First Thoughts On Maryland Basketball's Next Season, Far in the Future

after about 5-8 games you’ll see pe shon at point guard. bowie does not have the " feel" to play point and it’s not something you can learn. padgett will eventually start at power forward. dino is not a good rebounder, doesn’t shoot well and is not a good passer. williams will average about 17 pts a game next year. tucker will do fine as a starting shooting guard. mosley needs to shoot more consistently next year.

Tucker and Bowie being consistent offensive threats. And keeping turnovers low. JW should be good but if he is our only option we will be incredibly easy to beat. Mosely has proven himself inconsistent and seems to be at his best when other scorers are drawing the defense.

mosley is the only player that started a full season on that whole roster… that’s scary… williams has experience now and bowie and tucker have played many big games as well, but next year is going to be much sloppier than this one.

Lacrosse team lost today 9-7 to UNC if anyone is interested. gonna be a great game next saturday at Byrd vs #1 UVA. Hope a lot of people are there

Pe’Shon needs to get significant minutes, if not start, at PG. This year is an example of what happens when you have a 4 year starter at PG: a disgusting offense. And I highly, highly doubt Howard will be as out of control as Vasquez was in his early days.

I think Padgett will make a significant contribution. His post moves are slick and he rebounds. He needs to, and should, improve in ball handling and running in the flow of the offense.

I gotta say, Tucker needs to learn how to run a fast break. Particularly with not making fast break layups 20x more difficult than needed in the closing minutes of NCAA tournament games.

i have a feelingt next year is going to be a rough one. we need a good recruiting class for 2011. even though we are going to have 3 seniors, i think it will definetly be a rebuilding year

This team will be fine. The returning vets will play well together and Gary will coach this group into a strong unit by ACC time. It happens every year,we start slow but he brings it together. Both the athleticism and a great coach are there and it will be fine.

on the NCAA bubble next year, but who knows. It’s not like Gary hasn’t pushed teams to exceed expectations before. Nonetheless, had Ross not flaked out/backed out, I’d have been expecting at least a top three finish in the ACC.

For Mosley’s disappearing acts on offense at times this year, he did improve his offense pretty significantly from his freshman year. He’ll need a similar rate of improvement this off-season.

I concur with others that they need to snag an impact player in the ‘11 class. They’d be quite a formidable team.

Thinking about next year’s team, though, just makes Sunday’s loss that much more frustrating since I don’t see next year’s squad having the same opportunity to advance in the tournament.

over Calipari.

Back to next season, Duke will be atop the league again, and I can’t imagine UNC being awful two years in a row with another glut of McD’s AA’s coming in. But I don’t see any other teams in the ACC getting better. Am I overlooking something? UM and NCST showed flashes at times this year, particularly in the ACC tournament, so maybe they’ll improve. UVA lost Landesburg, Clemson loses Travis Booker, GT loses at least Favors and Lewall, VT loses Delaney, BC (I have no idea who they lose, if anyone), WF loses Smith and likely Aminu, FSU loses Alibe (sp). So if it turns out to be a so-so year for the league, perhaps the Terps can do better than I initially thought.

Delaney will be a senior next year.

I don’t see experience as a major issue for this team or even replacing the 40-45 points of the departing seniors. This team has to establish its own identity which includes their expectations for the season. After being relegated to backup roles, are Adrian, Cliff, and Dino ready to make their own mark? Do they see themselves as part of an ACC also ran or the team that gets us back to the Sweet Sixteen? I think what they internalize will have the greatest impact on how far they go. It will detemine how they practice and play together as a team. Its one thing to have a bad game as an individual but quite another to let down the team in pursuit of a goal. They have something to think about this summer. I think GW knows what they are capable of doing and will be pushing these guys from the outset. James will definitely be in the rotation but I will be surprised to see more than two of our incoming freshmen getting much time early on. It will be interesting to see who emerges. I do think the freshmen will have impact later in the season.

Somebody else made the point in another post that our offense never drops off year to year. I’m in the same camp. Why? Two words, Flex Offense.

The flex offense requires a lot of movement without the ball. Whoever has the ball at the moment is the point guard and has to make the decision to shoot, drive, or pass. There is always atleast one cutter to look for and the shooters are always spaced out. It’s not just one point guard running the offense. It’s the team being able to run the flex.

I believe Bowie and Tucker have been hungry for minutes since they arrived and will be up to the task. This might be stretch, but when you only have 7 to 10 minutes a game, you tend to press too hard and make errors.

This happened with Greivis occasionally regardless of his minutes.

I don’t see how it would be a stretch for Tucker and Bowie and Mosley to run the same offense they’ve been running for the last 2-3 years in every single game and practice.

Having two bigs, williams and gregory, familiar with the offense also helps.

Padget should also help if he progresses.

I like Pe’shon but I think it’s way too early to be discounting Stoglin at the point. However, Howard’s defensive mindsight and strength probably gives him the advantage.

You have to figure Gary will start the three seniors next year. That means, once again, the Terps will be small and undermanned inside. The wild card is Padge. The ideal scenerio is a frontline of Williams, Padge and Dino and let the guards battle it out for the other two spots. The three guard offense will only take you so far. So here’s to hoping GW is sick and tired of getting manhandled on the boards and returns to a more traditional lineup.

I believe the defense will be as good, in not better as the year progresses. As much a I love the departing three, GV was the only one who wasn’t almost always liability on the defensive end. EH had trouble staying in front of any guard that was relatively quick.

That being said, they will turn the ball over on offense more and will need some one to step up as a leader. I see that person as SM. I kind of think of GV to SM as Francis was to Dixon, someone who demonstrated the work that needed to be put in to be a great player.

We shall see.

but I share your sentiments Murland. I’d hoped that at least someone would keep MSU from the FF. To their credit, they’ve made big plays and won games, but has a team ever squeaked out more wins en route to the Final Four?

You do realize MSU has only one Senior that plays…they will probably make the F-ing Final Four next year too! I’m starting to hate on Sparty

in the 90s. Somehow they find a way to the FF seemingly every year.
I’m already wondering how they’ll beat Butler. I’m guessing with five seconds left and down two, Summers will miss a 3-pointer—only like his third miss of the tournament—Draymond Green will flatten someone trying to grab the long rebound, then heave up a three as he falls into Butler’s bench, banking it in as time expires.