Can We PLEASE Have a Better Second Half?

So according to the half-time stats, Vasqquez isn't doing as badly as I thought. Do I have too much invested him? Am I too rough on him? The man thought he was going to go the NBA, so no, I don't think I am too rough on him. If he thought he was good enough to leave early, he needs to be doing a lot more than he is, and he needs to lead the Terps to victories.

Hopefully the Badgers' three-point luck will run out and they will cut us some slack. Maryland has come out aggressively, but they still need to watch the Wisconsin's three-point shots. They have scored 8 on us, and that's only in 25 minutes of playtime. That's basically a point a minute, and that doesn't include their two-point shots or foul shots, which they have 20 points off of. I guess asking for a better second half is like asking for a million dollars. Ain't gonna happen, no matter how much I want it.

Choi is actually laughable at the moment. His tenacity is goofy to watch, and he just committed two fouls in less than two minutes. And now Mosley has three fouls and will be sitting out for a while. We've now only got four people on the floor to score for us. AND WE CAN'T SCORE A JUMP SHOT TO SAVE OUR LIVES! The Terps are actually doing well offensively. Well, not badly, anyway, but their defense is just under par and they can't get a rhythm going.

Christ on a crutch, we have committed 7 team fouls, versus their 3. These ticky-tack foul calls are getting real old real quick. Apparently there is no physical touch allowed in basketball. finally, a foul in our favor! Hayes steals the ball and gets bulldozed... all for Jordan Williams to shoot and miss a jump shot. Gary can give me a scholarship to miss those jump shots, if he wants.

We get it within three, and Williams let's a Badger bump into him ever so slightly for an and-1. My motto? If you are going to foul, make it worth it. Don't give them an extra point. That, followed by Vasquez turning the ball over. (By the way, it is worth mentioning that the whole time the Terps fought to get within three, Vasquez was on the bench. Hmmm....) So with turnover after disasterous turnover, Wisconsin is back up by 7 and shooting free-throws, putting us down by 9.

This is embarrassing. A month ago, I was so psyched for the beginning of basketball season. It's like five months of Christmas. But this "Christmas" season, all I have gotten is coal. The Terps are getting worked by a bunch of skinny white boys from the farmland who can shoot nothing but three-pointers because that's all they practiced in their drafty barns in below-freezing temperatures. Disgusting. And our boys look like a bunch of wusses out there, giving sissy bumps to offer them free points. Good thing I am not a player, because at this point I would start hurting people. If I am going to lose and have fouls called against me, I am going to make them count. I am secretly hoping I will see that from the Terps in the last five minutes of delayed agony. Score is 68-55, very obviously Wisconsin up.

Cool guy Vasquez shoots a three and actually makes it. Deja vu warning: a day late and a dollar short. He's not there when we need him the most, period. That puts us down by 11 with under 5 minutes left. I know crazier things have happened, but dare I hope for some sort of magical run that gives us third place? Or are we going to go all the way to Maui to beat no one except a Division II school with about a thousand undergrad students?

No, I won't even bother hoping for a miracle victory. It's funny... now that the Terps are blatantly fouling, the refs won't call it, giving Wisconsin even more time. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would smell a rat. But it's too early in the season. Wisconsin needed their 30 points from three-pointers to beat us. Let's see what those 30 points do for them against Duke. Ha. I can be a spiteful bitch when I want to be.

Final disgusting score: 78-69. Let's beat Indiana next week and put this crap behind us! At least we can maybe blame this one on jetlag...