71 replies to this topic

[bnickle]

That win is why we've never played a reg season game against Georgetown since.  All on the Thompsons. 

[SBTarheel]

That win is why we've never played a reg season game against Georgetown since.  All on the Thompsons. 

No question. 

 

Hopefully Maryland wins the Big Ten in their first year, maybe that'll speed up the rivalry process against someone. Though so many of those schools have the geographical thing already built in. 

[Chris B]

I still wish that MD would do home and homes with dook and Georgetown every year.  Wishful thinking but yea.

I'd be beyond shocked if they don't play each other in the Gavitt Games next season.

[Pedro Cerrano]

No question. 

 

Hopefully Maryland wins the Big Ten in their first year, maybe that'll speed up the rivalry process against someone. Though so many of those schools have the geographical thing already built in. 

 

Well yea for the Atlantic Carolina Conference, sure.  But a lot of the Big 10 teams are closer to MD geographically than the ACC schools.

[SBTarheel]

Well yea for the Atlantic Carolina Conference, sure.  But a lot of the Big 10 teams are closer to MD geographically than the ACC schools.

I hope it works out great for them, believe me. and I'm sure it was the right move for the school and the athletic department. 

 

But as a Basketball fan since the 70s, I wish they wouldn't have left. 

[bnickle]

If we still had the home and homes I'd agree. Everything changed when the ACC expanded.

[DJ MC]

Well yea for the Atlantic Carolina Conference, sure.  But a lot of the Big 10 teams are closer to MD geographically than the ACC schools.

Not really. Virginia (obviously) is the closest school of either conference, then Penn State and Rutgers, but all four Carolina schools are closer than Ohio State, and the distance to Clemson is about the same as to Ann Arbor (and BC and VT are within that range, too).

[bnickle]

The Carolina schools can't be that much closer than Ohio St.


Its not as big a difference as people would think on the surface.

[DJ MC]

The Carolina schools can't be that much closer than Ohio St.


Its not as big a difference as people would think on the surface.

 

Except that it's four of them compared to the distance of one Big Ten team. If you use the radius I mentioned before (the distance to Clemson/Ann Arbor), the ACC has eight schools in that range compared to four in the Big Ten. Miami is the furthest ACC school, but it's about the same distance to Minnesota and Nebraska is even further away.

[Mackus]

Yes, I think I'd be way more interested in the NBA if Baltimore had a team.  Hockey, too, probably.

[Mackus]

The Carolina schools can't be that much closer than Ohio St.


Its not as big a difference as people would think on the surface.

 

Much closer. 

 

OSU is a 6 1/2 hour drive from College Park.  Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill area is 4 1/2 or less.

 

There is significantly more travel now that we're in the Big 10, it's not a minor increase.

[Oriole85]

Does anyone know the difference in alums living in Big Ten country versus ACC territory? I didn't hear UMD using this to justify the move because I think they would've had there been more alums living in the former.

[bnickle]

Much closer. 

 

OSU is a 6 1/2 hour drive from College Park.  Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill area is 4 1/2 or less.

 

There is significantly more travel now that we're in the Big 10, it's not a minor increase.

You must be driving south much faster than you drive west. 

 

 

Im kidding, it looks like its about 120 miles further to Columbus vs central Carolina. 

[Mackus]

You must be driving south much faster than you drive west. 

 

It's 125 miles further to get to Columbus from CP than it is to Durham.

[BSLZackKiesel]

To answer the original question, probably not. I used to follow the Wizards, but could never get into the idea of the NBA very much. The minuscule shot clock, the emphasis on one-on-one matchups (rules against zone defense), and the fact that most teams don't try to play defense until the last 2 minutes of a game turned me off. Obviously it's just my opinion, but I enjoy watching college basketball a lot better.

 

Honestly, I have enough trouble trying to keep up with the Orioles and Ravens while I'm immersed in Terps stuff. And those are sports I actually enjoy.

[BSLMikeLowe]

The biggest thing I dislike about the NBA is the tanking. While you see it to some degree in all the pro leagues, nowhere else is it more blatant than in the NBA, IMO. I understand why they do it considering the current rules/CBA. But seriously, when are the 76ers (just to point out one obvious example) ever going to get serious about trying to win games? And again, there's several more just like them. Hell, it even looks like the Nets want to go into tank mode, and this despite the fact that they have absolutely no incentive to do so thanks to mortgaging their future in a trade with the Celtics.

 

Aside from that, I agree with the sentiment already expressed here....the level of play in the NBA is in a whole different stratosphere than college (except maybe Kentucky, which should probably be considered semi-pro right now). The quality of play at the college level has gone down the crapper over the past 10-15 years. Which sucks, because college hoops used to be my most favorite sport/league after the NFL....more than college football, MLB, NBA, etc. How times change....since I don't get nearly as much enjoyment out of the NFL these days either.

[RShack]

And yes, NCAA basketball is nearly unwatchable at this point. The quality of play is pretty bad, and the stupid rules only add to the poor quality.

 

I quit paying attention after it became normal for good guys to leave after one year...

 

The first thing that did was kill Bobby Cremins formula for competing against basketball factories: he'd focus on getting 1, maybe 2, very good guys each year and just give'm the ball and let'em play all the time... if they stick around, that works fine, and it makes for great underdog success stories, using what is pretty much a 6-man roster that contains multiple past-or-current rookies-of-the-year... but when they only stop by for a year (Marbury, Bosh) it can't work anymore, it makes it impossible to compete against the basketball factories who treat players like a stable of horses...

 

The 2nd thing it did is make the rosters too transient for me to get to know anybody...

 

So, I just lost interest....

[Pedro Cerrano]

I quit paying attention after it became normal for good guys to leave after one year...
 
The first thing that did was kill Bobby Cremins formula for competing against basketball factories: he'd focus on getting 1, maybe 2, very good guys each year and just give'm the ball and let'em play all the time... if they stick around, that works fine, and it makes for great underdog success stories... but when they only stop by for a year (Marbury, Bosh) it can't work anymore, it makes it impossible to compete against the basketball factories who treat players like a stable of horses...
 
The 2nd thing it did is make the rosters too transient for me to get to know anybody...
 
So, I just lost interest....

IMO this is the biggest issue facing college hoops today. They need to figure out a way to get guys to stay longer. Forcing elite talents to go to school for a year just because does nobody any good.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Even though he was a bit of a late bloomer, it's hard to imagine today that Len Bias stayed for 4 years at MD.

[Adam Wolff]

IMO college hoops should be set up in the same way as college baseball. The option of going directly to the NBA from HSshould absolutely be there, but if you commit to go to college, you're committing to a few years. I think the one and done stuff has really killed the sport. 

 

Also, I know this isn't the purpose of the thread, but I'm not sure how you can be a fan of the sport of basketball and prefer college to the NBA. Lack of offensive talent does not mean the defense is better. I can understand if for one reason or another you're just more emotionally invested in your favorite college team versus your favorite NBA team, but if you're objectively looking at the two as a fan of the game, the NBA is far superior in every way IMO.