After spending this past week playing National powers Pittsburgh, and Illinois on National TV and at Madison Square Garden, there is going to be considerably less focus on Maryland’s games this week against Delaware State (Tomorrow), and Elon (Friday).
I’m basically taking these games for-granted, but of course Maryland has to win both games, and win convincingly. Delaware State finished 2nd in the MEAC last-year, but lost two valuable players from their roster. They are not as good as their fellow MEAC school Morgan State has been the previous few years, and the game should be over quickly. Elon has already played South Carolina (SEC), and Wake Forest. While they lost both games (by 15, and 19 points respectfully) those experiences will probably prevent Elon from being intimidated when they arrive at Comcast. It will be up to the Terrapins to control the game early and make sure Elon does not believe they can compete.
Regardless of the attention the Terps receive this week, there are plenty of things to be watching with the Terrapins. Here are some things I want to see:
1) Maryland is going to be able to score easily in transition against both teams. I’d like to see the 1/2 court offense improve, with more set plays in the flex. You want to see improvement on getting the ball to Williams in the post, and when the defense collapses around him – an ability to find open shooters from the outside.
1a) When Williams got into early foul-trouble against Illinois, the reserve bigs Padgett, and Weijs provided better minutes than they had against Pittsburgh. I think it would be good for the team for those two reserves to again get extended time in these two games. There figures to be other games where Williams is in foul-trouble, and you can simulate that in these games by limiting his minutes.
1b) Pankey has already played 3 minutes this season, so I do not believe he will be able to red-shirt. I’d like to see him get a few minutes in each of these games, and maybe give Coach Williams the confidence that he has a 3rd big off the bench that can contribute.
2) Williams is averaging 7.2 foul-shots a game, and is making just 56% of his attempts. Obviously you want to see improvement there. You also want to see improvement from Mosley (70%), Tucker (73%), and Howard (44%). You also want to see Stoglin (76%), and Bowie (85%) find ways to get to the charity-stripe more often.
3) Bowie hit 41% of his 3 point attempts last-season, but has yet to find his stroke this year (17%). He needs to hit some shots from the outside to keep defenses honest. If defenders respect his shooting, that opens up driving lanes for him. It also pulls help defenders off of Williams.
4) Against Pittsburgh, and Illinois, Gregory averaged 8.5 points, 6 boards, and 3 blocks a game. (Included 4 blocks vs. Pitt, and 10 boards vs. Illinois) You need that level of energy and production from Gregory every night. If he can get on the glass for 10 boards against a Big 10 team, he should be able to do the same against teams from the MEAC, and Southern Conference.
5) Tucker has had an impressive start to his Senior season, as he is averaging 14.8 ppg, 47.5% from the floor, 38% from 3, 4.4 boards, and 1.4 steals. The Terps need to continue to get the ball in his hands, and feed his confidence.
6) Conversely the first 5 games of Mosley’s Junior year have not gone as well. Bobby Knight pointed out in NY all of the little things Mosley does to help a team win, and I’m happy that Mosley was highlighted for his team-first game. Still, this Maryland team needs Mosley to score consistently and be a bit more selfish. Not only does his shooting have to improve across the board (from the floor, from 3, and at the line) but he has to pull the trigger more often. 7.8 shot attempts a game from Mosley is not enough. Mosley should come out of these outings having put up 20 points in both games.
7) Stoglin’s scored at-least 14 points in three of his first five college games, and is 3rd on the team in scoring at 11.4 ppg, despite playing just 14.6 minutes a game. Does his minutes increase this week? Knight mentioned some of the things Stoglin needs to work on (particularly dribbling less) but it is quite evident that Stoglin is going to be an offensive force during his time as a Terrapin.
8) Since hitting the game-winner against Charleston, Howard has struggled a bit in the 3 subsequent games. His minutes have also decreased (averaged 24 against Seattle, and Charleston vs. 13.66 against Maine, Pittsburgh, and Illinois). Typically if a player loses time under Coach Williams, it gets back to issues on defense. I’ll be looking at this week, and hoping Howard gets additional time trying to run the Terps offense in the 1/2 court.
9) Palsson has played at-least 3 minutes in every game, including 16 against Maine. Coach Williams has sometimes gone to a small-lineup with Palsson at the 4. Does that continue? Can he start to hit a few shots from outside?
10) Mychal Parker is the best athlete on the Terrapins, and the most heralded recruit of the 2010 class. Based on the composition of the roster, we knew Parker might not get a lot of time this year. I have kind of envisioned Parker’s Freshman year being similar to Landon Milbourne’s Freshman year in 2006, before getting a lot of playing time his 3 remaining seasons. If Parker is going to start getting additional time this year, it is going to start in practice. Past that though, these two games represent a chance for him to show what he is capable of against some opposition. In the stretches where MD has been using Palsson as the 4, I think it would be interesting to get Parker on the floor at the 3, with Mosley pushed up to the 4.
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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.