Why Maryland loses

I've had just about as much as I can take. The bad part is we know it's not even near over.

Maryland continued their losing streak against American University, 67-59.

Inexcusable.

I drove 45 minutes to go to the game today, a game most would consider not even worth their attention. Let me tell you: not worth it. The gameplay itself was not as bad as the Ohio game, and I saw some hustle, but overall just very bad.

Now, what's wrong with this picture? Take a glance at the American roster. Now the Maryland roster. Notice anything? Like we own the biggest height advantage ever? Their starting point guard, Derrick Mercer, played 40 minutes and led his team with 18 points. AND HE'S 5'9!!! Eric Hayes was guarding him for most of the game, and he's a long-armed 6'4. The Eagles' leading rebounder, Jordan Nichols, is 6'5!!! And he was guarded mostly by Boom and Braxton Dupree.

Once again we were outrebounded and generally outplayed by an inferior team. To American's credit, every time we looked like we could come back, they hit a big circus shot, usually a 3-pointer with a hand in the guy's face.

But let's go to the stats. Here's how these "bad" teams are beating us:

- American played a tight zone that took away the inside. Every time a big man got an inside feed, they were immediately triple-teamed. Usually, this led to a turnover. For evidence, see the 8 combined points by Gist, Boom and Dupree compared to their 5 combined turnovers. Ohio did this successfully as well.

- The interior defense kept our guards on the perimeter, forcing them to take outside shots. Besides Greivis Vasquez, who single-handedly made this a game with a whopping 28 points (I'm very right about him), we klunked a lot of shots. Vasquez made 6 shots, and Hayes made 4 from behind the line; everyone else missed.

- We have no midrange game. Jumpers went in and out. We shot 5-for-24 in the first half. Yuck.

- American killed us with their small, quick starting guards, who combined for 26 points. Also, Bryce Simon, one of their wings, sat on the edge and killed us all day because whoever is playing the 3-spot (Tucker, Milbourne) never seems to be where they need to be. Perimeter defense is a big concern - Ohio did the exact same thing.

- Ball control: Both American and Ohio used almost entire shot-clock counts before they tried to score. This kept them fresh and slowed the game down a lot. It also was easier to dictate tempo later in the game with a huge lead.

- In the second half, Gary tried to go big with Dave Neal at the 3-spot. When that didn't work, with about 10 minutes left, Gary tried a 4-guard set, which was somewhat successful and made us faster. But too late - why didn't we do that when we were losing by 5 in the first half? These adjustments have to be made. We can't just "keep playing our game" because we really weren't playing our game anyway, and whatever our game is, it sucks.

We are dead last in the ACC standings and we honestly deserve to be there. This team won a national championship only 5 years ago - name one program that misses as many NCAA tournments as we do that's won a national championship in the last 10 years.

I'm not starting the "fire the coach" chant, but this is very questionable. Our recruiting class from the national championship team never panned out and we are still suffering from it. I think Terp fans should definitely expect more than they are getting from this team, and the finger of blame is slowly drifting upward.

Also, I'm still really upset. So that may have something to do with how angry I am. But you would be too if you made a trip and had to park in College Park (a daunting task) just to watch your team lose a game they should've dominated.

No more excuses.

Photo credits: AP, Washington Post

And Billick is still coach ... why?

Well, in absentia of college sports (thank you, finals), today we gaze in on professional sports and, unfortunately, my favorite franchise.

The Ravens were the first team in the entire season to fall to the Miami Dolphins, 22 -16.

Here's the thing: I turned the game off when the score was 13-10 to work on an essay for finals. I already knew they were going to lose. I knew it: My Raven's sense was going off.

One thing about a team without a clutch offense is you can always tell that they'll lose the game after the momentum shift. They can't reclaim it.

Sure, you can blame injuries if you want. Sure, you can throw stones at Kyle Boller - he's been very bad behind center and he can't seem to stop his dancing or get rid of the ball properly. Blame a season of divas on defense who can't play as a team and who have ripped this locker room apart.

But one man, the man calling the plays and presiding over the locker room, has already somehow evaded responsibility.

This past week, Steve Bisciotti told Brian Billick, head coach of the Ravens, that his job was safe.

And, uh ... why?

I'm sure that many of you have heard that Billick came over from the Vikings as a heralded offensive coordinator and the Raven's offense has not good pretty much at all during his tenure. Their best ranking was 14th in 2001 ... you know, when Jamal Lewis almost broke the single-season rushing record. Even last year when the Ravens won a franchise-high 13 games, they only finished 17th in offense, and Billick was calling the plays after throwing best friend Jim Fassel under the bus. This season again, Billick was calling plays and we're currently ranked 24th in offense. Uh, aren't you supposed to be the genius?

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!!! Two seasons ago, after a 6-10 season, Brian Billick evaded the noose before - after a 6-10 season and a second consecutive missed playoff. Two years later, here we are again. Since then we've had one spectacular regular season - again resting heavily on defense - and a horribly botched playoff game, due much in part to bad coaching. And now? A franchise-worst 8 game losing streak. And he's not fired?

Plus, who can forget this great one-liner we heard time and time again: "Kyle Boller is our quarterback." Oh yeah? Well now Billick is using Boller as a shield, saying that the team hasn't been successful because of bad quarterback play.

What's more, Bisciotti does not blame Billick for the team's poor play, according to the report.

"The Ravens are not naive," the source said, according to The Sun. "Everyone has seen the injuries and the quarterback play.

No, I think the Ravens are naive for supporting a coach that supported a bad quarterback. Throwing a friend under the bus again, aren't we, Billick?

This man has evaded responsibility for too long and rested on the work of a slew of great defensive coordinators, two of whom are now head coaches and one who will be soon. Actually, why not make Rex Ryan coach of this Ravens team? He's got the respect of the players, is familiar with the system and personnel and we know he can coach at least one side of the ball, right?

Let's face it: The Ravens will always be a defensive team. You might as well get a defensive head coach and a really good offensive coordinator. It worked at USC with Pete Carroll and Norm Chow, right? With Rex Ryan and, say, Cam Cameron (maybe the single win saves his job, however) you could even have a USC-type situation with Ryan actually calling the defensive assignments and the O-coordinator pretty much covering the whole offense. Why not?

And as for the quarterback situation, ladies and gentlemen: Troy "The Answer" Smith.

The sad thing is I'm so serious right now.