Dave Sez

Down On Lowe

One of the difficulties with NC State's hiring of Sidney Lowe is that he can't yet make calls to recruits. But that doesn't mean he can't still make an impact.

Check these quotes from the coach (Bob Oliva) of Larry Davis, a star guard who reneged on his State commitment and picked Seton Hall instead:

Asked why Davis decided not to stick with N.C. State, Oliva said, “I don’t really know … I can only guess. You want me to guess?

“Well, they (N.C. State) took two months to name a coach, and then, when they did, they named a guy who can’t coach.

“That is about the stupidest thing I ever heard of.”

With that, Oliva hung up and returned to his Memorial Day activities.

Ouch.

Thanks to the DBR for the find.

Interesting Times In Garyland

There is an old curse, "May you live in interesting times." The meaning is that where events are deemed "interesting" by outsiders, it is usually very difficult for the participants.

I think we can safely say that the Maryland basketball program is now interesting.

All programs have a certain amount of turnovers. Every few years a coach or two will leave and you can probably count on a transfer every year or two. But Maryland is seeing turnover that makes African governments look stable by comparison.

Just in the past week, one current recruit changed his mind and another's father openly questioned the status of the program. These players' changes of heart came after assistant coach Rob Moxley left the staff to go to UNC-Charlotte. Moxley was the fifth coach to leave Gary William's staff in the past two years (Dave Dickerson went to Tulane, Jimmy Patsos to Loyola, Mike Lonergan to Vermont and Matt Kovarik to law school).

And don't forget that Ekene Ibekwe and D.J. Strawberry put their names in the NBA draft this spring and during the season, Chris McCray was made academically ineligible. During the season, there was a strange episode where recruit Kenny Belton committed to Maryland only to hear that they didn't think that they had really offered him a scholarship. Last season, John Gilchrist was pushed out and Hassan Fofana transfered.

Maybe it's just a blip, a statistical anomaly. Maybe it's Gary cleaning house and getting things in order. Or maybe it's the negative effects of the crushing expectations created during the Blake/Dixon/Baxter years combined with the resurgence of Carolina, knocking the Terps off the ACC mantle. Whatever it is, it sure it interesting.

C Ya Later

And so it ends, not with a bang, but with a scritch-scratch on a contract. Cedric Simmons' once-promising college career is over - he signed with an agent. Considering how weak this draft is, I can't really blame Simmons. I would have been surprised if he returned, no matter how horribly unprepared for the NBA he may be. I mean, is Simmons really farther along than Josh Powell was a few years ago? They were very similar players, but I think Powell had a more refined offensive game. It took Powell three seasons to finally stick in the league. Fortunately for Simmons, he'll probaby be drafted in the first round and thus be guaranteed to get paid for at least three years (unless I misunderstand those rookie contracts).

Sidney Lowe's job keeps getting tougher.

Cavalier Altitude

The Virginia Cavaliers - 2006 Men's Lacrosse National Champions.

Virginia spanked Massachusetts 15-7 yesterday to earn the program's fourth national title and the third for coach Dom Starsia. Virginia jumped out to a 4-1 first quarter lead on the underdog Minutemen, but just as they did on Saturday against Syracuse, the Cavs lost their way a bit in the second quarter. UMass fought back to trail just 5-4 at the half.

With a quick goal in the third quarter, UMass tied things up at 5-5. That was the spark. Instead of freezing up at the possibility of being upset in their final game, Virginia exploded, outscoring UMass 10-2 the rest of the way for a relatively easy win. Had they not gone to a delay game in the final 3-4 minutes, the final score could have been even more lopsided.

The first half stayed tight largely due to Virginia's settling for outside shots and some outstanding saves by goalie Doc Schneider. While UVA attacked the goal relentlessly against Syracuse, they looked impatient against the Minutemen's more structured defense. It's tough to beat a hot goalie while standing and firing from 15 yards away and so the Cavs were held to just 5 goals in the first 30 minutes despite taking a ton of shots.

In the second half, Virginia did a better job of hitting cutters and Schneider cooled off a bit. A few easy goals, a few long range cranks hitting the twine - ballgame.

On the other end of the field, UVA defenseman Michael Culver completely shut down UMass stud attackman Sean Morris. In the pregame, Morris got most of the attention from the media. He was the odds-on favorite to be named national player of the year and his play was generally credited with beating Maryland in Saturday's semifinal. Morris' line against Culver - no goals, two assists and only four shots (one of which came after Culver had been pulled late in the game). Virginia decided to have Culver deny Morris the ball and the ploy worked, frustrating Morris and stagnating the UMass offense.

With their final 17-0 record, Virginia completed the best won-loss record in college lacrosse history. Given that, it's natural to discuss where this team ranks among the all-time best teams. For me, it's tough to say for certain where they fall, but they are definitely not the best team ever. I went to the 1989 final four and watched Syracuse win the title behind the Gait twins, Paul and Gary. That team was awesome. The Gaits were college lacrosse's equivalent of Michael Jordan in his prime - just absolutely dominant and doing things that others simply had never thought of - and there were two of them! The Gaits returned the next season and that 1990 Orangemen team was even more dominant than the one I watched (although they later had to vacate that title).

Two thoughts I had after watching the game - first, it was great to see ESPN bring their first-class production to the game. I'm used to watching lacrosse games with only a couple of cameras. If you didn't see a play correctly with the view they had, you were stuck. But not this weekend. ESPN had the hi-def cameras there (which I unfortunately couldn't enjoy) and they had every angle covered. It was a lot of fun to use my TiVo to play goals back with the different views to see how and where guys popped open and to see just where the ball slipped by the keeper.

The other observation I had was that Virginia almost never bounced their shots. That blew my mind. When I played, the coach would scream at you if you took a direct shot without bouncing it. If you shot straight in, it better get by the keeper or you were gonna get yelled at. I wonder if that's a change in philosophy overall, something that Dom Starsia teaches, or just a strategy employed against the goalies this weekend. Come to think of it though, I didn't see a lot of bounced shots from anyone. Maybe the game has just changed that way, but I don't really understand why. A well placed bounced shot can be damn tough to defend.

A list of links about the finals - stolen shamelessly from TheSabre.com:
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Cavs cap perfect season with title
~ The Daily Progress

Perfection puts these Cavs on a pedestal
~ The Daily Progress

Culver, UVa defense shut down UMass
~ The Daily Progress

Ward saves his best for last
~ The Daily Progress

Virginia wins national title
~ Daily Press

Perfect score: Virginia wins its fourth national title
~ The Roanoke Times

Cavaliers have the perfect finish
~ The Washington Times

Poskay leaves UVa on career-high note
~ The Washington Times

Virginia caps 17-0 year with 4th championship
~ Richmond Times-Dispatch

Coach proud of players
~ Richmond Times-Dispatch

Virginia's Title Run Is Picture Perfect
~ The Washington Post

Top of the heap: No. 1 Cavs use second-half run to capture title
~ The Baltimore Sun

3-on-1 faceoff plan is winner
~ The Baltimore Sun

Starsia isn't shy about winning<
~ The Baltimore Sun

Virginia takes lacrosse title at the Linc
~ The Philadelphia Inquirer

Virginia is for champions
~ The Philadelphia Inquirer

UMass lacks a final KO -- Run ends vs. No. 1 Virginia
~ The Boston Herald

Run at title falls short for UMass
~ The Boston Globe

Virginia Claims National Title, and a Victory for Lacrosse
~ New York Times

Virginia caps undefeated run with championship
~ ESPN.com

ACC Players In The College Football Hall Of Fame

TechSideline.com has an interesting piece up on members of the College Football Hall of Fame from ACC schools. It's not really accurate to call most of these players ACC players, because a lot (most) of them played before there was an ACC.

Some interesting observations from the TSL guys - VT has more entrants (4) than Clemson, FSU or Miami. Georgia Tech has the most (11), followed by Duke(!) (8) and Maryland (6). Gotta figure you could win some bar bets with that trivia!

I'd imagine that FSU and Miami will be adding quite a few players over the years. It seems like they prefer to vote in players long after their careers ended, so I'd expect to eventually see guys like Chris Weinke, Deion Sanders, Peter Warrick, Vinnie Testaverde, Derrick Brooks, Philip Rivers and Julius Peppers make the Hall.

Lacrosse Final Four

Set your TiVo. You can still do your yard work tomorrow or take your kids to the beach, you don't want to miss the men's lacrosse final four. Trust me. ESPN 2 will have both games on Saturday - Maryland vs. UMass at 11:30 and Virginia vs. Syracuse at 2, and ESPN will have the finals on Monday at 1.

Even better, if you live anywhere near Philadelphia, go see the games. I've been to a few lax final fours, and it's always a great time - big, lively crowds and exciting games.

As I mentioned above, the four teams include two ACC schools, Maryland and Virginia, one perennial power in Syracuse and one outsider, UMass. UMass is sort of like lacrosse's version of George Mason, a small program hitting the big time for the first time. ESPN's preview of the four teams is here.

Maryland should beat the Minutemen to reach the finals, where they will likely be the underdog against either the Cavaliers or Orange (God, I hate that new nickname). Syracuse wasn't their usual powerful self this year, but they've been coming on strong. If they beat the undefeated Cavaliers, I think it's safe to say they'd be the favorite against the Terps.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (and check the comments on that article), UVA is undefeated and is the favorite to take it all. Last week, they completely dismantled a good Georgetown team 20-8. The Hoyas had given up 10 goals only one time this year. Virginia beat 'Cuse earlier this year in a shootout, 20-15 and they beat Maryland twice, 15-5 and 11-5.

But, this is different. Beating teams in the regular season is no guarantee of beating them in the tournament. Syracuse has had a ridiculously good NCAA tournament record over the past couple of decades and Virginia has a history of losing heartbreaking, one-goal games to end their season. I expect this one will be fairly close and there will be a lot of goals.

In the end, I'm sticking with my team. I say (and hope) that the Cavaliers will be hoisting the trophy on Monday after a tight game against Syracuse and a six-goal laugher against the Terps.

Glenn's Final Notes On State Search

This should be the final post on the curious NC State coaching search. David Glenn, the top ACC reporter going right now - and it's not close - put up two articles of miscellaneous notes about the search on his blog.

The first part is here and Part II is here. I think you'll find the most interesting stuff on the second half. Evidently, although State nearly got Rick Barnes and thought they had John Calipari, the closest they came to getting someone before Sidney Lowe was John Beilein.

Another tidbit I did not know (but had heard only rumors about) is that State did in fact contact Tubby Smith.

Part I talks a bit about why Frank Haith's name kept coming up - evidently a lot of reporters simply like the man. I guess they ignored the fact that he hasn't proven to be an above-average coach.

ACC Football - Best In The Land (At Graduation)

The American Football Coaches Association released their annual report and awards for academic achievement and once again, the ACC fared better than any other conference. SMU was awarded the top award this year, but nine ACC schools were honored, more than any other two conferences combined.

In the previous 26 years of the award, Duke has won or shared the title 12 (!!) times. Boston College won four times (all before they were in the ACC), Virginia twice and Wake Forest once. Additionally, Virginia has been given honorable mention 19 times.

I've talked a bit before about how I don't think graduation rates are a perfect measure of academic success (more here). Schools have different requirements and we all know that some schools push players along and fudge grades to keep guys eligible, but it's probably the best, most accessible number we have. The end goal of college is not really a degree - it's education. The degree is nice and it's measurable, but it doesn't mean you learned anything (just ask Dexter Manley ... verbally). That said, a degree is better than nothing and you can be fairly certain that Duke isn't cheating to get their numbers up there (or they really suck at cheating).

So, kudos to all schools who take the academic progress of their players seriously and particular props to the ACC's best - Clemson, FSU, Maryland, UNC, UVA, Virginia Tech and Wake.

p.s. As the ACC BasketBlog pointed out - who would have guessed that the SEC's lone school was NOT Vanderbilt, but Auburn?

But Does He Have Any Eligibility Left?

Someone get Al Groh on the horn! There's yet another stud in the Tidewater area of Virginia, and I don't think Groh should let the Tar Heels steal this one. According to his own website, the infamous televangelist Pat Robertson "can leg-press 2000 pounds!"

Just in case they change the page, here's the text today:

Did you know that Pat Robertson can leg-press 2000 pounds! How does he do it?

Where does Pat find the time and energy to host a daily, national TV show, head a world-wide ministry, develop visionary scholars, while traveling the globe as a statesman?

One of Pat's secrets to keeping his energy high and his vitality soaring is his age-defying protein shake. Pat developed a delicious, refreshing shake, filled with energy-producing nutrients.

Now, I know what you're thinking - Dave, is 2,000 pounds really that much for a leg press? Well, maybe not to God's favorite son, but as CBS Sportline points out, the Florida State football record for the leg press is held by Dan "Mr. Wizard" Kendra, at 1335 pounds. And Kendra burst capillaries in his eyes during his lift (one of several Kendra stories during this FSU career that used the word "explode").

So, send a recruiter down there, Al. Pat Robertson is a hoss (and just think how he'd fare against the Miami Hurricanes).

Field Of 80?

No.

No, no, no.

Evidently spurred on by coaches like Jim Boeheim (famous for bravely scheduling a brutal non-conference schedule full of home games against the likes of Cornell and Colgate), the NCAA is considering expanding the NCAA men's basketball tournament, possibly to as many as 80 teams.

Ridiculous. 64 (or 65) is a perfect number. It allows for three full weekends of games and gives every team in the country a reasonable shot of getting in. It's not too easy and not too hard.

Expanding the number of teams is fueled by a noxious combination of greed and cowardice. More games equals more money and more teams in equals fewer teams left out. Coaches know that they are often judged by the number of tournament fields they make, so they want to do to basketball what has happened with college bowls - make it so nearly everyone gets in.

It's just stupid. The tournament is far, far from broken. Don't try to fix it. And don't let John Swofford near it.

Lax Power

Lacrosse has taken quite a beating the media over the last month or so, but while Duke's canceled season is making all of the headlines, the rest of country is still playing. The NCAA tournament begins this weekend, and the ACC looks to have a good showing with the #1 and #2 seeds, Virginia and Maryland.

The Cavaliers are undefeated and are the strong favorites to win it all - which would be a third title for coach Dom Starsia. One example of just how good the Cavaliers are - they have played the aforementioned #2 Terrapins twice this season and beat them by a combined 16 goals. Virginia also dispatched perennial powers Johns Hopkins and Syracuse by 6 and 5 goals. Their only close game was a 7-6 win over Princeton.

Go Cavs!

Air Tight Compartment

Herb Sendek had several quirks and one of them was repeating a few phrases over and over (repeatedly and redundantly. Again and again). One of those was his talk about creating an air-tight compartment. Well, what if old Herb had created one of those lock boxes (to quote another dazzling personality) around the local basketball talent?

StateFans Nation does the work I've meant to do in looking at all of the local players who have left to play at schools other than NC State. Now obviously, no school gets all of the local (and in-state) talent, but check out these recent names from SFN's post (and a Caulton Tudor article) - Shavlik Randolph (Duke, NBA), Eric Williams (Wake Forest), Chris Paul (WF, NBA), Anthony Morrow (Georgia Tech), Anthony King (Miami), David Noel (UNC), Reyshawn Terry (UNC), Chris Wilcox (Maryland, NBA), David West (Xavier, NBA), PJ Tucker (Texas, headed to NBA), Craig Dawson (WF), Justin Gray (WF), Josh Howard (WF, NBA).

A few other players they missed - Shawan Robinson (Clemson), Anthony Richardson (McDonald's All-American, Florida State) and Trent Strickland (WF).

Again, obviously no program can land all of the in-state or even local players, especially when you consider that both two other major programs focus on the area, but there's no question that NC State has missed out on a TON of local talent. Adding just one or two of those guys per team could have made a huge difference in recent years.

In Other News, Water Is Wet

Ken Pomeroy thinks that taller basketball players make better rebounders - and he has the numbers to prove it!

I joke, but it's actually an interesting post. Maybe I'm just a sucker for cool graphs.

And Doggone It, People Like Us

I love the work of the guys at StateFans Nation. They have a great blog and they dig up some very interesting news and statistics. Always a great read.

But there's this thing.

State fans have a reputation as being a bit, well, sensitive. Years of being their neighbors' whipping boy has made them acutely aware of every slight and they are always very quick to jump up and shout that THEY ARE TOO as good as Carolina and Duke.

It's a simple self-esteem issue. Or is it school-esteem? Whatever it is, it's amazing to see it in action, because it's just so widespread. Nearly every Wolfpack fan I know has a touch (at least) of it. Frankly, it's why they are so fun to needle. They're like that friend you had as a kid that everyone jokingly picked on, because he'd take it so seriously. It's like cheap entertainment. Make a small throwaway comment and get a long tirade in response.

Where am I going with this? Here, that's where. This piece at SFN just screams of self-doubt combined with an extreme desire to succeed. I understand the desire to prove others wrong. We all feel it. But collecting articles so that some day in the future you can SHOW THEM ALL!? I don't know. That's the sort of thing that, if you're going to do it, do it privately. Keep it as motivation if you must (of course, these are fans, not the actual players or coaches), but don't let everyone know about it.

Hopefully if Sidney Lowe really does take State up to (or near) the level of Carolina and Duke, the Wolfpack fans will have built up enough strength that they won't feel the need to go back and say I told you so. They'll just happily and confidently throw those old posts away and enjoy their success.

Unfair

I've linked to Gregg Doyel's rants and I have linked to criticisms of NC State's hiring of Sidney Lowe, but I can't support Doyel's hatchet job on State this time. He brings up a few good points, namely that State was probably the only top-100 program that would have even considered hiring Lowe, but his overall conclusion - that it was an abject disaster - is waaaay premature. How about giving the guy at least some chance before we decide if it was a good hire or not. Based on his past, we just can't say for certain if he'll succeed or not. Most coaches at this level ultimately fail, so there's a good chance Lowe will too, but it's just not intellectually honest to say that you know he will. Yes, he failed in the NBA, but he had some really bad teams and you have to be impressed that he twice won coaching searches. The man must know something about basketball.

In the past, I've written that I like that Doyel has the guts to openly criticise big-name coaches like Bob Huggins and Jim Calhoun, but maybe I gave him too much credit. Maybe he just likes being the turd in the punchbowl.

Duke's Not Done

North Carolina and Ohio State's remarkable basketball recruiting classes have gotten a lot of attention this year, and rightly so. But don't sleep on Duke's incoming talent. After McDonald's All-American Lance Thomas picked the Devils last week, Duke now has a power class as well, with three top-twenty players plus #38, 7'2" Brian Zoubek.

With Roy and K both having supremely talented teams in the coming years, there should be some hellacious battles.

In other recruiting news - this is a very interesting story. Evidently when Herb Sendek left NC State, top recruit Chris Wright withdrew his committment to the Pack. Now it sounds like Wright really likes Virginia and Dave Leitao. Wright is considered likely the top point guard in the class of 2007. Someone give Sidney Lowe Wright's phone number!

Talent Vs. Wins

Eagle in Atlanta posted a very interesting table the other day showing a list of the number of players drafted by the NFL and the winning percentage for each ACC football team over the past four years.

Obviously, the team he's paying the most attention to is Boston College, and according to his numbers, Tom O'Brien seems to be getting the most out of his talent (assuming that "talent" can be measured by NFL draft picks, which of course is overly simplistic). In fact, BC has had exactly the same number of players drafted, eight, as Georgia Tech and UNC, but won much more - more than twice as much as UNC.

Another row that stands out is Florida State's 28 draft picks to produce a .692 win percentage. Virginia Tech and Boston College both won more with fewer picks combined.

I also found it interesting to compare UVA, Maryland and NC State, three schools with upgraded talent and recently-exciting-but-now-cooling-off programs. They have very similar winning percentages and numbers of draft picks, but Maryland comes out looking a bit better than the other two.

Check it out.

A Lowe Down Beat Down

I think it's fair to say that the ACC BasketBlog isn't enamored of the Sidney Lowe hire.

Ed makes some great points that I agree with on the issue of Lowe's bogus attempt to get a degree now - 20-some years after his senior year at State (I'm not signing off on some of the later stuff in Ed's rant though). Jim Valvano didn't care that his players go to class and graduate and clearly Lowe didn't learn any additional love for school after he left Raleigh.

It's a joke that Lowe is sending off for some correspondance school degree. I'd rather State have hired him with the stipulation that he finish his degree - at NC State - within the next 12 months. All this degree sham did was further the lesson that education really doesn't matter - all that matters is the illusion of education.

How can he look players in the eye and convince them that getting an education and a degree is important when he didn't do it until it became a job requirement for a specific job? And even then, Lowe skirted the system to fulfill the requirement in the shadiest way possible. Somehow, I don't think his players are going to buy any you-must-go-to-class speeches. Of course, I doubt Lowe will be delivering any of those anyway.

State Swings Lowe

The NC State coaching search is (apparently) over! The NC State coaching search is (apparently) over! Send the white (or is it black?) smoke up the big smokestack!

After a long and painful search, State has finally found their man - former Wolfpack point guard and current Detroit Pistons assistant Sidney Lowe.

Lowe seems to be good choice at this point for beleaguered AD Lee Fowler. Lowe, as the starting point guard on State's 1983 championship team, already has the love of the Wolfpack faithful. I think it's fair to say that Lowe is already more popular than Herb Sendek ever was. And that's a critical factor for the Pack. They are a fanbase that's just dying for some success. You saw the way they latched onto Chuck Amato from the second he stepped on campus and said that they were going to win. If Lowe can get off to a good start next year, two decades of repressed optimism will explode all over the Triangle.

But there's a catch (well, two, if you count his lack of a college degree). Sidney Lowe has never been a college coach of any sort and his two stints as an NBA head man were both abject failures. Clearly, he knows the game well enough to have won two pro coaching searches, but his records in his time in Minnesota and Memphis are worrisome. In fairness to Lowe, he took over some pretty bad teams each time, but he failed to improve them much. When he was ousted eight games (and eight losses) into the season with the Grizzlies in 2002, Hubie Brown came in and improved the team immediately.

So, does the fact that Lowe has been a head man at the game's highest levels mean he can be a great college coach? Well, is Leonard Hamilton tearing up the college ranks? Did John MacLeod succeed at Notre Dame?

Does the fact that Lowe sucked as an NBA coach mean that he won't succeed in college? Rick Pitino and John Calipari also failed in the NBA, but have been very successful both before and after their NBA experiments.

The bottom line is that no one really knows. What we do know is that as a former point guard and a guy who's spent the past fifteen years on NBA benches, the guy knows basketball. And, as StateFans Nation pointed out, he's a guy who hasn't just known success, he's known it at NC State. He beat Carolina and Duke (granted, beating Duke in his years didn't mean much). He won an ACC title. He won a national title. Sidney Lowe will not come in to the job thinking that he can't compete with the local bullies. In Lowe's mind and in his memory, NC State is a national power that can play with anyone. If nothing else, that belief alone can take him - and the Wolfpack fans - far.

Sibling Rivalry

Carolina's football program landed a critical recruit this weekend when highly touted QB Mike Paulus announced his attention to go to UNC. Yes, Mike Paulus - younger brother of Duke's freshman point guard Greg Paulus.

You might recall that the elder Paulus was considered to be the best high school quarterback in the nation, but picked Duke basketball over Notre Dame (and others) football.

This sort of story has happened before, where brothers choose to attend rival schools. Jason Capel played basketball at Carolina a few years after his brother Jeff finished up at Duke. There were two key differences to that situation though. First, Jeff had already left Duke before Jason showed up in Chapel Hill. There would be no concurrent rivalry. More importantly, Jeff had a rough go of it at Duke. He was on the disastrous '95 team and he was once famously booed by the Cameron Crazies. There was a feeling that Jason's choice of the Tar Heels was a bit of an F-U to Duke on behalf of his brother.

But this Paulus thing is different. Very different.

I understand that it's tough to be a younger brother of a star. His whole life, Mike has had to answer the question, "oh, so you must be Greg's little brother?" He probably feels like he's never had a real chance to forge his own identity - to build his own legacy. How can you when your older brother is one of the more heralded high school athletes ever?

So, I understand why Mike would choose a different school and different sport from Greg. He wants to blaze his own trail. But why UNC? It's not like it's a regional thing. The Paulus' are from Syracuse, NY. Mike could have gone to a number of fine programs, including Southern Cal. Of all the far-away schools to choose from, why pick the one eight miles away from his brother? Why his brother's arch-rival?

The only reasonable answer is that he doesn't just want to make his own name, but he wants to do it in his brother's face. Greg will likely be a starter at Duke for four years and given his skin color and position, he'll probably take over from J.J. Redick the role as most-hated-athlete in the ACC. Mike, meanwhile will be taking over (he hopes) the most critical position on the Tar Heel football team. He can be the perfect compliment to his brother - the quarterback of Carolina's football team versus the quarterback of Duke's basketball team.

I'm guessing Mike put up with a few too many beatdowns from his brother in the backyard, driveway and basement. I bet he's answered "yes, he's my brother" a few too many times, only to then have to listen to a story of his Greg's past greatness. Little Mike wants revenge and he wants to get it smack in the middle of college sports' biggest rivalry.

Gary To NBA?

Naaaah.

If you haven't heard (and I hadn't until a minute or two ago), evidently there has been some buzz on Maryland boards that Gary Williams has been flirting with the Charlotte Bobcats about becoming their coach. Thanks to Floyd Stuart's blog, I found two threads about it - here and here.

Interesting? Sure. Juicy? Very much! Realistic? No way.

Rick Bonnell does a good job of explaining why. On top of the practical matter of - the position isn't available - consider how Gary has handled NBA-quality players over the years. Actually, I should say marginal-at-best NBA-quality players like Exree Hipp, John Gilchrist and now DJ Strawberry and Ekene Ibekwe. Gary and the prima donnas do not get along well. How in the world would he handle an NBA team? You think the guys on the Bobcat bench, guys like Sean May and Matt Carroll, will want to listen to Gary rant when Gerald Wallace forgets to box out? Please. Gary wouldn't make it to the All-Star break. He'd either have a stroke or a player would kill him.

Gary's staying at Maryland.

Hat tip to the post wlu_lax6 of the Sports Frog for exposing this rumor.