Georgetown Wins At Maryland; Quick Takes

Last Monday, Maryland had their season opener vs. Coppin State in Baltimore. I came out of that game, generally encouraged about things for the Terrapins.

One thing I mentioned in that article was that I had spent most of the Spring and Summer feeling good about the roster Coach Buzz Williams created on the fly.
And then I had spent the last couple of weeks leading up to the Coppin game becoming increasingly concerned.

Most of the concern was injury related, and the poor exhibition performance vs. UMBC.
The other thing that was increasing my anxiety was Williams telling the press that MD had only had a handful of practices he deemed acceptable for a high-major D1, due to the injuries suffered in camp.

Each of his players are adjusting to College Park.
Outside of his A&M transfers, everyone is adjusting to his system.
All of the players are learning to mesh together.
Williams is learning exactly what he has, and figuring out how to best utilize.

With that in-mind, I’ll give MD a bit of a pass for their poor outing in the home opener vs. Georgetown.

The loss isn’t particularly important if MD is able to take lessons from the defeat.

Sure, you’d like to defend your home court and have the out-of-conference W for the resume; but an early November loss isn’t going to break you.

Quick Takes: 

1) After missing the opener, Myles Rice was active and led MD with 19 points.  Rice was a perfect 10 of 10 at the line, and also had 7 boards. On the negative side of the ledger, Rice had 4 turnovers. Seemed to me he was playing a bit too fast a times, and wasn’t completely in-sync with his teammates.  Comfortability for himself and his teammates should come with increased practice and game experience.

2) Freshman Darius Adams played 24 minutes for the second straight game. After 16 points in the opener, he was held to 3 vs. the Hoyas.  After two games, Adams is now 0 for 7 from 3.  I think Adams has a quality first step, and looks like he enjoys going to the basket. Have to shoot well enough from 3 to keep defenders honest. Did have 6 boards vs. GT.  After getting to the line for 12 attempts vs. Coppin, just 2 attempts vs. GT.

3) MD had an abysmal shooting night. They were just 13 of 52 from the floor, including 4 of 21 from 3. Won’t win many games when you struggle like that.  What MD did well offensively was get to the line. The Terps were 30 of 37 from the charity stripe.

4) Pharrel Payne had another big game, with 17 points, 11 boards, and 2 blocks. He was working hard on both ends; and on the floor for 38 minutes. Again, he made just 58% of his Free Attempts last year, averaging 4.9 attempts per game. Through two games this year, Payne is 22 of 24 (92%). With the extended minutes, he looked gassed at times. It was noticeable that against a better opponent, that Williams didn’t find any time for Collin Metcalf or Aleks Alston. If Williams can find a few minutes for Metcalf each game, and give Payne a chance to catch his breath; that should be helpful.

5) David Coit scored in double figures again off the bench. Just 2 of 9 in this game from 3.  In the two games played, 15 of his 22 FG attempts have been from 3.  Would like to see some more diversity in shot selection in this next game.

6) Isaiah Watts had 18 minutes, and did not score.  He was 0 for 4 from 3.  Two years ago, Watts was Rice’s running mate at Washington State.  Last year, Watts averaged 11 points per game for the Cougars. MD is going to need regular production from him.

7) Andre Mills had three 3’s in the opener, and was 1 of 3 from 3 vs. Georgetown.  This team figures to shoot better than the team two years ago which couldn’t shoot at all, but not as good as last year’s team which had multiple players capable of getting hot.  If Mills can hit a few shots a game, he can continue to earn playing time. Like Coit, you want to see more diversity (a mid-range game?) in his shot selection (10 of his 11 FG attempts have been from 3).  One other note, after going 2 for 2 from the charity strip in the opener, Mills was 3 of 6 vs. Georgetown.

8) Elijah Saunders did have 7 boards vs. Georgetown, but he finished with just 5 points.  No 3 point attempts in this game for Saunders (2 of 5 vs. Coppin). Only  2 FT attempts in the two games (2.7 attempts per game last year) so far for the Senior PF. There should be consistency available from Saunders, and I think his teammates need to look for him.

9) So, we know Rakease Passmore was lost for the year to injury, which is unfortunate. Before the opener vs. Coppin; we weren’t sure about the status of Rice, Coit, Watts, and Solomon Washington.  With Rice playing vs. the Hoyas, we’ve seen everyone who can contribute this year aside from Washington. By all reports, Washington will be MD’s best defender.  Hopefully he’s back soon, and can build familiarity with his teammates.

10) Wasn’t good that MD got down as many as 20 points in this game, but I liked that they kept playing. They had multiple moments where they seemed to be on the verge of getting back into the game; but they just couldn’t get a shot to fall, or get a needed stop. The effort was there though.

11) There is enough talent on this roster to get to the NCAA Tournament.  If you squint hard enough, I think here is enough talent on the roster, to build into a Top 25 team at some point this year – as the players and coaching staff get more familiar with each other. It won’t be easy though. Payne is a good player and a stat-filler, but he’s not the talent of Derik Queen. Selton Miguel, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, and Rodney Rice buried a lot of shots last year. And they had different ways of attacking you. I’m not sure this MD team has a guard / wing with their offensive game. What Buzz Williams does have imo, is a pretty deep roster of usable guys. Between learning to play together, and a team of not-great shooters; there will probably be some ugly games.  My expectation is that they’ll get better month-to-month and claw and compete most nights.

Up-Next: 

Maryland has Alcorn State up next on Tuesday night. Obviously that would be shocking if it was not a win.  What matters is how MD plays.  After that, MD trips to Marquette on Saturday. In that game, MD is currently given a 56% chance of winning per ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor.

CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander previewed his Top 100 teams to start the year, and had Marquette as his 25th best team, stating:

I don’t think you’ll find anyone else as high on Marquette as me. We’ll see if my faith in Shaka Smart’s unique approach to roster fashioning pays off, because I can tell you a lot of people in and around that program are intrigued to see how this goes over the next five months. Marquette, again, is not bringing in a transfer. The only other places among the 360-ish schools in D-I where this is also true are military academies or Ivy/Patriot League programs, where scholarships aren’t available. To do this amid the most portal-frenzied era ever is an act of hubris, defiance, trust and faith. I’m riveted.