The University of Maryland faced external opposition for the first time in this 2010-11 season last-night, as they beat Division 2 Florida Southern 106-58 in an exhibition.

There are only so many things you can take away from an exhibition rout against inferior competition. While fun to think about, the transitive relation argument of Florida Southern competing with Butler (70-50 loss Saturday night) has limited to no value in reality.

However, there are a couple of things to take note of.

Prior to the game, some of the things I was looking for were:

Question 1) PG play with Bowie, Howard, and Stoglin. How do they set-up the offense? How do they handle pressure?

Answer 1) Bowie got just over 20 minutes, which is about the playing time I am expecting to see from him this year. He finished with 15 points, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, and 5 steals. I expect Bowie to have trouble as a PG, if he is asked to work against zones and in 1/2 court-sets. If he gets the opportunity to play up and down games, and run; he is going to be productive.

Howard was the first-guard off the bench, and while he did not score – he did finish with 5 assists, vs. just 1 turnover. Stoglin built off his strong outing in the scrimmage, with 9 points (5 for 5 from the line), and 4 boards. In reverse of Howard, Stoglin had 5 turnovers vs. just 1 assist.

Coach Williams has 3 different options who are each going to provide some-level of production. That is the key point to take away here.

Question 2) The game does not figure to be close at the end, so asking who handles the ball down the stretch really will be hard to judge tomorrow. I will be interested to see who Coach Williams puts on the floor to start the 2nd-half. He has talked about using multiple lineups, so that bears watching.

Answer 2) I have not confirmed it, but it appears that Williams had his initial starting lineup of Bowie, Tucker, Mosley, Gregory, and Williams back on the floor to start the 2nd-half. I personally like this, and would like to see this continue. The question that will be answered over-time, is who is on the floor at the end of close games?

Question 3) We keep hearing about improved athleticism, and a team that will spend more time pressing (and using the press to run and jump-start the offense), does that show tomorrow?

Answer 3) Every report from last night talks about the athleticism that was on display from the Terrapins. The fact this is noticeable to everyone, including to the returning players is important. I understand that even a good Division 2 team (FSU returns 4 starters, was 25-5 last-year, 13-3 in their Sunshine State Conference, and a preseason #5 overall in D2) does not have the athleticism, size, or depth to compete with a Major-Conference Division 1 team. Still, Maryland going on a 45-7 run based on their ability to run and pressure the ball is a very good sign. When/if this team struggles in 1/2 court sets, or shooting against a zone-defense, they should have the ability to pressure the ball and manufacture their offense through their defense.

Question 4) I’m very interested to see the play at PF tomorrow with Gregory, Padgett and to a lesser extent Pankey. The way Gregory and Padgett are going to help the Terps this year, is on the glass and by blocking shots. With their height/size and athletic advantages over the Mocs, this match-up should be exploited tomorrow.

Answer 4) 9 points, 7 boards, 2 blocks for Gregory in 22 mts. If Gregory gives the Terps this on a regular-basis, MD will be a difficult game for anyone. Padgett was the first big off the bench, and had 5 points, 5 boards (4 offensive) in 13 minutes. It is a bit surprising to me that Padgett had zero blocks during his time on the floor. Pankey got 10 minutes of his own, and also had 5 pts, and 5 boards. It seems clear that Pankey is healthy enough, to give you roughly the same production that Padgett provided last-year. That is an improvement to the bench.

I believe the 14 minutes of action that Weijs got last-night came mostly at Center behind Williams, but I do not want to ignore his contribution. There are multiple positive reports to be found all over the web of how well he ran the floor. 5 boards, and 4 blocks is excellent production from him (as is the 14 minutes of play). For two seasons Maryland has received nothing from Goins. The addition of Weijs over Goins is another improvement to the bench.

Question 5) Jordan Williams and Sean Mosley stepped-up yesterday in the scrimmage and immediately reminded their fellow Terrapins that they will be the leaders of this team. You want to see that continue tomorrow, but we need to see a 3rd join them as an option you can regularly rely on. To me that player has to be Cliff Tucker. In the exhibition tomorrow, and in the 2K Sports Regional Round games vs. Seattle, College of Charleston, and Maine it is important that Tucker gets established as a scorer.

Answer 5) You got the games you expected from Williams and Mosley, and most importantly Tucker had an excellent outing. Tucker finished with 15 points, 10 assists, 0 turnovers, 4 steals, and a block. I fully expect Tucker will average 10-12 points per game. If he is closer to 13 to 15 ppg, that is a tremendous difference. The key for Tucker this season is going to be how consistent can he be? It is very important that the Terps get Tucker the ball during the upcoming 3 games to start the season.

Overall Notes:

When you win by 48 points, there are going to be plenty of positives. Maryland handled the boards like they should have (55-33), had 10 blocks, and 13 steals.

The production of Palsson so far has been the surprise to me. He produced in the scrimmage with four 3’s, and he chipped in two more last night in the exhibition. 8 points, 5 boards from him is interesting. If he continues to hit shots from outside, he will find minutes on the floor when other teams go zone against the Terps.

The only real negative of the night is the poor free-throw shooting (18 for 30). As I mentioned, Stoglin though was 5 for 5. If that is indicative of things to come, he might find himself with the ball in his hands at the end of close games.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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