Lance Stephenson to Delay Announcement

Tonight is the McDonald's All-American game, which shows off the best high school talent in the country. One player that will be participating is 6'5 shooting guard Lance Stephenson (read about him here) of Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, NY. Tonight is also the night when Stephenson was supposed to announce which college he will attend next year. He has decided to postpone that, however. Although neither Memphis nor Kentucky seemed to be a likely suitor, ESPN reports that Calipari's uncertain future with the Tigers could play a role. 

Right now, Stephenson has made it known that there are still three schools in the running - national powerhouse Kansas, local St. John's out of the Big East, and the somewhere in between University of Maryland. 

In early February, especially after his visit to campus to watch the Terps take down the Miami Hurricanes at home, Maryland was considered by many to be the favorite to land Stephenson. He was supposed to be the recruit that would "save Gary Williams' job," back when it seemed that Gary Williams' job needed saving. Players have openly talked about him; Greivis Vasquez got press (surprise) when he announced that if Stephenson came to Maryland, then Vasquez would be back for his senior season.

Since then, though, it appears that Kansas has overtaken Maryland as Stephenson's college of choice. As warm of a reception as Stephenson got at Maryland, he got a better one at Kansas. Stephenson has also said that the primary factor in his choice of school was his desire to win a national championship. Undoubtedly, Kansas is closer to that goal then Maryland at this point. St. John's is basically out of the running.

Right now, between message boards all over and small hints from Stephenson himself, I would put the percentages at: Kansas, 75%; Maryland, 20%; St. Johns, 5%. So no, I don't think that when Stephenson announces his choice, Maryland fans will be celebrating. I do stil think there's a shot, though. His mother has gone public and said that her choice for her son was Maryland. He fits into Gary Williams' style of play perfectly. He would be "that guy" at Maryland, whereas he would be just another great player at Kansas. He would be closer to home at Maryland. His high school teammate, James Padgett, has already committed to Maryland and wants Stephenson to join him. 

If Stephenson does become a Terp for next season, it will immediately make Maryland a top 25 team. A potential starting lineup of Greivis Vasquez, Lance Stephenson, Sean Mosley, Landon Milbourne, and Jordan Williams would be fast, strong, and very solid defensively. Stephenson and Vasquez could both average around 20 ppg for the season. It would be Maryland's highest rated recruit of the past ten years, with the possible exception of bust Mike Jones.

That being said, if Kansas is the choice, Maryland fans should not despair. It was a good sign that Maryland even got this far in the recruiting process, and shows that Gary still has pull when he really feels like it. This is not to mention Stephenson's alleged attitude problems, and the fact he is certainly a "one and done" player, and Williams likes recruiting four year players. This would also open up the team to recruit Baltimore product Terrell Vinson, a 6'7 foward who is a St. Frances product, the same high school Sean Mosley attended. Vinson still apparently has around 10 suitors, and Maryland is one of them. Without Stephenson, they will have the roster spot. 

I'll be following it, and you guys will know first thing where Stephenson ends up. If it happens, it will be great for the school. Don't get your hopes up too high, though. 

(Photo Credit: lance-stephenson.com ... yes, he has his own website)

Washington Nationals 2009 Preview: Infield

With all the injuries the Nationals faced in 2008, their infield was a rotating door at all but one position: shortstop. Cristian Guzman had his best year as a National, hitting .316 with 9 home runs and 55 RBIs. He was a model for consistently, hitting .290 or above in every month except for July, in which he hit .250.

Guzman will be the Nationals' 2009 opening day shortstop and should have another solid year. He won't be batting leadoff (Milledge will for the beginning of the season), but will slide to the 2-hole instead. That shouldn't matter much for Guzman, because he hit .311 from there in 2008. He's been a good hitter ever since his laser-eye correction surgery after the 2005 season.

Next to Guzman will be the face of the franchise, Ryan Zimmerman, at third base. Zimmerman was injured for a solid portion of 2008 and only played in 106 games, down from all 162 in 2007. He came on strong at the end and finished with a .283/14/51 line. His defense is still spectacular and should continue to improve, but he needs to work on his discipline and needs to hit for more power. This year, he has support around him, mostly in the form of Adam Dunn, who will give him some protection. Zimmerman should see more pitches to hit but also needs to remember to be patient, because he has a legitimate power threat behind him who can drive him in with one swing. I look for a .285/25/95 kind of season from him, and possibly a gold glove.

At second base, Anderson Hernandez was slated to be the starter before his hamstring injury. It's unsure if he'll be ready for opening day, but regardless, he's the second basemen the team will be counting on for the future. The team traded reliever Luis Ayala for him last season, and Hernandez took full advantage: he hit .333 with 17 RBIs and a 10/8 K/BB ratio in 28 games. He's never had a chance to break the Mets' lineup but now has his chance in Washington. His defense is way above average, and I think he can have a real good year and cement himself as the team's starting second basemen. Behind him is Ronnie Belliard, who had a solid year as a spot starter all over the infield. Belliard's a good bench player because of his power and versatility. If Hernandez cannot go on April 6th, I expect Belliard to start in his place. Willie Harris could also start, so he's a possiblity as well.

First base is the most interesting position on the infield. The oft-injured Nick Johnson will be the opening-day starter, and will be a big boost to the lineup. He has a wonderful batting eye and will draw walks like a fiend. The problem is that he's always injured. I expect him to miss significant time again, which would mean Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham would split time in left field and first base. Neither can match Johnson's defense, especially Dunn. If Johnson can stay healthy, though, they could swing him for a solid prospect at the deadline (if they are out of contention).

Behind the plate will be young Jesus Flores. He was inconsistent last season and got worse as the year went on. He started off fantastic, but struggled and failed to draw many walks to go along with a high strikeout rate. He's still young and has potential, but his ceiling is getting lower and lower with each stretch of batting problems. Luckily his defense is good and pitchers love working with him. I think he'll be pretty good this year, possibly something like .260/15/80. But if he struggles, the Nationals may have to look to prospects Luke Montz and Adrian Nieto as other possible long-term catchers.

On Wednesday I'll go over the bullpen for the Nationals, and on Thursday I'll talk about the rotation. Those two will be the team's weakness. Sunday I will predict a record for the team and division finish. Stay tuned!

Washington Nationals 2009 Preview: Outfield

Well, Opening Day is in just a week away, so I'm going to start with my 2009 Washington Nationals preview. My first post will be on the outfield, which is the most interesting part of the team going into the season.

The Opening Day roster will have the following players who play outfield: Lastings Milledge, Austin Kearns, Elijah Dukes, Adam Dunn, Willie Harris (though he will play more 2nd base) and Josh Willingham.

Left field will have Adam Dunn as its primary starter. Dunn, who signed just before spring training, has hit 40 home runs in 5 consecutive seasons. He will add a big-time home run threat that the lineup has lacked since 2006, when the team had Alfonso Soriano in left. Dunn may strike out a lot and play poor defense, but he is just about a lock for 40 home runs (barring injury) and will draw tons of walks. Seeing him drive balls into the right field seats will be a great sight. There isn't much to say about Dunn; he's been remarkably consistent

Playing center field will be Lastings Milledge, who will also bat leadoff. Milledge had an inconsistent 2008 but hit .299 after the all-star break and hit .336 with 6 home runs in August. He was hurt for part of the year and hit cleanup when the roster was decimated with injuries. He actually hit over .300 at the 4 spot, but luckily the lineup will be much deeper and he won't be hitting there anymore. Now he is at leadoff, which was an interesting decision by manager Manny Acta. Milledge doesn't draw many walks, but has improved his discipline and is a potential 25/25, which is rare at a leadoff spot. Milledge can hit for power but has had a terrible spring. It will be interesting to see how he does to start the season and how long Acta will keep Milledge at leadoff if he struggles.

Right field is by far the most competitive. The favorite is Elijah Dukes, who had a rough start to 2008 but finished strong and could very well end up being a complete, 5-tool player. Hard to imagine the Nationals got him for a pitcher who will most likely never see the majors. I slot Dukes in at RF to start the season, with Austin Kearns getting one start a week. Kearns was terrible in 2008, but you could attribute that to injury; personally, I think he's just a mediocre hitter but a solid defender. Kearns is an expensive fourth outfielder but he will be on the roster unless the team can swing him in a trade (if he plays well, a team could use him in July). Former Marlin Josh Willingham will also be backing up Dukes (and Dunn) and should be solid off the bench. He will get some starts in both left and right and could see some time at first base as well.

Manager Manny Acta has some juggling to do, and a lot will depend on the health of first baseman Nick Johnson. If Nick gets hurt - and history says he will - then Dunn and Willingham will help out at first, giving everyone more playing time. For the first time in a while, the Nationals have actual depth. Willingham could start on a lot of teams. Having him and Kearns off the bench will be a huge boost.

Look for more previews as the week goes by, and eventually I'll give my prediction for the 2009 Nationals season, and also look for some MLB talk on the show, maybe even tomorrow.

Frozen Four

This weekend, the men's division-one college hockey tournament started, and it started with a bang. On Friday, Air Force and Miami (OH) upset Michigan and Denver, who were the fourth and third overall seeds, respectively. University of Minnesota-Deluth scored two goals in the final 39 seconds - the last being with 0.8 seconds remaining - against Princeton and ended up winning in overtime. Minnesota-Deluth will face the Redhawks of Miami tonight at 9pm on ESPNU.

Today, New Hampshire came back from a third period 5-3 deficit and one-upped Minnesota-Deluth by tying the game with .3 seconds left. After the intermission at the end of regulation, UNH scored 45 seconds in to advance to play the winner of #1 overall seed Boston University and Ohio State (currently 3-0 BU in the first period as I type this) on Sunday.

The men's basketball tournament may have the national attention (and deservedly so), but this tournament is just as good, if not better. Sure, only sixteen teams get in (and the 16 are decided by a computer), and there really isn't the prospect of a "Cinderella" team, but the emotion and excitement are, in my opinion, only matched by the NHL playoffs. Many of the games go down to the wire and the games get more physical as the tournament goes on. Playoff/tournament hockey overtimes are unmatched in sports because the game could be decided at any point and when the winning goal is scored, the relief and pure joy is amazing to watch.

Oh, and the Frozen Four (the final four teams) is taking place in Washington, D.C. this year. Tickets are at a premium (sold out at this point), but that doesn't mean you won't be able to watch. Games are on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com. If you have nothing else to watch tomorrow evening (there isn't much on), check out the 2nd round of the tournament. The games should be great - every team has a chance in every game and the games usually go down to the wire.

Update

After a busy week when I didn't get time to do that second part of the Terrapin offseason preview, I decided to hold off on it until March 31 or April 1, when Lance Stephenson makes his decision. That will be one less thing we have to worry about. Until then, good luck Lady Terps and Maryland lacrosse. 

A Costly Mistake

Can you imagine rushing to the hospital to see a dying relative, only to be held up at gunpoint outside the hospital? Well, that happened to Ryan Moats in Dallas today. Officer Robert Powell held up Moats and his wife at gunpoint while Tamishia Moats' mother died.

This story is disturbing on so many levels. I understand that the officer wanted to do his job (Moats ran a red light), but a nurse and security guard confirmed that Moats' mother was dying and the officer still wouldn't let them leave.

Disturbing to say the least. I, for one, hope this cop is fired. He showed no compassion and I hope the Dallas Police show him the same.

Terp Basketball Offseason 1: The Returning Players

I was going to do a 2009-10 season outlook, but I realized there are way too many question marks still out there about the personnel that will be playing next year. So, I decided to do a two-part post about the possible personnel for next season. The first post will be a discussion on those players definitely returning to contribute to the team next year, and the second post will be about the question marks.

DEFINITE PLAYERS ON THE ROSTER NEXT SEASON

1. Landon Milbourne (SR): Milbourne followed a terrible freshman campaign (1.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg) with a so-so sophomore season (8.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg), and just followed that with a good junior season (11.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg). Terp fans can only hope he continues to progress and have a great senior year. Although his level of play diminished in ACC season because he was continually overmatched being a 6'7 power forward, Landon showed great toughness and the rare ability to consistently make a mid-range jumper.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Milbourne is a definite starter next season. It could be at either forward position, but he will be in the starting lineup from the first to the last game, barring injury.

2. Sean Mosley (SO): Mosley was a fan favorite last season because of his incredible grittiness and determination. In only one season, he established himself as the Terps' best defender. Throughout the course of the season, he was matched up man-to-man with team's leading scorers, whether they were a guard or forward. He played much larger than his size (6'4), and often forced jump balls. Offensively, Mosley needs plenty of work. He showed flashes of terrific spin moves and ability to get into the lane, but rarely finished down low. His jump shot always looks good coming out of his hand, but his 37% FG% and 24% FG% (3-PT) need to improve. It would also be good to see his FT% (70.7%) jump up about five percentage points.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Mosley started 16 of 35 games this year, including the last 15 games of the season. His role largely depends upon other personnel, but Mosley will probably (75%) start at either the shooting guard or third guard position next season.

3. Eric Hayes (SR): Hayes is almost as big of a "love him or hate him" type player as Greivis Vasquez was for the team this year, largely because it seemed that if you loved GV, you hated Hayes, and if you hated GV, you loved Hayes. Either way, nobody can argue with the seeming revitalization of Hayes, starting in the ACC tournament. After being one of the key factors in the loss to UVA to end the season (he missed his first six three-point attempts), Hayes singlehandedly led the team to victory against Wake Forest, and kept the team fighting against Duke. To Hayes's credit, after losing his starting job to Sean Mosley following the BC loss, Hayes never complained, and embraced his role as sixth man for the Terps. As the team's second best returning three point shooter and one of three seniors, Hayes will have a big role for the team next year.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: This is going to be one of the more interesting cases next year. Hayes will likely start if Vasquez leaves, but likely will come off the bench if Vasquez does indeed leave, so I'll call it 50%. Either way, he will get his minutes.

4. Adrian Bowie (JR): Bowie was arguably the most inconsistent player on an inconsistent team this season. He saw his points and assists greatly improve from his freshman to sophomore season (3.7ppg and 0.9 apg to 9.0 ppg and 3.0 apg) but also saw his FG% decrease from 58% to 45%. Bowie will almost always be the fastest player on the court when he plays, but teams (Memphis especially) were able to game-plan for him by sagging off him in the half-court and forcing him to take jump shots, which he could not consistently convert. His size often was a liability on defense, as he had to fight extra hard to get through screens on the perimeter, but his speed in the transition game was invaluable.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Bowie started 28 of 35 games as a sophomore, but will likely be squeezed out of a starting spot as a junior because of the team's ability to field a serviceable front-court. Since the Terps will most likely play almost exclusively man-to-man defense next year, Bowie's minutes will largely depend on the opposing team's speed.

5. Cliff Tucker (JR): Tucker returns as the team's best three point shooter, and when he gets in, he is a key part of the team's offense. He didn't see much time during the year, though - a mere 12.2 mpg - because of his lackluster defense and apparent poor practice habits. Coach Williams is known to give minutes to those who do both of those things well, and has hinted that Tucker has disappointed him in both regards. Because of what he gives the team offensively, though, there will be minutes for Tucker if he can step up on the defensive end. As they say, he just needs to pretend he's playing against UNC every game (whom he averaged 20 points against).

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: There is likely going to be minutes for either Bowie or Tucker next year, but not both. Because of that, depending on the game, it is very likely that Bowie and Tucker's minutes will come inversely proportional to one another. I have a hard time imagining many scenarios where both are on the court at the same time next year.

6. Dino Gregory (JR): Gregory was bested only by Dave Neal as the team's biggest surprise this season. At 6'7 with not much weight on him, Gregory was undersized every time he stepped on the court, especially because he was forced to play center for a lot of his minutes. He made up for it defensively, though, because of his supreme leaping ability. He also probably took more charges than anyone else on the team. Offensively, he was not able to get much more than about one put-back on an offensive rebound per game, but he showed flashes of an ability shoot a short jumper. He should get with Keith Booth and focus on acquiring some low post moves this summer.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Dino's going to play next year, and he may play a lot. Ideally, he and the two freshman will play in a three-man rotation at the two big positions, but Gary might be reluctant to constantly fill two positions on the court with three players who have a combined one year playing experience (Gregory only got in 16 games as a freshman). He probably won't start, but he will be one of the first two "bigs" off the bench.

7. Jordan Williams (FR): I have never seen Williams play, so all I can tell you is what I have seen on this page. Instantly, what has to jump out at you is his size: at 6'10, 240, Williams is going to be a big body for the Terps down low. Other than that, we will have to wait and see.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: I see Williams starting next year from day one. Don't get fooled into believing that what Dave Neal did this year (be a serviceable starting center in the ACC at 6'7) can be relied upon to be replicated. Williams is going to be the only player on the Terps with real size, and will be thrown into the fire early and often.

8. James Padgett (FR): Same deal with Williams. I've never seen him in person, so you can know what I know by reading this. At 6'8 with a little weight on him, he has good build for apower forward. I like the comments about him, especially about his toughness. This is the guy that scored 50 in a game this year. I don't care if that means he played against bad competition; I want a guy that can score 50 in a game on my team.

WAY TOO EARLY PROGNOSIS: Padgett has about a 25% chance of starting. He will start if either of the following happens: he outplays Williams in practice, or the Terps want to play a traditional lineup, but don't sign Terrell Vinson. If he doesn't get the starting nod, he will be a contributor for the team off the bench.

I'll be posting soon (likely tomorrow) about the players whose roles on the team are uncertain at this point.

(Photo Credits: umterps.com)