10 Questions for Maryland Basketball in 2009-2010

Maryland opens its season Friday against Charleston Southern in College Park. Let's take a look at 10 questions the Terps will have to answer this upcoming season.

10. Will Dino Gregory Be Eligible?

Gregory was held out of Maryland’s lone exhibition game due to an “unspecified violation of team rules.” It is rumored that his eligibility is in question due to an academic dishonesty charge, otherwise known as cheating. If this is true and Gregory is found guilty of cheating, he would be ineligible the entire season.

Although he is not one of Maryland’s four returning starters from last season, the loss of Gregory would really hurt the Terps. He is their most experienced returning post player, and was expected to be the fifth starter heading into this season. At the end of last season, Gregory had begun to come on, helping the Terps out with his rebounding and defense. Losing him means losing experience, size, and depth in the frontcourt.

9. Will Eric Hayes Continue To Score More?

Last year in the postseason, Eric Hayes began to look like a much more assertive player. Earlier in his career Hayes had been mostly about getting the ball to other people, and he would spot up and shoot threes. In last year’s postseason we saw Hayes creating shots for himself and driving to the basket more.

He shot 60 percent from the floor and averaged 15 points a game in Maryland’s five postseason games. Hopefully Hayes continues the aggressive play to become a viable alternative scoring threat to Greivis Vasquez.

8. How Much Will Freshmen Jordan Williams and James Padgett Contribute?

Especially if Dino Gregory cannot play, Maryland is going to need Williams and Padgett to play significant minutes. At this point, Padgett is farther along in terms of his conditioning and understanding of the offense, but Williams probably has more upside. Padgett started the Terps’ exhibition game and is expected to continue to start in Gregory’s absence.

Williams and Padgett do not have to be big time scorers for Maryland to be successful. However, in a league with a lot of talented frontcourt players (Kyle Singler at Duke, Trevor Booker at Clemson, Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal at Georgia Tech, Al-Farouq Aminu at Wake Forest, and John Henson and Ed Davis at Carolina), it will be vital that they can come in right away, rebound, and play solid defense in order for Maryland to succeed.

7. Can Cliff Tucker Play More Consistently?

Tucker was somewhat up and down last season. He averaged 20 points a game in two games against North Carolina, but then he would disappear some games or get little playing time. He finished the season shooting a solid 38 percent from three-point range, but he seemed to be a very streaky three-point shooter. Consistent scoring from Tucker would really help the Terps’ offense and take some of the scoring burden off of Vasquez.

6. Will Landon Milbourne Still Be Stuck Playing Power Forward?

Even with the addition of two new big men, Landon Milbourne will probably continue to play at the four spot. Since Maryland’s strength and experience is with its guards, it looks like Gary Williams is going to continue to use a three guard lineup.

Milbourne did a good job last year playing out of position against larger players. Playing Milbourne at the four allows Maryland to get their most talented and experienced players out on the floor.

5. Will Sean Mosley’s Contributions Start To Show Up More on the Stat Sheet?

Sean Mosley had a very solid freshman season, but he didn’t exactly fill up the scoring column. Mosley averaged six points a game last year, but he was still a very important part of the team. Mosley added toughness and energy to the team. He played solid defense and made a lot of hustle plays, which is what earned him a starting job for the last 15 games of the season.

If Mosley’s jumpshot has improved in the offseason, then he should become a much more dangerous scorer.

4. Will Steve Goins Come Back from Injuries To Contribute?

Goins did not play in Maryland’s exhibition game due to a knee injury. He saw very limited action last year with the Terps, appearing in only three games, all of them blowouts. Goins is one of only two Maryland players taller than 6’9’’ (he and Williams are both 6’10’’). Maryland could really use his size and length in their frontcourt.

3. Will Greivis Vasquez Be ACC Player of the Year?

The preseason accolades for Vasquez have started rolling in. He was named to the preseason all-ACC team, received votes for preseason ACC POY, and was named to the Naismith Award watch list.

Vasquez led the team last season in points, rebounds, and assists. He put up a stat line of 35 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, two steals, and three blocks against UNC.

Vasquez worked hard on his outside shot this offseason in order to make himself a better NBA prospect. He is certainly capable of putting up ridiculous numbers, and is used to being the primary scorer, actually the primary everything, for his team.

Vasquez will have competition from guys like Duke’s Kyle Singler and Clemson’s Trevor Booker, but if he improves his scoring and cuts down on the turnovers, Vasquez could very well be the ACC POY.

2. How Well Have Their Guards Improved Their Outside Shooting?

Last season Maryland gave up more three-pointers than they allowed. Their opponents averaged seven threes per game compared to Maryland’s 5.7. Maryland only shot 33 percent from three last season. For a guard-heavy team without a big-time low post scoring threat, Maryland will need to do better than that this year.

Vasquez worked on his outside shot quite a bit in the offseason because he knows he will need it in order to be successful in the NBA. The other guards on the team surely emphasized three-point shooting in their offseason workouts as well. In order for Maryland to be successful, their guards are going to have to be able to consistently knock down open looks at three.

1. Can Maryland Use Its Experienced Guards To Take Advantage of a Wide Open ACC?

The 2009-2010 season is expected to be a down year for the ACC. Carolina lost the core of last year’s national championship squad, and will be very young. Duke will be thin at the guard position with Gerald Henderson leaving school early and Elliot Williams transferring. Georgia Tech will be very talented, but they also had a lot of talent last year and underachieved.

Other teams lost players they relied on heavily. Jeff Teague and James Johnson left Wake Forest early for the NBA. Clemson, Florida State, Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech all lost star guards as seniors K.C. Rivers, Toney Douglas, Tyrese Rice, Jack McClinton, and A.D. Vassallo have all moved on.

Other teams around the conference are going to be pretty young, particularly at the guard position. Maryland will hopefully be able to take advantage of their veteran guards to exploit the less experienced teams around the league. Maryland will have less talent than teams like Carolina and Georgia Tech, but they will be able to outsmart and outwork other teams, and that is how they will have a shot to win the ACC.