| ACC Basketball
With Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff writer
Thursday, March 13, 2003; 10:30 a.m. ET The ACC men's basketball tournament got underway Thursday, March 13 in Greensboro, N.C., after one of the most competitive regular seasons in history. "The league has been crazy all year -- you don't know who is going to win," Maryland Coach Williams said last week. Without an impressive nonconference victory, the Terrapins might need a couple of victories this weekend to secure a better seed in the NCAA tournament, which will be announced Sunday, March 16. Washington Post sports writer Josh Barr was online Thursday, March 13 at 10:30 a.m. to take questions on the ACC tournament and Maryland basketball. The transcript follows. Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Josh Barr: Good morning from Greensboro everyone. I'm ready for your questions.
Maryland: Josh, will Ryan Randle, who is seemingly inconsistent, be able to get the boards necessary for Maryland to get to the tournament? (I won't even bring up the missed tip from the last game.) Josh Barr: I think that's the big question facing the team. I was surprised by how he played against Virginia, given that he generally has bounced back from off games pretty well and he had struggled against N.C. State in the previous game. So I would expect that Sleepy will come to play this weekend.
Mt. Lebanon, Pa.: How many ACC picks, realistically, do you think will make it to the dance? Sure, it's nice to see NC, NC State, Wake, Duke, MD, GT, FSU, and the rest of the pack get there. But most won't. So who's really going to be there this year from the ACC? It'd be a pity if the Terps have to put their national championship on the line -- in the Big Apple! Thanks much. Josh Barr: I don't think the Terps have to worry about playing for a trip to the Big Apple. They're in the NCAAs, so are Wake Forest and Duke.
N.C. State needs to at least beat Georgia Tech today and might even need a win tomorrow to make the NCAAs. Otherwise, the Wolfpack will be joining the others in the NIT.
Alexandria, Va.: Josh, The Post's Wednesday summary of conference tournaments chose Duke as the ACC tourney favorite and Wake Forest as the "darkhorse." This, according to the summary, was because "Wake Forest went 2-2 against No. 2 Maryland and No. 3 Duke and didn't beat either team away from home." Had the Post reporters actually looked at Duke's and Maryland's schedules and results, they would have seen that precisely the same statement could be made about Duke and Maryland with respect to each other and Wake. That is, the silly stat used by the Post to justify Wake as a "darkhorse" could similarly be used to chose Maryland or Duke as the darkhorse -- i.e., the 2-2 stat justifies nothing. Moreover, Wake for several years used the Greensboro Coliseum as its home court; so Wake arguably has the homecourt advantage in the tourney. Finally, Duke and Maryland have a much tougher route to the finals than does Wake. It is obvious to anyone with one whit of sense that Wake is the tourney favorite and Josh Howard the player to watch. Go Deacs! (In case you couldn't guess: B.A., Wake Forest '82.) Josh Barr: Well, you're right. And I think that Wake Forest will have a huge homecourt advantage come Sunday after the other teams' fans have left and folks make the short drive over from Winston-Salem.
But don't forget that Duke has won the past four tournaments.
That said, the majority of the media folks down here think Maryland will be the team taking home the trophy on Sunday.
So I don't think there really is a darkhorse or a favorite.
Bracketville, USA: Josh, I know the Heels have a lot of confidence after the Duke win, but Maryland gives them the worst match-up problems. They were better off facing Duke again. What is your take on Felton and McCants? And how do you see the match-ups? Josh Barr: Hmmmm. A Heels fan who knows where Bracketville is? Just kidding. Some of us have short memories.
I think that Felton and McCants are very good players. The problem for North Carolina today is that against Maryland, Felton is matched against Steve Blake and McCants against either Drew Nicholas or Calvin McCall. Give the advantage to Blake and while McCall isn't as talented as McCants, he knows how to play his role on defense. And these are the positions where North Carolina is strongest. Look inside and Maryland has a huge mismatch with Tahj Holden and Ryan Randle against Byron Sanders, though David Noel does gives UNC some toughness.
Arlington, Va.: Do the Terps have a legit chance to make a run for the Final 4? Josh Barr: If they play well, absolutely. The top teams in college basketball are hardly imposing (see UCLA beating Arizona). If Maryland plays to its potential, there is no reason they can't make a big postseason run. Of course, conversely, if they play like they did against Virginia, it might be a short postseason.
Washington, D.C.: How many pounds will Gary Williams sweat out in the next few weeks? Josh Barr: Tough to say. Maybe he can borrow Ralph Friedgen's scale for a pregame and postgame weigh-in.
Somewhere, USA: So who is your pick to take the ACC? Josh Barr: Well, my hunch is that Maryland will bounce back from the Virginia loss, play well and win three games here. The only problem with that thought is, as I wrote in today's paper, the Terps have rarely done the expected this season. If it is not Maryland, then I would go with Wake Forest. Josh Howard has been great down the stretch.
Shaftsbury, Vt.: Josh Howard will most likely get ACC player of the year, right? What do you think needs to happen for him to get national player of the year? Go deacs. J-Ho's the man. Josh Barr: Anybody who doesn't vote J-Ho the ACC player of the year needs to watch a few more games. For him to get some national awards, I think he and Wake Forest need to do well in the NCAA tournament.
Alexandria, Va.: It would have been nice to have a chat about the college basketball tournament season in general. In that case we could have also discussed Georgetown, GW, American, Howard, and George Mason. Not every local is a Maryland fan. Sometimes I think your paper forgets that. Josh Barr: We try to cover all the local teams. Anything in particular you want to talk about?
washingtonpost.com: Josh, thanks for the chats. Are you hearing anything about recruiting in the ACC? Has any school stood out so far in the folks they will be bringing in? Josh Barr: I think the key recruiting class next season will be Maryland's. The Terps are bringing in five players who will have to contribute immediately and think they have a good group. The player to watch will be swingman Mike Jones.
washingtonpost.com: Josh, home much of an advantage will Wake have playing in Greensboro? Josh Barr: If the Deacs make it to Sunday, I think they will have a huge advantage. The Coliseum holds 23,000 and you have to think that many of the losing teams' fans will be gone by Sunday, selling their tickets to the folks who can drive in for the day (and scalpers who can see to the folks driving in for the day). Normally this gives Duke or Carolina a big edge come Sunday but this year it could benefit Wake.
Burke, Va.: Is Jeff Jones now a Patriot League-caliber coach? Do you anticipate any chance of his returning to an ACC-level program in the near future? With Maryland now recruiting at the national level and with the recent drop in quality in Georgetown and GW's programs, why can't Jones bring any top notch local players to Ward Circle? Josh Barr: Jeff Jones has done a nice job at AU and I'm sure will get some looks from bigger schools seeking a new coach. At AU, though, it is tough to compete with the Maryland, Georgetown and GW for players, regardless of who is the coach. Players often want the chance to play at the highest level they can and the ACC, Big East and A-10 are well above the Patriot League.
Lexington Park, Md.: Hi: What are the chances for the tournament to move from Tobacco Row to ANYWHERE else in ACC-land? Josh Barr: It will be at MCI Center in 2005 and in Tampa in 2007.
Alexandria, Va.: Josh, Are you surprised the ACC did not take stiffer action against the Duke player who shoved Coach Matt Doherty? This is the second year a Duke player's behavior at a game has been outrageous. Did you vote for Duke's Chris Duhon as an All-ACC player? I believe Rashad McCants was a better player than Duhon. Josh Barr: I, like most folks around the league, was surprised with the reprimand instead of a suspension. I also found Coach K's notion that Andre Buckner was being a peacemaker was pretty ridiculous -- there is a good column in yesterday's Greensboro News-Record on this.
As for the all-ACC, the Post has a policy of not allowing its writers to vote for all-league teams, but I think the first team was a pretty solid consensus.
Josh Barr: Thanks for the questions everyone. Hope you enjoy the games this weekend and we'll talk again during the NCAAs.
© Copyright 2003 The Washington Post Company | 
