Herman Veal Chops

Loyal adherents to Herman Veal Chops:

Sorry for the long lag between postings but I have been busy building the Herman Veal Chops Empire.

Now you will have two sources for my musings. I will be writing two weekly postings on the Most Valuable Network. Check out their some of their post season baseball awards here.

I be covering the plucky Washington Wizards on a blog called "Les Bullez" and the Terps on a blog called "Turtle Soup". As soon as the sites are up, I will link to them here. OK now onto my post. The season gets underway tonight, so hear are some things to look for:

The Terps tip off the 2004-05 season on tonight (Friday is a terrible day to open the season)against Jackson State and its senior-laden squad. The experience of the Jackson State squad will not matter. There is a reason why Gary Williams scheduled Jackson State for the first game of the season. Look for Maryland to run away from Jackson State in the second half. I keep writing "Jackson State" because I couldn't even find their school nickname on ESPN. Some program.

Since the game won’t be competitive, the contest will offer an opportunity to see if the Terrapins have improved on some of their “trouble spots” from last season. In descending order, here are the top 5 things to look for:

5. Free Throw Shooting
Last season, free throw shooting cost the Terps at least three games, maybe more. Aside from McCray, Jones, and Gilchrist; it was a crapshoot every time a Terp toed the line last season. Given their increased roles, DJ Strawberry and Ekene Ibekewe will need to be consistent from the line. These two need to get off to a good start and it begins with Jackson State.
4. Which Gilchrist will we see?
All indications have been that Gilchrist stunk it up in Italy over the summer and he has struggled during the preseason as well. I do not think it is time to push any panic buttons as of yet, but Gilchrist is the straw that stirs the team. Success this season rests in Gilchrist’s hands and his continued progression has been taken as a given by almost all Maryland fans. If he regresses and pulls a Terence Morris on us…..well if I think about it, I may throw up. Let’s hope that he starts off the season the way he is capable of playing. This team is going absolutely nowhere without him.
3. What happens when Gilchrist is out?
Sterling Ledbetter will not play against Jackson State. However, Ledbetter was recruited to backup John Gilchrist, and thereby filling a huge hole in last year’s squad. The Terps sputtered with DJ guiding the offense last year. When Gilchrist got in foul trouble or fouled out, you could fugedaboutit. With a squad this deep, Ledbetter will not be in there to score points, he will be in there to run the offense. Look for Ledbetter’s ability to get Maryland into its set offense quickly and his ability to run the transition. If he is able to those two things effectively, then Maryland will not be as susceptible to those scoring droughts that led to big runs that opposing teams had last year
2. Gary’s rotation
This is perhaps the most interesting subplot of the season. Gary has five guys who could start in the backcourt of just about any team in America. Where will Gary find minutes for the most talented and electrifying Terrapin since Steve Francis, Mike Jones? With Gilchrist and McCray penciled in to start and Ledbetter ensconced at backup PG how will Gary divide the minutes between DJ Strawberry and Mike Jones? Strawberry defensive tenacity has made him one of Gary’s favorite players. Will Jones get left out? If so, will he transfer? If Gary is unable to find minutes for Jones, it would be one of the most shocking developments in Terp history. Never has a player with his ability rode the bench at Maryland. My prediction? Look for Nik Caner-Medley to see diminished minutes in crunch time this year. Jones is the team’s best shooter, and I expect Gary to play a three guard set at the end of games this season.
1. Consistency
Which Terps team will we see this season? Will it be the team that stormed through the ACC Tournament in historic fashion, or will it be the team that stunk up February? Anyone who follows college basketball knows how loaded the ACC is this year. Maryland cannot afford any letdowns this season. A couple bad games and the Terps could be out of the upper-division. Whichever ACC squad can maintain consistency is going to wind up with the No. 1 seed in the East. If Maryland plays to its potential, they have as good a chance as any of the “sexy” picks like Tech, UNC, and Wake to walk away with a title.

It all begins on tonight. Let’s hope the Terps get off on the right foot.