Poor Gary Williams: words we never expected to type. Part III of the series the Post is running on Williams, his program, and recruiting is up, and Gary can't possibly be happy with it. He's depicted as being desperate, and taking chances that have exacerbated things. In particular, the recruitment of Lance Stephenson is questioned. He's had a history of questionable behavior and, like Tyree Evans and Herb Pope, he would have a tough time fitting in with the Terps (we didn't realize how much Maryland was after Pope).
| Teams | Times | TV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NC State @ Georgia Tech | 1:30 PM | Raycom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida State @ Wake Forest | 4:00 PM | Raycom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Virginia Tech @ Maryland | 4:00 PM | Raycom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Not a good Saturday read, but maybe things are getting better.
Three compelling games on Saturday. Speaking the Terps, they take on Virginia Tech. It's a huge game for both teams. Virginia Tech can move up to a second-place tie (third with the tiebreaker being Duke's early win) and Maryland has a chance to get back to .500. Maryland is probably playing closer to their potential right now than are the Hokies, but that's not an even judgment or anything.
In the FSU-Wake game, what more could you want? FSU almost matches Wake's frontcourt and Solomon Alabi is becoming a good player very quickly.  Wake's weaknesses have been exposed, while FSU's confidence is rising, largely because their defense has been terrific. A great, great matchup, and possibly a great game as well. It would be a big win for FSU - like Virginia Tech, they're sniffing second place.
Georgia Tech is sliding towards irrelevance, but the frontcourt talent is real. State has gotten it together for a couple of big leads lately, though they couldn't hold them. In this game, neither team has a strong backcourt and both can really toss the ball away. But State seems to be figuring some things out and Tech has worse troubles with turnovers than the Pack does. Good news for Tech: Iman Shumpert will play despite his broken nose.
Should be a great day of hoops.
Clemson fans are starting to worry about keeping Oliver Purnell, which is a great sign. Our guess? They don't have to worry too much. He seems pretty happy in Tigertown.
Here is an absolutely amazing article about Shane Battier and how he plays the game. We've always known he was a subtle player. We just didn't realize quite how subtle he is. Remarkable.