Terps: State of the Team

As some of you know, the Terps lost leading scorer Chris McCray to academic ineligibility this week. His basketball playing days at Maryland are now over. There are columns in the Sun and the Post today by John Eisenberg and Mike Wilbon, respectively, that put the blame squarely on Chris. Still, not exactly one of Gary's best recruiting classes.

Now it's time to see what the guards on the bench will do with much more playing time, beginning with Mike Jones, who moves into the starting lineup. We'll also see how interested Gary remains in coaching this year's team; will he let them coast and just wait it out until next year's supposedly-stellar recruits arrive, or can he push this team back into the tournament? Time will tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if they go on a bit of a winning streak. That Mike Jones guy can really shoot the ball, if he starts playing 30 minutes a game, who knows what could happen?

Meanwhile, former Terps are acquitting themselves nicely (or at the very least, showing up to play) in various pro leagues:

• Juan and Steve are still in the Blazers' starting lineup, and each scored 20 the other night.
• Drew Nicholas is starting for Italy's top pro team, Benneton, which is currently leading the Serie A standings. And if I'm reading this table correctly, he's actually leading the team in scoring, assists, and minutes!
• Sarunas gets 24 minutes and 9 per game in Indiana.
  
• Lonny Baxter is getting some playing time in Houston.
• Terrence Morris averages about 9 minutes a game in Orlando.
• That punk-ass John Gilchrist is the second-leading scorer on his Israeli team.
• Mike Mardesich is evidently starting for some French team. I guess you can't teach size...

There are other players who are also hanging out in the NBA, guys like Joe Smith, Laron Profit, Chris Wilcox - I just decided to highlight those players that you might not hear too much about, and also players that I particularly like (Drew, Lonny, Juan, Steve).