Evaluating Terps Basketball Ten Games In

After a 84-73 defeat to Michigan on New Year’s Eve, the University of Maryland Terrapins are 6-4 going into their game tomorrow night at Indiana.

Here we look at what we’ve seen over the initial 10 games, and what awaits the Terps in their remaining schedule.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

• The roster lacks a big that is able to serve as a consistent post-presence, or as a rim defender. This isn’t a surprise, we talked about it all off-season. There were numerous guys Maryland attempted to land in the transfer market that would have helped, but Coach Turgeon wasn’t able to convince them to come to College Park.

• Alabama transfer Galin Smith battles, I like him for that.
  
• I’m not as down as others on Chol Marial. I actually see a lot to like. I just think he’s a guy that picked up the game late, and then had his development halted by years of injuries. You can see flashes of what he could be. At the same time, I acknowledge the obvious that he isn’t currently a guy you can depend on, and you have to really pick and choose the few minutes a game you use him. He works, and hopefully continues to develop month-to-month. Maybe after another off-season of work, you’ll have something next Fall if he sticks around.
  
• Arnaud Revaz has to be extremely raw to not get anytime. I hoped he might get 5 minutes a game. Clearly a huge transition for him. Another guy that could potentially be developed into a usable rotation option if he sticks around.

• The roster has a group of players who would be good role players on a high quality team. What’s missing is a star (Jalen Smith) or two (Anthony Cowan).

• If the primary issue for the roster is a high quality big, then a secondary issue is the athleticism could be better. It’s not a roster of plodders, but it’s not a lot of guys with explosive first-steps, or high-flyers playing above the rim. Plenty of colleges would love to have MD’s athleticism. For Maryland’s standards, it’s not quite up to par.

• Freshman Aquan Smart might be the most athletic guy on the roster. He’s a guy that can turn the corner. He was a late bloomer. I imagine his head is swimming right now taking in everything with the College game; but you can see he has some tools.

• Whatever one thinks about Turgeon, his teams have typically played hard for him. This one is no exception.

• Playing in College Park with the fans at Xfinity Center is a true home-court advantage. Without the fans this year, that advantage is minimized.

• Credit the roster for bringing their own energy and enthusiasm to games.

• Winning at #6 Wisconsin was significant. Maryland’s still on the wrong side of the bubble, but that win is a big scalp. We talked above about MD’s athleticism not being great, but MD was quicker pretty much up and down the roster compared to the Badgers and Turgeon exploited that advantage in the 2nd half.

• The 73-70 loss at Purdue was disappointing. No shame losing to the Boilermakers, but that was a game MD could have won, and might ultimately prove to be a swing game. The Terps were a woeful 10 of 21 at the foul-line, which really illustrates the missed opportunity.

• Darryl Morsell suffered a facial fracture vs. Michigan, and will be out for the next week or two. That hurts. Hurt not having him in the 2nd half vs. the Wolverines. His intensity and versatility helps the roster in multiple ways. His minutes and shooting numbers are down a bit. Keys for him are bringing energy, playing strong defense, and attacking the rim. Since he has the ability to do so, I hope he elects to return next year.

• I continue to be an Aaron Wiggins fan, at-least in-terms of what I perceive as his abilities. But I am disappointed he hasn’t taken more of a leap in-terms of being a consistent scorer. His 3 point shooting numbers are down again. Couple of positives to point out. He’s had 3 games with at-least 7 boards. Also, defensively he’s excellent at the top of the key playing the passing lanes.

• Despite the issues inside, Maryland has good length and depth with their guards and wings.

• One of those guards and wings is Hakim Hart, and I think he’s one of the feel good stories for MD so far this year. He was young and raw last year. Credit him for the growth in his game. The 32 point explosion vs. St. Peters was a lot of fun to watch. MD needs him to give some consistent scoring punch off the bench the rest of the way.

• If Hart’s the feel good story of the year so far, the story of the year is Donta Scott. Like Hart, Scott is a Sophomore from Philadelphia. Unlike Hart, Scott got a lot of time last year. I liked Scott, I saw a useful widebody that could step outside to shoot, and a willingness to battle some inside. He’s in better shape this year. He still scraps, but he creates. He’s had several big dunks. He’s giving Maryland consistent production every game, and filling the stat sheets (current 3 point % is a ridiculous 59.4%). I think you have to say right now he’s Maryland’s best all-around player. One thing to key on is his rebounding. He’s got five games with at-least 7 boards. MD needs him to continue that work.

• It’s understood there is a pandemic going on, but the issues I have with Turgeon’s out-of-conference scheduling pre-date the 2020-21 season. He could put better teams on the books. Clearly he looks at the 20 game Big Ten schedule and feels with that gauntlet he wants to basically take it extremely easy OOC wise.

• I think Boston College transfer Jairus Hamilton is getting more comfortable as the season progresses. He’s got a nice overall game, and I think needs to be on the court more than his current 21.6 minute average. He’s one of Maryland’s 5 best players.

• Eric Ayala is having a nice season as Maryland’s PG. With Cowan gone, Ayala is running the show at the 1. His minutes are up. He’s leading Maryland in scoring (14.8 ppg), with that scoring average helped by him getting to the line for 4.3 attempts per game. After seeing his 3point shooting dip dramatically as a Sophomore, he’s back up to 35% this year. He’s not super quick, but he’s very crafty. Maryland’s two worst games of the years (@Clemson, vs. Rutgers) were games where he was handled and targeted. He’s been steady since. Going to have a lot of experience going into his Senior season.

• Going into today, Maryland is 45th in the Ken Pomeroy Rankings. In Adjusted Offense, Maryland is 11th. In Adjusted Defense, Maryland is 90th. In Adjusted Tempo, Maryland is 305th.

• With Maryland unable to throw the ball into the post and find consistent points; it seems logical to me that Maryland would spend more time trapping and pressing and looking to create offense from defense. Turgeon has maybe done more of that this year, than in years past, but still not enough for me. You need to be able to get points in the paint, by scoring in transition. MD isn’t super athletic as we’ve discussed, but the strength of this roster is the guards and wings. In Ayala, Wiggins, Morsell, Scott, Hamilton, Hart, and Smart; you’ve got guys which I think would be best utilized in this manner. As indicated above, MD’s Adjusted Offense is strong; but I’d sacrifice some efficiency for more of helter skelter approach I think would be optimal with this group.

• Freshman Marcus Dockery has only played 15 minutes so far. Curious to see if he can play himself into more minutes.

• Freshman James Graham wasn’t expected until next year, but is now enrolled and practicing with the Terps. It’s bit much to ask him to be some type of savior for this year ’20-’21 season, but the experience he’s getting now being part of the program should only help next year. And who knows, maybe he’ll show Turgeon enough in the coming weeks to join the rotation this year?

• The Terps are 1-3 in Big Ten play. Including tomorrow night, Maryland has 16 games left in their regular season before the Big Ten Tournament begins. Of those 16 games, 10 games are against teams currently ranked.

Jan. 4th @ Indiana
Jan. 7th #10 Iowa
Jan. 10th @ #15 Illinois
Jan. 16th Nebraska
Jan. 19th @ #16 Michigan
Jan. 23rd @ #21 Minnesota
Jan. 30th #6 Wisconsin
Feb. 2nd Purdue
Feb. 5th @ Penn State
Feb. 8th #25 Ohio State
Feb. 14th #21 Minnesota
Feb. 17th @ Nebraska
Feb. 21st @ #14 Rutgers
Feb. 28th #17 Michigan State
Mar. 3rd @ #19 Northwestern
Mar. 7th Penn State

Can Maryland go 9-7 in this 16 game stretch, and be 10-10 in league play when the Big Ten Tournament begins? If so, they’ll have added some quality wins to their resume, and with the strength of the conference – be in reach of the NCAA Tournament if they can win a game or two in the BTT.

MD has the losses against Rutgers, Purdue, and Michigan so far in Big Ten play. They get rematches vs. each. Love to see MD earn some season splits against those league foes.

• Peeking ahead to ’21-’22, Maryland will add Julian Reese, and Ike Cornish to the roster. Those two plus Graham, and everyone that can return next year (which again, includes Morsell) can have Maryland looking pretty strong next year. Will anyone on the roster unexpectedly leave? What will the transfer market look like?