Statistical Impressions from Maryland's Win Over Florida Atlantic
by Ben Broman on Dec 27, 2009 7:36 PM EST
in Basketball
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PrintI was out of the house for the Maryland-Florida Atlantic game, so I can't give too many real thoughts on it. I can, however, look at stats, and give my thoughts off that. And stats, like hips, do not lie.
First off: Greivis Vasquez has returned. There's still some stuff to work on - I'm not liking the four turnovers, especially when compared to the 2 assists (my bad, or ESPN's) - but the good news is that he's on the right track. Tough to find fault with 26 points and 8 rebounds.
I expected more than a 13 point margin, which is scary close for a team like Florida Atlantic, but it's tough to tell how much Sean Mosley's absence hurt this team. Without seeing the game, I'll take it.
If Vasquez's solid performance was the positive from the game, rebounding was the resounding negative. We knew Jordan Williams and James Padgett weren't godsends that would magically fix these issues, but I'm reminded of some of last year's awful rebounding efforts. Not exactly encouraging stuff. Everything needs to get better from everbody.
I was happy to see Cliff Tucker's solid performance in place of Mosley, who had a minor ankle sprain. He only had 11 points and his shooting stats were fairly average, but he wasn't bad, and that's a good sign. It was nice to see him get rewarded for a good performance.
Williams wasn't quite as productive as I had hoped he would've been. It wasn't a bad performance, per se, and I was glad to see him start, but we know he's capable of more. On the flip side, Dino Gregory finally logged his first offensive rebound of the season - I don't care that there was only one, progress is progress. Still, Williams, even on a bad day, statistically outperformed Gregory.
Couple other minor notes: good to see Landon Milbourne is still a solid #2 offensive option. It was somewhat reassuring to see that Eric Hayes, when ineffective offensively, can still contribute; he had 9 assists. Without Mosley, I knew the rotation would be shorter, but I was surprised to see it at just 8 men, with Padgett seeing just 6 minutes. No Jin Soo Choi was definitely a surprise - this is the second game in a row he's been a non-entity.
I'll look at it more tonight and tomorrow and get some more stuff up. If anybody saw it, a FanPost of impressions would be greatly appreciated.
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Seems like GV had 5 assists and 2 turnovers: http://www.umterps.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2009-2010/md1227.html
D'oh
Either I mixed up Landon and Vaz, or ESPN did. That’s the only box I checked, could’ve sworn it said GV had 4 and 2. Switched now, so might’ve been me. Regardless, you’re right. Fixing now.
impressions
There were times during the game that the Terps ran the transition well, making crisp passes for easy finishes. And then there was the rest. Gary was clearly exasperated for most of the game. There were too many bad decisions and being out of position, and nowhere was it more apparent than the offensive rebounding (theirs, not ours).
Free throw shooting was poor, below 50%. With this team, come conference play, every point will be crucial. Seeing as FT was a bright spot last year, the current regression brings back memories of the squad a few years ago that was shooting in the 60s-percent range.
I don’t see why there is any expectation for Choi to see any minutes. Outside of his first games last year where he racked up a ton of points in garbage minutes, he’s produced very little and hasn’t shown any defensive aptitude. Remind us again what his credentials are? I’m not being flip. It’s just he was labeled as an outside shooter, but he’s been inconsistent at best.
I posted my detailed impressions in a Fan Post...
Also, I don’t think the FT shooting is a concern. The only guy I worry about is Padgett, who isn’t getting enough PT for it to make a difference. GV, LM, and CT all uncharacteristically missed at the line, and we only got 11 FT attempts. There were a lot of questionable non-calls from the officials in the first half, and they just didn’t defend us very aggressively in the second half. We were 38-50 (76%) the previous two games, so I’m not too worried. But yeah, this is the tradeoff you can expect when you exchange a finesse forward like Neal for traditional bigs like JWill and Padgett who actually get to the line.
Re: Choi
I’m not calling for him to play – that he didn’t is a pleasant surprise. Rather, I’m surprised Gary didn’t play him. I had expected him to get a few minutes all year long.
Choi gets PT for his defense...
Offensively he is clearly not able to do much. You can argue he just isn’t skilled or strong enough, or that he is too jittery and his mechanics are rushed. Either way, he needs much improvement there. Defensively though, he is quite good in zone sets, as well as man-to-man when matched up with driver/slasher types. He is too weak to be consistently good in the post on either end, but then again Milbourne and Gregory haven’t exactly been dominant there either.
I don’t know why people continue to assume that he’s a bad defender. Do you assume this just because he’s skinny and looks awkward? It’s simply not true…he’s flawed but definitely not bad. The reasons he doesn’t play more are his offense and his weak frame.
Never been impressed with his defense
Not only does he look awkward, he looks lost. Players abuse him off the dribble, and he’s too tentative in contesting shots. He has great length, but rarely makes good use of it. I can’t get the image of Lance Stephenson drilling a jumper over him off the break despite JSC having him in length by a country mile.
I agree he has the physical tools to be a great defender, but I’ve never seen what you see in him.
I can’t recall a single time Choi has been “abused off the dribble”. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, but I can recall more than a few times from this and last season when a smaller ballhandler tried to set him up for a crossover and gave up because of Choi’s quickness.
Aside from that, we may have to agree to disagree on this. It may be a moot point, as I’ve heard rumblings that he is in danger of academic ineligibility…and even if not, he’s not likely to get PT in the ACC anyway given his frail body.
I’ll say this, though – there is a reason GW has put him on the floor this year in game situations, and it’s not primarily for his offensive ability. And we agree that the key for him is to get stronger and add some mass. Without that, he’ll never play a significant role in the ACC.
by jellisjenius on Dec 28, 2009 6:50 PM EST up reply actions
I'm with JJ on this one
Jin Soo’s defensive technique is solid and he hustles on defense. He just simply gets overmatched physically at times, especially down low. I don’t recall the Stephenson shot, but I am surprised that he didn’t do better defending against a jump shot. He is not a quick leaper but he can usually get a hand in the shooter’s face.
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