Big Man

Two Maryland commitments and several other Terps targets are down in Charlottesville, Va., this week for the annual NBPA Top 100 Camp. After the first day of competition Thursday, info on Potomac shooting guard Dion Wiley was scarce , while reviews of Bishop O'Connell point guard Melo Trimble seemed to be unanimously positive . One of the Terps' most under-the-radar targets, meanwhile, fared well on Day 1. InsideMDSports analyst...

Two Maryland commitments and several other Terps targets are down in Charlottesville, Va., this week for the annual NBPA Top 100 Camp. After the first day of competition Thursday, info on Potomac shooting guard Dion Wiley was scarce , while reviews of Bishop O'Connell point guard Melo Trimble seemed to be unanimously positive . One of the Terps' most under-the-radar targets, meanwhile, fared well on Day 1. InsideMDSports analyst...

They've got to be one of the oddest-looking couples in rock: this big, hulking black man who looks like he just stepped off a football field, and this wiry, streetwise white guy, with his scruffy beard that, even when they met in the early 1970s, screamed beatnik chic. But Clarence Clemons and Bruce Springsteen have made for far more than some odd visuals over their 35-plus years together. They've made some great music, with Springsteen writing the songs and Clemons, immortalized as "The Big Man" on 1976's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," blasting out some of the rock era's most powerful sax solos.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. Each week, I hope to chat with one of them in a regular feature called Blogger on Blogger. This week, I exchanged emails with Dave Tucker, who blogs about the Terps for Testudo Times . MV: Where do you expect Alex Len to go in the NBA draft? What do you expect from him as a pro? DT: I expect Len to get drafted somewhere in the top 10, maybe in the top 5. Alex has a lot going for him from an NBA perspective.

Around sunset Thursday, the big man — taller, broader, bolder and more passionate than anyone around him — called out from the middle of the crowd at the edge of Herring Run Park, and in that moment he stole the show from the politicians who had turned out for a "solidarity walk" through Belair-Edison. "We cannot zip our lips, pull down our blinds and close our doors," the big man said, his double-barrel voice booming over the traffic behind him on Belair Road. "Crime will come to you if you keep your lips zipped, your doors closed and your blinds pulled.

New Maryland men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon is holding a teleconference Tuesday afternoon, but he chatted with Ed Norris and Steve Davis of 105.7 The Fan on Tuesday morning about what he has been up to since he was introduced as Gary Williams’ replacement two weeks ago -- and it has been a lot. Turgeon has filled out his coaching staff, including super recruiter Dalonte Hill , and has convinced Nick Faust, the top player in the...

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. Each week, I hope to chat with one of them in a regular feature called Blogger on Blogger. This week, I exchanged emails with Dave Tucker, who blogs about the Terps for Testudo Times . MV: Where do you expect Alex Len to go in the NBA draft? What do you expect from him as a pro? DT: I expect Len to get drafted somewhere in the top 10, maybe in the top 5. Alex has a lot going for him from an NBA perspective.

SAN FRANCISCO - Hail, Barry. The Big Man's World Series moments are already destined to live in a blaze of lightning-flash glory - even if his sluggish teammates never follow their leader. Too bad The Big Man doesn't pitch. The way Barry Bonds is locked in this October, he'd register 27 outs on 27 pitches, giving the Giants a jolt where they need it: stopping the Anaheim Angels' hit parade. Batting a team-leading .314 (11-for-35) with 15 runs, 14 RBIs and a postseason-record seven home runs, The Big Man is the super model of efficiency.

Gary Williams sat in the first row at last week's Capital Classic and proudly noted that Maryland had two recruits playing in the high school all-star game -- the same number as Duke. Keith Booth and Joe Smith indeed represent major coups for Maryland. The problem is, such players are the norm in the ACC.That's the maddening part of Williams' rebuilding program -- he's playing catch-up in the nation's best conference. Today is the day Booth officially joins the fold, signing a letter of intent.

Many people look at Russell DeMont and say it must be nice to be 6 feet 8 and playing high school basketball in Carroll County.There just aren't very many players in the county over 6-4, and none of them has the talent and potential that Westminster High's DeMont possesses.DeMont is easily the best big man in the county.But with all that potential comes a lot of high expectations from teammates, classmates, fans and coaches.And it's hard to hide when you're 6-8 and almost everybody else is 6-2 or smaller.

That was another heart-breaking loss for the Maryland Terps last night, 61-58 in overtime on the road to a Virginia team that clawed back from 17 points and is not great -- and far less than great if senior star Joe Harris is shooting as horribly (4-for-18 from the field) as he did against the Terps. But what coach Mark Turgeon and his players need to take from this one is how good the Terps can play when they come out with energy and attack the basket. That's what the Terps did in the first half to jump out to that big lead.

How important was Maryland's 67-57 victory over Wake Forest? Let's count the ways it mattered. * It was critical if the Terps are to retain any fragment of hope of an NCAA tournament berth. Maryland needs that hope to inspire it. When you're trying to summon effort late in a close game, it helps to imagine that you're playing for a big, tangible goal like March Madness. “Every win from here on out is a must win for us,” said Dez Wells, who slashed to the basket effectively all day. “We really want to get to the NCAA tournament.” * It restored a positive sense of identity.

The malaise - if that's the word - that seemed to grip the Maryland Terps in their dreary 80-69 loss to Virginia Sunday at Comcast Center even extended to Dez Wells. The sophomore swingman finished with 13 points, but was held to just two in the first half. And he didn't seem to be nearly as aggressive in looking for his shot. With sophomore big man Alex Len struggling against Virginia double-teams all game long, the Terps needed Wells to come up big and fill the scoring void, and it just didn't happen.

This one was ugly, an 80-69 beatdown at the hands of Virginia that made that patch of gray in Mark Turgeon's hair practically double in size. A few more losses like this and he'll need the Just for Men even more than I do. The big question for Maryland on Sunday was this: where was Alex Len? The big sophomore center finished with nine points, but four came in the last 1:18 when Comcast Center was emptying and the cleaning crew was getting the mops and brooms ready. OK, Len finished with seven boards and blocked a few shots.

Editor's note: Each week, InsideMdSports.com provides this blog with a Maryland recruiting feature that previously appeared as premium content on its site. Two of the biggest questions among those who follow Maryland basketball recruiting: will the school's move to the Big 10 pay dividends with recruits from the Midwest, and will Alex Len 's ascension into the national spotlight - and into the top five of most NBA Draft projections - help Mark Turgeon and company expand their recruiting horizons.

So now the can has been kicked to the end of the road where the piper lives and must be paid. Will it be by cutting deep into the sacred cow of the military or by loosening the strands of the social safety net? With our financial cupboard almost bare, do we continue to pretend to be the big man on campus of the world by wildly spreading (borrowed) money around like a drunken sailor to buy new, and maintain old, favor and friends? Why? Can we afford to continue to rush in, mostly all by ourselves, everywhere and every time sand gets kicked up by a world bully?

The sky was the color of scrap metal yesterday and thick dark clouds floated overhead as you nosed your car in the direction of Camden Yards for the Orioles Opening Day extravaganza. But you, you didn't care if the weatherman was calling for twisters to touch down. You were a man on a mission. It was time to sit down with the Big Man. Time to seek out Orioles owner Peter Angelos and present him with the results of a recent Sun poll that showed a clear majority of fans favor getting rid of John Denver's rube anthem "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" as the O's seventh-inning stretch song.

Editor's note: Each week, InsideMdSports.com provides this blog with a Maryland recruiting feature that previously appeared as premium content on its site. Two of the biggest questions among those who follow Maryland basketball recruiting: will the school's move to the Big 10 pay dividends with recruits from the Midwest, and will Alex Len 's ascension into the national spotlight - and into the top five of most NBA Draft projections - help Mark Turgeon and company expand their recruiting horizons.

Here's the main problem Mark Turgeon faces right now with the Maryland Terps: no one can put the ball in the basket. And this is no small concern. That was an absolute horror show last night at the Bank United Center, when the Terps managed just 14 points in the first half and shot just 31.6 percent on their way to a 54-47 loss to Miami. It was Maryland's second ugly ACC loss in a row and second dreadful offensive performance, and you can sense the frustration mounting in both the players and coaches.

Editor's note: Each week, InsideMdSports.com provides this blog with a Maryland recruiting feature that previously appeared as premium content on its site. Maryland's frontcourt recruiting was in poor shape when Mark Turgeon arrived. Turgeon made it a priority, signing four frontcourt players in his first recruiting class. With just one high school big man, Damonte Dodd - along with 2013-eligible transfer Evan Smotrycz - joining the team next year, Turgeon will be looking to continue bolstering the frontcourt in the 2014 class.