D1scourse.com

What's old is new again; or, a vital D1scourse update

The biggest question hovering over this site since it debuted on New Year's Day 2010 was "What's next?"

Well, that answer is finally here.

After 14 months of continuing the sort of coverage readers grew accustomed to while D1scourse was lodged at the Washington Times before it eliminated its sports department, here's some good news.

I have accepted a full-time job.

("Well, that had to happen eventually," you think).

The job involves covering Maryland and other D.C.-area college sports.

("OK, that makes sense," you muse).

And it is at the Washington Times.

("Whaaaaa?" you say).

Yeah, typing that last line threw me for a bit of a loop, too.

The Times is bringing back its sports department in the coming weeks, and I'm certainly looking forward to getting back to doing what I love on a full-time basis.The last year and change has offered plenty of lessons; an important one is an even greater realization of how much I enjoy my work and how uncommon that really is.

Yes, it has the unmistakable feeling of a mini-Brigadoon, coming back after a period of time (though much less than a century) and finding everything the way it was before. But in a lot of ways, it's an exciting and fresh start, with the time and resources to do some interesting work while continuing to provide coverage in familiar surroundings.

The D1scourse blog will return to the Times within the next couple weeks, and will be along for the ride at the tail end of Maryland's regular season, the CAA and ACC tournaments and quite a bit more in the next month. Bracketology will wind up there as well, along with lacrosse coverage and (eventually) spring football.

In short, pretty much all the things typically covered at the original D1scourse and this version of it will be included on the next stop as well.

I'll delve into this deeper sometime in the next few days, but thanks to everyone who has taken the time to visit the site over the last 14 months. I should have a few more details ironed out soon, and hopefully will be able to offer a more extensive rundown of what is to come in the next few days. For now, coverage will continue here.

As for the future, what's old really is new again. Hopefully a whole lot of readers will be happy to follow that journey to see how it all works out.

D1scourse links roundup: March 10

Meant to do a better job of keeping track of this, but among the items on old/new D1scourse ...

* Maryland's Jordan Williams says he isn't thinking about the NBA.

* Senior Cliff Tucker reflects on a rough final month and pins his struggles on cautiousness.

* Virginia Tech hopes eight scholarship players is enough. Make that seven, since Jarell Eddie is suspended for the rest of the season.

* Georgetown's NCAA tournament seed is likely to plummet as a result of not only its late slide, but more importantly because of Chris Wright's absence.

* This morning's bracket projection and this morning's at-large big board.

* Karl Hobbs and George Washington found life in the Atlantic 10 tournament to be nasty, brutish and short on Tuesday when it lost to Saint Joseph's.

D1scourse links roundup: March 3

What you missed after you had dinner last night and (likely nearly everyone in South Florida) didn't watch Maryland's 80-66 loss to Miami ...

* Scenarios! Get your ACC tournament scenarios here.

* Plus-minus suggests the Terrapins' loss was a total team effort.

* Terrell Stoglin with perhaps the money quote of the season after the latest loss: "It's very disappointing because Maryland has a tradition of winning and this year we're just not living up to it."

* Let's just say Maryland won't even be holding on in the mid-50s when the at-large big board gets updated later.

D1scourse links roundup: March 1

What's happening today on D1scourse? Let's take a look. ...

* Post-Joe Smith, a Maryland freshman has scored 25 points on six occasions. Terrell Stoglin just did it three times in 13 days.

So is Stoglin the Terrapins' best freshman scorer since Smith? Doesn't seem like a stretch, does it?

* Boston College-Virginia Tech is among the bubble-related games of note Tuesday.

* Kansas State was Monday's big winner.

* Here's yesterday morning's bracket projection.

A new day begins for D1scourse

Between illness and being on the run, there hasn't been much time to tend to this site in the last few days.

Also, all the content has shifted (as promised) over to the Washington Times site. You can go ahead and bookmark the new (old) D1scourse --- which does include plenty of archives from the blog's original life --- at this address.

As for the official first day on the job, I wake up in a hotel I've never stayed at next to a medical center off a strip of divided highway. Well, at least it will be come Saturday when Duke and North Carolina play.

As for the blog, here's some recent additions from the weekend:

* Maryland couldn't reach North Carolina's level on Sunday in Chapel Hill.

* Terps were outscored 23-6 when Jordan Williams wasn't on the floor.

* George Mason will play UNC Wilmington or Georgia State in the CAA quarterfinals.

* Curtis Holmes dominated faceoffs in the second half of Maryland's lacrosse pounding of Georgetown.

* Georgetown lacrosse has some work to do after suffering its most lopsided loss since 2006.

As for what to look for over there today, bank on a bracketology, as well as a few weekend leftovers. There will be a gap on the drive back from Chapel Hill --- there's no working ahead in that system, so stuff goes up when I complete it rather than when I'd like it to go up --- but it'll sort itself out. But that will explain some larger holes than usual at times.

Also, the comments section remains open here for those who care to ask a question but are wary of an extended registration process. If memory serves, that was a headache for readers in the past. Hopefully, a daily links rundown here provides just the right platform to continue to engage everyone while the Times continues to add resources to its web coverage as it ramps things back up.

Game 28: Dominant second half carries Terps past Florida State

Maybe Maryland authored its best game of the season against Florida State.

Maybe it didn't.

Perhaps the Terrapins finally collected a victory with the potential to hold up as a quality victory in the eyes of college basketball's most powerful arbiters, the NCAA tournament selection committee.

Perhaps not.

Regardless, Maryland emerged from a two-game homestand unscathed, collecting a 78-62 victory at Comcast Center against the short-handed Seminoles certain to offer some hope in the Terps' long-term prospects.

"We're a better team than we were when we played the teams that are ranked now and outside the conference," coach Gary Williams said. "We're a better team now and I knew it was going to be a process this year. It takes time to develop  a team. I think we're laying the groundwork for this year's team for very good things to happen in the future, but we want to win as many games as we can this year. To get 18 right now with three left, we're doing some things."

Terrell Stoglin scored 17 points and Dino Gregory added 14 for Maryland (18-10, 7-6 ACC), which reached the seven-victory plateau in conference play for the 18th consecutive season.

The margin hinted at a dominant performance, and for the final 20 minutes the Terps controlled the Seminoles (19-8, 9-4).

The first half, though, was something a bit different.

Maryland spotted Florida State an early seven-point lead, then rallied to assume a 36-27 edge late in the half. But much like Sunday's eventual defeat of N.C. State, the Terps frittered away their advantage and were left with a one-point margin at the break.

There was no need to wait until the middle of the second half to dispatch the Seminoles. Florida State, playing only its second game without leading scorer and defensive ace Chris Singleton (broken foot), proved vulnerable to crisp passing and superb shooting without their star.

Maryland quickly made it a multi-possession game, and Jordan Williams' basket with 11:42 to go gave the Terps a 55-44 lead. It was Maryland's first double-digit lead, and Florida State never closed within less than 10 again.

"We just talked about it at halftime --- we're better than that," Gary Williams said. "It's one thing if Florida State can beat us. But why give back that lead we worked so hard to get? We talked about that some, and they were willing to come out and work."

Much like other conference triumph, the Terps needed time to figure out the correct path to victory. Unlike Sunday, when Maryland was 0-for-1 from 3-point territory, the Terps were 7-for-14 from the perimeter. Stoglin's 3-pointer in the closing minutes gave Maryland its largest lead of the night (72-55) and extinguished what little lingering hope the Seminoles held.

"We're good shooters," said guard Adrian Bowie, who scored 12 points. "We just haven't knocked it down consistently. We had a day today when we knocked it down and it made it easier to drive when we knock down jump shots."

There is some question over the long-term value of the victory. Florida State entered the night ranked 48th in the ratings percentage index, and was likely to fall out of the top 50 with a setback. Maryland began the night 0-8 against the top 50 and in dire need of something impressive to its name before March arrived.

Nonetheless, it was arguably the Terps' best accomplishment of the season --- and it came just days before a pivotal visit to No. 19 North Carolina.

"This is a huge win," Jordan Williams said. "This is definitely going to help us a lot. That's a team that beat the No. 1 team in the country at the time, which is huge. They're definitely a great team. They're not the same team they were without Chris, but they're still a great team."

Flipping through history: Current Terps vs. Florida State

Maryland swept a pair of games from Florida State last season, scoring 148 points in the process against the stingy Seminoles.

The Terrapins' returning players this year managed 43 of those points (17 by Jordan Williams). Little wonder, then, that Maryland's three seniors each scored in double figures in both games against Florida State last season.

As for the holdovers. ...

ADRIAN BOWIE: 18.3 mpg, 4.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.5 tpg, 0.7 spg, .385 FG% (5/13), .400 3FG% (2/5), .857 FT% (6/7)

2008 (H): 6 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1/2 FG, 2/2 FT
2009 (A): 24 minutes, 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 4/6 FG, 2/4 3FG, 4/4 FT
2010 (H): 11 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal, 0/1 FG, 0/1 FT
2010 (A): 14 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover, 0/4 FG, 0/1 3FG

DINO GREGORY: 15.7 mpg, 3.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.3 tpg, 0.3 spg, .333 FG% (4/12), 1.000 FT% (2/2)

2009 (A): 16 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2/6 FG
2010 (H): 18 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2/5 FG
2010 (A): 13 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 0/1 FG, 2/2 FT

CLIFF TUCKER: 9.3 mpg, 3.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.3 tpg, .500 FG% (4/8), .250 3FG% (1/4), .500 FT% (1/2)

2009 (A): 5 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1/3 FG, 0/2 3FG
2010 (H): 16 minutes, 8 points, 1 turnover, 3/5 FG, 1/2 3FG, 1/2 FT
2010 (A): 7 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds

SEAN MOSLEY: 24.4 mpg, 6.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 tpg, 1.3 spg, 0.3 bpg, .467 FG% (7/15), .000 3FG% (0/1), .667 FT% (6/9)

2009 (A): 25 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 steals, 5/7 FG, 3/6 FT
2010 (H): 24 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 2/4 FG, 0/1 3FG, 2/2 FT
2010 (A): 24 minutes, 1 point, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals, 1 block, 0/4 FG, 1/2 FT

JAMES PADGETT: 5.5 mpg, 2.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1/3 FG, 3/4 FT

2010 (H): 10 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1/2 FG, 2/2 FT
2010 (A): 1 minute, 1 point, 1 rebound, 0/1 FG, 1/2 FT

JORDAN WILLIAMS: 24.0 mpg, 8.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.0 tpg, 1.5 bpg, .471 FG% (8/17), .500 FT% (1/2)

2010 (H): 18 minutes, 3 points, 7 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1 block, 1/6 FG, 1/2 FT
2010 (A): 30 minutes, 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 blocks, 7/11 FG

Bubbling up: Wednesday's games of note

Running through Wednesday night's relevant games for bubble watchers ...

* Wisconsin at Michigan, 6:30. The Wolverines have won six of eight, but swept Iowa and upended Indiana in that span. The Badgers are 0-5 on the road against the top 65 in the RPI (yes, that's some statistical cherrypicking). Michigan can claim some relevance if it can knock off the Badgers.

* DePaul at St. John's, 7. The Red Storm is a tournament team barring an epic collapse. Beating DePaul should extinguish any chance of that happening for a team with six top-25 victories.

* Miami at Boston College, 7. The final two weeks of the regular season is manageable for the Eagles. But if they don't manage it (starting with this visit from the Hurricanes)? Things could be dicey in Chestnut Hill in a hurry.

* VCU at Drexel, 7. VCU won the first meeting 52-48 in Richmond. Collecting the return trip to Philly at least keeps the Rams in the discussion for an at-large, even if their profile isn't particularly great.

* Auburn at Alabama, 8. The Crimson Tide gains nothing from winning this game (besides some rivalry-related boasting) and gets destroyed as a remotely viable at-large possibility with a loss.

* Colorado State at Brigham Young, 8. The Rams still have to visit San Diego State as well, and lost to both of the Mountain West powers in Fort Collins earlier in the season. They would be well-served to snag one of the two ... though few teams come out of Provo with a victory. This will be a tough task.

* Creighton at Wichita State, 8:05; Southern Illinois at Missouri State, 8:05. Noted simply because both Valley contenders (Wichita State and Missouri State) don't have much margin for error in the at-large race --- and even then, they're both dicey.

* Baylor at Missouri, 9. The Bears have a chance to nudge their way into the discussion with a closing stretch that offers opportunities for decent victories (Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas). This is also a team with losses to Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

* Cincinnati at Georgetown, 9. The Bearcats simply need to avoid a free fall, but a home-and-home with Georgetown and dates with Connecticut and Marquette remain. It's worth keeping an eye on.

* Kansas State at Nebraska, 9. Yes, there's meaningful late February basketball for the home team in Lincoln. It's important for both teams, but Nebraska has a bit more work ahead of it if it is going to escape a date in the NIT.

* Florida State at Maryland, 9. The Seminoles face their first truly tricky game since losing Chris Singleton. The undistinguished Terps could knock off a top-50 opponent tonight, but doing so would knock Florida State out of the top 50. As much of a conundrum as that is, Maryland simply can't afford many more losses in the regular season if it doesn't want the ACC tournament to be an all-or-nothing proposition.

Fouls per 40 minutes and the ACC: Where does your favorite player rank?

Early in the first half of Maryland's game against N.C. State, some obnoxious or inebriated (or both) fan bellowed out the early foul disparity from a corner of Comcast Center's lower bowl. Maryland had five, N.C. State had two and only three explanations could possibly be used to understand the fan's rantings.

One, he was simply drunk and a little liquid courage allowed him to yell louder than anyone.

Two, he was simply looking for something to complain about --- not an uncommon plight for a fair number of Maryland fans.

Three, he was a Clemson fan transplanted hundreds of miles to the north. (In my experiences traveling throughout the ACC, no fan base detests game officials and believes it is getting a raw deal more than Clemson supporters. It is a group that is collectively the friendliest and most polite to nearly any fan from a visiting team, but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing black and white stripes in Death Valley. It's like those folks are taught from birth to count fouls as vigilantly as points).

The one thing the guy did managed to accomplish in a roundabout way was to remind me about a post I've been meaning to piece together. Namely, a rundown of each player in the ACC and their fouls per 40 minutes total.

I did a post like this last season, and an imperfect one at that. So as a result, this one is a bit more refined.

Only conference games are included. A player must log at least 10 minutes per team game to be included. That's a nice, round number, and it yielded 95 players over a dozen teams --- about what it should have.

The most fouls per 40 minutes? That would be Jon Kreft (8.19) of Florida State. However, Wake Forest's Nikita Mescheriakov has 30 fouls in 123 minutes (9.76 per 40), and tacking on the extra seven minutes needed to make him eligible lowers his average to "just" 9.23 fouls per 40. He's the de facto leader, even if he doesn't appear on the chart.

N.C. State's DeShawn Painter has 8.52 fouls per 40 minutes, but falls a dozen minutes shy of eligibility. Add those in, and he'd still be at 7.67 --- "good" enough for third place in the league.

As for a few other notes ...

Three of the nine eligible players with less than 2.2 fouls per 40 minutes play for Boston College, including star guard Reggie Jackson ... Clemson fans might be surprised to learn Jerai Grant (2.68) has basically committed fouls at the same rate as Kyle Singler (2.67) this season in conference play. ...

Unsurprisingly, the designated foul collectors on Duke are Tyler Thornton and the Brothers Plumlee. Nolan Smith has the 11th lowest figure, while Singler has the 18th lowest amount among the 95 eligible players ... Florida State, which pays a visit to Comcast Center on Wednesday to play Maryland, is the only team with two of the five most prodigious foulers on a per-40 minute basis. On the flip side, Derwin Kitchen is among the five guys least likely to foul (1.91). ...

Anyone masquerading as a Georgia Tech forward is a foul magnet. Individual Yellow Jackets rank sixth, seventh, eighth, 10th and 12th in the category, and five of the 13 eligible players with more than five fouls per 40 minutes work on their craft in Atlanta. ... Dino Gregory and Jordan Williams combine for 6.40 fouls per 40, a superb number for the Maryland frontcourt starters. ...

Malcolm Grant is the only eligible Miami player below three fouls per 40, but at 1.90, he's well below that figure. ... Among the point guards with four fouls per 40 or more: Tony Chennault, Larry Drew II and Javier Gonzalez. ... Surprising item that maybe shouldn't be: Scott Wood (3.16) fouls more often than C.J. Leslie (2.66). ...

Assane Sene had 7.27 fouls per 40 minutes in conference play last year. Even if he's hovering around five fouls per 40, his ability to improve in that area has at least provided Virginia with a semblance of a frontcourt in some league games this year. ... Jeff Allen is the 38th most likely player out of 95 to foul on a per-40 minute basis in league play, which is a lot better for Virginia Tech than expected. Is that maturity, the frequent use of zone or both? ...  Travis McKie's impressive 2.49 fouls per 40 stands out as one more good thing about the Wake Forest freshman, though that could be a case of opponents targeting weaker prey in an attempt to exploit the Demon Deacons' shoddy defense.

The full rundown after the jump.

With Williams and Gregory thriving, whither Padgett and Weijs?

Maryland's basketball rotation figured to be a bit of an accordion this season.

Sure enough, what once looked like it could be a steady 10-man group with at least eight logging double digit minutes has found itself a bit constricted. And that's especially apparent in the frontcourt.

James Padgett is averaging 5.3 minutes as a sophomore. Berend Weijs, who played in Maryland's first 16 games, appeared in just four of the last 11.

Some of it is simple math. Jordan Williams is averaging 33.7 minutes in league play. Dino Gregory isn't far behind at 31.1 minutes. Assuming the Terps don't go especially big, it leaves about 15 minutes for Padgett, Weijs and freshman Hauk Palsson.

"They work extremely hard, but me and Dino have been playing extremely well, so it's been hard for them to get into the rotation," said Williams, whose Terps meet Florida State at Comcast Center on Wednesday. "James and Berend have been playing great. They help me and Dino out a lot at practice. They're both great players. They really are. It's just a matter of me and Dino playing 35, 36 minutes in a game, there's not that much room. It's just how it works sometimes."

Both Padgett and Weijs have found their roles becoming increasingly predictable. Padgett will spell Williams once or twice a game, and sometimes collect more minutes if Williams wanders into foul trouble.

Meanwhile, the wiry 6-foot-10 Weijs has played only 17 minutes since Jan. 15 --- including a dozen minutes against Longwood. He logged three minutes against Clemson and had one-minute cameos at the tail end of blowouts of Virginia and Wake Forest.

"We've been able to keep Jordan and Dino out of foul trouble," coach Gary Williams said. "They're our best inside players. They're going to play as many minutes as they can. Now, that can all change tomorrow night with Florida State's size, foul trouble. You never know."

The difficult task, theoretically, might be keeping both Padgett and Weijs sharp.

It's Padgett's second straight year as a deeper frontcourt reserve, and Weijs has played all of 10 minutes in conference play.

"You try to keep those two guys ready, especially James. James has played very well in practice," Gary Williams said. "The next step for James is to do the same thing in the game when he gets in there, and he has been in there. It's big that he does that."

From a player's perspective, the reserves' preparation doesn't seem to be an issue.

"I wish you guys could see how hard they worked in practice," Gregory said. "They guys go hard every day helping us out and getting us better. Even though they're not playing, it doesn't make them play any less harder. They still come out with the same passion in practice."

As for Weijs, the coach remains convinced the junior college transfer will be a vital piece for next year's team once Gregory departs.

"I think Berend is going to be a very valuable player for us next year," Williams said. "I have no doubt in my mind he's really going to help us next year, and he might have to help us tomorrow night. We'll see, with what he's done  in practice, if that can carry itself out onto the floor."

Bracketology: Feb. 22

This is a day delayed, so let's just get to this ... and hope there are some conference tournament upsets. At least this week, things didn't get dicey until the No. 8 or No. 9 line, rather than the No. 7 seeds ...

SOUTHEAST REGION

Cleveland

(1) BIG TEN/Ohio State vs. (16) SOUTHLAND/McNeese-SWAC/Texas Southern
(8) Cincinnati vs. (9) Tennessee

Tucson, Ariz.

(4) North Carolina vs. (13) MISSOURI VALLEY/Missouri State
(5) St. John's vs. (12) CONFERENCE USA/UAB

Tampa, Fla.

(3) SOUTHEASTERN/Florida vs. (14) BIG SOUTH/Coastal Carolina
(6) Texas A&M vs. (11) Colorado State

Charlotte, N.C.

(2) Georgetown vs. (15) PATRIOT/Bucknell
(7) COLONIAL/George Mason vs. (10) WESTERN ATHLETIC/Utah State

EAST REGION

Cleveland

(1) BIG EAST/Pittsburgh vs. (16) BIG SKY/Montana-MEAC/Bethune-Cookman
(8) Illinois vs. (9) Old Dominion

Denver

(4) Vanderbilt vs. (13) IVY/Harvard
(5) PAC-10/Arizona vs. (12) Marquette

Chicago

(3) Purdue vs. (14) MID-AMERICAN/Kent State
(6) Villanova vs. (11) Boston College

Tucson, Ariz.

(2) MOUNTAIN WEST/San Diego State vs. (15) METRO ATLANTIC/Fairfield
(7) Temple vs. (10) Kansas State

SOUTHWEST REGION

Tulsa, Okla.

(1) Kansas vs. (16) SUN BELT/Florida Atlantic
(8) UCLA vs. UNLV

Tampa, Fla.

(4) Wisconsin vs. (13) ATLANTIC SUN/Belmont
(5) Louisville vs. (12) Richmond/Clemson

Chicago

(3) Notre Dame vs. (14) AMERICA EAST/Vermont
(6) Missouri vs. (11) WEST COAST/Saint Mary's

Charlotte, N.C.

(2) ACC/Duke vs. (15) NORTHEAST/Long Island
(7) Georgia vs. (10) Minnesota

WEST REGION

Tulsa, Okla.

(1) BIG 12/Texas vs. (16) BIG WEST/Long Beach State
(8) Washington vs. (9) Florida State

Washington

(4) Syracuse vs. (13) SUMMIT/Oakland
(5) Kentucky vs. (12) Gonzaga/Virginia Tech

Washington

(3) Connecticut vs. (14) SOUTHERN/College of Charleston
(6) ATLANTIC 10/Xavier vs. (11) HORIZON/Cleveland State

Denver

(2) Brigham Young vs. (15) OHIO VALLEY/Morehead State
(7) West Virginia vs. (10) Michigan State

Last four in: Gonzaga, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Richmond
Last four out: Nebraska, Butler, Memphis, VCU
Next four out: Alabama, Penn State, Michigan, Oklahoma State

By league: Big East (11), ACC (6), Big Ten (6), Big 12 (5), Southeastern (5), Mountain West (4), Atlantic 10 (3), Pac-10 (3), Colonial (2), West Coast (2)