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Rasheed Sulaimon had 10 points and 7 assists in Maryland's win over Georgetown Tuesday night. Stat don't always tell the entire story, but those tell this one pretty well: Sulaimon was varied in his excellence, and he was Maryland's best all-around player in an exciting win.
Here are five plays on which Sulaimon delivered against the Hoyas. Maryland needed every last one of them.
1. Setting up Michal Cekovsky for an effortless dunk off the drive.
In Maryland's first few games, I've been taken by Sulaimon's ability to find open teammates. He's listed as a shooting guard, but he's played more like a point guard. He attracts a lot of attention here and just dumps the ball off to Cekovsky, who's got an easy 2 points.
2. Flashing his transition vision on a Robert Carter Jr. alley-oop ...
We showed you this Tuesday night, but it's worth expanding on here. Sulaimon moves so fast that it's amazing he manages to hold the ball until the last possible second and then stick a perfectly placed lob into Carter's hands for an alley-oop.
3. ... and showing it again to set up a Melo Trimble 3-pointer
Here's more of Sulaimon in transition, dashing into the teeth of Georgetown's defense, taking defenders back toward the rim and then leaving a drop for Trimble, who doesn't miss.
4. Creating space for himself, then firing a 3-pointer
Sulaimon can play pretty well off the ball, too. Here, he identifies a Jake Layman drive – which draws a double-team – and finds an open pocket of hardwood from which to launch a game-tying 3-pointer at the end of the first half.
5. Hitting the shot that put Maryland ahead for good
This was the shot that gave Maryland the last lead it would need. This isn't so much Sulaimon as it is a master class in ball movement by Maryland, starting with Trimble and moving through Layman. But Sulaimon was so, so good in this game that he deserved to be the guy on the final end of this play. Sometimes, ball doesn't lie.