Flipping Out:
Does anyone else find it unfair that Flip Saunders gets relieved of his coaching duties, basically giving him an opportunity to distance himself from a joke of a team and a franchise, while we're left to wallow in another lost season and watch a team of knuckle heads play what they think is basketball, but in reality is really some jumbled mess of street ball mixed with rec center pick up? Is it fair that Ernie Grunfield, possibly the worst GM in the history of the world, still has a job? Does anyone else pine for the days of the Big Three, a time when no defense was played, a time when 'Dagger' calls rained down from on high, a time when the Wiz were just a few pieces away?
Those memories weren't very long ago and even though the Wizards organization would like you to act as if you had your mind erased (Men in Black Style), those were much better days. Just to re-cap, the Wiz, were close, real close, close enough to trade a Ricky Rubio draft spot to the T-Wolves for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Then Gil lost his cool and started threatening to cap a fool and all the good will, the game winners, the back to back to back to back playoff appearances, it was all gone, poof!
Here we stand January 25, 2012, Flip Saunders, the one-time answer to solving the Wizards post-season iniquities; the man that replaced a pretty successful Eddie Jordan is gone. Saunders deserved better, and by that I mean talent-wise. It was unfair that he had to deal with the Gilbert Arenas fiasco and the blowing up of the big three. It wasn't a good fit to have him saddled with such a young, ignorant team, but it doesn't totally excuse his 51-130 record with the team. Saunders 'pedigree' means he should have done something, he needed to change his coaching style to fit his awful situation, but he didn't. He could have played more young guys, but instead kept putting that rotting corpse Rashard Lewis in the starting five each night. How will we remember Flip? Somewhere close to how the Wizards organization want us to remember the 'Big 3' and the 'Hibachi'......IT NEVER HAPPENED!!
It's that time again:
Today, much like every other Maryland vs. Duke day, I took to YouTube to watch my favorite videos. I started with an appetizer of Juan Dixon going off against Duke at Cameron indoor from 2001 on Shane Battier's senior night. Then moved on to a salad course of Maryland cult favorite Dave Neal setting an amazing pick on poor little Nolan Smith. For the dinner it was a main course filled with a combo of Jordan Williams dunking on John Scheyer and an epic Steve Blake steal from Jay Williams, you know the one I'm talking about. After I was stuffed to the brim with poorly constructed food puns, I capped off the night with a desert fit for a king, watching Maryland upset Duke in the ACC tournament.
Ah, Maryland vs. Duke, nothing better. Take all your Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12 rivalries and shove them. This is passion personified; this is Cool (MD) vs. Same Lame White Guy (Duke).
Tonight will be special regardless of the outcome, since tonight is the night that Maryland renames the Comcast Center floor after legendary coach Gary Williams. Let's hope the Terps christen the floor properly.
Duke is coming off last second loss to FSU this past weekend and Maryland is currently sporting a two game losing streak. Duke is the heavy favorite, but you can never count the turtles out. The Terps will need a big game from Stoglin, Pe'Shon and Mosley if they have any chance of staying in the ball game. Alex Len is set to play after spraining an ankle against Temple. Nothing would be better than Len plowing down the lane and jamming one home in his first taste of the rivalry.
Here is to hoping tonight's game gives me another option in the YouTube buffet of Maryland triumphs over Duke.
