Maryland Basketball: If You Can't Go To College, Hire Sidney Lowe!

Maryland Terrapins (18-7, 4-6 ACC) at
NC State Wolfpack (13-10, 3-7 ACC)
RBC Center – Raleigh, NC

So the easiest question to ask, and the hardest to answer, is why can’t the Terps play like that every night? In the immortal words of Michael Wilbon, that was a BEAT DOWN! It’s great when the Terps can pile on to the misery of someone else’s season instead of the other way around. That game alone should send Ratface scrambling out the side exit of his dump in Durham with another phony back injury.

I know there’s the widely held theory that Maryland only plays like that against Duke because they only get up for Duke. But that just can’t be true. Maryland plays 14 other ACC games each year and you know that the players are too proud to mail in 14 conference games. I buy the fact they always play harder against Duke, and that they’ll mail in some games, but not all of them.

The answer to that first question over the long term is hard to find. Gary’s teams have always had a history of playing up to better teams and playing down to lesser teams. But you would have to consider Duke a good team this year (which they aren’t) in order for that case to be made.

Here are the reasons the Terps looked so impressive against Duke this season. One, Duke is not good. It’s even hard to call them mediocre this season. Everyone, even myself, has been overrating this team from day one. Yes, I haven’t overrated Duke like most. But even I gave Ratface credit that he would at least produce an above average squad. That appears to be credit undeserving for the time being. Two, Maryland does tend to play a bit harder against Duke than anyone else, especially because of the crowd intensity for that game. Three, Maryland matches up well against this particular Duke outfit.

Much has been made about Maryland’s zone pressure defense. This season, for the most part, it has been a complete bust. But that’s not because of execution. It’s because Maryland uses it at the wrong time against wrong teams. I’m not sure which member of the coaching staff thought pressing Virginia, with Sean Singletary running point, was a great idea when the Terps were already down a handful of baskets. However, pressing Duke and Greg the Human Turnover Machine makes sense. Duke doesn’t have the athletes to beat Maryland’s press. And the Terps made them pay. By the time Duke got settled in their offense, which basically revolves around getting it inside to McRoberts (assuming he isn’t on the bench crying), they were down 14 points and it was the second half.

So now the inevitable second question: which Maryland team shows up tomorrow? All it takes is a quick look at the ACC standings to see that NC State is not very good (more on that in a moment). This game isn’t going to receive much fanfare outside of the two fanbases, and isn’t important on the national level. Maryland will be on the road following a win in their biggest home game of the season. Despite this game being important for Maryland, these are the games that the Terps usually don’t show up for.

NC State, contrary to my prediction, is not the worst team in the ACC. Wake Forest and Miami have that distinction. However, it’s not like the Wolfpack are lighting up the ACC standings either.

The season for NC State began well back in late March when they finally fired Herb Sendek, who had been collecting checks in Raleigh for more than a decade. NC State, looking at its great tradition of being ignored in the shadows cast by UNC and Duke, thought it could get any coach it wanted to replace Little Baldy. NCSU first targeted Rick Barnes and John Calipari. Both of them ignored the call. Then they tried to get Mike Montgomery back from the NBA. No go there. NC State thought it could pry away John Beilein from West Virginia. That didn’t work. Starting to get desperate, NC State contacted Ratface disciple Mike Brey. He laughed at them. April turned to May, and NC State still had no one interested in the job. The Wolfpack, realizing they aimed WAY too high, started putting out calls to just about every able body in the country. No name was too great or too insignificant. If you could spell the word “coach”, the Wolfpack wanted to talk to you (since most of their undergrads can’t). In fact, I actually turned the job down twice. I’m still holding out for the Wake Forest job which will probably be open next season.

Finally, two months later, the national search ended. Someone answered the call! The Wolfpack finally landed Sidney Lowe. Lowe, a former Wolfpack player (but not a graduate…it must be that extremely tough NCSU course load), had recently been helping Flip Saunders ruin the Detroit Pistons as an assistant coach. Before that, he bombed as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and then coached the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies to back to back 23-59 seasons. Alas, Sidney couldn’t keep up that blistering .280 winning percentage, and started his third season by going 0-8 before he bailed.

Now, as much as I made fun of Herb Sendek, and I made plenty of fun of him during his long time at NC State, he was, at the very least, a half decent coach. He made five NCAA tournaments. He produced some average players like kid punk Julius “Have Been Shot, Will Work For Food” Hodge. He somehow managed to con NC State to pay him for 10 seasons. But eventually, that 71-88 ACC record caught up to him. Those classy Wolfpack fans took one look at that number and ran him out of town, where he would be followed quickly by Sunglasses at Night Amato.

However, I assumed that when the slack jaw yokels who root for NC State ran Sendek out of town, it would be for a coach who…you know…could win. I mean, this program does have two national championships if anyone can remember back that far. They should have been able to get someone decent. They probably could have done much better than someone who possesses a career record of 79-228 (.257).

Anyway, Pack fans chase out Sendek, and bring in Sidney. Mean ‘Ol Herb is finally gone, so things are supposed to get better, right? Currently the Pack have a 13-10 record (3-7 in the ACC) while playing only the 90th toughest schedule in the nation and second easiest in the ACC. NC State, which made five straight tournaments under Sendek, including one just last season that produced a first round win, have regressed massively under savior Sidney Lowe.

Here’s the bizarre thing. Pack fans could not be more ecstatic over the results so far. They love this guy. This is a coach who has never come close to a winning record in the NBA, a coach who probably won’t come close to a winning ACC record, and they absolutely love him. What am I missing here? Sure the win over UNC was nice. But take a look at the overall picture here. Was Sendek perfect? Far from it. But the Wolfpack have proved that they can’t do any better. Yet the fans don’t seem to realize this. I guess that’s why they say “If you can’t go to college, go to State.”

As for this game…NC State is awful. Like Duke, they play seven guys. Unlike Duke, most of those seven can’t pass for even mediocre ACC players. You’ve never heard of most of these dudes. Engin Atsur, who appears to be in his eighth year of eligibility, is the only one you may recognize. He’s been playing with several lower body injuries and is nowhere near the talent that Sendek though he would be back in 1998 when he was a freshman. Gavin Grant is a poor man’s Hodge. He’s OK, and that might be stretching it. Brandon Costner seems to be a decent freshman, but his stats are inflated because he plays nearly every minute of every game. In fact, NC State possesses four players in the top eight of minutes played per game in the ACC. Not because those players are any good, but because they have no one else.

Yeah, I know I said I would never pick Maryland on the road again, even going as far as picking Wake to beat them. But c’mon, if they can’t beat State, then I probably shouldn’t put so much time and energy into writing posts about a team that would be 4-7. For many of you who stop by here, maybe that would be a good thing.

Maryland 71
NC State 64

Elsewhere in the ACC…

After correctly picking Maryland and skipping the other weekend conflicts due to illness, the record is slightly bumped to 36-15. And away we go.

TUESDAY
Georgia Tech at Florida State
It looks as if the hammer comes down on Paul Hewitt in Tallahassee. This is where the Bees lose their aspirations for a NCAA bid.
Pick: Florida State 87, Georgia Tech 73

Virginia Tech at North Carolina
You think ‘Ol Roy has been smarting from that previous loss to VPI? I know he has. That’s all he’s been talking about since it happened. I said at the beginning of the season that there was no way I was going to pick against Carolina at home, and despite an impressive Hokies performance this past weekend, I see no reason to change that policy here.
Pick: North Carolina 88, Virginia Tech 79

WEDNESDAY
Clemson at Wake Forest
The Tigers managed to save their season by winning at home against FSU last week. Here’s another game they HAVE to have with games against Duke, UNC and Maryland still looming.
Pick: Clemson 76, Wake Forest 60

Duke at Boston College
Five in row? I don’t see why not! KICK ‘EM WHEN THEY’RE DOWN! KICK ‘EM WHEN THEY’RE DOWN!
Pick: Boston College 74, Duke 66