Maryland Basketball Thus Far

I was going to do this post after the Michigan State game, but then I said to myself "Eh let's see if they can do it twice in a row and beat Gonzaga." After the Gonzaga loss, I was going to write this, but said to myself "Well let's see which game was the fluke before." After the Georgetown loss, I couldn't bring myself to write this because I refused to believe they were as poor as they played. Finally, after the Michigan game, I feel we know who this team is. This is my assessment, player by player. 

Adrian Bowie (22.6 mpg, 2.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, 9.4 ppg) - Adrian has played a lot this year and got himself into the starting lineup for the first time against Michigan. Like he is known to do, he has played good defense all year. He's also been a terror on the transition. In the half-court offense, though, he's really struggled. When he comes in, he plays the point, so 2 assists per game is not nearly enough for a guy who's getting 23 minutes per game. He drives to the basket well, but has also played very out-of-control at times, being second on the team in turnovers with a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. It's good to see he's developed his jump shot. 

Jerome Burney (6.2 mpg, 1.7 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 0.7 ppg) - Something has to be going on here. By the end of last year, Burney was the first big man off the bench. This year, he's barely seen the light of day. He must have done something in practice to really make Gary angry. He's the most athletic player that Maryland has inside. During his brief stints of playing time, he's done nothing that deserves merit. 

Braxton Dupree (19.0 mpg, 4.5 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 4.2 ppg) - When you're playing bad early in the season, skipping class may not be your best option. That's what Braxton did, though, and that earned him a permanent spot on the bench for the game against the Wolverines. Not coincidentally, this was Maryland's best rebounding game by far. Braxton plays softer than any big man I've ever seen, and that includes Travis Garrison. He gets half of his shots blocked on offense, and can't catch anything that Greivis throws at him. I applaud him for getting into shape this year, but he will be annihilated when he gets into ACC season. 

Dino Gregory (12.7 mpg, 2.7 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 1.7 ppg) - One of the best surprises of this young season. He played 26 minutes last night, and made his case that he should be getting about that every game. He has been their best interior defender. He still has zero moves on offense, but knows his spot and won't make a bad pass. He's very undersized, but the team is undersized. He makes up for it by being far more athletic than Braxton. 

Eric Hayes (30.0 mpg, 3.6 rpg, 3.3 apg, 10.3 ppg) - I like what Eric Hayes has done this year. He has played very good defense, with the notable exception of the Georgetown game. It looks like he's definitely gotten quicker. I also like how he plays for his own shot. Unlike the previous two years, when he has the ball and he's open, he's looking to shoot, not to dish. The biggest problem with Eric right now is that his shots simply aren't falling. 28.6% from behind the arc isn't going to cut it for the year. He still has the purest shot on the team, though, so I think he's going to get it together. 

Jin Soo Kim (12.6 mpg, 1.2 rpg, 3.8 ppg) - What a cult following this guy has. He played a key role in the Vermont game, playing the power forward position in overtime, and playing it quite well. He's still learning the offense, which is completely understandable because of how late he joined the team. He's not the most coordinated of guys, so he'll be beat defensively. Nobody plays with more passion, though. When he comes in, he needs to get open more often to give him more room to shoot his beautiful three. His playing time will continue to sporadic, based on team need at the specific moment in the game.

Landon Milbourne (24.6 mpg, 4.0 rpg, 0.7 apg, 9.1 ppg) - On the whole, Landon's disappointed this year. He looked so good in the scrimmages and the early games, but has really disappeared in the past four games. I will say, though, that he stepped up in the second half of last night's game. You can't really blame Landon because he needs to be playing small forward, but it is what it is. He plays hard, which I love. He needs to shoot better and defend better. I have a feeling we've yet to see the best of Landon this year. 

Sean Mosley (16.3 mpg, 3.0 rpg, 1.3 apg, 3.9 ppg) - He's done everything right but score. He's already one of the team's better defenders, and definitely one of the team's smarter players. Sometimes the game moves too quickly for him, but he is, after all, a freshman. He finally made his first three pointer of the year last night. He started against Michigan, and I wouldn't be surprised if he continues to start for the majority of the year. He hasn't been that special, but neither have Bowie or Tucker. 

Dave Neal (19.1 mpg, 4.0 rpg, 0.9 apg, 7.7 ppg) - You can knock him all you want. The fact of the matter is, Dave Neal has been awesome this year. His success has come directly because of his intelligence. At 47.5%, he has the best field goal percentage on the team because he takes the shot when it's open. He doesn't force anything. He's 9-10 from the line. He's 7-12 from three point range. He may not be athletic or big enough to play with some of the big boys in the ACC, but right now, Dave Neal deserves to start for this team. Without his play, this team would have lost to Vermont. 

Cliff Tucker (12.9 mpg, 1.7 rpg, 0.6 apg, 5.3 ppg) - He hasn't been playing well, and Gary has made it show by his decrease in playing time. He's never been the best defender, so he needs to make up for it with strong offense, which simply hasn't been there. He doesn't make too many mistakes, but his 37.5% field goal percentage won't cut it, especially with how deep this team is at guard. He probably deserves some more minutes to get himself back on track, but he's not going to get them over Mosley. 

Greivis Vasquez (33.0 mpg, 6.1 rpg, 4.9 apg, 2.0 spg, 17.9 ppg) - He is so by far and away the best player on this team this yea that it's not even close. His defense has been stellar - look at what he did to Manny Harris last night, holding him to 5-15 shooting. He still turns the ball over too much, but he has clearly improved in that aspect (averaging 3 per game, not 4). Obviously, he throws up too many shots he shouldn't, but you take the good with the bad with Greivis. He plays more than anyone because he's the best player on both sides of the ball. His free throw shooting has been better this year, and, like Hayes, I can only believe that his three point shot will start to fall more. He's also even more passionate than last year, which I couldn't even really imagine. This team will go as far as Vasquez goes.