Melanie Balcomb, Vanderbilt's head coach, told her players before Saturday's game that "Maryland wants to play UConn in the Final Four, but that we want to play Maryland today". It was a subtle message to her team that Maryland was overlooking them. The Maryland Terps have higher aspirations than reaching the Sweet 16 or Elite 8. And they should.
They've done that 3 of the last 4 years. These Terps have two seniors that won the national title as freshman. Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman know what it takes to win. They should also know that they can't overlook any team at this point of the tournament. Only a stellar effort from Marissa Coleman allowed Maryland to survive and advance last Saturday. Maryland can not afford to spot Louisville 18 points tonight and expect to win. As good as Vanderbilt was defensively, Louisville is better. What Jennifer Risper lacked in size, Angel McCoughtry has. McCoughtry might be a better overall defender than Risper and Risper gave Maryland fits until she got in foul trouble.
Louisville's coach, Jeff Walz, is a former Maryland assistant. This may not help him much in developing a game plan because only two players remain from his tenure in College Park. Toliver and Coleman must play well in order for Maryland to win. The supporting cast must play better than it did against Vanderbilt.
Lynetta Kizer needs to play like she's 6'-4" which means she needs to dominate the paint. Dee Liles needs to defend and rebound. Kim Rodgers and Marah Strickland need to make shots. Brenda Frese needs to make her team realize that the most important game is the next game.
Maryland may or may not have the personnel necessary to defeat UConn, but it won't matter if they can't beat Louisville. If they can take it one step at a time and realize that the next game is the 4th step in a 6 step process they may get a chance to make history.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Lady Terps Take on Louisville in March to the Arch
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Agent Zero Ready for Return
The Washington Wizards' $111 million dollar, two time all star guard Gilbert Arenas appears to be near a return to the court. Arenas has indicated that he will make his season debut Saturday night in a home game against Detroit. The question I have is, why now? There are only ten games left in the season for the Wizards. They stand a very good chance of landing the number one pick in this spring's NBA draft lottery and with that the opportunity to draft Blake Griffin of the University of Oklahoma. Arenas' presence might rejuvenate the Wizards, propel them to a few more wins and adversely affect their draft position.
There is of course no guarantee that the worse record in the NBA will yield the top pick in the 2009 NBA draft. The Wizards were perennial lottery participants throughout the '90's and the first two years of this decade, but only won the top pick once (2001). That proved to be a bad year to get lucky. The Wizards selected Kwame Brown who has turned out to be the worst number one draft pick this side of LaRue Martin. I like the Wizards chances this time around and feel confident that General Manager Ernie Grunfeld will get it right and select Griffin should he decide to leave school early. Griffin is exactly the type of player the Wizards need. He will provide a low post presence, runs the floor well and is a rebounding machine. A line-up consisting of a healthy Arenas, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Blake Griffin and Brendan Haywood could compete with any team in the eastern conference.
This brings me back to why Arenas is returning now. If he is totally healthy, he should play. If he is not, he shouldn't. Arenas needs to show that he can still play at a high level. The Wizards need to know that they made a wise investment when they re-signed him. From that stand point it makes sense for Arenas to play. However, as much as I enjoy seeing Arenas at his best I'd rather see the Wizards get the top draft pick this year. Mr. Grunfeld if you are listening, keep Agent Zero on ice this season, come back with a new slogan next year (we owe you one) and pray nobody else gets injured.
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