And So We Face the Final Curtain

With this, we bring Raleighpalooza, as well as the 2008-09 campaign, to its close. I tried to get as many thank-yous in as I could at the end of the broadcast, but I didn't have anything prepared, and what I said came out in a somewhat haphazard fashion. Now that I'm not trying to come up with everything on the spot, let me try again:

WMUC is a student station, which is a creative way of saying that we're not in it for the money. We do this purely for the love of broadcasting, both for our own personal experiences and for the unique joy that comes from knowing that someone, somewhere cares enough to rely on you to tell them what's going on. To know that someone trusts you enough to put something as important as the call of a favorite team's game in your hands is more flattering than I could ever express.

Unfortunately, love only takes you so far, and for that, we have a fantastic support network who helps us get through. Whether it's a hotel room provided by the team staff, a meal paid for by a family member, a tank of gas paid for by a friend, an encouraging word from a loved one, or an entertaining game played by a couple of players who everyone knows, it all goes into helping make our coverage possible.

There is, of course, one group of people I didn't mention, and that's all of you who listen in. If there's nobody listening, there's no point anymore. We're not naive - we know that in some cases, especially later in the year, we're far from your only option to keep up with the game. Even still, you keep listening in, and you keep making it an unbelievably enjoyable experience. I can only hope that during this season, we've been able to do the same for you.

I could, of course, attempt to list everybody who has had a positive effect on our station here, but there's no way I'd be able to thank everyone, both because the list is too long and because I'd forget somebody important. To avoid doing just that, we'll make this very easy: to everyone who has had a hand in any way to this season's coverage in any way, big or small, thank you. If I didn't make it clear enough earlier on, let me make it incredibly obvious: we can't do it without you. Without players and coaches, there are no games to call. Without listeners, there is no reason to call the games. Without parents who help us cover expenses, we can't afford to get to the games. Without friends who tell us how we can improve, we can't make the games worth listening to. Nothing that you do for us is insignificant, and it never goes unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you.

Finally, a bit of recognition to the folks who helped to put it all together this season.

Our news crew: Cassie Duffy, Jamie Forzato, Mike Jaffe, Brian Kapur, Josh Narotsky, Jenna Shulman

Our news crew chief: Brian Kaufman

Our blogger extraordinaire: Andy Gripshover

My fellow broadcasters: Rob Dawson, Hal DeCoursey, Maddie McConnell, Jeremy Moreland (who, along with myself, makes up our senior class here on the crew - this is our last hurrah)

For myself personally, it has been nothing short of an honor to have you listening in and reading along over the last couple of years. The thought of me not being able to do this anymore isn't a very happy thought at all, but it's been an absolute blast to spend the time that I have spent covering this team.

Folks, for all of us, it's been one heck of a ride. Thank you for making it so special. WMUC will be back at it in November, and we'd love to have you along for the next journey.

A Lasting Legacy

Exactly one year ago today (OK, not exactly - humor me for a second and believe that I had gotten this posted a few hours ago), Scott Sudikoff and I sat courtside at the Spokane Arena in complete shock of what we had just witnessed. It was the unthinkable - two of the greatest players in Maryland women's basketball history had just seen their careers ended one game short of a trip back to the promised land of the Final Four. We never got around to doing a formal goodbye post there, so I'll sum it up here: Watching that game absolutely sucked.

Last night, Hal DeCoursey, Jeremy Moreland and I sat courtside at the RBC Center in complete shock of what we had just witnessed. It was the unthinkable - two of the greatest players in Maryland women's basketball history had just seen their careers ended one game short of a trip back to the promised land of the Final Four.

Without a doubt, however, this time hurts a hell of a lot more. Ignoring what's already been mentioned, namely that the players Langhorne and Harper left behind are seemingly far more talented than the players Toliver and Coleman are leaving behind, it just doesn't seem fair for everyone involved to want to block out their final memories of such a talented pair.

Over the course of the season, I (inadvertently) picked up "Are you kidding me?!?!" as a catchphrase, and it was really pretty appropriate. Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver not only performed some amazing, eye-popping feats on the court, but they elevated the play of those around them, allowing them to also play at a higher level than would have otherwise been possible. Now, the final image burned into our minds is that of Maryland's two superstars in tears, wondering what could have been.

Are you kidding me?!?!

Over the two years I've covered this team, I've seen some amazing play, some incredible talent, and some of the most memorable sporting events I could ever hope to see. I've got enough memories to last a lifetime, and that's not even counting the two years before I was lucky enough to have this "job." Obviously a cheerier final image would have been nice, but at this point, the Coleman-Toliver photo album is nearly packed full. There would still have been room for another weekend of memories, and we'll always wonder what we could have put in those final pages, but there's still plenty to be able to fondly look back on.

I realize it now, and with any luck, Kristi and Marissa will realize it soon enough - they've got absolutely nothing to be ashamed of about their careers, even if they did end about a week earlier than planned.

Need proof? Before Coleman and Toliver's arrival in 2005, Maryland had been to two Final Fours, none since 1988, and hadn't won an ACC title, regular season or tournament, since 1989. Now that they're gone, it's somewhat of a disappointment that this team didn't get to a second Final Four (or more) in the span of four years, even with an ACC tournament title, an ACC regular season title, and an NCAA title all on their resumes.

Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman had a hand in doing something almost more difficult than winning a title. They raised the bar for women's basketball teams at Maryland. When once a Final Four would have been an amazing accomplishment, it's now expected. There's also now a completely different buzz around the team than there ever was even during the year that they won a national title. Maryland now owns something like the top 10 attendance marks in ACC women's basketball history, and most of them came during the Coleman and Toliver years. Attendance the season before they got onto campus averaged about 4200 people per game. This season more than doubled that.

Anybody can bring positive change for a moment. To bring enduring change, which it seems the two seniors may have done? That's something truly special.

This stings a little bit

The look on Kristi Toliver's face here just about says it all. At the time, I thought Maryland came out with a good gameplan and just had an off-night. But now that I've had a day to think about it, I really think that the Terps took Louisville for granted a little bit. They were the popular pick to win this game. Heck, there's no doubt they should have won, on paper. But that's why games aren't played out on paper, and for the second year in a row the Terps did not make it past the Elite Eight.

How could things have come out differently? We talked extensively about last year's game against Stanford, about Candace Wiggins going off for 41. Nobody was beating Stanford that night. I think Brenda Frese and the Terps were so concerned about being beaten by a single player that they did not focus as much on other players. Angel McCoughtery certainly gave the Cardinals major contributions, but Louisville won this game because of Deseree Byrd, Becky Burke and the secondary players on their roster. Louisville certainly had a far superior defensive game plan, and looking back I think the Terrapins could have stood to be a lot more aggressive defensively. Inside presence was lacking, but they let Louisville slow the game down so much at times that they were able to move the ball at will, and that showed in their team assists numbers.

Because they did such a good job slowing the ball down and taking away Maryland's chances at a clean break, this game really reminded me of the Maryland-Rutgers game on December 3, 2007. Sure, the Terps didn't shoot the ball well, and that gave them no chance. But they never ran their transition game cleanly, and when that happened, they were in trouble from the start. Louisville imposed its style of play, and they took advantage.

The only real bright spots on the night was Dee Liles's 17 rebounds, tying her career high (set a week ago against Utah), and Marah Strickland's 15 points. For Dee, I expect to see her assume more of a Marissa Coleman-type role next season; she worked throughout the season to develop a mid/long-range jump shot, and has ample time to work on ball-handling before her senior season. Marah will be competing for a spot in the lineup with Lori Bjork, and will need to become more consistent. She's shown flashes of brilliance (including the ACC Championship game, where she helped the Terps with 11 big points), but for every game where she shoots the lights out, she has at least two like Vanderbilt (0-1 FG, 1 point). Her ball-handling isn't great for a guard, and if she can develop that part of her game, she can become more of a threat inside off the pump-fake.

I see this team struggling a little bit next year. They'll be aided greatly in the ACC by the fact that the other two powers are losing big players as well, but right now I think it'll be very tough to repeat in Greensboro. As for the NCAA Tournament? Well, they've lost to inferior teams (on paper, again) the last two years; teams that used snubs on Selection Monday to their advantage. Perhaps when the Terps assume that role (because right now, I can't see them taking a #1 seed again), they can use the motivation. Who knows; I thought they would take a step back this season, and this season could be considered more successful than last. Maybe they come out with a strong freshman class. They'll need to get Lynetta Kizer to live up to her potential, and I think Anjale Barrett, with work on her ball-handling, can run the point. It can definitely happen.

So that'll do it for this season for me. It has been a pleasure to bring you this season over the airwaves. Quickly, would like to thank Rob Dawson, Jamie Forzato and Brian Kapur (and anyone else I may have forgotten) for their work in the studio during the NCAA Tournament.

John Willmott should be along later tonight to wrap things up. Until next year...

--HD

Two Great Careers Come to an End

This wasn't the way it was supposed to end for Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman. They were supposed to be riding out into the sunset in St. Louis. They were supposed to lead a team of destiny back to glory. A national title banner was supposed to be raised right next to the numbers 20 and 25.

Unfortunately, fairy tale endings don't always come true.

Instead the two seniors had to watch teary-eyed as former Maryland assistant Jeff Walz and Louisville cut down the nets in celebration of their first ever final four birth.

There couldn't have been a more abrupt ending to Maryland's season or to the careers of Toliver and Coleman. After the Vanderbilt comeback win it really looked as if this was a team of destiny. But as it turned out that game was just the beginning of the end for the Terps. Playing from behind for an entire 40 minutes really took it's toll on the team mentally and physically. To be asked to pull off a similar comeback two days later was just too much.

Time and time again over the course of the season, Toliver and Coleman had to put the team on their shoulders. Their play over the second half of the season was nothing shy of remarkable. When one wasn't quite up to par the other stepped up even more. It was only about time when the two of them had off-games on the same night. Unfortunately that had to happen at the most critical point of the season.

But give credit to Louisville. They played a bruising, physical brand of basketball that exposed weaknesses in the run-and-gun, finesse basketball that the Terps play. And the man who helped recruit Coleman and Toliver made it his priority to stop the stars and make someone else beat him. The Terps didn't have anyone who could answer the bell.

What makes this loss so tough is that the Terps were at this exact point last year and couldn't complete the mission. There probably wasn't any way Maryland could've stopped Candace Wiggins and a Stanford team who played perfectly. But this year they were more talented than Louisville but had an off-game. Being the number one seed two consecutive years and falling one game shy of the final four each time has to be heartbreaking.

For Terps fans this loss has to be tougher than last year's because it marks the end of an era. Now the entire starting five from the 2006 national championship team is gone (it's unbelievable that all five will have made it to the NBA). Next year's team doesn't have any returning all-Americans or a player who's made a buzzer-beating shot in a national championship game. It will be a good team but not one ready to get to a final four. And on top of that Terps fans are losing the two faces of Maryland women's basketball. As great as Shay Doron, Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper were, it was always Toliver and Coleman who the fans so deeply admired and idolized.

Nonetheless it's been an amazing ride for these two. Hopefully they keep their heads up, they should be so proud of what they accomplished at Maryland. They have helped establish a Maryland basketball program that should be a mainstay as a national powerhouse for years to come. They will do big things in the WNBA. By the way congrats to Toliver for making the all-American first team. It's a travesty that Coleman wasn't on that team also. The voters must've completely missed the Maryland-Vanderbilt regional final.

For me it's tough to think that I won't get the chance to cover women's basketball anymore. More specifically I won't get to watch these two play together. It truly has been a pleasure watching and covering the games they play.

Thank you all for checking out our blog and listening in to the broadcasts. Tune in for women's basketball on WMUC next season.

Ending on a Sour Note

Well, this wasn't supposed to happen.

Sadly, I think I've said this once before.

Maryland won't be heading on to a Final Four, and Kristi Toliver and Marissa Coleman's careers will end here in Raleigh.

We've got a long drive ahead of us, so we don't have much time for reflection. We'll come back tomorrow, and each of us will have one final post to close things out. At that point, Raleighpalooza will officially come to its bittersweet close.

Thanks for reading along, folks. It's been one hell of a ride.

No Turning Back

That clock in that picture started rolling about a half hour ago, so we're quickly approaching gametime. Maryland and Louisville, the winner goes to St. Louis, the loser goes home. We've been giving precious little analysis here on the blog (mainly because we want you to listen in to hear everything we've got to say. Duh.), so we'll give you a little bit of a blog exclusive right here. Our final predictions for the game go as follows:

Jeremy: Maryland 76, Louisville 67
Hal: Maryland 72, Louisville 62
John: Maryland 67, Louisville 60

Right now, I seriously have no idea what to expect for this game. I think this game, barring Maryland's stars underperforming, might rest on how Angel McCoughtry does. If she shoots well, Maryland's in a bit of a bind. Considering Maryland missed the Final Four last year because of one player taking over (Candice Wiggins, for those with short memories), you'd think she'll be the first, second and third priority for the Terps tonight.

We ate at Biscuitville this morning, so we personally have done everything we can.

There's about 20 minutes until tip-off for tonight's game. Enjoy, no matter what happens. We'll try to be back during halftime to make a quick update post.