Seth Davis might've gone to Duke, but he's still a pretty well-respected and well-known basketball writer. He's been alright in my book ever since he called Debbie Yow's handling of N.C. State's coaching search "the worst performance of the decade."
He's also really bullish on Maryland.
A few days ago, from his massive Stock Report column, he had some very good words on the Terrapins.
The Terps haven't played horribly; they were competitive with Illinois before losing by nine, they beat Notre Dame by seven, and they're riding a six-game win streak (albeit against bad teams). But the real reason to buy this stock is the fact that Maryland just added two important pieces. Pe'Shon Howard, a 6-3 sophomore point guard who burst out of the gate as a freshman last year before fizzling, returned to the lineup on Dec. 23. (He missed the first nine games because of a foot injury.) An even more intriguing addition is Alex Len, a 7-1 freshman center who just finished serving an NCAA suspension for violating amateurism guidelines while playing in his native Ukraine. Most people probably don't realize that Maryland guard Terrell Stoglin is ranked sixth in the country in scoring (21.8 ppg). I'm sure the extra weapons will make Mark Turgeon's team more formidable in a weak ACC.
And now he comes out and predicts Maryland will make the NCAA Tournament on Twitter.
@SethDavisHoops
Seth davis I think they'll make the tourney. RT @EricGarment: With Len/Howard, can the Terps surprise in the ACC?
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Obviously, a reasoned person would look at this, see that it's just him sort of spitballing around on Twitter, and realize that March is a very long time away during which anything can happen, while we've seen the Terrapins play only two games at full-strength. Maryland could make the tourney. Or they could not.
A non-reasoned person? We're making the tournament, everybody!
No, really, it's obviously forever away and I think he's being a little too bullish on the impact of a guy like Len. If he ends up being as good as his stats might indication, then Maryland might have a shot at making a run, but in all he's still a raw freshman and we have no idea how he'll stand up against ACC competition. I still see the NIT as more likely, and there's still a possibility everything just falls off entirely.
But if you told me two months ago respected national journalists would be referring to Maryland as a likely tournament team on January 3rd, I'd have taken it and run. Just curious: who here agrees with Davis on this point?