Terps win Exhibition over Northwood 89-84

For the first time, Terp fans got to see Coach Turgeon on the sideline; as Maryland beat Northwood 89-84 in an Exhibition victory.

The Seahawks, the preseason number 1 in NAIA, are coached by Rollie Massimno. Maryland was up 19 points in the 2nd half, before Northwood made a charge.

The Good:

1) I liked the starting lineup of Stoglin, Faust, Mosley, Padgett, and Pankey. All five would finish in double figures.
1a) Mosley played with a lot of confidence, which was good to see. The Senior had 20 points and 6 boards.

2) Pankey looked good, making an impact on the boards on both sides of the court. Right away he scored in the post, with his back to the basket. He would score on his next two shots as well, one on a put-back, and another on a 12 foot jumper. Had a nice flush with 4:31 left to give MD the 79-72 lead. Pankey finished with 12 points.
2a) Padgett also had a good game with 10 points, and 8 boards. It looked like Padgett had improved his FT shot.

3) Faust’s long arms were noticeable right away. He was willing and able to help on the boards. With good spacing o the wing, he got a step and finished with a strong 2 handed jam. On defense, he made a nice recover to break up a 2 on 1 Northwood break, and was impacting shots. He ended the first half hitting a long 3 on a disjointed possession, and a a shot at the buzzer from behind 1/2 court. His offense continued in the 2nd half, before going to the bench with some type of injury. He would return before being forced out again. The MD Radio announcers indicated they believed it to be a cramp. Faust finished with 14 points, including four 3’s. He is going to score from Day 1.

4) Stoglin did not have his offense early, but when he started going to the rim, the MD offense improved overall. He had a quality drive and dish to Padgett. He later gave up a 3, and found Pankey down low on the extra pass. As the game progressed, he got hot, and finished with 23 points. When the game got close, he took over.

5) Len, Parker, and Weijs subbed into together, which I also liked. With Howard’s injury, MD has 8 scholarship players. I thought Turgeon did a good job of rotating players in and out and using what he has.

6) Len would follow a FT miss from Mosley for his first two. He added a couple quality blocks, and showed good form on his free-throws. He moves really well, and takes up a lot of space. He had 5 boards.

7) Walk on Jonathan Thomas got some time. If you can steal a couple of minutes a game with him on the floor, that helps.

8) Parker had a sweet drive to the rim near the end of the 1st. Had a great no look pass to Stoglin. After Faust went to the bench with his injury, Parker got some additional time and looked better.

The Bad:

1) Stoglin was forcing shots to begin the game, missing his first seven attempts. Without Howard available, he is going to have to remember to get other people involved. He can’t settle for shots, without moving the ball around.

2) When Northwood went to a zone, MD had problems. There was a lot of standing around at the top of the key from multiple players.

3) After Mosley picked up his 2nd foul, he was forced to the bench, and the offense began to look lost.

4) Weijs attempted to tip in miss, instead of corralling the ball and going up strong. Len had a possession where he attempted a reverse as opposed to a slam.
4a) Considering he was not able to practice from Maryland Madness until earlier this week, Len looked good. That said, the lack of practice time was noticeable. He did not appear to fully have his legs. He missed a no look pass from Faust, which looked to be an understandable timing issue.

5) Howard’s injury also forces Faust to be the Terps backup PG. Clearly a new role for the Freshman, and running the offense is going to be an issue for him at times.

6) Prior to the Faust injury, Parker looked uncomfortable. He had a couple of lazy passes, and tipped the ball back to Northwood underneath MD’s basket on the defensive side. Offensively he looked unsure of the offense, needing to move better without the ball. He was 2 for 6 from the FT line.

7) Thomas would turn the ball over, when he should have been able to easily find Len at the rim.

The Ugly:

1) Maryland had a 19 point lead that was reduced down to 3 with just under 7 minutes left.

2) The Terps were playing a team with almost nothing inside, that wants to take 3’s nearly every possession. Maryland missed a lot of shooters.

3) 23 turnovers for Maryland tonight.