Grit of the Terp

Now that was a ‘gritty’ performance on Tuesday evening. Really it was. Suffering from a distinct lack of big men, with Dave Neal bloodied early in the contest and Dino Gregory in foul trouble. Seeing another 17 point lead diminished to 2 points late in the game. All of this in front of a 1/2 empty hundred million dollar arena.

All was not well in Terpland. And then the Terps won. In an unspectacular fashion. In fact, for those here in the early years of Gary Williams tenure, a very Gary-like fashion. An undersized team hitting the boards hard and playing defense.

Will playing like an angry pack of snapping turtles help fill the seats? No. Will having a 6 ft 4 in power forward out rebound a 7 foot center keep the excitement level up in Terpland? I don’t think so. Will this exotic mix of too many little dudes who sometimes can’t shoot straight win enough games to get Maryland to the NCAA tournament? Maybe.