Terps breaking hearts before Valentines day
As we enter the final weeks of the season, each of the remaining six games will bring more stress, anxiety, and over analyzation than singles leading up to Sunday. If cupid shoots like this Terps team, you might as well fire up the hot pockets, settle into the couch, and adjust the settings on the “Are you still watching” to never because you are not going anywhere until next season.
Maryland’s basketball team has been flirting with the tournament all season with some huge wins but they will be courted directly by the NIT committee with all the other misfits friends who nobody wanted to take to the big dance if they do not start playing better. Sure they would have a good time and their parents will tell them they look wonderful, but we all know the truth. They are not good enough right now. Back to back losses against Penn State and Ohio State spilled their lunch trays full of momentum in front of the entire tournament committee and they all saw it.
I know there are plenty of hopefuls out there who believe “We’ve got four good wins.” and “We play in the toughest division in all of the NCAA. We are definitely in the tournament.” You are all simply adorable, but I’d like to introduce you to my good friend reality…he a fickle son of a gun with no empathy for your Big 10 schedule. Check the credible bracketologists out there and count how many have Maryland in their final field at this moment. Spoiler alert, its zero.
Maryland has yet to win back to back games in the Big 10 and are 2 – 4 in their last six. Ironically, there are six games left and it is going to come down to the final few song choices for this team. Mark Turgeon has admitted this season that he is frustrated with the lack of movement without the ball, holding the ball, and most importantly the lack of improvement this season. Any love guru will tell you that communication is key to any relationship, and it’s time for the Terps to take some money out of the budget and hire a sky writer to write “MOVE ON OFFENSE” directly above Xfinity Center.
While Maryland faithful is more frustrated than Darryl Morsell on a bad call. Maryland is still in control of their own destiny. In the words of the ever romantic optimist Lloyd Christmas “So you are telling me there’s a chance!” Yes. They still have a chance. Maryland can still be an at large bid, with limited room left for error. The current .500 overall record, the 4-8 conference record, and quite simply the eye ball test reveals a lot of blemishes on offense, depth, and unbelievably outmatched in the paint but a strong finish could put Maryland at 14-9 overall and 9-9 in the Big 10. With that kind of record, Maryland could confidently wait by the phone for a phone call this March.
The Penn State loss makes it a need to reach five wins including one against Minnesota or Rutgers, and take care of business against Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Penn State. A loss to any of those teams, puts the pressure on Maryland to put together a miracle dance routine against the toughest teams in the Big 10 to woo the prettiest voters on the selection committee.
Maryland needs to take good look in the mirror and each other and decide how they want to enter the Xfinity gymnasium on Valentine’s Day. Are they going to be wall flowers on offense who watch as other kids make a play for limited dance space or are they going to own the floor and coordinate something special? We’ll find out as Maryland plays Minnesota this Sunday (Valentine’s day) 7:00 p.m. at the Xfinity Center.
