Maryland Basketball: Five Things to Work on During Cupcake Season
It could be worse for the 3-2 Maryland Terrapins. Then again, it could be better.
Would have been nice if they could haveย stolen one of last week's games against No. 4 Pitt or No. 19 Illinois, butย they fought valiantly and showed a lot ofย promiseย in the losing efforts.
Hey, at least they didn't lose to College of Charleston.
Coming into this season,ย close observersย knew there would be stretches like this; the Terps are most likely a bubble team this year. But bubble team means tournament-caliber.ย Make no mistakeโthis team has the weapons to make the dance.
At the same time, several areas for improvement came intoย focusย these past two weeks. Starting tonight against Delaware State, Maryland plays nine more or less easily winnable contests. Now would beย a goodย time to ironย out thoseย deficiencies before ACC play starts in earnest on January 9.
Whatย isย my assessment of those deficiencies? So glad you asked.
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1. Free Throws, Free Throws, Free Throws
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Marylandย currently ranksย 10th in the ACC and 234th nationally in free throw percentage,ย makingย 64 percent from the line. That number actually seems a little high to me.
In their 79-70 loss toย Pittsburgh, Maryland shot 47 percent (14-of-30)ย from the line. If they shoot 75 percent, they win that game.
Team leader Jordan Williams is not a leader here, hitting only 55 percent at the stripe. As this article from The Washington Post points out, as Jordan's profile grows, teams areย fouling him more. His inability to make them pay at the line is hampering his effectiveness.
Hopefully this is nothingย someย late sessions at the gym can't solve. But as of this moment, free throw shooting is officially A Thing for these Terrapins.
2. Rebounds
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Unlike free throw shooting,ย Jordan Williams is a team leader in this area. Problem is, no one's following.
Williams currentlyย grabs 12.4ย boards a gameโthat's tops in the ACC. Yet as a team they rank sixth inย rebounding margin.
Starting power forward Dino Gregory is averaging five rebounds a gameย in 27 minutesย of play.ย Bigs James Padgett and Berend Weijs are combining for 2.4.
The Terps were outrebounded 43-25 against Pitt (when freshman Panther Talib Zannaย fully controlledย the paint en route to a game-high 12 boards) and 35-31 against a smaller College of Charleston team.
The good news: Maryland out-boarded Illinois by 13, so perhaps a new trend is afoot.
Bottom line: If you want to beย an effectiveย rebounder, there's no substitute for boxing out your man and getting to the ball first. Not to overstate it, butย it is something ofย a measuring stick for a team'sย toughness, desire and execution. We'll see if Maryland's frontcourt canย clean up their dirty work during this soft part of their schedule.
3. Experience
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Theย previous slideย segues nicelyย into my next point.ย With four freshmen, two sophomores and one JUCO transfer inย Maryland's rotation, there are plenty of guys who could use more seasoning on the hardwood.
Point guards Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard are playing 14.6 and 17.8 minutes per game, respectively, and that's great, although they happen to be playing at a need area (more on that in a second).
Post playersย Padgett andย Weijs (who averages a block a game) and scorers Mychal Parker andย Haukur Palsson are onlyย averaging about 8.2 mpg between them. Theyย will be far more effectiveย tomorrow if they getย moreย roundsย withย live bulletsย todayโeven ifย they're fired from a Derringer.
Aย gap between the starters and the benchย is inevitable, of course,ย butย here's hoping coach Gary Williamsย fully capitalizes onย blowouts and such byย getting these newerย guys some valuableย PT.
4. Three-Point Shooting
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Marylandย has takenย 62 threes but made onlyย 17. That's aย 27 percent clip, good for ninth in the ACC.
I'm not expecting anyone to become Steve Kerr overnight, but a little more judiciousness would be helpful. If shooting the three is addictive, a couple Maryland players may need a little intervention.
Sean Mosley (1-of-9) and Pe'Shon Howard (2-of-10), I'm looking in your directions.
5. Traffic Jam at the 1
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When it comes to point guard, most of the talk among Maryland fansย centers onย whether Howard or Stoglin will emerge (at the moment, most of the money is on Howard).
But Adrian Bowie has refused to go quietly, averaging a respectable eight points on 56 percent FG shootingย and a team-leading 3.6 assists per game, allย while throwing in 3.6 boards and solid defense.
Meanwhile, Howard and Stoglin have shown serious potential but haven't yet found consistency.
On the other hand,ย Bowie and Stoglinย haveย 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratios and have displayedย poor decision-making at times.
On the third hand, Howard has indeed been the best floor general, but at 5.6 points per game his scoringย is far below that of Bowie and Stoglin, who leads the group with 11.4 ppgโwhile playing the lowest number ofย minutes.
So yeah...logjam. Good luck with this one, Gary.
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