Palsson leaving Terps to pursue professional career

According to The Sun's Jeff Barker, Haukur Palsson is leaving Maryland to play basketball professionally in Europe. Palsson's decision is yet another tough pill for Maryland's basketball program to swallow after Jordan Williams left school for the NBA and some coach named Gary Williams retired.

Here's more from Barker:

Palsson, who is from Iceland, “wants to be closer to home and to be able to start providing for his family,” head coach Mark Turgeon said in a prepared statement Monday night.

Palsson, 6-foot-6 and 190 pounds, averaged 2.8 points per game and 2.1 rebounds per game in his freshman season. But he possessed inside toughness and could step back and hit the 3.

The Terps were already going to have a small lineup, and Palsson would likely have started at either small or power forward. His absence will hurt the Terps' rotation even more, and it'll be difficult for Maryland to face bigger teams -- which will be nearly every team -- without having to consider playing a lot of zone.

Without Palsson, Nick Faust is almost guaranteed a starting spot as a freshman. He was already going to see plenty of minutes on the court -- maybe now he'll see even more. Others who should see more of the court: Ashton Pankey and Mychal Parker, along with James Padgett (a probable starter) and Berend Weijs.

The upcoming season is going to be a long one for Mark Turgeon and the Terps, but at least their guard-heavy offense and up-tempo game should be fun to watch.

Maryland hires Mark Turgeon

The Maryland basketball coaching search to replace Gary Williams started with names like Sean Miller, Jay Wright, Jamie Dixon, Brad Stevens, and others, in some order. Miller considered taking the job, though the others never really did. In the end, Maryland offered the job to Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, who accepted and is officially coming to College Park.

Turgeon isn't considered to be the home-run hire that Miller, Wright, or Stevens (etc.) would have been. He also doesn't have many ties to the East Coast. Take a look:

1987–1992 Kansas (asst.)
1992–1997 Oregon (asst.)
1997–1998 Philadelphia 76ers (asst.)
1998–2000 Jacksonville State
2000–2007 Wichita State
2007–2011 Texas A&M

He was an assistant under Larry Brown at Kansas for several seasons and with the 76ers for one season. He also helped to turn around the programs at Jacksonville State, Wichita State, and Texas A&M in varying amounts of time. By all accounts, he's a hard worker, a solid coach, a family man, and someone who wants to be at a place that cares immensely about basketball. Oh, and he wins games -- he has a career record of 250-159.

Here's a great take on the move by ESPN's Eamonn Brennan:

It's fair to say those excited Terrapins fans, who spent the last week hearing their program described as a sleeping giant by every anonymous source in the country -- not to mention followed as their AD met with Miller in Las Vegas Saturday -- might have hoped for something a bit more, well, exciting.

By all the barometers we usually associate with that word, Turgeon doesn't qualify. To date, he hasn't regularly recruited blue-chip prospects; more often, his players are unheralded workers who develop throughout their multi-year careers. Texas A&M plays a slow, deliberate style. Turgeon's press conference demeanor can be rather like his teams: quiet, sparse and even downright boring.

To be clear, those aren't bugs or features. They're just who Turgeon is.

The important thing here, the one that really matters, is this: At the bottom of it all, Maryland fans are like any other. They want to win basketball games. Mark Turgeon wins basketball games, and he does so at places with far fewer institutional advantages than Maryland. It's really just that simple.

And so a new era begins in College Park -- not with a bang, necessarily, but certainly not with a whimper. Maryland fans be forgiven if they need a moment to get to know Turgeon, but the more they see of him, the more they'll grow to appreciate the coach's clinical solidity and drama-free approach. They'll appreciate [Maryland athletic director Kevin] Anderson's efforts in making this hire.

Following Gary Williams won't be easy, but Turgeon knows how to build a program the right way and win games. That's all fans can ask for.

A truly sad day: Gary Williams is retiring

For the past few hours, I've been trying to come up with an original take on the news of Gary Williams's retirement. But really, I can't say that I have one. Unlike many stories that quickly become stale because they turn into long, drawn-out sagas, the retirement news was sudden, harsh, and seemingly came out of nowhere.

But maybe it's better that way. Does Gary Williams seem like the type of guy who would leave hints of his retirement scattered about until finally going on some sort of farewell tour? No way. That's more of a Coach K-type thing to do. Maybe.

Frankly, Gary Williams is Maryland basketball. He always will be. He turned the program around, made it respectable again, and put an exclamation point on that turnaround with the national championship in 2002. He worked his tail off for 22 seasons to get the Maryland program to where it is today, a feat that arguably only a handful of coaches -- ever -- could have duplicated.

But he did have to retire from coaching at some point, and maybe this isn't such a bad time to walk away. Without much of a frontcourt, the Terps will face an uphill battle all season in a league that doesn't have a problem coming up with talented forwards and centers.

Then again, that's also what made Williams special to most Maryland fans: that superior level of coaching and a stubborn refusal to give in, even against insurmountable odds. The biggest knock on Williams -- his lack of desire to dabble in the shady dealings of the recruiting world -- is (was, now, I guess) also his biggest strength. It was frequently apparent that Maryland, especially in ACC play, was facing teams with better talent, and yet there was Gary Williams, constantly barking out orders and frustrations to both players and coaches while routinely getting his players great scoring opportunities with his patented flex offense.

Was it frustrating to watch several Maryland teams that should have been more talented and had better players? Definitely. But what I'll remember the most about Gary Williams is that his teams were always prepared and that he never made excuses for what happened on the court. He would show up with a group of players who were willing to work as hard as possible for him, and he returned the favor by giving everything he had on the sidelines every night to put his players in the best possible position to win. He wasn't always successful in doing that, and the Terps had their fair share of embarrassing moments. But what Gary Williams accomplished in his time at Maryland can never be replaced; real fans won't forget that.

If Jordan Williams leaves, expect more zone

Jordan Williams filed the necessary paperwork yesterday to enter the NBA Draft, but he has not signed with an agent yet. That means that he has until May 8 to withdraw his name and still remain eligible. On Sunday, I discussed many of the consequences of what losing Williams would mean, but I did leave one out: It would force the Terps into playing more zone.

This past season, Gary Williams occasionally utilized a 3-2 (almost a 1-2-2) zone. It wasn't always effective, but it did work in certain stretches, particularly against inefficient shooting teams. In previous years, I recall Maryland playing some zone before, but usually only in brief intervals to catch opposing teams off guard. If Jordan Williams departs, the Terps won't just be losing their best player, but their biggest one as well.

Only one of the incoming freshmen (at the moment) is a frontcourt player (Martin Breunig). He probably won't be a starter, meaning that unless Nick Faust wows from day one, the Terps will start five guys from last year's team. Since I doubt that Gary would be fine with starting both Berend Weijs and James Padgett together, the most likely starter at the other forward position will be Haukur Palsson. And that's fine since Palsson played well at times as a freshman, but he's only 6'6 and would leave the Terps with a huge size deficiency against tall frontcourts.

But there aren't a whole lot of choices. Without Williams, Maryland will be forced to bring in at least another big man, but there's no way that the Terps would expect much from him right away. And if Palsson does indeed play significant minutes at the four, the Terps could be looking at this starting lineup:

Terrell Stoglin (6'1)
Pe'Shon Howard (6'3)
Sean Mosley (6'4)
Haukur Palsson (6'6)
James Padgett (6'8)

Or maybe Weijs (6'10) starts. Or maybe Gary Williams is firmly against a lineup that's too small and doesn't want Palsson to play so many minutes at the four. Regardless, losing Williams reduces Maryland's options. And if Maryland is forced into using the above starting lineup, they will be overmatched inside in most games -- particularly in ACC play -- and forced into playing more zone to clog the lane.

What happens if Jordan Williams turns pro?

I don't think most Maryland basketball fans actually believe that Jordan Williams is going to leave college for the NBA. Either that, or maybe they don't want to think about how devastating it would be for the current team. But Williams, who recently finished his sophomore season, is apparently seriously considering whether or not to leave College Park for the chance to earn some money in the NBA.

There are many different factors -- how well Williams stacks up against the competition, which other players end up turning pro, the NBA's current (and impending) financial dilemma, whether Williams is ready to simply move on to the next level, etc. -- that are influencing Williams's decision, and I fully believe that his final choice will not come without lots of deliberation and planning. Still, it's possible that he leaves, and that would leave the Terps with a huge hole in their frontcourt.

According to Rivals.com, Maryland has essentially finalized three recruits so far for next season: Nick Faust, Sterling Gibbs, and Martin Breunig. Out of their 13 scholarships for the upcoming season, they have 12 locked up. If Williams departs, they'll have an extra one to work with, meaning they would likely target a frontcourt guy or two.

On their current roster, the Terps don't have a single player who can duplicate what the 6'10, 260 pound Williams recently accomplished. After playing reasonably well (9.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 51.2 percent shooting) and exceeding expectations in his freshman season, Williams took a tremendous step forward (which is saying something) as a sophomore. He scored more points (16.9), grabbed more rebounds (11.8), shot better from the field (53.8 percent), and played almost eight more minutes per game, all the while playing on a less-talented team that lost seniors Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes, and Landon Milbourne the season before. Remember, Dino Gregory is graduating, meaning that without Williams too, Maryland would have to go with two new starters in the frontcourt.

Of the current recruits, Faust and Gibbs are guards, and although Breunig is 6'9 and 205 pounds, he's more of a shooter and perimeter player -- not someone who's going to bang much inside and score routinely from the post. So, besides targeting another big guy or two -- and even then, he (or they) would still be young and inexperienced -- Maryland has limited (non-freshman) options. They are:

- Berend Weijs (6'10, 200 pounds, Senior)
- James Padgett (6'8, 215, Junior)
- Ashton Pankey (6'9, 220, Sophomore)
- Haukur Palsson (6'6, 190, Sophomore)

Pankey only played in one game, and just three minutes, all of last season, so he's probably not much of a solution. Palsson, while having a pretty strong showing for a freshman, is more of a small forward, though when Maryland got in foul trouble, he did see time at the four. So in terms of size and (some) experience, the options are Padgett and Weijs. Padgett (8.7) played more minutes than Weijs (5.2) this past season, but that's not really saying much. I imagine that Padgett would be the guy to get the first real chance, but it's hard to get excited about either guy, especially since neither has played many minutes or done much besides a few nice plays here and there.

Simply put, Maryland is going to be in big trouble if Williams leaves -- not exactly a stunning statement. Yet, I still think that Gary Williams would be able to make the best out of that potential makeshift frontcourt, mainly because I don't believe there are many things Gary Williams relishes more than winning games while riding into battle with inferior talent. Also, it's not like the Terps would be without weapons of their own; they just wouldn't receive a whole lot of offensive production from their big men. Unless Faust forces his way into the starting lineup early on, Maryland's starting backcourt will likely be Pe'Shon Howard and Terrell Stoglin, two guys who got plenty of minutes while Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker were not playing like most fans wished they would. Sean Mosley will probably start at small forward, which would leave Maryland with a solid group of guards and forwards (Palsson, Faust, Mychal Parker, and Gibbs) available off the bench.

There's little question that the strength of the Terps without Jordan Williams would be the backcourt duo of Stoglin and Howard, along with the development of those four youngsters listed above. If Williams does end up being in the mix, then the Terps will unquestionably be more talented and much better off than the ugly alternative.

In the end, the decision to turn pro is up to Jordan Williams. He gets the final word. But I'd be lying if I said I wanted him to test the waters and leave Maryland for good. It's been a lot of fun watching his game steadily improve, and after seeing how much he matured this season, it would be a real shame not to have that opportunity for, at the very least, one more season.

Duke gets knocked out, which is always good

Maryland didn't have a particularly good season and didn't make the NCAA Tournament. I'd say that most Terps fans are over it by now. Still, it's always important to keep rooting against Duke. Fortunately, Arizona dismantled Duke 93-77 last night, including a dominant 55-33 second half scoring advantage.

Derrick Williams, Arizona's sophomore forward, was unstoppable, scoring 32 points (11-17 from the field) and grabbing 13 rebounds. He also made fix of six three-pointers. As a team, Arizona shot 54 percent, made nine of 15 threes, and outrebounded Duke 35-26. Not bad at all.

As for Williams, he unleashed a few spectacular highlights on the Blue Devils, one of them being this sick put-back dunk in the first half:



On behalf of Maryland fans -- and many college basketball fans around the country -- thank you, Derrick.

Balanced effort leads Maryland over Florida St.

It wasn't the prettiest performance -- especially with the way Maryland ended the first half -- but the Terps got a much-needed, 78-62 win over Florida St. With the win, the Terps improve to 7-6 in the ACC and 18-10 overall.

Five Terps -- Terrell Stoglin (17), Dino Gregory (14), Adrian Bowie (12), Jordan Williams (11), and Sean Mosley (10) -- scored in double figures, and Maryland shot over 52 percent from the field while holding the Seminoles to 43.4 percent shooting. Both teams turned the ball over a bunch (17 for Florida St., 16 for Maryland), but Maryland won the rebounding battle by a 29-26 margin, made 10 more free throws, and made two more three-pointers. Williams had another double-double, adding 11 rebounds to his 11 points. Gregory collected eight rebounds as well, but no other Terp grabbed more than three. Stoglin also dished out four assists, extending his streak of games with at least 14 points and four assists to five.

For Maryland, though, the story of the second half was defense. After getting complacent in its 1-2-2 (or 3-2) zone in the first half and letting Florida St. back in the game -- the Terps led 38-37 at halftime -- Maryland played hard-nosed, man-to-man defense in the second half and completely shut down Florida St.'s attack. The Seminoles aren't a great offensive team and obviously miss Chris Singleton, their best player, so the Terps tightened the screws in the second half and only allowed 25 points.

The Terps have three ACC games remaining, and they could really use wins in all three. Their next two games are on the road -- at North Carolina and Miami -- before coming home and ending the season against Virginia. Getting to 10 wins in the conference would be huge -- definitely difficult, but huge -- and it's probably something the Terps would need anyway as a starting point to build an NCAA Tournament resume. Anything less than that will likely mean an NIT Tournament invitation (barring an unforeseen run in the ACC Tournament).

(Quick note: Where were all the fans last night? I can't remember seeing a Maryland home ACC game with so many empty seats, and it looked like most of the empty seats were in the students' section (not completely sure though). I know this isn't the best Maryland team of all time, but they're still a pretty exciting team and deserve an amped-up crowd cheering them on.)

Another close loss may signal youth movement for Terps

Watching the Terps this season has been difficult. They always play hard and rarely get blown out, but it's obvious that they're missing something -- maybe a scorer or a glue guy, but probably a dead-eye shooter or two.

After their most recent game, a 91-83 loss to Virginia Tech, the Terps dropped to 16-10 and 5-6 in the ACC. Tech's Erick Green hit a couple of key threes down the stretch to pull away, and Maryland struggled to answer back. Overall, the Terps shot over 49 percent from the field and made 21 of 24 free throws (a significant achievement for this group), but Virginia Tech hit more timely threes, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds (including several down the stretch), and forced 15 Maryland turnovers. Their zone also made Jordan Williams have to work extra hard to get the ball, and only a few of his points came easily. He didn't have one of his more efficient games, but he did still have 16 points and nine rebounds.

One odd thing about yesterday's game was how much Virginia Tech's starters played. Each was on the floor for more than 31 minutes, and their starters scored 88 of their 91 total points. Only three bench guys got on the floor, and none of them had a field goal.

Most of Maryland's losses this season mirror this one -- enough skills and heart to hang with a talented team, but just not enough to finish the job. Remember these?

L vs. Pittsburgh, 79-70
L vs. Illinois, 80-76
L vs. Temple, 64-61
L vs. Boston College, 79-75
L vs. Duke, 71-64
L vs. Villanova, 74-66
L vs. Virginia Tech, 74-57
L vs. Duke, 80-62
L vs. Boston College, 76-72

Only the two games in bold could be described as blowouts, and Maryland still had a chance at some point (small or not) in each of those games.

With Maryland's NCAA Tournament hopes fading with each loss, it's time to start Pe'Shon Howard and Terrell Stoglin. The most disappointing Terps this season have probably been Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker, so it's time for the freshmen to show what they can do in the last few games of the season (though they still play a lot of minutes regardless). Bowie and Tucker have been too inconsistent; maybe they're just not that good and never really should have been expected to provide much. Stoglin just had his best game of the season, scoring 25 points and dishing out six assists. He plays a little quicker -- and more out of control -- than Howard, but as he showed yesterday, when he pushes the ball he can make some things happen (both good and bad). Howard has also had a few solid games in a row and even hit four threes against Boston College.

More minutes for Howard and Stoglin (and probably Haukur Palsson and James Padgett) seems like a good idea to start laying the groundwork for next season's team. Not only that, though, but they (particularly Stoglin and Howard) may present the best chance for Maryland to win regardless. Gary Williams has likely recognized that already, though, and that's why the two have been getting more crunch-time minutes. Too bad neither guy is a sharpshooter -- at least not at the moment.

Jordan Williams is making more free throws

This post isn't going to be amazingly thought-provoking or anything; the title says it all. When I last wrote about the Terps -- about a month ago -- Jordan Williams was still shooting about 50 percent from the free throw line (though he did make nine of 14 free throws that night). Including that game (on January 12), Williams has made 45 of 71 free throws -- about 63 percent.

Interestingly enough, Williams's field goal percentage is the same as his current free throw percentage: 55.4 percent. Williams's improvement at the line not only makes him a more efficient and dangerous player, but it also helps Maryland close out games and makes opposing teams pay for racking up cheap fouls. As a team, the Terps are up to 65 percent shooting from the line, so as Williams gets better from the line, so does the team (he has more than 100 more attempts than any other Terp).

Maryland still hasn't beaten a ranked team this season, and the Terps face a crucial part of their schedule. After a game against Longwood on Wednesday, Maryland plays at Boston College and then at Virginia Tech. The Terps have to win at least one of those games, and maybe both -- far from an easy task. They're going to need every single point to pull out those games, so hopefully Williams's better shooting from the line continues.

Terps beat Wake, get first ACC win

On the same night that Florida State took down No. 1 Duke, a feat that Maryland came close to pulling off Sunday night, the Terps earned their first ACC win in three tries, beating Wake Forest 74-55.

In what was an ugly win over an awful team (at least it was on the road!), the Terps took a 14-point lead at halftime but had to weather a bit of a Wake Forest comeback in the second half. Wake pulled to within six points with about 11 minutes to go before Maryland went on an impressive run to push the lead to 21 just a few minutes later. Wake never recovered, and all that was left was about four to five minutes of sloppy basketball.

There's not a whole lot that can be taken away from this game other than the Terps' offense needs a lot of work, but here are a few notes/observations:

- Jordan Williams had his worst shooting night of the season -- 2-13 from the field -- and yet he still put up 13 points and 15 rebounds. Most of his points came from the free throw line, where he made 9-14 shots -- not bad for a guy shooting about 50 percent from the line on the season.

- Wake Forest's zone defense made things difficult for Maryland. Because the Terps don't have any great three-point shooters, other than the hot-and-cold Cliff Tucker, Wake was content to clog the paint and force Maryland to hit some outside shots. The Terps made just five of 18 threes and Williams didn't have much room to operate inside, so in a sense that strategy worked. Maryland seemed to make the adjustment to push the ball up the court more in the second half so that Wake couldn't get their defense set. Because the Terps missed plenty of open perimeter shots in this game, I wouldn't be surprised to see other better, more athletic teams play a zone defense against Maryland to try to take Williams out of the game.

- Similar to the above note, the Terps simply have to make more perimeter shots. They didn't seem all that comfortable operating against a zone defense, but they still got plenty of open looks that they just didn't knock down. Their flex offense is particularly effective against man-to-man defense, but they still ran it several times against Wake's zone -- and still got open shots. Gary Williams will always get his team open looks -- but he can't make shots for them.

- In games when the Terps shoot 38 percent from the field and under 28 percent from three-point range, they're likely going to need to make free throws. Luckily they were playing Wake Forest, so they got away with making just 17 of 33 free throws (51.5 percent). As noted, Williams shot much better from the line, meaning that the worst free throw shooter on the team has to be James Padgett, right? Williams and Padgett are both shooting about 50 percent on the season, but Padgett missed all four of his free throws last night. He also aired one of them so bad that it couldn't have been within two or three feet of the basket.

- It's pretty clear now that the Terps are going to need more scoring efforts like last night's from Tucker (21 points, 6-13 shooting). Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard have some talent, no question, but they have struggled a bit lately to put up points -- particularly Stoglin. Stoglin made just one of nine shots yesterday and had only two points. In ACC games so far, Stoglin is shooting a combined 8-36 from the field. That's not going to get it done.

- Haukur Palsson had a nice game (four points, five rebounds, two assists) in 20 minutes. He's seen his minutes increase in the last few games.

I guess that's about it -- still a nice win, no matter what. Next on the Terps' schedule is No. 7 Villanova -- on the road. Winning that game, or beating Duke at home on February 2, would go a long way to getting the Terps back on the NCAA Tournament path. It's still early, but beating a top team like that would do wonders for these young Terps.

The Terps are not shooting free throws well -- at all

At 7-4, the Terps are a decent basketball team. They don't have any overly impressive wins, but they don't have any horrible losses yet either. Still, their last two losses -- against Temple (neutral floor) and Boston College (at home) -- have hurt, particularly because both were winnable games. And actually, all four of Maryland's losses have been close: They lost by nine to No. 4 Pittsburgh, by four to No. 16 Illinois, by three to Temple, and most recently by four to Boston College.

Unfortunately, Maryland didn't build a strong out-of-conference resume prior to beginning conference play, meaning that they'll have to go on a strong run and finish, at the very least, above .500 in the ACC -- and probably 10-6. And because Maryland is likely to play many more close games, they absolutely must shoot better from the free throw line.

Through the first 11 games -- and remember, Maryland could still turn things around from the line -- the Terps are tied for 279th in the NCAA in free throw shooting with some school named USC Upstate at 63.4 percent. That's right, 279th. That is, um, not good. Believe it or not, in 2003-2004, Maryland actually shot worse than that from the line (62.6%), with such bricklayers as Jamar Smith (47.2%), Nik Caner-Medley (65.7%), D.J. Strawberry (52.6%), and Ekene Ibekwe (51.6%) combining to clank numerous rims.

Currently, the main culprits are Jordan Williams (54.3%), Cliff Tucker (68.4%), Pe'Shon Howard (46.2%), and James Padgett (40%). Williams's poor shooting, though, has contributed the most to the poor team percentage because, with 81 attempts from the line already, he's shot about 30 percent of the team's total free throws (268).

Right now, Williams is averaging 18.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game -- phenomenal numbers. But if he could improve his free throw percentage just a few points, it'll make the Terps that much better. Or maybe, to take some of the load off of Williams's shoulders, some other guys could step up in late game situations and hit a few shots from the line instead. It's the least they could do.

Terps need upperclassmen to step up

In yesterday's 64-61 loss to Temple, which dropped Maryland to 6-3 on the season, Gary Williams did his best to send a message to his starters (other than Jordan Williams): play better or your minutes will diminish.

Williams, unquestionably the Terps' best player, had 17 points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes. But no one really helped him out on the boards, and he was the only Terp to grab more than six rebounds. Because of that, Maryland was outrebounded by nine, including by four on the offensive end.

Still, though, Gary Williams did his best to send a message to Cliff Tucker, Adrian Bowie, and Sean Mosley. That trio played just 18, 22, and 19 minutes, respectively, and only scored a combined eight points. For Maryland to go places this season, Tucker and Bowie (seniors) and Mosley (junior) absolutely must play better than that. The Terps also could use a better effort out of Dino Gregory (senior) too -- one point (0-4 shooting), six rebounds -- but he has basically already shown what kind of player he is at this point.

Down 15 early in the second half, Gary Williams decided to give his young guys a chance, and it got Maryland back in the game. He likely won't forget that going forward. Going with a lineup of Terrell Stoglin, Pe'Shon Howard, James Padgett, Haukur Palsson, and either Williams (foul trouble) or Gregory, Maryland cut Temple's lead to four with about 12 minutes to go. Maryland kept battling and eventually tied the game on a dunk by Padgett with 1:52 left, but Temple swiftly passed the ball up court and hit an and-one layup to seize the lead for good.

For the game, Stoglin, Howard, and Palsson -- all freshmen -- and Padgett, a sophomore, all played over 12 minutes and scored a combined 35 points. Stoglin scored 16 points on 5-12 shooting, and Howard chipped in six points and six assists. Padgett had eight points and three rebounds, while Palsson had five points and two boards. Those four gave the Terps the spark they were looking for, but it wasn't quite enough for them to pull out the victory.

Other than the inconsistent play by Maryland's upperclassmen, the Terps have a few weaknesses. Here they are:

1) Three-point shooting

Other than Tucker or maybe Stoglin, Maryland doesn't really have a solid three-point shooter. As a team, the Terps are shooting just 30.4 percent from three-point range, which ranks 10th in the ACC.

2) Free throw shooting

As a team, the Terps are shooting 64.5 percent from the line, which is 11th in the ACC. That is something that absolutely will have to change if Maryland is going to win some close conference games as the season rolls along. Williams has already shot 66 free throws, and he's made just 34 of them (51.5 percent). They really need him, and some others, to make more of their free throw attempts.

3) Depth behind Williams

The Terps have done a pretty good job rebounding and defending so far, but that may change when they play against deeper, more athletic teams. Williams can hold his own against just about anyone in the country, but when he gets in foul trouble, the Terps obviously miss his presence in the paint. Padgett and Palsson both play hard, but they're not as good, or as big, as Williams.

Nevertheless, the young Terps are certainly fun to watch, and it should be interesting to see how they grow as a team and if Stoglin and Howard eventually earn starting roles if Bowie, Mosley, and Tucker continue to struggle.

Terps battle but fall to No. 4 Pitt

The college basketball season is only about two weeks old, but the now 3-1 Terps learned a lot about themselves last night in a 79-70 loss to No. 4 Pittsburgh. Primarily, though, they learned two things: 1) They're going to be competitive this year, and 2) they really, really need to improve their free throw shooting.

In the nine-point loss, Maryland was a dreadful 14-30 (46.7%) from the line. That's 16 points left on the board, and even if the Terps had made just half of those, that's still eight important, potential points. The entire team contributed to the poor shooting, but the two biggest culprits were Jordan Williams (2-7) and James Padgett (0-5). Williams's struggles at the line are frustrating, but he brings so much else to the table that it's hard to complain too much about it. Padgett, on the other hand, hasn't done much else to this point in his career as a sophomore, and he really needs to make those shots when given the opportunity to do so. At one point, Gary Williams seemed to express some frustration towards Padgett right before a TV timeout after he missed two more free throws, but that also could have been for a missed defensive assignment, or maybe something else. It wasn't clear. Still, the point remains the same: Stop giving up free points.

Maryland forced 16 Pitt turnovers -- and only had eight themselves -- so that was a positive, along with shooting a better percentage than Pitt from the field (48.2% to 46.3%). Still, Maryland was outrebounded by 18 (43-25), and they also shot an abysmal 2-14 from three-point range. Dino Gregory seemed more concerned with blocking shots (he had four) than boxing out and grabbing rebounds (only two in 35 minutes). Williams had eight rebounds, and the only other Terp with more than five was Sean Mosley, with six. Sure, Pittsburgh is a deep team and has a lot of frontcourt size, but Maryland has to do better on the boards, period.

Overall, it was a tough, hard-fought victory for Pitt, even if they looked sloppy for most of the game. But Maryland battled them to the end. They'll face another tough opponent, No. 16 Illinois, tonight in the consolation game.

Two other notes:

- Whenever Williams gets in foul trouble, the Terps are going to struggle. Gregory isn't really adept at controlling the paint like Williams can, and Berend Weijs (junior) and Padgett aren't really big enough to do a whole lot of damage inside either. Besides Mosley and Gregory (when he actually focuses on it), the Terps don't have a ton of rebounding ability.

- Freshmen Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard are only going to get better. The Terps' best perimeter scorer this season is probably going to be Cliff Tucker, but both Stoglin and Howard can spell Tucker and Adrian Bowie and still keep the pressure on opposing defenses. They sometimes don't have the best shot selection and aren't as skilled at running Gary Williams's offense yet, but they're still rather advanced for freshmen.

Related links on Michigan St. vs. Maryland

I realize this is a few days late, but wow, what a way to lose. But maybe Mike Wise was right (link below) -- maybe that was the only way the Greivis Vasquez era at Maryland could end. I thought about dissecting the game, but really, I don't think there's a point. Michigan State played better for most of the game. They shot better and held a huge advantage on the boards. Many times, the Spartans were quicker to the ball and there's no question they were physically better than Maryland. In a way, you could say they deserved to win, but there's no such thing in sports. That run by Maryland at the end was amazing -- no one could say differently. Vasquez helped bring the Terps back at the end, but it just wasn't enough.

The Terps didn't make it to the Sweet 16, which is obviously disappointing. But by no means does it mean that this season wasn't a success. Maryland did just as much in the NCAA Tournament as Georgia Tech and Wake Forest (more counting the regular season) despite not having the same level of talent. That might seem like a moral victory, but instead of focusing on a few negatives about this team or their limitations as a whole, I'll focus on that collective effort with time running out that almost put the Terps in the Sweet 16. I'll remember the heroic victory over Duke in front of a raucous home crowd and that huge double overtime win over Virginia Tech that was delayed several hours because of a water main break. I'll remember the performances by Vasquez and the Terps in front of crowds at Florida State (yelling "Deport Vasquez!") and Virginia Tech (chanting "USA! USA!"). I'll also remember that hard-to-stomach home loss to William & Mary (because I was there) and watching Maryland transform into a much better team by the time I went to another game -- an 88-64 blowout win over N.C. State. And obviously it'll be difficult to forget Vasquez and Eric Hayes -- not to mention Landon Milbourne -- for how hard they played and how much they meant to this team.

Here are some links reflecting on the Terps' latest crushing loss and their overall season:

• "Maryland Terrapins go down with a fight against Michigan State" -- Mike Wise
• "Michigan State's last-second shot leaves Maryland's heralded senior trio at a loss" -- Steve Yanda
• "Thoughts on Greivis Vasquez and the Maryland's Seniors' Final Game, 24 Hours Later" -- Testudo Times
• "A dozen things I'll remember" -- Andy Katz
• "Maryland's season ends with 85-83 loss to Michigan State" -- Terrapins Insider
• "Eventually, I will learn not to bet against Tom Izzo in the NCAA Tournament" -- Ballin' is a Habit
• "Lucious Beats Buzzer, Maryland for Hobbled Michigan State" -- FanHouse
• "Remembering Greivis Vasquez" -- DC Landing Strip
• "Gary Williams gets choked up over Greivis" -- D.C. Sports Bog

Maryland beats Houston, moves on to second round

Fourth-seeded Maryland took down No. 13 Houston 89-77 last night with an impressive showing, particularly by Jordan Williams, who scored 21 points on 9-14 shooting and also grabbed 17 rebounds (nine more than anyone else). Other strong performances:

Greivis Vasquez: 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists (though only 5-13 from the field)
Eric Hayes: 11 points, six assists
Landon Milbourne: 19 points, seven rebounds (though only 6-15 from the field)

The bench -- Adrian Bowie, Cliff Tucker, and Dino Gregory -- chipped in 18 points in 49 combined minutes. Tucker also grabbed seven rebounds in just 10 minutes, but he did commit two pretty bad turnovers late in the second half. Bowie also did a pretty good job against Aubrey Coleman in the second half and seemed to do a better job staying in front of him -- not an easy task.

With the win, Maryland will face No. 5 Michigan State at 2:30 on Sunday.

I'm not going to do a more in-depth comparison of the teams like I did with Houston-Maryland, but quickly, here are how the two teams stack up in terms of season stats.

Team	PTS	REB	AST	FG%	3P%	FT%	TO	PPS
Maryland	79.6	38.9	16.4	47.2	37.9	72.6	11.8	1.28
Michigan State	72.5	39.1	16.7	47.1	33.5	68.2	13.9	1.28

Interesting matchup. Maryland is a little more efficient on offense -- better three-point shooting and free throw shooting -- but the field goal percentages are almost identical. Maryland plays a little more up-tempo than Michigan State, who likes to slow things down Big Ten-style. One odd thing is that Maryland plays a little faster but commits fewer turnovers, which may be something to pay attention to. The Terps do seemingly hold an edge -- but just a slight one.

More-balanced Maryland should be able to handle Houston

(Note: I realize that things here have been a little Terps-heavy lately, but really, what do you expect? It's almost tournament time. Baseball season is right around the corner (thankfully), but the Wizards have been awful lately and the Redskins haven't made a whole lot of headlines, other than signing Larry Johnson. Seriously though, how bad of a Redskins offseason would it be if their biggest free agent move is signing Johnson and their first-round pick is Jimmy Clausen? Count me among the fans who would rather the Redskins didn't draft Brady Quinn version 2.0. But back to the Terps.)

If you've heard anything at all about Maryland's opponent on Friday, the Houston Cougars, it's probably that they have the nation's leading scorer, Aubrey Coleman. Coleman (6'4, 200 pounds) averages 25.6 points per game on 42.5 percent shooting, though he isn't a particularly great three-point shooter (31.8 percent). He does get to the free throw line a lot -- nine times a game -- and he is a solid shooter from the line (74.5 percent). Coleman also averages 7.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.3 turnovers, and 2.7 steals in nearly 37 minutes per game. As you would expect from the nation's leading scorer, Coleman scored 30 points or more nine times, and in the middle of the season he had a stretch of 11 straight games in which he scored at least 22 points.

But while Coleman is a fantastic talent (and someone you don't want to take a charge from at mid-court), it's not surprising to discover that he takes a lot of shots. He's taken nearly 700 shots and 20.5 field goal attempts per game, which both lead the nation. When Coleman has the ball, he is looking to attack and put up points -- not so much to set up his teammates.

It'll be interesting to see whether Greivis Vasquez guards Coleman or not. I'd like to think Sean Mosley would start the game out defending Coleman, but I'm sure that, at some point, Vasquez and Coleman will face off against each other. The two guards weigh about the same, but Vasquez (6'6) is a little taller and his length may be something that bothers Coleman for a brief period during the game.

Comparing Coleman is Vasquez is a little difficult because there's no arguing that Coleman is a scorer before anything else. Vasquez is more of a playmaker; he averages fewer points (19.5), rebounds (4.6), and steals (1.7), than Coleman, but he dishes out more assists (6.3) and, unfortunately, commits more turnovers (3.4). Vasquez is a little more efficient, though, shooting slightly better from the field (42.9 percent), better from three-point range (37.0 percent), and better from the free throw line (85.1 percent).

As for looking at the rest of Houston's team, they're similar to Maryland in that they use a rotation of eight-to-nine players. And you might have guessed from this post's title that they're a little top-heavy in terms of scoring. After Coleman, Kelvin Lewis averages 15.3 points per game in 36.5 minutes. His overall field goal percentage is pretty low (41.1 percent), but he shoots threes better than Coleman (39.8 percent), which makes him a decent sidekick. After Lewis, things drop off significantly (scoring wise): Maurice McNeil (8.3 points), Adam Brown (7.8), Desmond Wade (5.9), Zamal Nixon (5.8), Kendrick Washington (4.2), Sean Coleman (3.9), and Kirk Van Slyke (3.5).

The Terps usually share the scoring burden and shoot more efficiently from the field than Houston. After Vasquez, Maryland's leading scorers are Landon Milbourne (12.5 points), Eric Hayes (11.1), Sean Mosley (10.5), Jordan Williams (9.2), Cliff Tucker (5.8), Adrian Bowie (4.5), Dino Gregory (4.4), and James Padgett (3.0).

Houston plays an up-tempo game and is looking to shoot three-pointers whenever they're available. Maryland, on the other hand, is more concerned with getting quality shots -- even though that doesn't always happen -- and running Gary Williams's offense (the flex). Scouting reports on Houston basically say they have a wide open offense without many set plays, other than setting some screens. Maryland has had some trouble defending teams like this in the past (think the Memphis game in the NCAA Tournament last year), but no one on Houston is nearly as talented or as athletic as Tyreke Evans.

Maryland should have the advantage inside and on the glass, which isn't something they could say a whole lot this year going into any game. As long as Williams stays out of foul trouble, Maryland will likely feed him the ball early to get him going. And when Maryland gets some scoring in the post, their offense usually opens up and shooters frequently get open looks.

It's not shocking to look at both teams and come to the conclusion that Maryland (No. 4 seed) is better than Houston (No. 13 seed). But the Terps (cliche alert) still have to play their game and focus on trying to lock down Coleman and Lewis, or if they can't do that, then at least locking down the rest of Cougars. If Houston hits a ton of threes or Maryland (i.e., Vasquez) starts putting up shots at the same rate that Houston does, this game could come down to the wire. However, I expect Maryland to play disciplined basketball and represent the ACC well.

Terps to face Houston in first round

After a disappointing exit in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, Maryland (23-8, 13-3) discovered yesterday that their regular season accomplishments warranted them a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, the Terps have to deal with two unfortunate consequences of receiving that high seed number: 1) they have to travel to Spokane, Washington, and 2) they seem to have been placed in the most difficult bracket, the Midwest regional, which includes the overall top seed, Kansas, and several other strong teams such as Ohio State, Georgetown, Michigan State, and Tennessee.

In the first round, Maryland will face Houston (19-15, 7-9) on Friday night. I haven't had the chance to watch Houston play this season, but they're only in the tournament because they won the Conference USA Tournament with an 81-73 victory over UTEP (who made the tournament as a 12 seed in the West regional).

Here are some overall team numbers to at least get an idea how these two teams stack up against each other:

Team	PTS	REB	AST	A/TO	FG%	3P%	FT%	PPS
Houston	78.6	34.0	12.6	1.4/1	42.0	35.6	71.3	1.20
Maryland	79.3	38.6	16.4	1.4/1	47.2	38.4	72.2	1.28

As you can see, Maryland is more efficient on offense and is the better shooting team while also playing in a much more difficult conference. Both teams turn the ball over the same amount, but the Terps, led by the occasionally reckless Greivis Vasquez, dish out more assists.

The Terps also have several more impressive victories than Houston:

Houston's good wins: UTEP (twice), Memphis (twice)
Maryland's good wins: Florida State (twice), Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Duke

It's not shocking to see that Maryland seems to hold an advantage over Houston in terms of overall team statistics and wins/losses. I'll take a look at individual advantages/weaknesses in a day or so.

Moving on

As you already know by now, Maryland had a tough loss on Friday. They were knocked out of the ACC Tournament by Georgia Tech. It happens.

As Gary Williams and the rest of the team has surely done by now, it's time to move on and think about the NCAA Tournament. Today is Selection Sunday, and Maryland fans should be grateful. The Terps are already a lock for the tournament, which should be thought of as a luxury considering how often the Terps of the last several years were stuck on the bubble.

The Terps have a solid team and a great chance to get to the Sweet 16. Let's hope for some tournament magic and see what happens.

Terps fall to GT, show their weaknesses

Despite Maryland's 69-64 loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, the Terps are still having a fantastic season. Maryland is now 23-8 overall and 13-3 in the ACC, and ESPN's Joe Lunardi thinks they're a five-seed at the moment. That's pretty solid for a team that at the beginning of the season many thought would be on the bubble all the way until Selection Sunday. A nice run in the ACC Tournament would have been great, and it would have given the Terps a chance at a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament, but Georgia Tech didn't let that happen.

But even though this was just one game, Maryland should be concerned heading into the NCAA Tournament -- but more on that in a minute. Let's get back to last night's game first.

What a strange game. Early on, Maryland couldn't seem to do anything right on offense, and Georgia Tech had everything working on both sides of the ball. Georgia Tech held Maryland to just 25 first-half points and completely shut down the Maryland offense. The Terps had a hard time scoring in general, missing both open and contested shots; the Terps didn't even make a three-pointer until the second half.

Meanwhile, Georgia Tech was able to score inside and outside and also owned the boards. Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal were controlling the paint, and Iman Shumpert and bench players Maurice Miller and Brian Oliver seemed to be knocking down jumpers at will.

At halftime, Maryland trailed by 16, 41-25. But then almost immediately after the second half started, Georgia Tech morphed into a different team. They couldn't take care of the ball and struggled to even get the ball past mid-court several times. Sure, Georgia Tech is turnover-prone, but that display of ball-handling and passing was ridiculous. But Maryland wasn't complaining, and they quickly cut into GT's lead.

With about eight or nine minutes to go, Georgia Tech finally stopped messing around and got back to business. They started to get the ball inside again, which also opened up more outside shots for Miller (3-4) and Oliver (3-5). Normally against Miller, that's a good strategy; he's only made 21.9 percent of his threes this season. But Oliver is probably Georgia Tech's best shooting option (38.8 percent three-point shooter), and he made Maryland pay.

Maryland wasted a lot of energy simply getting back into the game, and they just couldn't hit a big shot down the stretch. Eric Hayes missed a few perimeter shots to either give Maryland the lead or just tie the game, and Greivis Vasquez couldn't get some off-balanced shots of his own to fall in crunch time. There's no question that Georgia Tech's length bothered Maryland and forced them into more difficult shots.

Looking at the final game stats, Georgia Tech dominated a few key categories. The Yellow Jackets shot 55.8 percent from the field; Maryland shot only 37.3 percent. Georgia Tech also uncharacteristically made eight of 12 three-pointers, while Maryland made just four of 21. Georgia Tech also outrebounded Maryland by 10 (38-28). Two things kept the game close: Georgia Tech's horrible free throw shooting (13-27) and inability to take care of the ball (25 turnovers and 16 steals for Maryland). If Georgia Tech shoots a little better from the line and doesn't throw the ball away several times, Maryland would never have closed the gap.

As for the Maryland starters, Hayes (14 points on 6-12 shooting) and Landon Milbourne (15 points on 7-14 shooting) led the way on offense. Vasquez scored a game-high 17 points, but it took him 21 shots to do so -- and he made only six of them. Sean Mosley had an awful offensive game, missing all seven of his field goal attempts and finishing the game without any points. Jordan Williams battled foul trouble the entire game but still finished with seven points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes. He even made five of six free throws, which is definitely an improvement for him.

On a night like this, Maryland could really have used a bench player catching fire and knocking down a few threes, but that didn't happen. Adrian Bowie, Cliff Tucker, and Dino Gregory combined to score 11 points on 5-8 shooting, which is pretty strong. Bowie and Tucker only played 10 and 13 minutes, respectively, though, so they didn't have much of a chance to get into a rhythm and start knocking down shots.

Georgia Tech deserves a lot of credit for taking it right to Maryland and playing inspired basketball for much of the game. I'm sure many people watching the game thought Maryland was going to take the lead for good at some point after coming all the way back, but GT righted the ship and finished the game with the win.

Now, back to what I was talking about earlier: Maryland should be a little worried heading into the tournament. Every team has weaknesses, but Maryland has two that are pretty obvious. Let's take a look:

1) Teams with big, athletic frontcourts present major problems for Maryland. This obviously isn't any kind of secret, but Maryland usually struggles against bigger and longer inside players. Last night, Favors and Lawal each had 11 rebounds and altered several shots in the paint. Besides Williams and Gregory, the Terps don't really have any other options to defend big guys. Case in point: For one long stretch in the second half when Maryland went small, Mosley (6'4) was defending Favors (6'10). Normally, this would have been a huge matchup advantage for Georgia Tech, but Favors, a freshman, doesn't quite understand yet how to make Maryland pay for doing something like that. Now, Maryland only had to do that because of Williams's foul trouble, but a situation like that could certainly occur in the tournament. If Maryland's opponent has experienced big men, and the Terps are in foul trouble again, there could be a huge mismatch inside.

2) Maryland hasn't really been that good at defending the three-point line this season. The Terps are ranked 10th (third-to-last) in the ACC in three-point field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot 33.3 percent. That isn't terrible, and defense like that would have been helpful in possibly completing the comeback against Georgia Tech last night, but a team like Duke (first in the ACC) holds opponents to just 27 percent from behind the line.

Now, problem No. 1 has a large part to do with problem No. 2. Because Maryland is relatively small in the frontcourt, sometimes they double down on post players, or at least try to give some help to their forwards. And since most of their concern is in trying to stop opponents from getting easy buckets in the paint, sometimes shooters are left wide open. I actually thought Maryland did a pretty good job with this against Georgia Tech -- I mean, who thought Miller was going to turn into a great three-point shooter last night? Leaving Oliver wide open several times, though, wasn't a good idea.

The good thing is that the Terps knows what their problems are. Williams absolutely has to stay out of foul trouble if Maryland is going to advance far in the tournament, and Maryland must defend the three-point line better than they did last night. Vasquez also can't have any more performances like last night's, or Maryland may be in big trouble heading forward.

Looking back at Georgia Tech-Maryland I

For a few moments last night it looked like Maryland would be facing UNC in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Instead, Georgia Tech fought back after trailing by 10 at halftime and outscored UNC 38-24 in the second half to earn a 62-58 win and advance to face Maryland for the second time this season.

There's no denying that the UNC-GT game was ugly. UNC shot just 33.3 percent from the field, while Georgia Tech shot just under 43 percent. Neither team shot three-pointers well at all: UNC was 2-16 and Georgia Tech was 5-19. UNC had 16 assists and 10 turnovers, which isn't too bad, I guess, but Georgia Tech had only 11 assists to go with 14 turnovers. Again, neither team played that well, and if it wasn't for ACC Freshman of the Year Derrick Favors -- 18 points (7-8 from the field, nine rebounds, five blocks -- Georgia Tech probably would have lost.

But that game doesn't matter now, as Maryland will face Georgia Tech tonight at 7. In the two teams' first meeting, a 76-74 Maryland win on that Cliff Tucker buzzer-beater, the game was, believe it or not, pretty even. Maryland shot slightly better from the field -- 43.1 percent to 41.2 percent -- but Georgia Tech shot better from three-point range -- 7-15 to Maryland's 8-22 mark. Georgia Tech also outrebounded the Terps by nine -- 44-35 -- which probably can't happen today if the Terps are going to advance to play the winner of Florida State and N.C. State.

Georgia Tech is another team that presents a difficult matchup for forward Landon Milbourne (6'7): Favors is 6'10 and Gani Lawal is 6'9. Milbourne usually struggles against taller and longer defenders because they make it more difficult for him to simply shoot his mid-range jumper over them, which he'd prefer to do. In the first meeting, Milbourne scored just five points on 2-11 shooting. Still, he kept his head in the game, and in 34 minutes he grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots -- and didn't turn the ball over. Those certainly aren't great numbers, but it could have been much worse. But I doubt that Milbourne can have that kind of shooting game again if Maryland is to win.

A key factor may be the play of the backcourt tandem of Adrian Bowie and Tucker off the bench. Tucker gives the Terps a spark when he scores a few buckets, and Bowie has played well lately, scoring nine points against Duke (on 4-4 shooting) and eight points against Virginia (on 3-3 shooting). If the Terps starting five isn't as efficient as usual, Maryland's going to need that scoring punch off the bench.

Or Tucker could just hit another game-winner if he has to.