 3 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 apg, $1.8M in career earnings)
- Baxter (So): 16 - 9 - 1 - ACC1 -- NBA (4 years, 162 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 0 apg, $3.3M in career earnings)
- Miller (So): 9 - 3 - 3
- Blake (Fr): 7 - 3 - 6 -- NBA (5+ years, 325 gp, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 4 apg, $3.3M in career earnings)
- Nicholas (Fr): 5 - 1 - 1
- Holden (Fr): 3 - 2 - 1

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

GW Countdown #9 and #10

#9:

2004:
Final USA Today Ranking: 24
Record: 20 - 12
ACC: 7 - 9
ACC First Round: Beat Wake by 1
ACC Second Round: Beat NCS by 3
ACC Championship: Beat Duke by 8 (OT)
NCAA Seed: 4
NCAA Round 1: Beat UTEP by 3
NCAA Round 2: Lost to Syracuse by 2
NCAA Champion: UCONN
- Gilchrist (So): 15 - 5 - 5 - ACC3
- Smith (Sr): 13 - 9 - 1
- Caner-Medley (So): 12 - 5 - 2
- McCray (So): 11 - 4 - 3 -- NBA (1 year, 5 gp, 0 ppg, 0 rpg, 0 apg, $161K in career earnings)
- Garrison (So): 8 - 5 - 1
- Strawberry (Fr): 6 - 3 - 1 -- NBA (1 year, 20 gp, 3 ppg, 1 rpg, 1 apg, $427K in career earnings)
- Ibekwe (Fr): 5 - 4 - 0

#10:

2007:
Final USA Today Ranking: 23
Record: 25 - 9
ACC: 10 - 6
ACC First Round: Lost to Miami by 5
NCAA Seed: 4
NCAA Round 1: Beat Davidson by 12
NCAA Round 2: Lost to Butler by 3
NCAA Champion: Florida
- Strawberry (Sr): 15 - 4 - 4 - ACC2 -- NBA (1 year, 20 gp, 3 ppg, 1 rpg, 1 apg, $427K in career earnings)
- Jones (Sr): 14 - 3 - 1
- Gist (Jr): 13 - 7 - 1
- Ibekwe (Sr): 10 - 8 - 1
- Vasquez (Fr): 10 - 3 - 5
- Osby (Jr): 6 - 4 - 1
- Hayes (Fr): 5 - 2 - 4

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

MD - Clemson Notes

NCAA Chances: 70%
Projected Record on Selection Sunday: 21 - 13 (this would be a 9 seed)

MD was up 59 - 39 with 11 minutes remaining. . . only to be outscored 34 - 11.

The end of the game was similar to what happened at WF three nights earlier. No killer instinct. We have seen this thoughout the year as they have squandered leads very easily.

It is not so much the number of turnovers that plagues this team. . . it is the type of turnovers, the time of game when these turnovers occur, and the easy conversions that result. Despite his impressive assist per game figure, Vasquez is still playing out of position; he is a two. Hayes is also a two. GW needs to bring in a pure PG recruit so that Hayes can play the two and Vasquez can play the three at times next year.

Sometimes, a seemingly innocent coaching decision can have a dramatic impact on the outcome of the game. Tonight, it was putting McAlpin and Neal into the game with ten minutes left. This is a move you make with five minutes remaining. This move signals the end of the game and is essentially the coach telling the team to start the bus.

It is kind of like Dusty Baker giving the game ball to Russ Ortiz with eight outs remaining up 5 - 0 in game six of the 2002 World Series.

I used to think that the most amazing comeback in a MD game was the team that was down 22 with 13 minutes left at UNC in 1996 and came back to win by six. . .

Vasquez had a quadruple seven. . . to go along with an 0 for 5 performance from distance.

The development of Bowie and Burney makes MD a team that can pull a second-round surprise if they can get into the tournament. MD is now a legitimate eight deep.

If MD loses to UVA, this means that they would need to win three ACC tournament games to get in. 20 - 14 equals NIT.

A win at UVA and two wins (TH and FR) puts the Terps in. A win at UVA and only one win in Charlotte = 20 - 13 = NCAA bubble = 12 seed or, most likely, NIT.

MD - WF Notes

NCAA Chances: 85%
Projected Record Heading into NCAA: 21 - 12

Gritty. Huge win. Season saving win.

Almost the story of the game: 19 turnovers for the starting five; all had three or more. I can't say that I can remember a college team having back-to-back dribble off the foot turnovers before tonight.

This team needs to realize that making the extra pass to Hayes for a spot up three is never a bad idea.

The traveling call on Vasquez with five minutes to play was a horrible call.

Interesting stat from Gminski: No team has ever made the NCAA with an RPI greater than 63; MD's was 68 heading into the game.

Gist: 31 pts, 11 boards, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. . . played his best when it mattered the most. . . has made 8 of his last 14 three-point attempts over the past seven games - after having made 10 of 42 previously.

Vasquez: 24 pts, 8 dimes, 4 boards, 4 turns. . . 2 for 6 from distance actually increased his 3 point shooting percentage in ACC play. . . has scored over 20 points in six of the last ten games. . . has made 21 of his last 63 three-point attempts; has made 56 of his last 100 two-point attempts. . . MD is a better team when he eases up on the three-point trigger and uses penetration to get shots and feeds. . . sixth consecutive game with four or more turns. . . averaging 5.4 turns per game over the last eight. . . seems to have the GW green light to shoot when he wants from distance without repercussions. . . this is easy for GW to remedy. . . establish some freakin' repercussions.

Hayes: 11 points, 3 boards, 0 dimes, and 6 turns. . . has made 19 of his last 43 (44%) over his last ten games. . . on the down side, we learned that he cannot dribble with his left hand. . . the turns were unbelievably careless. . . so much for his assist to turnover ratio. . . we need him to penetrate more often and learn how to draw contact - has only shot 14 FTs over the past ten games (made 12).

Osby: WTF? This guy has disappeared. . . absolutely no confidence. . . his reduction in PT (only 24 minutes) was not due to fouls (zero). . . 0 points on four shots (which were not close misses) and only four boards to go with three turns. . . no blocks. . . MD was a better team tonight with Burney on the floor. . . Least likely sign to be seen at College Park on Sunday against Clemson: "Fear the Cornrows". . . It is a lock that the Fro will be back on Sunday Night. - Late Update: Just heard that he was ill; MD needs a quick recovery.

Milbourne: 23 minutes, 2 points (on two attempts), six boards, and five fouls. . . MD is a better team when he gets more looks offensively. . . has made 10 of his last 18 three-point attempts. . . stellar on the defensive end.

Burney: Solid game. . . when he gets the ball two feet from the basket, he needs to think throw down instead of kick out. . . needs to learn how to hedge. . . sensational blocked dunk that led to a half-court Vasquez to Gist dunk on the other end. . . can shoot with his left hand; something Osby cannot do.

Solid contibutions from Bowie (16 minutes) and Tucker (10 minutes).

The 46 minutes of bench play was a welcome change and had a positive affect on the defensive intensity throughout the game.

Scenarios:
23 - 11 (win out and win the ACC tourny): 4 Seed
22 - 12 (win out and lose in the ACC Championship): 6 Seed
21 - 12 (win out and lose in the ACC semifinals): 8 Seed
21 - 13 (win one of next two; win TH and FR at ACC): 10 Seed
20 - 13 (several possibilities): 11 Seed
19 - 13 (win one of next two; first round loss): NIT

GW Countdown #11 and #12

#11:

1997:
Final USA Today Ranking: 32
Record: 21 - 11
ACC: 9 - 7 (fourth)
ACC First Round: Beat Clemson by 15
ACC Second Round: Lost to NC State by 7
NCAA Seed: 5
NCAA Round 1: Lost to College of Charleston by 9
NCAA Champion: Arizona
- Booth (Sr): 20 - 8 - 3 - ACC1 -- NBA (2 years, 45 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.1M in career earnings)
- Profit (So): 13 - 5 - 2 - ACC3 -- NBA (4 years, 135 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.9M in career earnings)
- Jasikevicious (Jr): 11 - 3 - 3
- Ekezie (So): 10 - 7 - 1
- Elliot (Jr): 9 - 6 - 1
- Stokes (So): 8 - 3 - 4
- Watkins (So): 8 - 2 - 0

#12:

1996:
Final USA Today Ranking: Unranked (outside the top 46)
Record: 17 - 13
ACC: 8 - 8 (fourth)
ACC First Round: Beat Duke by 13
ACC Second Round: Lost to GT by 5
NCAA Seed: 7
NCAA Round 1: Lost to Santa Clara by 12 (Nash)
NCAA Champion: Kentucky
- Rhodes (Sr): 17 - 6 - 3 - ACC2
- Booth (Jr): 15 - 8 - 2 - ACC3 -- NBA (2 years, 45 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.1M in career earnings)
- Simpkins (Sr): 12 - 2 - 4
- Lucas (Sr): 11 - 5 - 2
- Hipp (Sr): 7 - 3 - 2
- Profit (Fr): 6 - 3 - 1 -- NBA (4 years, 135 gp, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, $2.9M in career earnings)
- Elliot (So): 5 - 3 - 0

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

GW Countdown #13 and #14

#13:

2005:
Final USA Today Ranking: Unranked
Record: 19 - 13
ACC: 7 - 9
ACC First Round: Lost to Clemson by 12
NIT Round 1: Beat Oral Roberts by 13
NIT Round 2: Beat Davidson by 15
NIT Round 3: Beat TCU by 12
NIT Round 4: Lost to South Carolina by 8
NCAA Champion: North Carolina
- Caner-Medley (Jr): 16 - 6 - 2 - ACC3
- McCray (Jr): 14 - 4 - 3 -- NBA (1 year, 5 gp, 0 ppg, 0 rpg, 0 apg, $161K in career earnings)
- Gilchrist (Jr): 14 - 5 - 5
- Garrison (Jr): 10 - 7 - 1
- Ibekwe (So): 8 - 6 - 1
- Jones (So): 7 - 3 - 1
- Strawberry (So): 7 - 2 - 1 -- NBA (1 year, 20 gp, 3 ppg, 1 rpg, 1 apg, $427K in career earnings)

#14:

1990:
Final AP Ranking: Unranked
Record: 19 - 14
ACC: 6 - 8 (fifth)
ACC First Round: Lost to Duke by 20
NIT First Round: Beat UMass by 10
NIT Second Round: Lost at PSU by 2
NCAA Champion: UNLV
- Mustaf (Sr): 19 - 8 - 2 - ACC3 -- NBA (4 years, 179 gp, 4 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 apg, $5M in career earnings)
- Massenburg (Sr): 18 - 10 - 1 - ACC2 -- NBA (15 years, 683 gp, 6 ppg, 4 rpg, $11M in career earnings)
- Williams (So): 13 - 4 - 5 -- NBA (13 years, 708 gp, 12 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg, $35M in career earnings)
- Burns (Fr): 4 - 3 - 0 -- NBA (1 year, 23 gp, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, $1.6M in career earnings)

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

MD - Miami Notes

NCAA Tournament Chances: 75%
NBA Chances: Vasquez (mid first rounder in 2009)
Projected Record Heading into Tournament: 21 - 12 (at WF on Thursday will be the first of four consecutive wins)
Projected Seed: 7

This team looks tired.

If the season ended today, Maryland would be NIT-bound.

Vasquez is shooting 28% from 3-point range in ACC play.

Hayes is shooting 44%.

Gist and Osby have taken way too many fade-away shots over the past two weeks. Gist seems to be timid in taking it to the rack and avoids contact unnecessarily. Teams have gone to tape school on Osby and have taken away his game by pushing him farther out when he catches the ball in the half-court set. Osby with the ball eight or more feet from the basket is the opposite of a scoring threat.

Gist is struggling to play with his back to the basket; he is in desperate need of a drop-step move from the block.

Why did it take 28 freakin' games to discover Jerome Burney? He had 14 consecutive DNPs (coaches decision) heading into today's game. He played very well in twelve minutes and is a better option defensively than Shane Walker.

I think we have seen the last of Dave Neal - addition by subtraction.

GW Countdown #15 and #16

#15

2006:
Final USA Today Ranking: Unranked
Record: 19 - 13
ACC: 8 - 8
ACC First Round: Beat GT by 18
ACC Second Round: Lost to BC by 14
NIT First Round: Lost to Manhattan by 3
NCAA Champion: Florida
- Caner-Medley (Sr): 15 - 6 - 2 - ACC3
- McCray (Sr): 15 - 4 - 4 -- NBA (1 year, 5 gp, 0 ppg, 0 rpg, 0 apg, $161K in career earnings)
- Ibekwe (Jr): 11 - 7 - 1
- Jones (Jr): 11 - 3 - 2
- Strawberry (Jr): 10 - 3 - 4 -- NBA (1 year, 20 gp, 3 ppg, 1 rpg, 1 apg, $427K in career earnings)
- Gist (So): 8 - 5 - 1
- Garrison (Sr): 8 - 5 - 1

#16:

1991:
Final AP Ranking: Unranked
Record: 16 - 12 (Banned from NCAA Tournament)
ACC: 5 - 9 (seventh)
NCAA Champion: Duke
- Williams (Jr): 19 - 5 - 5 -- NBA (13 years, 708 gp, 12 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg, $35M in career earnings)
- Roe (Sr): 18 - 6 - 3 - ACC3
- Lewis (Sr): 12 - 8 - 1 and 5.1 bpg (second in the nation; ACC record) -- NBA (1 year, 3 gp, 1 ppg, 1 rpg, $200K in career earnings)
- Smith (Jr): 11 - 5 - 1
- McClinton (So): 8 - 4 - 4
- Broadnax (Jr): 8 - 4 - 2
- Burns (So): 8 - 4 - 1 -- NBA (1 year, 23 gp, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, $1.6M in career earnings)

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

GW Countdown #17 and #18

Gary Williams is in his 19th season as head coach at Maryland. Here is a ranking of his previous 18 seasons. 1992 and 1993 were the only years that MD finished under .500 since he took the job in 1989.

The NBA salary information below is from basketball-reference.com.

Case and point #1 on why MD needs to mix in a course on decision analysis for next year's curriculum: The career earnings for Walt Williams noted below is less than the amount of money he opted out of in Miami in 1996 - only to sign for the league minimum with the Raptors. Regardless, Williams' reverse throw-down alley-oop dunks against UNC are still near the top of the list on all-time great MD highlights.

#17

1992:
Final AP Ranking: Unranked
Record: 14 - 15 (Banned from NCAA Tournament)
ACC: 5 - 11 (eighth)
ACC First Round: Lost to Duke by 7
NCAA Champion: Duke
- Williams (Sr): 27 - 6 - 4 - ACC1 -- NBA (13 years, 708 gp, 12 ppg, 4 rpg, 2 apg, $35M in career earnings)
- Burns (Jr): 16 - 7 - 1 -- NBA (1 year, 23 gp, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, $1.6M in career earnings)
- McClinton (Jr): 12 - 5 - 5
- Smith (Sr): 10 - 7 - 2
- Broadnax (Sr): 9 - 4 - 3
- Kerwin (Jr): 4 - 5 - 1

#18 (worst season):

1993:
Final AP Ranking: Unranked
Record: 12 - 16 (Did not make NIT or NCAA Tournament)
ACC: 2 - 14 (eighth)
ACC First Round: Lost to UNC by 36
NCAA Champion: UNC
- Burns (Sr): 19 - 9 - 2 -- NBA (1 year, 23 gp, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, $1.6M in career earnings)
- McClinton (Sr): 16 - 5 - 6
- Rhodes (Fr): 14 - 5 - 3
- Hipp (Fr): 11 - 5 - 3
- Kerwin (Sr): 7 - 5 - 1
- Lucas (Fr): 4 - 2 - 0

Note: The NBA statistics and salary information is from basketball-reference.com. It was valid as of March, 2008.

MD - VT Notes

NCAA Tournament Chances: 90%
Projected Record Heading into the Tournament: 21 - 12 (I am confident that they will win 3 of their next 4)
Projected Seed: 8
Sweet Sixteen Chances: 4%
NBA: Gist (late second round); Vasquez (mid first rounder in 2009)

Painful.

3 points in a 14 minute stretch; scoring one FG in 23 possessions. That is fifth-grade girls basketball-esque.

Uninspired.

VT lost by 39 at Chapel Hill on Saturday.

There is a big difference between the talent levels of Cliff Tucker and Jason McAlpin.

Nine minutes of cleaning up throw-up video.

Question of the Night: How many people does it take to clean up vomit?

Dorenzo Hudson will not be soon forgotten at Comcast.

Player A: 17 ppg, 7 apg, 5 rpg
Player B: 17 ppg, 4 apg, 5 rpg

Player A is Vasquez this year; Player B is Steve Francis in his one year in College Park (1999).

I left out the 4.3 tpg for Player A.

Hayes has made 4 of his last 24 shots to go along with 9 turnovers in his past three games. Look no further than those stats for the most significant reason for MD's downslide.

Hayes needs to keep shooting for MD to have a chance at making it to the Sweet 16; he is too good of a shooter to have this last much longer.

Hayes will have 18 points and be named player of the game in a win at Miami on Saturday.

Answer: Three team managers, three referees, two janitors, and one lady with a mop.

I would have taken "less than two team managers" in Vegas.

Milbourne Dunk

http://misterirrelevant.com/index.php/2008/02/17/landon-milbourne-dunks-on-florida-state/

Milbourne's stock has risen over the past week just as much as Hayes' has fallen.

This was the best dunk of the year by a player not named Gist.

The links below are two of Gist's better dunks this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y82BkBZtzA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktqCL2XiO8o&feature=related

MD - Duke Notes

NCAA Likelihood: 95%
Projected Seed: 7
Projected Record prior to NCAA: 21 - 12
2008 NBA Draft: Gist (mid second round)
2009 NBA Draft: Vasquez (mid first round)

There had to be a better way for ESPN to start the game than showing us a close-up of Mike Patrick's nostrils for close to a minute.

Gary Williams looks more and more like Dennis Hopper in Hoosiers each game. Watch the movie, listen to the "We are going to run the Picket Fence" line, turn on a MD game, look at GW's profile. . . case closed.

Osby is becoming skilled in walking on a drop step move (spinning towards the lane when he gets the ball on the right block) and getting away with it; did it twice last night.

MD goes to Osby on the right block for a hook shot to start almost every game. Osby makes that shot almost every game.

Duke's defensive intensity was the story of the game.

Vasquez picked up his dribble too often in our half-court set.

MD had four possessions down 54 - 51 and couldn't take advantage.

Hayes had a very bad night.

Vasquez had a very solid game overall; except for 3 WTFs and a very bad haircut. It was funny when Vitale and Patrick went off on his hot-dogging when they didn't realize that he was stripped of the freakin' ball; not showboating with a no-look pass. Vasquez's feed to Gist on the long bounce pass on the break was one of his best passes of the year. He is a first team All ACC player if the season ended today. Gist is borderline first-team.

I don't care what Vitale thinks of Andy Pettitte.

MD will not win games when they give up so many open looks from 3 point range (Duke was 12 for 25).

I have never seen someone miss back-to-back dunks and get both rebounds before Gist did it last night.

Neal should not be shooting the ball. Period. One good discovery last night; Zoubek is clearly the slowest man in the ACC (maybe the entire East Coast); not Neal. Braxton DuPree has to be sitting on the bench wondering why his PT has been taken by Neal. Makes no sense.

There has to be a way to run our offense and go inside out to get Hayes open spot up looks.

Tucker has developed into a solid contributor - couldn't believe he didn't get the call when he was fouled by Nelson on that drive.

MD - BC Notes

NCAA Tournament Chances: 90%
NBA Chances (to play at least 82 games in career): Vasquez (99%), Gist (90%), Osby (15%), and Hayes (10%; will put up big numbers in his senior year without Vasquez).

- Vasquez had the best game of his career: 25 points, 8 assists, 6 boards, 2 steals, 9 for 14 from the floor. . . only three turn-overs. The only negative was the fact that he continues to struggle at the FT line late in games. He even had a WTF that ended up being a drained three off the dribble on the baseline.

- Gist was awesome. The blocked shot highlight will be played back on ESPN all night. . . along with his reverse hammer flush. 23 points, 7 boards, and a block on 9 for 11 shooting. His only negative was a big negative in that he allowed Oates to have a career night with 21 points and 5 open threes (8 for 8 shooting; how does Coach Skinner not let this guy keep chucking it all night?).

- Hayes was quiet offensively with five points and five assists. . . however, he hit a HUGE three with under a minute left in the game to seal it. He only took four shots in 36 minutes.

- Osby had 9 points, 5 boards, and 5 blocks. . . very solid game. . . although he was much less effective on the block tonight.

- Milbourne had three points; but only took two shots in 31 minutes. . . very solid defensive night.

- The starters averaged 33 minutes each.

- 54%, 52%, 56%, and 52%. . . four consecutive ACC games with MD shooting over 50% from the floor. . . can't remember the last time that happened.

Eight games remaining:

- NCST -- Win
- at Duke -- Loss
- FSU -- Win
- VT -- Win
- at Miami -- Loss
- at Wake -- Win
- Clemson -- Win
- at UVA -- Loss

That is 10 and 6 in the ACC; 20 and 11 overall; headed into the ACC tournament. They have an outside shot at 11 and 5 (with a win at Miami). Unbelievable thought just four weeks ago.

It is looking like a #7 seed in the dance.

GW deserves a ton of credit for turning this team around.

MD - Duke Notes

- NCAA Chances: 20% (this will drop to 5% if they lose to UVA at home on Wednesday; something I don't think will happen)
- NBA Chances (to play at least 82 games): Gist (60%), Vasquez (40%), and Osby (2%).

- Stat of the game: 22 Turnovers. Surprisingly, Vasquez only had two. The Vegas over/under was 5.

- Tough to lose a game at home when MD shoots 54% from the floor.

- MD's inbounds plays from under the basket are a freakin' circus. Year after year, we end up relying on the Hail Mary. In the past, it didn't hurt; it just made us look stupid. Tonight, it made us look stupid and it hurt with two turnovers and two fast break Duke run-outs.

- Dave Neal's missed lay-up was painful to watch. He did have a nice hook in the first half; however, Tim Brando gave the credit for that shot to "John Neal".

- 24 assists for MD (on 31 FGs); 9 for Duke (on 32 FGs). It seemed MD could get what they wanted, whenever they wanted on the inside. Great interior passing by Vasquez (7 assists) and Hayes (9 assists).

- Henderson and Nelson were a combined 19 for 31. The defense on them (particularly help-side on penetrations) was less than stellar.

- Vasquez had another excellent game. He has significantly lowered his WTF average over the past two games (The number of times I say "What the F__ is he doing?" during the game).

- Osby continues to impress. His improvement this season has been nothing short of amazing. He went for 20 and 15. This means Hansborough will have 30 and 20 next week against Duke.

- Duke is better than UNC; however, neither will make the final four.

MD - UNC Notes

Chances of Making the Tournament: 3% (up from 0.00001% earlier in the day)
NBA Chances (to play at least 82 games in career): Vasquez (40%) and Gist (25%)

Sweetest win for MD in the Dean Dome since February 20, 1986.

This was a game that I would have bet the house on UNC to cover the 19-point spread.

MD simply wouldn't die. Down by four with a minute and change left and Vasquez hits a huge shot in the lane to cut it in half; then, hits two clutch free throws.

Weird game commentary - as can be expected when Musburger and Lavin get the call. You had to like the comments regarding Ted Williams being among the 2 million living Americans with a Williams surname. These guys must be the only two people in America who were not aware that Ted died six years ago. They must have also missed the news clip soon thereafter when Ted's son jammed Ted's head into a pickle jar and sent it to a cryonics lab for storage.

Maybe, they are counting Teddy Ballgame as still living based on their belief in cryonics. Call my crazy, I just don't see Ted Williams playing again.

Brent was also sharp in the first half when he got mixed up and complimented Ginyard for making a three-pointer for MD (made by Milbourne).

The refs favored Hansborough all game long. That play in the first minutes of the game where he fouled Osby and walked after getting the offensive rebound without either being called set the tone early on.

Gist: Best game of his career. . . 22 and 13. . . clearly outplayed Hansborough in the Dean Dome.

Vasquez: Best game of the season. . . 12 pts, 11 dimes, 6 boards, and 23 shoulder-shrugs during a 50-second post-game interview. . . He may have separated his shoulder if that interview would have gone on any longer. . . 6 turn-overs are to be expected since he is playing out of position on the road against the number one team in the nation.

Osby: Clutch all day long. . . Man among boys in the lane. . . performance was much larger than his stat line of 12 pts and 5 boards. . . shocked that he didn't pick up more than three fouls with his aggressive play. . . if he would have fouled out, Hansborough would have had his way late in the game.

Milbourne: Best game of the season. . . 14 points in key situations.

Hayes: Hit two huge treys. . . still hobbled by the ankle. . . Vasquez needs Hayes back healthy to take over the point duties; that is the only way that Vasquez doesn't break the all-time MD single season record for turn-overs.

Tucker: Best game of the season. . . 8 points in twenty solid minutes.

Four guys with their best game of the season in the same game. Amazing.

I was surprised that Dupree only played one minute.

You had the enjoy the tears flowing from the UNC fans after the game. It is a freakin regular season game. Idiots. UNC has at least two more losses prior to NCAA tournament time. I would bet against UNC making the final four. Their depth after Hansborough, Lawson, and Ellington is average at best. GW showed how you can take away Hansborough and limit Lawson's quickness. If Ellington has an off-night, UNC is beatable.

Story of the game: MD only had ten turn-overs. GW clearly outcoached Roy Williams. UNC should have mixed in a zone defense on a few possessions when Hayes wasn't on the floor. Also, UNC should have pressed MD knowing Vasquez's propensity to turn it over and Lawson's ability to take it away.

The Terps are 2 - 2 in the ACC and 12 - 7 overall. They need to win 7 of their remaining 12 games heading into the ACC tournament to make the NCAA.

American must be thinking about putting UNC on next year's schedule.