Weren't there moments not that long ago when it seemed like theywere all headed for the NCAA tournament? Maryland, the torch bearerof local college basketball for more than a decade, would be shippedoff to its 12th straight first round. George Washington, the giant-killer that defeated the Terps and Michigan State in early December,would be in one nook and cranny of the country. Upstart Georgetownwould be in another, trying to prolong John Thompson III's surprisinginaugural season.
Just a minute ago, wasn't Gary Williams's club knocking off Duke,GW cracking the top 25 and Georgetown becoming the feel-good story ofthe season?
Today, it's almost NIT or bust, baby.
Terps vs. Hoyas, first round at the Comcast Center. Be there.
Maybe one will advance to Madison Square Garden and theconsolation final four. From College Park to Georgetown, the studentbody should be running around, yelling, 'We're Number 66!'
Really, the celebration of college basketball in this area isbeginning to ring hollow.
George Washington might need a decent week in the Atlantic 10tournament to make the NCAA tournament, and if not the Colonials canprobably fall back on their 19 wins.
But Maryland most likely needs to get by Clemson on Thursday, ateam the Terrapins have lost to twice already, and then NorthCarolina the next day. That's highly unlikely, maybe impossible. AndGeorgetown is done unless the Hoyas pull off a miracle at the Gardenduring the Big East tournament beginning Wednesday. They've lost fivestraight.
Some college hoops renaissance, huh?
Georgetown gets a major pass, because no one expected Thompson'steam to compete in the Big East. All that happened to the Hoyas wasthat they found their level. The Princeton offense can only hide somany flaws. With all due respect to Brandon Bowman and frosh JeffGreen, the team's talent level is among the big least in Division I.It's amazing the Hoyas got this far.
The Colonials fell off the map for a while, but that was to beexpected of Karl Hobbs's mostly young team. Players got a little tooexcited about their ranking and forgot that some A-10 teams couldstill play with them. Now that their heads are on straight, theColonials are on the rebound. But is it too late for their first NCAAbid since 1999?
Yet there is no excuse for what happened at Maryland, maybe thebiggest tease and disappointment of Williams's career.
Almost as disturbing seeing the body language of John Gilchrist'steammates toward the mercurial starting point guard near the end ofthe loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday that put the Terps' season onthe brink.
There is no easy way to say this, especially because you'redealing primarily with 18- to 22-year-olds: But the promise of a verygood team disintegrated each time Gilchrist dominated the ball andstopped trusting his teammates. In a year, Gilchrist somehow morphedfrom John Lennon into Yoko Ono; the leader of the band became thereason it broke up.
One of the great sporting events of the year comes to MCI Centeron Thursday, and the Terps probably won't make it to the weekend.Williams has complained over the years about the ACC tournament beingheld on Tobacco Road, thereby giving the Carolina teams a distincthome-court advantage. Now, the moment it comes to the Marylandcoach's backyard, you wonder if the hosts will even show at their ownparty.
How do you beat Duke twice and you can't beat Clemson or N.C.State once? And if you're Gilchrist, how do you go from enjoying thesignature moment of your career at last season's ACC tournament tobeing the leader of a mediocre team that has not won anything?
Gilchrist has said players are 'fighting things we can't evensee.' He said teammates, but not him, were 'dealing with personalissues that the media and fans do not know about.' What is he talkingabout? We have no idea. We only know for certain that Maryland andGilchrist have not been right since winning the ACC tournament lastseason, a triumph that Williams has got to believe was more cursethan blessing. Because that's when Gilchrist blew up, double-clutching, dribbling through nine other players until he made someincredible twisting layup that made him the MVP of a long, improbableweekend.
Every starter except Jamar Smith returned from that team. Therewere few reasons the Terps should not have been in top 10 contention,especially the way they knocked off Duke twice and nearly took outNorth Carolina, a likely No. 1 seed. The season-ending knee injury toD.J. Strawberry should not be minimized. He played defense and gothis hands in the passing lanes like no one else on that team.
But what a disappointing front court. Every time Travis Garrisonand Ekene Ibekwe appear on the verge of real development, they gobackward. Will Bowers improved, but not enough to pick up the slack.Nik Caner-Medley usually declared himself open after he crossed mid-court. He was more than a gun; you could actually see him begin tothink he belonged among some of the country's best offensive players.Yet when it mattered, he was usually like the rest, incapable ofmaking an important defensive stop.
The problem with winning the ACC tournament a year ago was, thisMaryland team always thought it could instantly resume being thatteam. In reality, the Terrapins got hot for one week last March, andthat become their identity more than their youth and inconsistency.Young and spotty is what they always were. Gilchrist had a tournamentlike Randolph Childress for Wake Forest in 1995. Like Childress, whohad two forgettable NBA seasons after college, Gilchrist has not beenthat player again.
In Maryland's loss to Virginia Tech, all the liabilities came tobear. Defensive lapses. Poor on-court chemistry. Gilchrist was at thecenter of the demise, flinging up shots near the end. He was adistraction -- almost a sideshow -- in a must-win game.
Maybe Gilchrist was right when he said earlier this season thatworrying about the NCAA tournament shouldn't be the biggest thing inthe world. Maybe kids playing college basketball should try to enjoythe game first and not treat it like a job.
Because when you view this maddening Maryland season throughGilchrist's prism, that's all you see: belaboring.
It's too bad. More than Georgetown or GW, the Terps really had themakings of something.
