Terps destroy UNC Greensboro; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland Terrapins improved to 7-3 with a 99-56 rout of UNC Greensboro tonight. Beating a Southern Conference team that entered at 0-7 is not an accomplishment, but the Terps can feel good about how the effort they played with.

The only drama that existed tonight, was seeing which starting 5 Coach Gary Williams would go with. There had been some discussion that tonight would bring some changes, but the Terps went with the same group they had used in each of the 9 previous games.

The Good:

1) Maryland played one of the worst D1 teams, but did not play down to competition. The Terps played their game, and was clear they had worked hard in practice the last few days.

2) In the bad section below I point out that Weijs was not ready for a pass on an in-bounds. On the next immediate series, he made a nice offensive move. Later he contributed a nice back-door pass to Stoglin, also had a dunk off a look from Parker. Up 38 points, he ran the court hard to come up with a block. Stoglin returned the favor later, setting him for another dunk. 7 points, 3 boards, 4 blocks, 2 assists. That is a great night.

3) In each of the first 5 games of this 2010-11 season, Tucker took at-least 10 shots. In the previous two games, he had 8 attempts combined. He came out looking for shot tonight, which was good to see. Finished with 13 points (Three 3’s), 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a block.

4) Ron Thompson, of Comcast Sportsnet spoke of the growth in Williams’ offensive game, specifically his improvement with his left-hand. Had a great series at the 8 minute mark, running the floor and getting the basket on 2nd-effort and strength. Williams was beat for a rebound at around the 9:30 mark of the 1st-half, which was solely due to lack of concentration.  That obviously ticked him off, as he ripped down every board possible the rest of the way. His effort is always there. Finished 23 points and 12 boards, adding tohis NCAA double-double lead.

5) Was good seeing Bowie knock down a couple of early 3’s. Seemed to give him a lot of confidence. Made a very athletic lay-up in the 2nd half, and also got back and provided a block. Seems clear he was not happy with his performance against Temple, and realized he was in jeopardy of losing his starting position. Finished with 16 points (including a perfect 6 for 6 from line).

6) Maryland had an 18 point lead at the half, but were ready to play when the second 20 minutes began.

7) Padgett is quickly becoming one of my favorite Terps.  Very limited offensively but he works hard, and has a decent assortment of moves (has to work on the finish). What you like though is the energy he has been playing with, and willingness to play defense, and attack the glass. 6 points, 9 boards (5 offensive).

8) Stoglin had 18 points, including 5 of 6 from the foul-line.

9) Parker got int the game with over 9 minutes left. As the Terps get to conference play, the bench will only become more limited, so minutes for Parker will probably continue to be hard to come by during his Freshman year. I anticipate he will have the same Freshman to Sophomore growth Landon Milbourne did, but do think on athleticism alone he could help the Terps in limited minutes this year. With his game, I liked that he looked for his teammates, and you quickly saw his ability to get to the rim. Night could have been even better had he knocked down his foul-shots. Had 4 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, and a block.

10) The Terps got the line 37 times tonight (Williams was 7 for 11) which was excellent. Overall MD only 23 of their attempts, but Bowie and Stoglin were very strong.

11) Maryland dominated the boards 48-28, and also had 24 assists.

The Bad:

1) Weijs was not ready for a pass on an in-bounds which led to a turnover. Maryland has had more trouble on in-bounds this year than I can remember.

2) Padgett scored in transition with just over 2 minutes left in the first-half, and nobody got back defensively as UNCG hit a 3.  Terps limited this overall tonight, but MD has to get to the point where they play ever possession.

3) While Parker got get into the game fairly early in the 2nd-half, Pankey did not get in at all.  Similar to Parker, on athleticism alone I believe Pankey can help MD this year. I get that he missed his Senior year, and is as raw as can be. However, just like Padgett he can help by running the floor, playing defense, and working the glass.

4) Gregory has had a nice run of games, but he provided little tonight. Like a lot of the roster you want to see some game-to-game consistency.

5) 4 turnovers for Stoglin, mostly coming from trying to do to much.

The Ugly:

1) Mosley’s first basket of the game came with 18:51 left in the 2nd-half. That was his 2nd shot of the game. Why does he lack the confidence to look for his shot? He scored unconsciously at St.Frances. He put 26 on Villanova last-year. The Terps need his scoring, and you can not score if you are unwilling to shoot the ball.