After a public scrimmage yesterday, the University of Terrapins will play their lone exhibition against Division 2 power Florida Southern tomorrow night.
If you did not see it, here is a good recap of the scrimmage from the Terps official site:
http://www.umterps.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/103010aaa.html
Florida Southern should provide some good practice for the Terps. The Mocs were 25-5 overall last season, and 13-3 in the Sunshine State Conference. They have been picked to finish 2nd in the SSC this year, as they return 4 starters.
Last night FSU played without their best returning scorer (Rion Rayfield, 15.3 ppg), and were competitive in a 90-70 exhibition loss to National Runner-up Butler. At half-time the Mocs were down just 7 points (52-45) before Butler went on a 19-4 run. For the game, Butler won on the boards 41-35, and forced 15 turnovers. It will be interesting to see how Maryland does in those categories.
If Rayfield is able to play, FSU will start a 3 guard lineup. The other two guards are the brothers Terry Jenkins (12.7 ppg), and Brandon Jenkins (12.2 ppg). The Florida Southern web-site touts Andre Hawkins (6’7, 225 lbs) as a defensive ‘ace’. Not a ton of height for the Mocs, as Hawkins is one of three players that is 6’7, and they have one other player that is 6’8.
Clearly what matters tomorrow is not who Maryland faces, but how the Terps use the 40 minutes of playing-time to improve.
A couple of things I will be looking for:
1) PG play with Bowie, Howard, and Stoglin. How do they set-up the offense? How do they handle pressure?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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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.