1st, my cell phone situation seems to be settled for now. Let’s just say my no-data-plan-cell-phone idea was short-lived to say the least. I’m positive my wife read the post where I espoused my newfound love of cheaper cell phone bills and a simpler mobile device, but she did what most smart women do: ignore their stupid husbands and do what’s best for them in spite of their nincompoop-ness. She basically completed every step of getting my current Blackberry set up without even a mention of my foolishness (like it never even happened at all): borrowed the Blackberry from a friend, called Verizon to activate it, transferred my contact list from my old phone, etc. The phone is an older version of my original Blackberry Bold, so it doesn’t have the same exact functionality, but I didn’t have to lift a finger to get any of that done, and I’m happy as a clam now…c’est la vie…and damn you, technology.
2nd, back in March when the University of Maryland men’s basketball team failed to make even the NIT, I wrote a post about the upside of the program going into next year. This largely had to do with the fact that most of their roster, including the ACC’s leading scorer this past season (Terrell Stoglin), was returning. Well, since then Stoglin decided to leave school for the NBA Draft upon being suspended from the team (apparently for failing multiple drug tests), and reserve wing Mychal Parker and forward Ashton Pankey (who started 17 games this past year) each decided to transfer. With point guard Pe’Shon Howard still recovering from reconstructive knee surgery, the depth started to look a little murkier. But the Terps have had a very active recruiting period following Coach Mark Turgeon’s 1st season. On Monday, Maryland announced their 2nd incoming transfer of the spring with the signing of Albany guard Logan Aronhalt. Aronhalt will be eligible to play this season, whereas former Michigan forward Evan Smotrycz will have to sit out until the 2013-14 season. Turgeon also has an incoming freshman class of 5, which was ranked by ESPN as the 18th best 2012 recruiting class in the country. The combination of the newbies, a more seasoned Alex Len and Nick Faust, and other returnees Howard and James Padgett is intriguing, but I think there are just too many unknowns to get overly excited now. Much like most things, it looks like we are back to a wait and see approach for the Terps going into next season.
Stoglin passing was an uncommon sight during his time at UMD, but he will pass up his junior and senior years.
I was going to include an NBA playoff update here too, but I think I will save that for next week. If you take the injuries into consideration, the playoffs have been fairly predictable actually thus far. The 1 thing I had completely wrong was the Spurs, who I thought were vulnerable despite their winning streak and number 1 seeding going into the postseason. San Antonio has now surgically swept through the 1st 2 rounds of the playoffs, and they have lost only 2 games in the last 2 months. I do feel like if the 2nd round matchups were switched (Spurs vs. Lakers and Clippers vs. Thunder), the Lakers could have offered the Spurs a stiffer challenge (and the Clips could have probably won a couple games against OKC as well), but just as in boxing styles make fights, and we see how important of a factor matchups are in the NBA every spring.
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