A number of Maryland fans are upset that Diamond Stone only starts by accident and that he *only* played 15 minutes in Tuesday’s overtime win over Northwestern but perhaps some perspective is needed.
(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)
Also on Tuesday night, Cheick Diallo made the first start of his college career for Kansas at Oklahoma State but he ended up playing just 13 minutes – only one of five times he’s played double digit minutes since becoming eligible on December 1. Meanwhile, Skal Labissiere logged only 8 minutes in Kentucky’s loss at Auburn on Saturday night and has played just 26 minutes in the Wildcats’ last three games. Furthermore, Diallo hasn’t attempted more than 8 field goals or 4 free throws in a single game he’s played while the last time Labissiere did either was before Thanksgiving and Black Friday respectively.
Stone is extremely far along compared to his fellow freshman “project” big men and the fact that we’ve reached the point in mid January where 15 minutes is seen by many (myself included) as not nearly enough for him is prime evidence of this – especially given his well known conditioning issues coming out of high school.
In many ways, when Stone’s been on the floor, he’s been the linchpin of Maryland’s offense. He uses a whopping 30.2% of the Terrapins’ possessions, which is the 37th most of any player in the country and he takes an even 30% of their shots, which is 75th in the nation. And while heavy usage often goes hand in hand with chucking and efficiency, the opposite is true with Stone. He makes 60% of his field goals and 80% of his free throws. Those are both exceptionally good. The Terps as a team virtually mirror those marks, which has them 2nd best in America at 2 point percentage (59.1%) and 9th in free throw percentage (76.1%.)
Stone’s free throw shooting in particular is an elite skill. 6’11, 255 pound humans who make 80% of their free throws simply don’t grow on trees, especially not when they’re fouled as frequently as Stone is. Stone has taken 86 free throws this season, which is 12 more than foul magnet Melo Trimble, despite playing far few minutes. He’s being hacked like a DeAndre Jordan or Andre Drummond but his soft touch at the charity stripe mirrors a Chris Bosh or LaMarcus Aldridge.
Multiple times Stone has led the Terps back in the second half to survive sluggish performances at home against inferior competition; everyone knows about the Penn State game in which he set a new school record for points in a game by a Freshman (39) but he also keyed the comeback against lowly Rider back in the second week of the season and was the driving force of last Tuesday’s near comeback at Michigan. It was almost a fatal tactical error not allowing him to work his magic against Northwestern down the stretch in regulation, when the Terps didn’t make a field goal in the final 4 and a half minutes.
He’s also grabbing offensive rebounds at an elite level. His 16.2% offensive rebound rate is 13th best in the country. Ironically, he’s one spot behind Maryland transfer Charles Mitchell (who is averaging a double double for Georgia Tech) on that list. It’s probably not a coincidence that his lack of minutes on Tuesday coincided with Northwestern’s 16 to 4 edge in offensive rebounds.
The knock on Stone has been his defense and lack of consistent effort on that side of the ball. His defensive rebounding rate is just 16.7%, which pales in comparison to Robert Carter Jr.’s 24.4%, which ranks 53rd in the nation. But his effort in last Tuesday’s loss at Michigan (22 points, 11 rebounds) was the best on the team in what was largely a listless performance by the Terps and he was once again a driving force in overtime, scoring Maryland’s next five points after Northwestern tied the game with 1:36 to play.
He’s simply exceeded all expectations. He scores frequently and efficiently from both the floor and the foul line. He crushes the offensive glass and continues to improve on the defensive side of the ball. He’s been a major energy force multiple times against lesser competition, pushing the team across the finish line. All of this from an 18 year old freshman who was supposed to have a significant learning curve. His metrics are arguably even more impressive than he looks on the court night in and out and it’s easy to see why so many (myself included) are clamoring for him to play more and more.
