Some Thoughts, Post Nova
I just wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the Villanova game. I don’t have the stats in front of me so I’m not going to get too indepth, but I will say that I was as pleased as can be for a Maryland loss. Don’t get me wrong, I was pretty grumpy and unapproachable during the game, but now that the dust has settled, I feel much better.
It isn’t good to ever lose, that is a problem Gary Williams is going to have to deal with from his fan base, but in our defense he did set the bar high when he took Maryland to back to back Final Fours. But all things considered, I think a lot more good came out of the Villanova game than bad. First of all, if Villanova wasn’t red hot from behind the arc, I think that game would of had a much different outcome. Of course you could counter with our crappy perimeter defense, but I’m choosing to give Villanova the credit on that one.
So all things considered we hung in pretty tight. From where I was sitting, it seemed to me we fell behind by 10 really early and then played Villanova even for the rest of the night. Again, we aren’t supposed to be happy with a loss, but Villanova had plenty of chances to put the knife in the Terps and every time, Maryland seemed to find a way to stick around. There were even a few minutes in the 2nd half were I thought this was going to be a classic, stick around and pull it out at the end. Of course that wasn’t meant to be, but from 36 consecutive minutes we stood toe to toe with the #4 team in the nation.
Now you may say that we were at home for this one and therefore should have done better, but I don’t consider the MCI Center or Verizon Center, or whatever it is called now (As you can see I’m neither a Caps or Wizards fan) our home. In fact, if my memory serves me correct, we seem to play worse in DC. I can’t prove that now, but I’m willing to wager we play a heck of a lot better in Comcast, so calling that a home game doesn’t make sense for me. Did we have an advantage, sure, but not as much as we could of had.
Also I think everyone on our roster played really well. Hayes was great, Mosley was awesome, and Jordan Williams showed what he can be for us. The only player who really struggled was Greivis, and we all know when he isn’t on, we are not firing on all cylinders.
So overall, it sucks we lost. A win over Villanova would have been a pretty big feather in our NCAA cap, but all things considered, I like how we played a lot better than how we looked in Hawaii. So hopefully during this lull in the action, the Terps don’t hang their head too much. ACC play starts soon enough, and you want to be on your game when that happens, and for now I think we are heading in that direction.
Extra Droppings:
There may be news out now, but from the last I heard before typing there is no time table for an EJ Henderson return to the field. I think it is safe to say that if there was, it won’t be in the 2009 season. I for one feel terrible. I don’t believe in jinx’s but I do find it funny that as soon as I put something great about VD up, the Karma God’s almost seemed like they had to even it out. EJ will always be one of my favorite Terps, and despite what some say, I really do hope he can resume his career. Hang in ther EJ.
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