Terrell Stoglin: A Ball Hog or Just the Terrapins' Best Scoring Option?

Maryland fans have seen this scene before; a Maryland guard who takes his fair share of questionable shots.

Two years ago, that player was Greivis Vasquez. Vasquez would take shots that made coach Gary Williams, and fans everywhere, scream out of frustration. Then, the shot would go in.

Fast forward two years later and the Terps have that same type of player on their team again. That guy is sophomore guard, Terrell Stoglin.

Terrell Stoglin is the leading scorer in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and by quite a substantial margin. His 21.4 points-per-game is 3.4 points better than second-place Harrison Barnes, who is widely considered to be one of the top-five picks in this year’s NBA Draft.

The question is: Does Terrell Stoglin hurt the offense by taking the amount of shots he takes? 

There will be many times during the course of the game that Stoglin gets the ball, and the offense stops moving. He takes a conference-leading 16.2 shots per game. But does he need to take these shots?

The short answer: yes.

Terrell Stoglin is by far the best shooter on this team. Stoglin’s .422 field goal percentage leads the Terps' starting backcourt. His .381 three point percentage is second on the team to Sean Mosley’s .390, but Stoglin has shot 189 three pointers while Mosley has only shot 77.

Stoglin is a streaky shooter who can heat up at any minute. Against Boston College, Stoglin scored 14 consecutive points in a three-minute span. The problem there was that Boston College realized he was on fire and shut him down for the most part the rest of the game. He scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half of the game.

“If he can get his points early, then he’s not searching for them the whole game,” said Maryland coach Mark Turgeon after the Boston College game.

If anything, Stoglin’s play should open up the offense for the rest of the team. Once opposing teams key in on Stoglin, other players should have easier opportunities to score.

The Boston College game really showcased the real problem with this team: a lack of secondary scorers. In high school, senior Sean Mosley was the second-leading scorer in Maryland high school basketball history. His offensive game simply hasn’t translated to college. Mosley is a defensive stud who usually only shoots the ball when the shot clock is running down.

Freshman Nick Faust, who has become the team’s starting point guard with Pe’shon Howard out, hasn’t really found his offensive game yet. He needs to be more of a slasher, who uses his 6’6” frame to get to the rim. Faust is shooting a dismal 22 percent from three-point range, and only 35 percent from the field.

Forward James Padgett is the only other player on the court who tries to score almost every time he touches the ball. James Padgett is quite undersized for his position, at only 6’8”, so he has to work for every point he scores. Teams are learning of his awful 58.8 free throw shooting percentage, and are playing him much more physical, making him earn his points from the line.

Terrell Stoglin simply needs to shoot because no one else on the team seems to want to. Considering Stoglin’s high shooting percentage, I don’t see a problem with the amount of shots he takes. Other players need to realize that when Stoglin is going through a rough stretch, they need to step their game up. So far this season, it doesn’t appear that has happened consistently enough.

“He thinks he can score every time he touches it. It is a curse and a blessing for him. I could not be happier. I think if you asked his teammates, they feel the same way. There’s times when he doesn’t give them the ball, but honestly sometimes I don’t think he even sees it because he is so driven on what he is trying to do,” said coach Turgeon in in a media session earlier in the season.

There is no doubt that Terrell Stoglin takes some unwarranted shots each game. But, until there is another player on this team that can show that they are consistently a threat to score, he should continue dominating the Terps' offense.

It’s nice to know that with the game on the line, down by two in a dire situation, the Terps have a guy who wants to take that shot. That guy is sophomore guard, Terrell Stoglin.