Any chance against duke??

Nope. I'm officially with a couple of you on Terps shortcomings. There's always a chance at home of course, but if it's the same level of discipline as today, duke will blow us out by 25+ no joke. Hopefully they have one of those off games, or we will drain like 12 of 13 three's. But what happened to Len? And I mean before he twisted tha ankle. No scoring or anything seems like he's been almost turning into a non-factor. Not good. Whatitis if you actually watched the Temple game, you will know, without question, what all of us are talking about. Painful to watch at times, but it will get better. I don't expect too many replies here before Weds, because it's simply gonna be same-ol same-ol. Oh, anyone going to the game on Weds?? I hope we have it on TV out here in CA. Should be.

I'll be there. Hoping to have a full house for the first time this year.

Len hasn't done much lately, and frankly only played well for the first two games he joined the team. He needs a lot of work playing up to his size. His play doesn't match his physical size and apparent strength. He's too soft too often. You can see loads of upside, but to this point he is being shut down by more athletic big men. I'm not counting on much from Len other than an occasional "good" game the rest of the year.

I'm not expecting a blowout. So far, the team has played competitively enough, of almost every game, to avoid a whacking. Who knows, but my feeling is that they'll play their best game of the year, but will falter in the seocnd half, while again showing their limited upside.

I don't want to beat the drum to death, but expectations for winning ACC games should be very low imo.

We should be guaging improvement and competitiveness.

We need to see Faust improve. For Stoglin to find better balance in his offensive decisions. We need Howard to become more efficient at point guard play, while figuring out when to show up offensively. We need these 3 to gain confidence for next year. 

With next year's recruits...we could be in the chatter for March dancing. It's all about next year...this year is a foundation year.

Go Terps

I could have decided not to reply since my prediction for the Puke game is not good for the TERPS...lol  I would say it will be Puke by 15-18 points.  I hope I'm way off and the TERPS find a way at home to get a win.  I realize the TERPS are now playing conference games but the long stretches of plain BAD play is disappointing.  Turnovers, FT's % and defense has really hurt them this year.  We can only hope they slowly improve as the season goes on.

GO TERPS!

This may sound kinda goofy but I'm hoping duke wins today against fl state. If they lose you all know what happens the next game. They hardly ever lose 2 in a row.

OK so by now you know Duke is out for blood after losing to Florida State, who I think could bea top 10 team.

With all of their limited squad healthy and playing in the correct position this team can play for awhile with most teams in the ACC this year, especially at home. With any one of those pieces missing players have to start playing in positions with roles not best suited for them. On a veteran team that is nto as much of an issue because they have been in more game situations, at least for shot periods of time where they have to fulfill those roles. On a team as young as this one they have not been in the actual game situation enough to play that very well, much less slide around to make up for a Len, or Howard, or Mosely being out or ineffective, which is just as bad, for long stretches.

Duke will nto have mercy on us after their loss, but I also don't think we lose by more than 25 unless our players give up completely in the second half. I think the Terps will have points in the game where they are competitive, but not nearly enough of them. This will be Turgeons baptismal as well and i think he will ris to the challenge. he simply doesn't have enough bullets in the gun though and it is a double digit Duke lead at about the 12 minute mark or so of the first half and the half will end about that way. As most of you say I expect an 18-21 point loss that takes full advantage of our individual weaknesses as Coach K is very good at doing. 

If you watch this game closely, Coach K will show you exactly where our team needs to improve. Though that isn't much of a bright side, when you play in this league against hall of fame coaches, you have to use every resource, including the opposition to plan for the future.   

I also don't think we lose by more than 25 unless our players give up completely in the second half. 

Meathead, how ridiculous do you sound?  Are you sure you played D1 football in Arizona?  If you did, good, 'cause WE didn't need any loser with such mediocre expectations.  Dude, it is folks with mentalities like yours that has kept OUR program in mediocrity since the NC run! Low expectations, gets low results!  NAH, you probably didn't play D1 football like you like to brag about.

Since you have such a history of making all of these great predictions and know so much about sports, tell me in other news:  Which teams and what will the scores be in the NFL games today?  Me, I don't know who will win the games, 'cause I don't pretend to know everything like your sorry a@s does. 

 

Go Terps!  We are a D1 program, just like Duke!  WE can ball with anybody!  High expectations generally gets better results than low expectations!

Some folks like Meathead 81 are satisfied with 25 point losses.  My, my, my....how low has OUR program gone if we accept this result!

Have a wonderful day Meathead! 

Whatisis..ok what is YOUR prediction for the game?? I don't mean what are your expectations, I mean what do you actually think is gonna happen when we play Duke on Weds, based on how we have played so far this season. I have high expectations also, but be realistic, and give some analysis of the team... instead of just saying you have high expectations. I have high expectations that I will get back to a 315 lb bench press very soon. However, I tore a muscle in my shoulder awhile ago, so now when i work out the injury will only hold 225 lbs. Soooo, even though I fully have EXPECTATIONS of getting back to where I was (and I know I will), I simply cannot do it now due to the injury no matter how damn hard I try. Terps are like that injury...lost recruits, new coach, injured players, GW getting old and losing focus on the team.. they have all the things in place right now that cause problems. Not excuses they are facts right there in front of you and me! You can't run a 4-minute mile if you just sprained your ankle...heal it, have the great expectations, and it will come back, but it takes time. The only big difference between you and me is that i'm willing to give the new coach/system a year to figure things out. Next year I fully expect NCAA tourney. Also, fans on a CBS message board have no bearing on whether the team is winning or losing. So if you're pissed about the team not meeting your expectations, try calling the Turgeon radio show and bitching him out, I mean who do you blame right now? If you had visited this board the past couple years, you'd see that a lot of us were very pissed off about how the Gary Williams era was sliding fast.

I think there's a confusion here about predictions vs expectations too. As fans, we can predict that a team will lose while wishing them victory at the same time. That is not being a bad fan. The only thing wrong is when the players themselves predict that they will lose, and I'm sure that neither Turgeon or the Terps' players feel that way. I'm sure they feel like they're gonna beat Duke. Hell I "feel" like we're gonna win every game we play, that's the expectation, but not the prediction. See what I mean? To predict a win in every game is simply delusional. Apparently we have a viscious reincarnation of Stanrod here. Sorry Skins': I'm trying very simple deductive reasoning here. Don't think it will work though. Wait for it....wait for it.... and.....

The only big difference between you and me is that i'm willing to give the new coach/system a year to figure things out.

Terpoboy...nice post! I apologize if it sounds like I am ripping Mark T.  I am not...However, I am ripping some of OUR fans, including 81, who has had a nasty habit of talking down to me on different message boards.  With that said, there are many, many of OUR fans who kept giving Gary the benefit of the doubt (including 81) over the years...and look where it has gotten us!  Coach T. and his staff has to fix this mess.  I maintained over the last 5 years or so that Gary is running the program into the ground and that someone else will need to clean it up! But Nah...loyal Gary fans like 81 kept accepting mediocrity and making excuses.  Just 'cause Gary helped US to a NC  didn't entitle him to get lazy with the team.  Gary should've gotten out a long time ago!

Go Terps! 

By the way, I like Coach T. and his staff, and I think he will do a GREAT job with OUR program!

Go Terps! 

Terpoboy..great post on predictions and expectations.  I have said that over the years too...that D1 players 'expect' to win every time they take the court or field and if they don't, then there is something wrong with them or the coaching staff.  Athletes are generally just wired this way.

Terpo I answered Whatsisis all I intend to at the end of the Temple thread. He (I assume he but as I look at it the whiney nature is kind of girly so maybe they is a safer term) is obviously somone with a cross to bear, and a new screen name, as this current one goes up a point a day as CBS does, and they refer to things they said years ago, which does not match up with the fact they have never been here with this name until recently. The temple one is a good read if you have the time LMAO. I do admit to being long winded when explaining a point, especially for the last time as I want to be clear without needing rebuttal. LOL

As suspected, and as they state here, their goal is not to rip the team, it is to rip the fans that don't agree with them, and Gary Williams. I am just the easy target because I post alot, answer alot, and don't agree with them and say so. It is not a big deal. Once they start name calling instead of being able to cogently make a point with facts instead of opinions and feelings, and worse accusations, they lose credibility. Probably the reason they had to get a new screen name to begin with. Those things don't go away with a new account, sadly.

I unabashadly admit to being loyal to Gary Williams. In no way did I defend that he was doing a good job recruiting. In fact I agreed he needed to be more involved when his recruiting assistants left for HC jobs elsewhere. He didn't step up quickly enough to keep things at a high level while the new guys made in roads to the local and national scene. The recruiting had drastically improved the few years before he retired, while keeping a high moral standard for the university, and had he stayed, all his recruits would have stayed and we would not be in this situation. If JW had also stayed this would have been a great year, and we would be one of the teams at the top of the conference. In any case it is his lack of long term recruiting that have us in this situation. Though every team in the country including Duke and UNC went through this for a year when they first got their current coach. In fact Coach K almost didn't survive several down years at the beginning of his Duke term.

What I did say at that time, was in spite of where the program was nationally, that I was willing to let Coach Williams stay at least until the end of his contract (don't forget he was the reigning conference coach of the year), and in fact as long as he wanted to. Again lets not forget the team that would have been in place this year had he and possibly JW stayed. I totaly understand people, especially younger people, not agreeing with me. I feel the sacrifice he made coming here and rebuilding the program was worth loyalty to him, plain and simple. But again I understand and would not argue with anyone who felt otherwise. I understand some just want to win and win now no matter the fallout. I just think some things are more important than that and had confidence that when Coach Williams felt it was time to go, and he was hurting the program, he would go, and he did.

It is now a new ERA and a big job to turn around. I think we have the right guy for the job and I am glad we did not get one of the surprise young coaches of the minute. In my opinion the AD is 1-1 for coaching hires in the two glamour sports but that is a discussion for another board.   

Oh and yes that was a great explanation terpo. I bow to your determination. LOL

NYG 27 SF 23

NE 34 BALT 24

I don't know either, but why not actually make a prediction instead of ripping everyone else for their opinion?

And the reference to 25 points was answering terpo's thread where he thought we might get beaten by more than that. No problem with you getting in our conversation, but at least try to read the whole thing and speak from the big picture and not pot shot individual lines of posts. That really doesn't add anything to the conversation does it? Sorry if you feel talked down to. I really am, but you kind of bring it on yourself when you write posts simply to insult and name call for no reason. As I said, some things do not change with a new log on do they?

I have an idea that might make everyone happy. How about we make up a thread and call it why I hate Gary Williams. We use that one to complain about how bad the team is and who is to blame, and we use the rest of them for civil conversation about the current team, coaches, and what they may be able to do today and moving forward to play better and get back to where we all expect them to be in the near future? Then the two opinons and factions never have to clash and be confused with one another again. That sounds fair to me. How about everyone else?

81,

You sucked up to Gary's @ss like a Hoover Vacuum Cleaner, and it's people like you who have put us in the position that we are in. You can make all the excuses about JW and Gary and whatever other excuses you have, but Gary's teams were long deteriorating before JW.  

Gary became very lazy and should've been booted out a long time ago.  Gary was also an arrogant SOB on-campus.  I know for a fact that he tried to get a worker (who makes barely more than minimum wage) at the golf course fired, simply because the worker did his job.  This worker was a good worker, who loved his job and I never heard him complain!  NO, and I mean no golf carts are allowed out in the parking lot, and when the worker politely informed Gary of this, Gary's response was:  "Do you know who the f#ck I am?"   Sorry Gary, but the rules apply to you also!  

I have an idea that might make everyone happy. How about we make up a thread and call it why I hate Gary Williams. We use that one to complain about how bad the team is and who is to blame, and we use the rest of them for civil conversation about the current team, coaches, and what they may be able to do today and moving forward to play better and get back to where we all expect them to be in the near future? 

81..it's funny how you want to wash your hands of all the damage Gary did after the NC run.  You took absolutely no responsibility for his lazy, arrogant a@s. You even fully supported his mediocrity, as you continue to do now with excuses.  Excuses are losers and bums. With that said, I am confident that Coach T. will fix Gary's mess..no excuses allowed.

Ok one thing that's bugging me now is this:

VA: not even close to an ACC powerhouse over the last decade...now they are nationally ranked'\

FL State...see above, just butt-f&$^ed NC/Duke...will be ranked

NC State..also with a new coach..now 4-1 in ACC...possibly to be ranked soon

So we now have 5 NCAA tourney teams in the ACC as of now, and you see where I'm going with this. We need that 6th team lol. Oh did GW really use the "do u know who i am" card? Is that verified information. Wow Lmao.