Exhibition Win for Terps

It may have only been an exhibition game, but the Maryland Terrapins looked pretty good on Saturday, beating the Northwood Seahawks 104-60.

The team was missing star guard Greivis Vasquez due to suspension (I'm told it was due to an off-the-court violation, i.e. he skipped a class or similar), but didn't miss a beat on offense. Junior Landon Milbourne and sophomores Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker picked up the slack.

Those three players contributing comes as no surprise. If the Terps want to compete with some of the best teams in the ACC, Milbourne will have to be the leader he says he's becoming and Bowie and Tucker have to score points on a regular basis.

What was surprising was freshman Jin Soo Kim. Kim, who was ruled eligible by NCAA Clearinghouse just last Monday, struggled in the first half, going 0-5 and 0-3 from three-point range. But in the 2nd half, Kim was lights-out, going 6-9 with 18 points (he finished with 20 total). He made several drives to the basket and was playing with confidence. He even used a nice head-fake to drive the lane, score, and get fouled for an extra shot. Comcast Center was as loud as it could possibly be for an exhibition game when Kim scored the shot I just mentioned.

Kim may very well be the x-factor for the Terps this season. If he can come off the bench and score 8-12 points a game, then they should be able to run with a lot of teams in the ACC. And for his height (6'8") and weight (a skinny 195), he plays pretty physical. He isn't afraid to get his nose dirty around the basket. With a small front court (the Terps' starting center, Braxton Dupree, is 6'8"), Kim could be a key player down the road.

But enough about the Korean sensation. It's just one exhibition game and no one has seen him play in a game that counts against a good team. He's still raw and unproven. But, Terps fans should be excited about his potential. It showed on Saturday.

My other thoughts about Saturday's exhibition win:

• Eric Hayes looks much more comfortable as the starting point guard. He ran the offense extremely well and made good passes. He even drained a couple of threes and was confident in himself. After the game, he said the win was important for not only the team, but the fans. Good to see him acknowledge the fans and his desire to make them happy, considering how much scrutiny he faces.
• Landon Milbourne is going to be one of the best Terps this season. On Saturday he was all over the court and made plays on both the offensive and defensive ends. He told me after the game that he's been working on being a leader and that he made some speeches before the game. Milbourne is one of the team's tri-captains (along with Dave Neal and Greivis Vasquez) and it definitely showed Saturday. He set the tone early on and the team never let up, even when he was on the bench.
• Braxton Dupree needs to make his presence felt. He was generally invisible on Saturday and didn't get involved with the offense until late in the game. We'll see if that was result of Northwood's height (3 players 7 feet tall or above - one was 7'5") or Dupree not being aggressive. On the defensive end, he held his own, which might be all they need from him.