OT / Should Gary Go?

**srobert96** · 03-09-2009, 01:11 PM

I can't believe people are blaming the fans and other students. During the Dixon years the campus was crazy about the games and even against the bad teams.

If Gary spent as much time recruiting as he does getting hammered and chasing skirts he would have some players to coach.

Bottom line is kids now a days don't want to play for an arrogant raving maniac.

**HoustonRaven** · 03-09-2009, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by srobert96

I can't believe people are blaming the fans and other students. During the Dixon years the campus was crazy about the games and even against the bad teams.

If Gary spent as much time recruiting as he does getting hammered and chasing skirts he would have some players to coach.

Bottom line is kids now a days don't want to play for an arrogant raving maniac.

Someone blamed the fans?

He "chases skirts"? That kind of accusation needs some proof.

**jefe96** · 03-09-2009, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by ScoNo

I agree with Rxdoxx and have witnessed exactly that at MD campus. MD has a lot of great fans, but the pressure is not as high when we play, say a Morgan State. The excitement & passion isn't as high. If you drag your nuckles around campus all week, that rolls over to the field.

I think Gary should be back next year, but definently needs to show improvement, maybe not win the tourney, but atleast be consistant and advance to the 16. If you beat a #2 then you shouldn't lose to Virginia, I can see losing to another ranked team, but it should atleast be competative.

I have to agree with this 100%. I'm not a Terp fan, but living in MD I watch some games on tv and of course read the newspapers, etc. about what's going on. My opinion is that in terms of basketball it always seems like the fanbase, and to some extent the coaching staff and players, place a huge amount of emphasis on 2, 3, or 4 games every season (depending on ACC schedule rotation). And those games would be against Duke and UNC. This is a fine attitude to have, but there are 9 other teams in the ACC that the Terps are also competing against. When Duke and UNC come to play at College Park that arena is loud and rocking, but what about the other games that they play there? I was watching another game they played against an ACC opponent (I want to say Ga Tech or Miami) and that place was quiet and peaceful. And quite a few empty seats. Not sure if the students were on break or not, but that's still no excuse.

It's great to beat UNC or Duke once a year or both in the same year, but would a record of 2-25 be better than a record of 25-2 both losses against UNC/Duke? I'm sure most people would take the latter, but in reality I'm not so sure with this fanbase. After the Terps beat UNC the entire fanbase was riding high. Now after losses to what some could describe as lesser teams, the talks of Gary must go are around again. The team needs to remember that there are more than 2 teams on the schedule every year. Beating Duke/UNC but losing to Ohio or Morgan St (no offense to either of those programs) is not something an elite college basketball program does. And for anyone who wants to say it's not only about UNC/Duke, it is. If it's not then why is the toughest ticket to get each year to either of those games?

Edit to say that during the Dixon years UMD was competitive against all teams in the ACC and non conference. Dixon & co. didn't lose to Ohio or Morgan. They beat Duke on a regular basis. Now it seems like people only care about getting that 1 huge win against the national power and don't care about getting consistent wins.

**Jeremiah W** · 03-09-2009, 01:34 PM

I love Gary and think he should stay. he needs to get better recruits and he deserves the hot seat, but getting rid of him is not the only or best option. To me the talent level is not that far off. I really think one or two good players could make them a top team, just with no big man the rest of guys are all out of position. Dave Neal would have made a great 6th man in the ACC, but when he is your go to guy and best rebounder...NIT.

They just need another Gist or Osby type big body, but if they can find another Baxter, or an actuall center, they have plenty of talent in the wing spots and a coach that can get it done when he has the players.

**Rochardrik** · 03-09-2009, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

Before I get ripped apart, I need to preface this by saying I am not a huge hops fan. I am a grad of UMD and followed the hoops team, but I admit I do not follow it until late season and pretty much never in the off season.

Now, looking at the past few seasons, I am beginning to think Gary needs to get the move on.

I have been on the fence for the past few seasons but it looks like we are NIT bound, after a season where is coaching talents have no been over-shadowed by his bickering with the assistant AD.

I hear arguments that Gary is like the Joe Pa of College Park, an untouchable who can have a job as long as he wants. Yes, Gary turned a crappy program around gave the school a championship. I love Gary for what he gave back, but there is a valid argument that he has plateaued and is not showing signs of any sort of future success.

Where am I wrong here?

You're not wrong. It's too late to undo the bad, or should I say, turn back the hands of time, and build on the winning of the national championship. The oppurtunity has been lost, squandered, frittered away, however you want to say it.
The recruitung SHOULD have been bolstered with the championship win. What DID happen, is that the caliber of recruit has diminished with each and
every consecutive season.
People say there is no better game day coach... If that's the case, then the recruiting is way below SUB-PAR... it's deplorable!!!!!
Oh, and I, for one, am sick of watching him scream at his bench, like a madman. It MUST be getting old for his players AND his staff!!!!

**Jeremiah W** · 03-09-2009, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by Rochardrik

You're not wrong. It's too late to undo the bad, or should I say, turn back the hands of time, and build on the winning of the national championship. The oppurtunity has been lost, squandered, frittered away, however you want to say it.
The recruitung SHOULD have been bolstered with the championship win. What DID happen, is that the caliber of recruit has diminished with each and
every consecutive season.
People say there is no better game day coach... If that's the case, then the recruiting is way below SUB-PAR... it's deplorable!!!!!
Oh, and I, for one, am sick of watching him scream at his bench, like a madman. It MUST be getting old for his players AND his staff!!!!

Even after back to back final 4s MD was not Duke and not UNC, and still had to deal with them getting better players, and them knocking us down or out every year. Take away the 1-3 record against them and the Terps are .500 and going dancing.

Not even Duke has the kind of big guys UNC does this year. I think MD and Gary is a lot closer to Duke in talent than it seems, but unless he can get the kind of calls K does or the knd of talent UNC does, MD is always going to be fighting to get in, and to stay on the top half of the ACC.

It is not like Gary built the progtram from the ground up or anything though. The NCAA tore it down for a while, but it was going to recover eventually with or without Gary, and eventually will be great again when Gary is gone, but I do not think he is done yet. One good big guy and he can win with the guys he has, as long as Hayes is on the bench most of the game.

**italianjoker** · 03-09-2009, 02:19 PM

ok, this is going to sound a bit retarded, but the guys that saw that last game against VA over the weekend can hopefully understand what i am saying. i was out all day and missed the game.

i have a friend or two inside the media and 1 of them was watching fights with us Friday night. he said that the MD players were absolutely pissed after that game in the lockerroom. when they were approached and asked about their feelings on the game and why they seemed a bit more pissed than usual they stated:

during the TO at the end of the game the players were in the huddle with Gary. Gary said "VA is coming out in zone" and then gave them a play. one of the guys said "coach, what if they come out in man, what do you want us to do?" Gary replied "they are coming out in zone, they are coming out in zone, just run the play, they will be in zone." when they came out, VA was in man and Vasquez basically tried to drive it in and lay it up.

someone who saw the game if this occurence rings a bell and you have corrections to what happened on the court, feel free. but the conversation in the huddle is what the players told the media in the lockerroom. nice.

Gary needs to go. he can not build a program. he can coach, i have no question, but he can not get players to coach and his overachievers get dominated too often.

**purplepoe** · 03-09-2009, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

Ty Lawson, Kevin Durant, Michael Beasely, Austin Freeman, Jeff Allen, Chris Wright .....

The problem with throwin out these names is this.

A few of those guys were never gonna go to MD for various reasons, academics being one. Each recruit has their own story. You can take it to the bank that Gary would've loved some of those guys but many times there are things he cannot control that lead to players going elsewhere.

Also, the notion that Gary just plays golf with SB and Ehrlich has been grossly exaggerated IMO.

Now, I'm not gonna sit here and pretend the program is in great shape. Far from it. We'll see what the two big men bring next year.

I am confident of this, Gary isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

PP

**RAVENOUS52** · 03-09-2009, 03:41 PM

I'm not gonna get too far drawn into this discussion because, as I've mentioned before, I believe Gary Williams should be the coach of the men's hoops squad for now and into the forseeable future because he has proven that he has the ability to lift a program out of hard times into prosperity.

His upcoming recruiting class is said to be formidable, so I'll wait and see what he can do over the next 2 seasons before changing my opinion of his stay at UMD.

And yes, I too am pissed that we've missed out on so many top prospects from within our home state.

**italianjoker** · 03-10-2009, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by RAVENOUS52

I'm not gonna get too far drawn into this discussion because, as I've mentioned before, I believe Gary Williams should be the coach of the men's hoops squad for now and into the forseeable future because he has proven that he has the ability to lift a program out of hard times into prosperity.

His upcoming recruiting class is said to be formidable, so I'll wait and see what he can do over the next 2 seasons before changing my opinion of his stay at UMD.

And yes, I too am pissed that we've missed out on so many top prospects from within our home state.

you will see this forever. when other schools have HCs show up and we have assistants show up the kids get the message as to who thinks they are important.

**RAVENOUS52** · 03-10-2009, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by italianjoker

you will see this forever. when other schools have HCs show up and we have assistants show up the kids get the message as to who thinks they are important.

True. But in Gary's defense, he has been pretty good at mining talent internationally (especially Africa). What we need is a diamond from the JuCo talent pool to magically appear next season at point guard.

Oh, My kingdom for another Terrell Stokes!

**HoustonRaven** · 03-11-2009, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by italianjoker

you will see this forever. when other schools have HCs show up and we have assistants show up the kids get the message as to who thinks they are important.

Exactly.

I hate to keep using their names, but Williams and Coach K show up to 8th grade programs! They are in their ears for years, not just the summer before signing.