Terps' Adrian Bowie Comes Alive as Maryland's Streak Continues
by Ben Broman on Mar 6, 2010 8:30 PM EST
in Basketball
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PrintAdrian Bowie has become a lot of things this year: a member of an ACC title-winning team, a talking point for the future, and even an inside joke (Anthony!). One thing he hasn't been: a consistent offensive option.
Until now, that is.
All year, people (me absolutely included) talked about his struggles with his shot, handles, and halfcourt offense in general. His stats for the year have been relatively quiet: about 15 minutes and 4 points per game, shooting barely 40% from the field and 34% from three. His shooting ability and confidence were questioned.
The last three games, though, it seems as if a switch has been turned on. His line for the past trio of contest: 9-9 from the field, 3-3 from deep, 21 points. For those of you math-challenged, that means he's averaging 7 points per game in the past three, and shooting a cool 100% from both the field and three-point line in doing so.
It may not win him any awards, but his presence in the last three games has been key for the recent streak. Think about it - all three of the games were extremely close, and in all three his points came at big times to buoy Maryland. He's doing exactly what a sixth man should do, and he's done it with confidence, which is perhaps the biggest improvement - he no longer looks tentative and unsure, but strokes his jumper with confidence. It helps that it falls with consistency.
Adrian's emergence has been great to see, and very encouraging for next year, when he'll likely be given a chance to see what he can do at PG. He's still a natural SG to me and I don't remember seeing him without one of Maryland's two other PGs on the floor, but the rise in confidence level leads me to believe that he deserves a look at it. If it doesn't work, then move him back to SG and give one of the young'uns a shot.
All the same, all that matters right now is that he hasn't missed a shot in the past three games, his confidence is at an all-time high, and Maryland is reaping the benefits to continue their great season-ending run. This new-found strength could be a big factor in any sort of post-season run.
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digger and bob knight
both just said maryland has final 4 potential on gameday. Im not sure i like all this hype.
seeing as how we are the 1 or 2 seed
wouldn’t that be the most obvious comment ever?
Well, yeah, but Bob Knight has his moments anyway
I missed the beginning of the question and thought there was no way he was talking about the NCAA. Anyone confirm?
They were talking about the NCAA tournament
Knight was saying that if Maryland can play their NCAA tournament games to their potential then they will definitely be in the discussion for the Final 4 and then we’ll see from there
Ben
this story is entirely warranted but I was hoping you wouldn’t write it :)
Bowie seems to be all or nothing
Deserves to be recognized for sure. I think we lose at least 1 or 2 of those w/out him. Newxt year will likely be maddening.
Bob Knight and Digger
Both men said the Terps had a chance of reaching the final four of the dance. In other words the NCAA tourney. Bob was leading the way and Digger jumped on the …….
Adrian has been great
I was one of the few in earlier fanposts defending Bowie to at least give him a chance next year because he DOES have talent, but will admit that he did look pretty ugly many times early in the year, bricking layups and dribbling many times off his leg and out of bounds. But the past couple games watching him just drill pull-up and open 3s has been amazing and he definitely kept us in all of those games at key moments when our offense wasn’t clicking. Also, not to be overshadowed, Cliff Tucker hasn’t been amazing since his buzzer-beater, but he has been pretty solid and provided some extra points off the bench, along with smart basketball ( I have seen him pass up a few of his own shots to make the extra pass to a wide open man) Props to Dino for a sick mid-range J today against Virginia
coach has been using him well
is it me or has gary limited his time a bit. Bowie is looking more and more like when nichols used to come off the bench for Blake/Dixon. Draining 3’s and playing smart sound b-ball.
Haha yeah just heard that
Dickie V just cant admit that Vasquez should win it. He just cant do it. Its obvious that this point Vaz deserves it. Also way better in ACC play Scheyer racked up numbers in OOC. To think back to how Vaz started the year and he still is averaging almost 20 ppg
Speaking of OOC vs. IC, how do Favors and JDub compare?
I would think that JDub would make it a tighter race with just ACC numbers, because his learning curve has been steep.
I think JDub has been great all year and more in the ACC outside of the Nova game
And as much as I want him to win its just hard to argue against Favors. GT has not had as good a year as us but Favors put up like 21 and 18 against us and does have superior numbers. But based off of preseason expectations JDub is way ahead
IC stats for JDub and Favors
Favors: 11.8 pts, 8.7 rebounds
J-Dub: 10.3 pts, 8.5 rebounds
Jordan has been fantastic lately, but he’s still just a little bit behind Favors, and I doubt he can overcome Favors’ hype. I think it should be a relatively close vote given that the person on the winning team usually gets a few extra votes, but I don’t think it will be. Just too much hype. Jordan’s best shot is Favors struggling in Georgia Tech’s first game but GT still winning, then Jordan beating him head-to-head in the second round of the ACCT. He might have a chance.
Can't be JW, Vasquez POY and Gary COY
All three would just be too much for anyone to vote for.
Gary Williams for President!
Jordan Williams freshman Manbeast
Thanks Ben you're a beast.
As I’ve said to many of my friends, I think J-Dub has FILLED HIS ROLE better than any freshman in the ACC, maybe in the country. What I mean by that is he has done EXACTLY what’s been needed from him. He really has exceeded expectations.
Bowie has the flatest jumpshot ever
But he’s sooo confident with it now and he’s just nailing it I mean he seems like he doesn’t think its ever going to miss now
Its funny to watch.
Because in warm-ups, you see him working on his arc. And he probably has as much arc on his shot in warm-ups as anybody else. And then he goes out in the game, and you hope that the arc will manifest itself. And there is none whatsoever. And it still goes in.
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