Landon Milbourne's Recent Contributions
by kckb8 on Mar 4, 2010 2:48 PM EST
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PrintLandon Milbourne's last seven games: 2, 14, 8, 5, 8, 8, and 5.
For someone at his position, those numbers might be expected for rebounding totals. The problem is, those are his POINT TOTALS for each of the past seven games. For you math-challenged folks out there, thats an average of about 7 PPG.
Even more perplexing than Milbourne's recent offensive performance is the fact that the Terps have still been able to win six of those seven games, with the sole loss coming in the first meeting vs. Duke.
Even though his scoring has diminished, Landon has still found ways to contribute, specifically on the defensive end. As he has drawn more attention from opposing defenses, Landon has opened up opportunities for many of his teammates, and he has definitely asserted himself as a shot-blocking force.
Throughout UMD's six game winning streak, the Terps have grown quite dependent on balanced-scoring efforts. As a result, Landon's disappearance from the offense has gone largely unnoticed. In the March 3rd Duke game, for example, his baskets consisted of a three-pointer early in the first half, and an emphatic dunk in the second half. Although they were memorable baskets, they were his only ones.
Sure, Landon's recent offensive output might appear ominous for the future of this team, but there are several positives that can be taken from the team's performance in the midst of Landon's struggles. Other guys have been able to step up, most notably Sean Mosley, Jordan Williams, and the Bowie-Tucker combo off the bench.
Hopefully Landon will get his game turned around. If everyone else continues their solid play, the team will be hitting on all cylinders, primed for an ACC championship performance and elite eight tourney run.
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More on that Bowie-Tucker combo now.
I was quite enthused by the play of the Williams-Milbourne-Mosley-Tucker-Bowie lineup in the middle of the second half. For a few minutes there, they were connecting some great passes, getting out and running the fast break, and playing solid defense. And the best part was that Landon played a VERY minimal role, save the monster dunk. After a while, the guard play started to fall apart, but I was still very encouraged by their entire body of work. Their play for those several minutes definitely bodes well for next year...I can really see a JDub-Dino-Sean-Cliff-Adrian starting lineup, with My-Park as the sixth man. With a lot of practice together, those guys could make for a really successful season.
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We all know Landon has been struggling a bit lately, I don’t think you really needed to post this in the wake of his last home game, a victory over our rival at that. I know you aren’t trying to bash him or anything but Landon has earned the right to be forgiven for some off games. Let’s celebrate him while we still can.
I doubt he reads this.
I’m just trying to mention something that has really gone unnoticed. It speaks to the character of the team that we’re still able to go on this winning streak with such modest contributions from one of our senior studs.
Sorry if you took it the wrong way.
I think he's contributed in other ways
But constantly going up against bigger, stronger guys takes it’s toll
He’ll find his stroke
he’s one of my all time fav. terps as his contribution to this team cannot be overstated—-even in a below average streak he finds ways to contribute
last night he got in foul trouble—which happens when you are undersized and amped up for a big game
Landon
On the Johnny Holiday show after the game he did an interview with each senior, Milbourne being last. One of the last questions Johnny asked Landon was about how he has been receiving a lot more attention from opposing teams/defenses/schemes. Landon said it has definitely been an issue and he has struggled with it. However, he said he loves the attention because it gives him a chance to improve and he is still going to “keep bringing it every game.” And then he finished with, “I don’t really care about personal numbers, as long as we keep winning, that is all that matters.” Now that is a Maryland Terrapin. Team first, me second.
"When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want them to bury me upside down, so that my critics can kiss my a**!"
-Bobby Knight
That's a great thing to here.
And its because of Landon that all these other guys are getting opportunities now, specifically Sean.
I just don’t think he has a set position. Is he a 3? A 4? Should we expect him to score in the paint? Outside the paint? I thought that coming into this season, in order for this team to be successful and go far that we needed Landon to be a 15-18 ppg player. Now, he definitely has shown some glimpses of really good ball in some games this year, but he doesn’t have a post presence at all and gets worked by anyone taller than him (except on that dunk last night) And I think it shows when Gary keeps him out for long periods of times in the game. He just is not getting it done. I still think he has some great abilities though and when that jumper from the corner of the foul line is falling, he is a tough player to stop. Just needs to stop forcing his shots up.
Milbourne is like a poor man’s LeBron James. A very, very poor man.
You have to hate losing more than you love winning.
I love LM..
I love his attitude, his leadership, and the way he has improved his defense leaps and bounds over the last year.
On the other hand, his limitations are big – he’s still not very comfortable putting the ball on the floor, and can be prone to bad passes. And he just isn’t big or strong enough to rebound with most 4s in the ACC. I do think he’ll have a nice bounce back game against UVa, and he could still be a big offensive contributor in the postseason depending on matchups…but it’s clear now that we can’t count on him to be our #2 guy offensively. Fortunately, Gregory has played well enough at times offensively to justify putting him out there 20 minutes a game when needed. And Padge can give you 5 mpg without causing too many problems.
I’m very confident that we can make at least a Sweet Sixteen run the way the team is playing…
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