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Gary Williams on the difficulty of going unbeaten in college basketball today

This week's most compelling college basketball story --- regardless of how you feel about Duke --- is that the Blue Devils' 25-game winning streak ended Wednesday night at Florida State.

The defending national champs and the nation's No. 1 team since the start of the preseason had not lost since early March, when it fell to Maryland in the penultimate game of the regular season.

Duke's loss brings up a favorite debate in college hoops: Is it possible to run the table, something that hasn't been done since 1976.

"I think you can," Maryland coach Gary Williams said Friday. "I think it's really hard nowadays because there's enough teams that are close to the so-called three or four unbeaten teams that are left. Look at Kansas' score with Iowa State [an 84-79 Jayhawks victory]. If you can get that close, then they can be beat. Ohio State's had a tough game with Iowa recently [a 73-68 Buckeyes win]."

So what's the biggest issue? Williams points to the number of imposing places to play a team in a decent conference.

"Home courts are so much tougher than home courts in the pros," Williams said. "It's a much tougher game to go into somebody's gym and, even though your're better than that team, win all those times that you have to do that in college basketball. That's why it's so tough. What's a good home court worth? What's Duke worth to Duke when you play there?"

That question was addressed to me. Having covered about 10 games at Cameron Indoor Stadium over the years, I felt somewhat comfortable suggesting it was an eight-point difference. Maybe it's more; I'm not a gambler and don't study such matters. But Duke definitely gets a substantial bump playing at home.

In any case, Williams didn't quibble with the estimate.

"Now, we have to be better than Duke by eight points just walking in there; we have to be better by eight points," Williams said. "Well, they're the No. 1 team in the country at the time. How are you eight points better than Duke? That's what homecourts do. They put an extra thing on the game where it's very difficult. Last year, when Duke came to Comcast, they were the national championship team eventually, but that night we were good enough to beat them because we had the homecourt and we were a pretty good team. And that's how that works."

Duke is an extreme example; Cameron is tiny and is cramped and (this is the big part) is home to a talented, cohesive team with more than a quarter-century worth of wins since rising into the national elite under Mike Krzyzewski to make it believe it isn't going to lose at home.

But it works for bad teams, too. There was a brief moment in Maryland's 74-55 defeat of Wake Forest when the Demon Deacons closed within six points in the second half and the crowd came to life. The Terps soon extinguished that hope with a 15-0 run, but the best reason to believe they could lose had more to do with the possibility of raucous fans unnerving them than the Demon Deacons simply being better over the final dozen minutes.

"In a good conference, if you play eight or nine road games in the conference, you're going to play six or seven places in a normal year where they can beat you," Williams said. "Maybe in certain years, all eight games they can beat you, even though you're the No. 1 team in the country and undefeated."

Gary Williams delves into his philosophy of breaking down film

One of the things that is intriguing about preparing for top-ranked Duke at this stage is that the Blue Devils are basically two teams.

The first was the one featuring Kyrie Irving for eight games. The other is the one playing without the injured Irving for the last month.

"They're a totally different team without Irving," forward Dino Gregory said. "[Kyle] Singler and Nolan Smith average like five more points without him."

Gregory also noted, with a little prodding, that Maryland has logically spent its preparation time scouring tape of Duke, sans Irving, entering the Terrapins' trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

To coach Gary Williams, it's a common sense approach --- and effectively said as much when the topic was broached during his media session on Saturday.

Despite his initial consternation, he did offer some insight into his philosophy of preparing for an opponent (not just one with a major injury).

"If you watch games where they win by 30 points, you're wasting your time," Williams said. "I only watch games where they're in a game against a good team. They still might beat them by 20 or something like that, but why watch those [other] games? I get nothing out of that. I see how they want to play against good teams, so I try to narrow it down. Just time-wise, you don't have that much time to look at more than, say, their three or four best games, and you watch those tapes really closely."

Duke has played only one game decided by less than 20 points --- Sunday's 74-63 defeat of Miami --- since Irving went out with a toe injury. Chances are, Williams has grown plenty familiar with those 40 minutes in the four days since Maryland routed Colgate 95-40.

"I'd rather watch a good game four times and not watch a bad game because you don't get anything out of it," Williams said. "You think they're watching our Colgate game? It's one of those [where] you turn it on, 'OK, who's starting for them?' Good. That's it. That's the end of that. Irving not playing yet? Good."

Maryland seeking to snap another long Duke winning streak

Rather than analyze where Maryland is as a basketball team in early January entering its date with No. 1 Duke, it seems like a good time to think about this differently.

Namely, take a wide-angle look at what it would mean to upend a top-ranked Blue Devils team on a long winning streak.

That's happened more than  a few times over the years. Duke has won 24 straight games dating back to March, the 23rd win streak of at least 10 games that Mike Krzyzewski has presided over in Durham.

The sustained run of excellence has left Duke atop the national rankings enough for Krzyzewski to pick up more than 10 percent of his 220 losses with the Blue Devils when his team is ranked No. 1.

Consider: Coach K has 24 losses as the nation's No. 1 team. Among other active coaches, only Roy Williams (54), Jim Calhoun (29), John Calipari (21), Bill Self (17), Mike Montgomery (16), Bob Huggins (15) and Bruce Weber (15) have even spent a dozen weeks at No. 1 in their careers.

Two of those losses at No. 1 have come to a Maryland team coached by Gary Williams. Only Dean Smith (3), Bill Guthridge (2) and Dave Odom (2) have as many.

Then there's the long Duke winning streaks. The Blue Devils are in the midst of their second-longest winning streak under Krzyzewski, eight shy of his best run (one that took up December, January, February and nearly all of March in the 1998-99 season). Williams was the coach who helped put an end to four of the previous winning streaks of 10 or more; only Smith (four) and Dino Gaudio (two) also have ended more than one.

Coach K's march toward Bob Knight's career victories record (and his work with the U.S. national team) has created new ways to appreciate the totality of his work. The next two charts do the same even while examining losses; with college basketball the way it is today, even having the opportunity to lose two dozen times as the nation's No. 1 team (and triumph much more than that) and uncorking nearly as many winning streaks of 10 games is a remarkable and almost incomprehensible feat.

DUKE'S LOSSES AT No. 1 UNDER KRZYZEWSKI

BY TEAM

6: North Carolina

3: Wake Forest

2: Florida State
2: Maryland

1: Cincinnati
1: Connecticut
1: Florida
1: Georgetown
1: Georgia Tech
1: Indiana
1: Louisiana State
1: Louisville
1: Michigan
1: N.C. State
1: Stanford

March 31, 1986: vs. Louisville (72-69) in NCAA final
Jan. 18, 1989: North Carolina (91-71)
Jan. 21, 1989: at Wake Forest (75-71)

Feb. 5, 1992: at North Carolina (75-73)
Feb. 23, 1992: at Wake Forest (72-68)
Jan. 10, 1993: at Georgia Tech (80-79)
Feb. 3, 1994: at North Carolina (89-78)
Dec. 13, 1997: at Michigan (81-73)
Feb. 5, 1998: at North Carolina (97-73)
March 8, 1998: vs. North Carolina (83-68) in ACC final
Nov. 28, 1998: vs. Cincinnati (77-75) in Great Alaska Shootout
March 29, 1999: vs. Connecticut (77-74) in NCAA final

March 24, 2000: vs. Florida (87-78) in NCAA regional semifinals
Dec. 21, 2000: vs. Stanford (84-83) in Oakland, Calif.
Jan. 6, 2002: at Florida State (77-76)
Feb. 17, 2002: at Maryland (87-73)
March 21, 2002: vs. Indiana (74-73) in NCAA regional semifinals
Jan. 18, 2003: at Maryland (87-72)
Feb. 15, 2004: at N.C. State (78-74)
Jan. 21, 2006: at Georgetown (87-84)
March 1, 2006: at Florida State (79-74)
March 4, 2006: North Carolina (83-76)
March 23, 2005: vs. Louisiana State (62-54) in NCAA regional semifinals
Jan. 28, 2009: at Wake Forest (70-68)

DUKE'S LOSSES TO END DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN STREAKS UNDER KRZYZEWSKI

BY OPPONENT

5: Maryland
5: North Carolina

3: Wake Forest

2: Florida State

1: Connecticut
1: Georgetown
1: Georgia Tech
1: Louisville
1: N.C. State
1: Pittsburgh
1: Stanford

32: March 29, 1999 (Connecticut 77-74) --- NCAA final

23: Jan. 10, 1993 (Georgia Tech 80-79)

22: Jan. 6, 2002 (Florida State 77-76)

21: March 31, 1986 (Louisville 72-69) --- NCAA final

18: Feb. 9, 2000 (Maryland 98-87)
18: Feb. 15, 2004 (N.C. State 78-74)

17: Feb. 5, 1992 (North Carolina 75-73)
17: Jan. 21, 2006 (Georgetown 87-84)

16: Jan. 18, 1986 (North Carolina 95-92)

15: Jan. 26, 2005 (Maryland 75-66)

13: Jan. 18, 1989 (North Carolina 91-71)

12: Jan. 14, 1985 (Maryland 78-76)
12: Jan. 18, 2003 (Maryland 87-72)
12: Feb. 17, 2008 (Wake Forest 86-73)

11: Feb. 5, 1999 (North Carolina 97-73)
11: Feb. 17, 2002 (Maryland 87-73)

10: Jan. 10, 1987 (North Carolina 85-77)
10: Jan. 13, 1994 (Wake Forest 69-68)
10: Dec. 21, 2000 (Stanford 84-83)
10: March 1, 2006 (Florida State 79-74)
10: Dec. 20, 2007 (Pittsburgh 65-64)
10: Jan. 28, 2009 (Wake Forest 70-68)

Patsos takes another lesson from Williams

BALTIMORE --- Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos learned plenty from Gary Williams after spending more than a decade on the Maryland staff.

He picked up a little bit more from afar from the last two years --- insight he's applied to his job with the Greyhounds.

"I think the last two years he did a really good job coaching the team and enjoyed coaching the team," Patsos said. "That being said ... because you win. When you win, you get happy. I wasn't sure what O wanted to do because I missed the challenge of winning [and getting] to the NCAA level. We have a really good team at Loyola, so now I'm really excited to take it to the next step."

Patsos was mentioned as a candidate for assistant coaching jobs at Maryland and St. John's in the offseason. He's 83-99 in six seasons with the Greyhounds, including 13-17 a season ago.

With two weeks before practice starts, Patsos was excited (as he often is) Thursday about the upcoming season when he attended Williams' induction into the Sports Legends Museum Hall of Legends.

"I'm always energized, but I'm optimistic," Patsos said. "I'm more optimistic because we have depth. And I won't lie. We don't have Carolina and Duke in our league but we have Siena and Niagara --- they've been to five of the last six NCAA tournaments. The coach is gone at Siena and they've lost some good players and I'm happy about it. It's time for us to get a little chance. The top teams in each conference, they're there for a reason. Loyola's done a great job finally turning some resources into something that can really help us."

Williams honored in Baltimore

Why was the blog light in the evening hours last night?

Mainly because of this.

I'll have a few more highlights from Gary Williams' induction into the Sports Legends Museum's Hall of Legends later on the blog.

Gary Williams to be part of Hall of Legends in Baltimore

An interesting tidbit out of Charm City today as Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams will be honored Sept. 30 by the Sports Legends Museum. Included will be an induction into the museum's new Hall of Legends.

The others in the hall? Babe Ruth, Johnny Unitas, Art Modell, Jim McKay and Brooks Robinson. Not a bad group to be a part of.

Yow says she proposed naming Comcast floor for Williams

RALEIGH, N.C. --- There's a Baltimore/D.C.-area teleconference coming up at the top of the hour to chat with former Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow and discuss her departure to N.C. State.

Naturally, when a couple reporters who made the trek to the Triangle had a few other questions that weren't just N.C. State-specific --- and were more reflective than forward-looking.

One concerned her relationship with her revenue coaches --- notably basketball coach Gary Williams. Yow offered an interesting nugget on something that could develop in the near future.

"About 10 days ago I asked ... the [campus] committee on naming opportunities to consider --- I submitted a formal request to add his name to Comcast floor," Yow said. "I don't know. Is that something you do if you're having a spat? I don't know. It just doesn't seem to fit."

Yow also said she recently completed a nomination for Williams for the national basketball hall of fame.

In any case, it would come as no surprise if Williams' signature (or maybe a silhouette with a fist pump or some other symbol to reflect his 21 seasons and counting) landed on the Comcast Center court in the near future.

However it turns out, Yow will only make it to College Park once or twice a basketball season --- if that --- to see it.

Vasquez lands in first round

Greivis Vasquez remained in school for his senior season to help Maryland win bigger than it had at any point in his career and to improve his NBA Draft stock.

Turns out he did both.

Memphis selected the guard No. 28 overall in tonight's NBA Draft. By landing in the first round, Vasquez will receive a three-year guaranteed contract.

He's the first Terp to be selected in the first round since Chris Wilcox and Juan Dixon were picked in 2002. 

Vasquez led Maryland to a 24-9 record and a share of the ACC regular season title. He was the conference player of the year, and hauled in the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard.

Now, he's assured of some sort of NBA career --- something that probably couldn't have been promised after his first spin through the pre-draft process.

Williams on Vasquez: "He'd be great for any NBA team"

Another NBA Draft item, since there's clearly no better time to look at the pro prospects of Maryland's graduated players than today.

It comes as no surprise, naturally, that Terrapins coach Gary Williams is as big a believer as anyone in Greivis Vasquez's NBA possibilities.

Vasquez returned to school after flirting with the pros last year and wound up being voted the ACC player of the year and earning the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard.

While he won't be the first point guard selected --- that would be Kentucky's John Wall --- he'll still go off the board at some point. In all likelihood, Vasquez will be among the first four-year college guards selected tonight.

"I think he'd be great for any NBA team just because of the things he can do," Williams said. "He's 6-6, he's up to 205 now. No player on a team will work harder than he does. There's a lot of guys that work hard and they can work as hard as Greivis, but no player will work harder. He's gotten better as an athlete this year. He's improved his jumping and his quickness. Anything you want to measure."

That's a not-so-subtle reference to just why Vasquez did come back for a memorable senior season. Without assurances he would be drafted in the first round --- and many of the questions about his game stemming from his athleticism --- the Venezuelan remained in College Park.

There was no choice this year. It's Vasquez's draft night, and while it wouldn't be a shock if he fell into the second round, Williams believes one team will walk away with a valuable commodity this evening.

"Last year, he got hurt getting measured with all the point guards out in Chicago," Williams said. "I think it was [Kevin] Durant that was last in the bench press when he came out. It's not a weightlifting contest or a jumping contest, it's who can play. Greivis can play. He's one of the best point guards in the country. The people that have negative things [to say], they don't like his mannerisms. If they watch the way he plays, I want him on my team. I know how many games he can win for you by making the right pass, by playing good defense."

Williams hoping Hayes receives NBA look

The most likely scenario for the Maryland basketball team's three seniors tonight at the NBA Draft is for Greivis Vasquez to be selected either late in the first round or somewhere in second round and both Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne to go seeking free-agent deals.

After four seasons, it's still tough to figure out exactly what Milbourne is, positionally-speaking. He's almost certainly not big enough to be a full-time power forward, though it's possible he could try to continue to be a 3.5 at the pro level.

Hayes, though, is a more intriguing pro option.

He shot 45.4 percent from beyond the 3-point line as a senior. While the line moves back in the NBA, he still possesses a valuable skill that transfers to the next level.

"I want somebody to give him a look and just see," Maryland coach Gary Williams said in an interview this spring. "Don't decide without seeing him play. You have to have Eric out there n the court before you make a decision on him. He's one of those players that the better the level of teammates he plays with, the better Eric Hayes can be."

Hayes averaged 11.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.96 assists as Maryland went 24-9 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. His ability to complement Vasquez was crucial in the Terps earning a share of their first regular season ACC title since 2002.

Few things were more amusing over those 33 games than watching Hayes --- who everyone in the arena knew was easily at his most dangerous when he had an open perimeter jumper --- somehow earn a clean look. Williams sees that savvy as something pro teams would be wise to recognize in the coming weeks.

"I look at the [John] Paxsons of the world and people like that who made a living based on the fact they knew where to get to to get open," Williams said. "He did that with Vasquez all year this year. Vasquez made a move and Eric knew how to get away from his guy who was helping a little bit and get open. I want some teams to bring him in and let him go with their players and then make their decision. It's up to them what Eric is, but I think he deserves that. I think he had a good enough year where he deserves that."