Pregame: Illinois at Maryland, Friday, December 2nd, 8:00pm CT, BTN
- Status
Illinois 81-77.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
The Gold Rush ended in tears for nearly all who participated (except the suppliers.)
Bring it on. We win in orange tonight, and my eyes take most of next week to recover.
Hard agree. Turgeon killed any semblance of commitment that the fan base had, and I think it was almost 50-60 bucks just to get in tonight before the price drop.
sacraig
- The desert
Get out of here with this well-reasoned take. This is an internet message board, sir.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Turgeon killed nothing, IMO. His teams were at the top of the BT consistently except for middle-of-pack finishes in '17-'18 and '20-'21. They shared the reg season title in '20 had had solid run at the top through the '10s.
The fan base here is exceptionally fickle and unduly entitled. That it takes a last-minute discount to fill their arena (1) on a Friday night; (2) against a team having the buzz around it and early season results that the Illini have; (3) with the level of talent MD has this year and a 7-0 record; and (4) with a new, energetic and proven coach like Willard, after merely two middling seasons in the wake of winning the conference, tells you all you need to know about local Terp fans.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
I took this pan photo (blurry as it is) in the middle of the second half, with the game tied, last January (Illini @ MD.) A Friday night 7 p.m. tip. Had never seen a BT arena this empty in nearly 50 years of attending games. I was able to get these seats, center court in a season ticket-holder section, same day, for a pittance on StubHub. Student section at far left at end of court: largely empty. (That's Deon in orange and Brian in blue sitting at the scorer's table directly in front of me.)
Two seasons earlier this place would have been SRO.
This is what fair-weather fandom looks like.
Two seasons earlier this place would have been SRO.
This is what fair-weather fandom looks like.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
Not saying they aren't good. Just saying they beat a Coach K-less Duke with a coach that never coached a game in his life and a Gonzaga team that you never really know what to think every year. Few is awesome but they are a wildcard. Every year they win a few good games early, keep their rank all season and lose a sparkplug in the tourney and ultimately lose earlier than their rank. Seen this for nearly 20 years. So, forgive me for not making my mind up on Purdue who has Edey and shooters. Not a lot of athleticism and FSU's length and athleticism bottled up everyone except Edey. He's a problem. We know that. But if those shots aren't falling, Purdue doesn't have the horses to overcome it. Are they opening eyes? Yep. Are they the best? We'll find out in a month.
BMoreIllini
- Baltimore, MD
I'm in that photo somewhere! Here's my photo, which my camera says I took at 6:52 pm. I told my wife I had never seen a P5 fan base that had such a poor showing for the first home conference game of the year.
I'd wager tonight's stands are going to look a bit different.
Why wouldn't you? I assume family members of school employees get free or discounted tuition, unless that breaks some NCAA rule about benefits to student athletes. I know there is a rule that you cannot give an athlete an academic scholarship (thereby saving the athletic scholarship), but I don't know the rules around family discounts.
And even if the above is incorrect, and Fran paid full in-state tuition, he may value the saved scholarships more anyway.
Looks to me like they have both a strong inside game and a good outside game. I imagine we will have our hands full.
Fair-weather dnad
GL tonight, hope you get slaughtered in front of our “fair-weather” crowd.
Not even going to try to reason with you because you are so far off-base. Look at quotes from alumni, players, Maryland legends about Turgeon and the way he ran the program. He alienated everyone.
GL tonight, hope you get slaughtered in front of our “fair-weather” crowd.
Fortunately we won’t have to face them until March. A lot can change by then.
Random memory, but it's not that weird because I was in attendance! In 2005, we were extremely attached to wearing the orange uniforms, and we wore them in Iowa City while Iowa wore their yellows ... it wasn't that bad! So, I think we can wear orange tonight if we want to. The linked game was amazing, by the way - 6,000 Illini fans plus the Krush painted Carver-Hawkeye orange, and we were LOUD!
Also, am I correct that the last time we wore blues was at Rutgers (L 88-91) in 2020-21? It looks like that spooked the team, and we have not worn them since.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Well, I've lived in DC for 14 years, and 19 of the past 26, have followed MD hoops during that time, attended MD games at least twice a year during Turgeon's tenure with a colleague/friend who played there in the late '60s, and have had umpteen conversations with him and others about the sitch. I've sat with my friend at table of former Maryland greats at player alum events. Funny: no one at those tables was kvetching about Turge when he was consistently at the top of the BT.
I'm unsurprised you don't like to hear this. I've yet to meet many MD fans who do. The truth (and that photo) stings. I've liked your teams consistently over the years and have enjoyed watching them. Am sure I will again tonight. Am confident that if WIllard continues to win Xfinity Center will be filled.
And then he'll hit a rough patch, your fanbase will revert to its decades-long inferiority complex v. UNC and Duke, externalize that self-loathing, and attack a perfectly good coach suffering the inevitable cycles of recruiting and on-court fortunes. And do so to a degree, unhinged and untethered to reality, that I've seen replicated only in the fever swamps of the craziest SEC schools.
You guys are the scorpion on the frog's back in the middle of the river: it's in your nature. But, hey, you've got a shiny new coach so I'm sure all will be well, and much different this time.
I think we are just due to win there.Random memory, but it's not that weird because I was in attendance! In 2005, we were extremely attached to wearing the orange uniforms, and we wore them in Iowa City while Iowa wore their yellows ... it wasn't that bad! So, I think we can wear orange tonight if we want to. The linked game was amazing, by the way - 6,000 Illini fans plus the Krush painted Carver-Hawkeye orange, and we were LOUD!
Also, am I correct that the last time we wore blues was at Rutgers (L 88-91) in 2020-21? It looks like that spooked the team, and we have not worn them since.
While that is pretty pathetic and I have often been pretty underwhelmed with Maryland's fan support for being a "basketball school" in a relatively large state, you apparently never had the pleasure of being in Carver-Hawkeye Arena during the Lickliter years!
Of course, every once in a while SOME fans would fill it up.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
lol. I stand corrected. I believe there were only slightly fewer people in C-HA for the women's volleyball match I attended in 2003 than for that men's BB game!While that is pretty pathetic and I have often been pretty underwhelmed with Maryland's fan support for being a "basketball school" in a relatively large state, you apparently never had the pleasure of being in Carver-Hawkeye Arena during the Lickliter years!
Of course, every once in a while SOME fans would fill it up.
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
Just shrug and say out loud “divided house…”As I’m wearing a yellow shirt with an orange bag at the airport.
- "I never had crabs until we moved to Maryland. I got them from someone at church". This just struck me as funny.
I’m just glad that you are forced to live amongst all of us
Maybe Turgeon alienated the fans, players, and administration, but he did a good job as coach. I applaud Maryland for hiring Willard instead of feeling they owed it to Manning. It is not at the same level as Henson-Collins-Kruger, but it is in the same category
Very well said. Even though I don't have first hand experience, I have enough family that are ACC fans and I pay attention just enough to agree with your assessment.
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