My son and I attended the final game of the regular season for the Maryland Terps men’s hoop team yesterday and relished the victory. It’s been a special season. One that was unexpectedly very successful. It appears Maryland will finish in 2nd or 3rd in the Conference when they were picked to finish 11th on average.

It’s also been a rarity of a season in many ways. I’ll start with the coach. After last season he was already on the hot seat, despite not having much talent. An entirely new starting lineup this year with the exception of one player. That one player is a senior. What? A senior still playing for the same team for 4 years. And not a bad player at that. He could have transferred when a coaching change was made in his time. He stayed. He is Maryland Pride.

Julian Reese and his teammates have come together as a unit in a unique way very quickly. The success the entire starting unit dubbed the “CRAB FIVE“, a takeoff of the old Michigan teams “Fab Five” has had together is special.

Anyone on that starting unit can score 20-30 points a game. All 5 starters average in double figures. The team averages 81.5 points a game. But the strongest part of the team is their defense. They are stifling. Defense has kept them in every game this season.

And while the bench hasn’t been the scoring machine they have provided some pressure defense and a few key plays this season to keep victories alive.

I so hope they do well in the Big 10 Tournament and the Big Dance NCAA Tourney. It would be nice to send the seniors off with a championship and keep this train rolling. Because when this team is playing well, they can play with anyone in the country. Go TERPS.

I hope to attend a lot more games next year.