Terrell Stoglin: Maryland, We Have a Point Guard

The youth movement had to happen for Maryland basketball.  The fans knew it.  The players knew it.  The American people knew it.  And Gary Williams knew it, too. 

He displayed his trademark upperclassman loyalty for the season's first 11 games, but now that push has come to shove, he literally made the winning move.

Once the realization came that senior guards Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie—both uneven throughout their careers—were not natural fits as primary ball-handlers, the question became which freshman point guard would get the nod.

Based on performance in practice, Pe’Shon Howard received first crack.  Because of his attractive passing, effusive personality and buzzer beater against the College of Charleston, the fans happily went along for the ride.

Against NJIT and North Florida, Howard averaged 5.5 points on three-of-eight (37.5 percent) shooting, 3.5 assists, 1.5 turnovers, 2.5 steals and one rebound in 18 minutes.  Not too shabby.

In his first college start Tuesday night, Stoglin got 12 points on four-of-eight shooting, four assists, two turnovers and one rebound in 21 minutes.

I know who I’m picking.

Going into the Duke game, Maryland looks pretty solid defensively, and as a team does not commit a ton of turnovers (fifth in the ACC in margin and third in assist:turnover ratio).  I’d say that, more than anything, this team needs points. 

Stoglin is scoring 11 points per game, or one-10th of a point behind Cliff Tucker for second on the team, despite being sixth in minutes per game. He is also shooting 42 percent beyond the arc, which leads the team by a wide margin.  That means Stoglin bookends Jordan Williams to form a legitimate inside-outside scoring threat.  It gives opposing defenses something more to think about, and to do.

Howard is probably the better floor general, and I’ve seen some bad decisions by Stoglin, but hey, if he starts dribbling too much or heaves one off the top of the backboard, guess what?  Howard is still there.

What’s more, moving Bowie off the ball frees him to do what he does best—run the floor and slash to the basket (please, Adrian…go easy on the threes).  This freeing up worked against Colgate to the tune of 16 points, or seven over his season average (I know Colgate stinks, but still). 

Tucker has thrived coming off the bench.  He seemed unhappy about it, but I don’t care.  He played well in two games as the sixth man. He looked crisper than he had in weeks.  I'll just say that he seems like the kind of guy who needs a fire lit under him—but not too big of a fire.

Back to point guard.  It seems they now have the right lineup.  You can start Stoglin at the one with Howard backing up liberally or spot starting. Then you have Bowie off the ball at the two with Tucker spelling him and Sean Mosley.  Mosley, Dino Gregory and Jordan Williams remain the same.  And it's just that simple.  At least in my opinion.

It will be VERY interesting to see what Coach Williams does this Sunday, when the Terps travel to the land of Mordor to face Duke.

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