It’s taken me the past seven days, but I’ve finally put myself back together. Oh my God, what a week, and what a team. I think I was just so happy for Gary and for this senior class who have endured so much more crap than they every deserved. And to see all the big plays those guys made down the stretch of each game: Gist with a crucial block on a UNC layup; Ibekwe doing his Reggie Miller impression at the free throw line; Vasquez hitting two huge threes before half at Cameron then giving the Crazies a little shimmy; D.J. closing out the game when it mattered… just awesome.

I started crying and laughing at the same time during the final two minutes (in both the Carolina and Duke games) every time Maryland made a play. It just made me so incredibly happy, that this team was FINALLY performing up to and exceeding expectations. [Editor’s note: if this doesn’t make any sense, please don’t blame us. It took us about 45 minutes to try and decode DiIonno’s rambling and after that we just gave up.]

I made the mistake of claiming that after the first Duke game, our season was complete. I was wrong. Maryland’s season is far from over. Honestly, I’m not putting anything out of their reach now. A four game run to the ACC title? Doable. Trip to the Final Four? Whatever. For the first time in what seems like an eternity, I believe that anything is possible with this team. 

Trust me, much more on this team as we go on. For now, on to the annual ACC Oscars:

The Barry Sanders award for a huge amount of talent wasted on a mediocre team goes to…

Congratulations, Al Thornton. The collective talent on this Florida State team minus Thornton is a solid D-. With Thornton, Florida State was just good enough to make a push at a NCAA tournament spot that looks like its going to fall short, but no fault of Big Al’s. Thornton has it. He has that ability to generate the “buzz of fear” in opposing stadiums (the whispers students make to each other during shoot around when they identify an All ACC player). He puts up 28/15 like it’s nothing (and he’ doesn’t even look like a power forward!). He’s quick enough to take big guys off the dribble, and strong enough to post up smaller players. If you lookup “match up nightmare” in the dictionary, you’ll see a picture of Al Thornton. Trust me, I bet more than one team throws a little party after this season celebrating the fact that they’ll never have to play against him again.

You know the funny thing about Thornton? Since no one in the NBA watches college basketball, Thornton will probably go 20 spots later than he should in the NBA draft, to a title contender at the end of the first round, make an instant impact in his rookie year, and we’ll spend all of next spring wondering why so many teams passed on a guy making a difference in the NBA Finals. If teams like the Suns or the Spurs pick this kid up? God, he’ll be like the next Josh Howard. Just remember you heard it hear first.

The John Shaft Award for being a constant badass goes to…

Jared Dudley. In the recent remake of the movie with Samuel L. Jackson, there’s a great scene where Shaft walks up to a neighborhood drug dealer and just starts pistol-whipping him across the face. Every time I see Jared Dudley play, he reminds me of that scene. No nonsense, no fooling around, you mess with me; I’ll just pummel you into the ground. Example: when BC visited Duke, the Crazies started getting on Dudley’s case, so Dudley comes down, takes McRoberts off the dribble, gets a bucket and the foul, then proceeds to give the greatest glare in the history of sports to the crowd daring them to say something to him. After that, you could hear a pin drop in Cameron. Just an unforgettable moment. 

Hats off to Dudley too, who just like Thornton, had to carry a depleted Boston College team for much of the season – and whose aggressive style was hampered by the loss of Sean Williams earlier this season. I really didn’t expect BC to still be hanging around after Williams got the boot, but the fact that they still finished in the top four in the conference is a testament to how awesome Dudley is.

The Billy Packer award for most idiotic statement(s) goes to…

Pessimistic Maryland sportswriters and fans like yours truly. I was wrong about Gary Williams. Dead wrong. Of course it’s easier to admit that now, when things are going well. If I were a real man, I would’ve supported Gary when things were going rough. But no, I was a coward. I dared doubt the man who revived the Maryland basketball program, who brought us our first Final Four appearances and subsequent National title. Only three years ago, he led us to the ACC title and I have the nerve to tell him that he can’t coach.

Now that my head isn’t filled with all this negative propaganda, it’s easy to see why Maryland missed the past two NCAA tournaments, and it didn’t have anything to do with coaching. In 04-05, Strawberry (the 6^th man, motivational defensive player, glue of the team) went down with a season ending ACL tear. If he had stayed healthy, no doubt in my mind we win at least 23 games. In 05-06, we didn’t have a point guard. The plan originally was that Gilchrist would still be in school during that season, so we never recruited one. The whole year we had to use Strawberry, Ledbetter and Brown at the point. So we missed two NCAA tournaments. Everyone goes through rebuilding years. Maryland had there’s and I see no reason why Maryland basketball won’t be competitive for the next three-four years.

The J.J. Redick award for most hated player goes to…

Uh… I have no idea. Was anyone even nominated in this category? Wait how is this possible? Carolina and Duke have both been ranked in the top 25 the entire season and there isn’t one player on either team that I absolutely despise? This doesn’t make any sense. I refuse to believe that I got nothing. If this was the “Julius Hodge award to the player you wouldn’t feel sorry for if he got punched in the nuts”, I’d have to give it to Duke guard Jon Scheyer, but I’m not at the point where I utterly despise him… yet. We might come back to this.

The Fast Eddie Felson Award for most long awaited comeback…

During the 1981 NFC Championship game, there’s a fantastic moment when late in the third quarter, Harvey Martin sacked Joe Montana and he said, “Don't worry, I will be back.” Montana got up, looked at him and said, “Good, I was beginning to think you weren’t here today.”

For the last couple years I was beginning to think that the Virginia Cavaliers weren’t here anymore. They haven’t been truly competitive since the 2001-02 season, and the ACC has missed them. It’s easy for fans to say, “Yeah, we’re glad you guys stink, I hope you stay on the bottom,” but really the ACC just isn’t as much fun without Virginia being competitive. Sure I was pissed when they swept Maryland this year, but at least we have our rivals back.

So welcome back UVA… you dogs.

The Ben Wallace Awa…

Don’t even bother finishing that sentence. The answer is Bambale “BOOM” Osby. Possibly my favorite Maryland player not named Strawberry this season, if only for the remarkable untamed Afro. How awesome would it be if an option for Terrapin Club donations were to buy Boom a headband? Why can’t he be a freshman? If he deflates a ball during the middle of a game or hits a cheerleader in the face with the ball by blocking a shot, he’ll instantly shoot into my top five Maryland players of all time. Honestly, he won’t finish out of my top 10, and if he has an awesome year next year, he could move up to number two. Of course he’ll never touch Bryon Mouton, but still… 

The Houston Oilers Award for biggest collapse of the season…

Dear Clemson,

What happened? Is this a misprint that you started the season 17-0? Is the ACC that good that you’re only 4-9 since then? Look we really want you in this tournament. Your players need it. Your fans need it. But right now, we can’t justify it. We understand that you play in the best conference in the country, but how can we take you over Providence or Villanova if you don’t finish better than 7-9? We want you to know that we’re pulling for you in these next couple of games and in the ACC tournament. Best of luck to you.

Sincerely,

The NCAA Selection Committee

The Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon award for greatest chemistry on one team goes to…

Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes. Reason #324 that Gary Williams is smarter than us: He recruits not one, but two excellent point guards with completely different playing styles that fit his current team like a glove. You want to play up-tempo and push? Play Vasquez. Need to settle down in the halfcourt and run your offense? Play Hayes. Want to drive the defense nuts? Play them both at the same time.

Also, anyone who is surprised by how well Hayes and Vasquez play with each other with less than a year under their belt hasn't been paying attention. They both played on the same AAU team and are now roommates in college. I'm pretty sure by the middle of next year they'll develop telepathy. Oh, and they're going to be here for the next three years.  

The Joseph Forte award for player who would be hurt the most by declaring for the draft goes to…

I have to say either of Georgia Tech’s young studs Javaris Crittenton or Thaddeus Young. Those two have grown up the most out of any freshmen I’ve watched this year. They’re playing like sophomores at this point in the season and its no surprise that Tech is surging as a result of it. However, scouts are predicting that both would go in the first round if they declared and may even be lottery picks, but one good half of a season doesn’t mean you’re ready to play with the big boys. Young and Crittenton need to stay, develop their game and grow into their bodies before they test the NBA waters. Leaving early would just be a critical mistake.

On the flip side, the team that could be hurt the most by having players leave for the draft would have to be North Carolina. What happens if Lawson, Wright, and Hansbrough all leave for the draft? Did you know that North Carolina has ZERO recruits coming in next year? If they lose all three of those guys, they’ll struggle to find players to fill those roster spots, since players are already signing their Letters of Intent for next season. Watch out for this, because North Carolina could desperately use some leadership on the court and they’re not going to get it by consistently bringing in McDonald’s All-Americans who play one year and then bolt. Of course if everyone stays, the Tar Heels will be the most loaded team in the country, but that’s beside the point.

The J.J. Redick Award for most hated player goes to…

Ok I so I still got nothing, can we just give it to Redick again?

The Mike Tyson award for most blatant cheap shot goes to…

Just the other day, a buddy an I were discussing the various types of annoying players that have donned the Blue Devil uniform in the past decade, and the thug of all thugs Dahntay Jones was brought up. We then actually made the mistake of saying that since Jones had left, there hadn’t been a player at Duke that would classify as a “thug”. Well not anymore. In the proud footsteps of Jones and Sean Dockery, the Duke Blue Devils give you Gerald Henderson! Anyone who tries to argue that Henderson’s elbow to Hansbrough’s nose wasn’t intentional is either blind or a Dukie, plain and simple. The fact that he’s only getting a one game suspension for his actions is equally ridiculous. 

Let me also say this: Billy Packer is the worst announcer in the history of sports. His blind conviction of saying that Henderson’s elbow against Tyler Hansbrough was an accident after not even seeing a reply was almost as ridiculous has Packer trying to defend himself after every replay showed that Henderson went up in the air with his elbow cocked and knew where he was swinging. Of course, you would thing that Packer would have learned his lesson to not make such bold statements without reviewing the facts first after George Mason’s Final Four run last year (Packer blasted NCAA Selection chairman Craig Littlepage on Selection Sunday last year for giving Mason an at large bid), but it doesn’t look like it.

The Dwayne Wade Award for carrying a team on his back goes to…

Mike Jones and D.J. Strawberry deserve their own paragraph. Seriously. The last six minutes of the Carolina game was a thing of beauty. After Jones through the ball away with 6:03 remaining and Carolina broke out on a fast break for what looked like an easy deuce, I thought we were doomed.

But then as fate would have it, Frasor blows the layup, and Jones comes right back and nails a three. Five point swing and huge momentum switch. After that, Jones and Strawberry just had that look in their face. The “try as hard as you want, there is no $*%^@&$ way you’re walking out of here with a win” look. I think they even willed in every one of Ibekwe’s free throws in the final minutes.

Sure they’ve both suffered through consistency problems their entire career, but that doesn’t matter now. Gary Williams said that it has taken three years for Mike Jones to become a complete player and now we’re seeing the benefits of that development. He’s turned into a deadly three point shooter who picks his spots, knows how to roll off screens and shoot and has developed a nasty floater. Jones has always had a knack for making great passes (especially as a shooting guard) but now he’s really limiting the turnovers and making great decisions with the ball.

And D.J… God, what can you say about him? I always maintained the belief that he could develop into the same type of player that Dixon became by his senior year – and he would’ve too if he didn’t tear is ACL in his sophomore year. I think that’s why we’re just starting to see this turn, in the second half of his senior year, to being the complete player I always thought he could be. The kid has always gotten after it defensively, but his ability to get in the paint and score along with his much improved outside shooting touch has lifted this team over the past three weeks. His leadership and intensity have fueled the team’s new “refuse to lose” attitude. I just hope there is a championship of sorts waiting at the end of the road for two players who have worked their tail off to get to where they are now.

My top three favorite Jones/Strawberry moments at Maryland (in no particular order):

1. The Duke/North Carolina games this past week
2. Jones hitting a three late in the ACC Championship game against Duke in 2004 to close the gap to three.
3. Strawberry learning how to play point, as a freshman against #1 Florida on the road in December ’03.

I would give anything to be able to watch Jones and Strawberry for the next four years. But instead I’ll have to settle for the next four weeks.