Posts Tagged ‘Virginia’

March 9th, 2008 | 08:24 pm

Wild and crazy Terps

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — You knew it was going to be an odd game when Gary Williams came out in a dark green suit. Maybe he’s trying to get rid of every possible bad vibe from The Clemson Collapse.

Nothing exemplified the weird first half more than this offensive sequence: Bambale Osby went for an alley oop pass, but James Gist didn’t follow up as he made a fake to the basket. The ball clanked off the rim, but Gist got the rebound and, as he was falling out of bounds, heaved a pass back to Osby. Osby then swung it over to Adrian Bowie, who badly missed a 3-pointer.

For much of the first half, it has been an out of control game – turnovers, poor shot selection, undisciplined offense and dumb fouls. Yet none of that will matter to the Terps if they pull out a win. Right now at halftime, they lead 37-36.

Shane Walker and Dino Gregory did not make the trip here to John Paul Jones Arena; each has a case of the flu that has bogged down this team for the past three weeks.

zuckermandbk@gmail.com

February 11th, 2008 | 12:39 pm

Doron celebrated Friday

Shay Doron was at Comcast Center over the weekend, but the former Terrapin women’s basketball team guard was only passing through.

Doron, who now plays for the New York Liberty, is spending the WNBA offseason playing for professional Israeli team Elitzur Ramle, with her latest trip being in Slovakia. [Editor's Note: Factual error corrected.] She said she was only in town for the day Friday so the Terps could honor her No. 22 jersey at halftime of their game against Virginia.

“You take a little prop plane from Prague to Slovakia, then a three-and-a-half hour bus ride into the mountains,” Doron said of the return trip that awaited her.

While she was here, Doron spent most of the first half of the Terps’ 86-80 win walking through the stands talking to players’ families, team staff and just about everybody associated to Terp basketball.

When Greivis Vasquez made his standard brief appearance at the women’s game — which usually consists of Greivis looking around into the stands, shaking hands with all the security guards, then leaving — he and Doron embraced and talked for several minutes.

At halftime, the Terps stayed out on the court for the ceremony to honor Doron. Coach Brenda Frese presented her with a framed jersey, and then Doron’s No. 22 banner was unveiled in the rafters.

Frese also gave a short speech praising Doron—Frese’s first recruit—and all she’s done for the program.

“Watching [the unveiling] was one of the most special moments I’ve had in terms of my career,” Doron said. “It’s as high an honor as it gets for individual players.”

Doron said she’s been following the Terps this season on umterps.com, and she likes what she sees.

“The sky’s the limit for them, they can go as far as they want,” Doron said. “They’re the only ones stopping themselves.”

schimmeldbk@gmail.com