Pulling rank: Terps rout Spartans in Old Spice

I hope they can do the same to Gonzaga today. Arguably a better opponent. Is it just me or it seems we seem to end up playing Gonzaga almost ever year somehow? We are in a tourney in Maui next year with them as well.

Fear the Turtle !!

Updated Vasquez stats:

horrible shot selections--4
actual turnovers--3
times lost man on defense---9
times that man scored--3
times he didn't box out--7

Overall, a hell of an effort.

Mosely is a Godsend.

great effort last night. WELL COACHED. excellent in the half court offense. mosley reminds me of byron mouton. does all the little things.

....take THAT, Gary haters.

I just started to wear my red Terps cap 3 or 4 days ago. Looks like it out for the season. Great game, great win. Way to go Terps. Good luck tonight. I'll be watching by myself, because I am impossible to watch a Terps basketball game with.

Amen Buck.

I've sat on this board and defended him again and again. Said that he's earned the right to stay thru any rough patch UMD may have. Those anti-Gary posters are nowhere to be found. Not surprising in the least. Heaven help us if MD wins this whole tourny.

Go Terps.

I was as surprised as anyone watching except for guys on the bench as GW shuttled talented players in and out on a mission to be a top 25 team. I thought Gottleib on ESPN had a nerve saying they beat an injured team. Yes Suton was out but Morgan played lousy and that may be in part because the Terps played well. OK done with the gripes. Sports reporters are just bench jockeys w/o a uniform. And to think guys like Vitale are in the Hall of Shame errr Fame.

Got off the subject. Vasquez? Still a ? in my mind. They go ga-ga over him and he makes a shot and messes up a pass. But I was glad he didn't pull out all the stops and act too recklessly. Give GW credit for making Eric point where he'll be all year. I still think Mosley should gradually be given more time.

Neal: looks like he lost a few pounds and added poise to a team that looked nothing like the guys who played for the previous two seasons.

Milbourne, DuPree played with hustle and guts. Let them talk all about Suton they want. These guys outplayed a smug Tom Izzo who I'm sure was looking forward to the semi against the
ranked Zags.

GW kept things in perspective, but it would be what's slightly less than great, real good if they keep this up. I expected to see errant throws, panicky dribbling, poor shot selection and terrible rebounding. Maybe the team relied too much on Gist last year so no one else really developed maturity.

I think the game was over in retrospect when the team regained the lead early in the second half.

Is this the same team that upsets a NC or a Duke barely edges a Vermont and then kills State? They may or may not make it all the way tot he Sweet 16 but they had one hell of a game last night. I still can't believe how well they played. The passing, rebounding, shooting from the arc, fast breaks give and go screens hustle: good job GW.

The only poor thing in the very tenacious defense was the free shots Michigan got from the top of the key. Still all in all I hope this team comes back against the Zags. Win, lose or draw they're a good team.

Joe Mess East BMore wrote:

Fear the Turtle !!
Updated Vasquez stats:
horrible shot selections--4
actual turnovers--3
times lost man on defense---9
times that man scored--3
times he didn't box out--7
Overall, a hell of an effort.
Mosely is a Godsend.

You forgot
35 minutes
5 of 6 from the line(yea it matters,, ask MSU)
6 assists
4 rebounds
2 blocks
17 points

Couldn't find a way to stop the hating even on Thanksgiving huh?

Where is anti-Gary this morning??

Shell shocked, along with MSU!!

Great win for the Terps but...Vasquez leading the team in rebounds? All of Maryland opponents thus far have fewer RPG than MD, Gonzaga is the first team that is going to out-rebound Gary's boys. We'll see how it goes.

That victory over MSU last night was even sweeter than the pecan pie I enjoyed after the Thanksgiving meal yesterday. What a treat! Also nice to get a "quality" win on our resume so early in the year. Could Gary be on a mission?

Go Terps and beat the Zags!

1 in the Win column wrote:

I was as surprised as anyone watching except for guys on the bench as GW shuttled talented players in and out on a mission to be a top 25 team. I thought Gottleib on ESPN had a nerve saying they beat an injured team. Yes Suton was out but Morgan played lousy and that may be in part because the Terps played well. OK done with the gripes. Sports reporters are just bench jockeys w/o a uniform. And to think guys like Vitale are in the Hall of Shame errr Fame.
Got off the subject. Vasquez? Still a ? in my mind. They go ga-ga over him and he makes a shot and messes up a pass. But I was glad he didn't pull out all the stops and act too recklessly. Give GW credit for making Eric point where he'll be all year. I still think Mosley should gradually be given more time.
Neal: looks like he lost a few pounds and added poise to a team that looked nothing like the guys who played for the previous two seasons.
Milbourne, DuPree played with hustle and guts. Let them talk all about Suton they want. These guys outplayed a smug Tom Izzo who I'm sure was looking forward to the semi against the
ranked Zags.
GW kept things in perspective, but it would be what's slightly less than great, real good if they keep this up. I expected to see errant throws, panicky dribbling, poor shot selection and terrible rebounding. Maybe the team relied too much on Gist last year so no one else really developed maturity.
I think the game was over in retrospect when the team regained the lead early in the second half.
Is this the same team that upsets a NC or a Duke barely edges a Vermont and then kills State? They may or may not make it all the way tot he Sweet 16 but they had one hell of a game last night. I still can't believe how well they played. The passing, rebounding, shooting from the arc, fast breaks give and go screens hustle: good job GW.
The only poor thing in the very tenacious defense was the free shots Michigan got from the top of the key. Still all in all I hope this team comes back against the Zags. Win, lose or draw they're a good team.

Suton was averaging 6.5 pts and 6 rebounds a game against two cupcakes.
Listening to the ESPN crew you would have thought they were missing Kareem,Walton and Ewing rolled into one.

Way to Go TERPS!!! Gary is always good for working magic when you least expect it!!! Let's keep up the good work and make it to the NCAA Tournament in March!

This really was a sweet win. During the post-game interview Gary's voice sounded like an adolescent after his first kiss. He did a great job keeping the team's head together after they early second half lead reversed. I can remember teams with better talent folding after blowing the lead in the second half.

And like RWS said, when i saw Suton's stats I scratched my head. This was the Savior? I wonder if the Yankees freaked when Wally Pipp went down.

Can't extrapolate too much from one win, but after the Vermont game the "never say die" mantra seems to be applicable to this year's model.

This was a huge win! Looking back, the Terps are actually playing better the start of this year, then at a similar time last year. No one..NO ONE i know expected a win yesterday(and many were predicting we would go 0-3 this weekend)! Not ready to annoint us National Champs, but the guys played with heart and their defense(as its been so far this season was excellent). If we can just keep up the defensive effort until we get some kind of consistent scoring, this season may not be the disaster so many have predicted. GO TERPS!

Before this season started, I felt this team was loaded with talent and very athletic. Other than Bowie, who's listed at 6'2", every player is 6'4" to 6'9", so eventhough they don't have big men, they're still tall overall and VERY athletic. Should be an interesting team. Mosely was outstanding for a freshman!

Fine job by Gary. Example -- When GV forced 2 shots in a row at the end of the 1st half, Gary quietly took him out, didn't make a scene, then put him back in 30 seconds later. GV was nearly flawless the rest of the game. I think everyone here agrees that he sometimes tries to do much, but at least he is not one of those players that disappears. Like him or not, he puts a ton of pressure on opposing defenses. Everyone talks about how selfish he is, but no one talks about the 3 drives in the 2nd half where he delivered bounce passes for uncontested layups. As more players step up, he will gain more confidence in them -- as he did the 2nd half.

Also, in addition to the comments above about everyone's good play, did anyone else notice that Hayes seemed 10 times quicker and stronger with the ball than last year? He made 3 shots in the lane after dribble-drives in traffic that he would have never made last year. Quick on D also. Maybe that ankle injury wasn't over-played. I'm not sure who is more improved, Hayes or Bowie.

And I forgot -- Gary also stuck with Mosley after a shaky start, and he delivered big time in the 2nd half. For those who didn't see the game, the stat sheet doesn't tell the story about his impact in the 2nd half -- he was all over the place, but in a controlled way. It is easy to tell that he has a natural feel for the game. I agree with the comparison to Mouton, but for those of you old enough to remember, how about Johnny Rhoades? I loved both of those guys.

Buck wrote:

WHERE IS ANTI-GARY THIS MORNING??

I know that you didn't think I would go hiding after Maryland won a game. Not one to run away from pressure, especially away from all of you Gary backers. Like I have said before, this team is not a D_1 power like it should be. These players are average. You heard the announcers saying Neal was a YMCA player. That proves one of my points right there. They had an ok game. They should have. The program has been on the decline for the last five years. OK, they beat a so called top ten team. Win today against Gonzaga and I might give them a bid to the NIT. Talk to me tomorrow and we'll debate on whether they are average or below average!