Terps Rise To The Occasion Upend Wake

3/13/2009 7:12:22 PM What a performance!  Tonight we saw the two "G's", Gary and Greivis at their absolute apex.  Greivis was sublime.  The team hummed with him in the game.  Total up his assists and his points (some of his assists led to threes) and he accounted for about 45 of the Terps 75 points.  Take away our FTs, and Greivis was involved in just about every basket that Maryland scored from the field. In short, Greivis turned in a John Gilchrist-esque Tournament performance.

As for Gary Williams, he took Dino Gaudio to school.  I'm sorry, but no coach with a team as talented as Wake should ever lose to a team as undermanned as Maryland, let alone lose by double digits.  Wake played unbelievably dumb.  Not all of that is Gaudio's fault; but coach gets an F-minus for that performance. Aminu and Johnson are absolute physical beasts and and yet neither showed a lick of court sense.

On the other hand, Gary pushed all the right buttons.  He even peppered in a little Braxton Dupree to steal some minutes.  In what was ultimately THE most important game in a season of important games; Gary had the troops ready and in the right frame of mind.

And how about the fans?  Was I the only one who heard "Let's Go Maryland" or "Gary, Gary" chants in the cavernous Georgia Dome?  Terp fans deserve this one.  No matter what happens from here on out; this is a moment to savor.  It has been a tough season to be sure; but just like Andy Dufresne in "Shawshank"; the Terps have come out clean on the other end.

Unfortunately, one question remains.  Is it enough?  Have they earned a bid? OK that is two question, but I think the answer is "yes" to both (with some qualifiers). There are some teams still left in their respective conference tournaments who could spoil the party should they win a conference title.  Teams like Temple and Baylor come to mind.

Of course, the Terps can remove all doubt by winning tomorrow (and dare I say, Sunday?).  As I write; Duke is beating BC.  I suppose BC would be an easier win for us; but we HAVE to play Duke don't we?  Doesn't it always come down to Duke for Terp fans?

Should it come to pass, it will take a Herculean effort to beat Duke tomorrow. But these Terps can do it.  They can do it precisely because no one believes in them.  Every time an announcers chuckles at Dave Neal or drones on incessantly about how MD can't rebound; the team seems to dig deeper and find a way.

The whole world wants to see Duke - Carolina in the Final.  Let's see if the Terps can throw a little fly in ointment.
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