Williams' harsh outlook has kept Maryland grounded

Maryland senior James Gist has keyed the Terps' turnaround and burned North Carolina for 22 points and 13 rebounds last Saturday. AP

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I once heard a friend of Maryland coach Gary Williams describe him thusly: "He has an overriding sense of misery, which sustains him in times of happiness." That may not sound like a compliment, but in Williams' bizzaro world, it is. If the best of times are never as good as they seem, then the worst of times can't be all that bad.

So it is fitting that Maryland's stunning upset at No. 1 North Carolina last Saturday resulted primarily from two setbacks. The first was the Terrapins' humiliating 67-59 loss at home to American on Dec. 22, which capped a stretch in which they lost four out of five games. The second was the sprained ankle that shelved sophomore Eric Hayes, the team's starting guard, for three games this month. Those setbacks helped the Terps learn how to deal with adversity and gave them something to rally around.

"When you hit rock bottom, there's nothing to lose," says Williams, whose team has now won seven of its last eight games. "For our six freshmen, when they lost to American it was the first time in their lives they were being criticized. So your job as a coach is to circle the wagons and tell them, It's on us. It's in this locker room. We're the only ones that can straighten this out."

A perfect example of Maryland's struggles is 6-foot-8 senior forward James Gist. He was supposed to get a jolt of confidence from making USA Basketball's Pan American Games team last summer, but Gist had some terrible games early this season. He had seven points in a November loss to UCLA in Kansas City and had a total of 20 points in losses to VCU, Ohio and American. Gist was at his worst against American, when he had just three points and four rebounds and fouled out in 22 minutes.

After the American debacle, Gist returned home for four days and gathered his thoughts during the holidays. Before Maryland's next game at home against Delaware, Gist approached Williams after the Terps' pregame shootaround and asked if they could meet privately in his office. "I realized I wasn't playing to my potential and filling my role on the team. I wanted to let coach know I felt the same way he did," Gist says. "I told him I wanted him to be hard on me as a coach, to let me know when I was messing up. I really wanted to step up."

"I really found out in that meeting how much James cared," Williams says. "He wasn't blaming anybody but himself. He wanted to take the whole thing on him. He walked out of the office ready to be a leader, not because of anything I said but because he got the chance to express things that he had kept inside."

In the seven games since, Gist has averaged 18 points and nine rebounds. Against the Tar Heels, he had 22 and 13. Best of all, he played tough, smart defense on Tyler Hansbrough while committing only two fouls. Hansbrough ended up with 17 points but he needed 15 shots to get them. Maryland's other senior, Bambale Osby, also had 12 points against North Carolina, including a critical late basket that gave the Terps their final lead.

Ironically, Hayes' injury also turned out to be a boon because it forced Williams to give two of his freshmen guards, Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker, more minutes. Hayes returned to play 13 minutes against North Carolina, but having Bowie and Tucker in the rotation (they played a combined 37 minutes) gave the Terps the perimeter depth they needed to run stride for stride with North Carolina's thoroughbreds.

Maryland has lost plenty of games it should have won over the years, but it's telling that under Williams the Terps have now beaten nine No. 1-ranked teams. "Gary is at his best when his back is to the wall," one ACC assistant coach told me. "He can tell his guys, Nobody respects us, nobody thinks we can do this. It fits his personality."

Which is why there is zero chance now that the Terps will get overly complacent. At 12-7 and 2-2 in the ACC, they still have a lot of work to do to get into the NCAA tournament. Should they get too caught up in the happiness of the moment, their coach will be right there to remind them to stay a little bit miserable. "I told the guys, when you go through tough times, you find out who your friends are," Williams says. "My message to them now is going to be, Don't forget who your friends were after the American game. Cause you're going to have a lot of friends today."

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