James Franklin has finally taken the head coaching job at Vanderbilt and departs College Park with a mixed record. Many fans have latched on to the last few games and the development of QB Danny O’Brien as evidence that Franklin’s departure will be detrimental for the football program. The game against N.C. State was the best performance the offense had all season against a credible opponent. Against the better defenses on the schedule: West Virginia, Miami, Clemson and FSU the offense did next to nothing. Overall Franklin’s record as an offensive coordinator was mediocre at best. The 2010 offense was probably the best of the bunch but if you judge Franklin on his entire body of work it is obvious why so many folks in College Park, including AD Kevin Anderson were not sold on Franklin.
Franklin’s offenses ranked in the bottom half of the NCAA in virtually every category for all the seasons he was the coordinator. In scoring offense the rankings were 100, 99 and 42. Franklin never seemed to value the running game even though he had decent talent at running back. This past season the yard per carry in ACC games was 11th in the conference, in yards per game was 10th and ranked 94th in the NCAA in rushing yards. Certainly the offensive line injuries were a problem and you have to factor that in evaluating this season but his shaky playcalling against Clemson, Miami and West Virginia doesn’t indicate a coach that is great a preparation.
To be sure Franklin was the kind of package that most schools want: charismatic, young, good with the media and a black coach in a profession where minorities are woefully underrepresented. I always felt that Franklin had the whole package except coaching acumen. As the face of a program he may fit many of the criteria that athletic directors and university presidents are looking for but in the end you have to succeed on the field. Franklin’s resume was a little thin in that regard.
Maryland gets to keep the $1 million payment, the legacy of former AD Debbie Yow’s ridiculous head-coach-in-waiting contract, and move on with Anderson’s plans for the future of the football program. Clearly those plans did not include Franklin so it is better for all concerned that Franklin moves on now.
A modest extension for Ralph Fridgen is probably in the offing. As long as the contract includes a modest buy out that would allow Anderson the freedom to go in a different direction if the 2011 season is a failure I don’t have much problem with it.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
One of my pet peeves in this early se...
One of my pet peeves in this early season is when sports journalists or TV commentators make reference to Maryland’s “inexperience”. On its face it is somewhat preposterous to call a team that starts, at least for now, three seniors and a junior as inexperienced. When Gary Williams himself trotted out this fatuous bit of nonsense after the loss to Boston College I felt I had to correct the record.
Boston College started three guards against Maryland on Sunday: Reggie Jackson, Biko Paris and Danny Rubin. Between the three of them going into this season they had 49 starts, 20 in ACC games. Sean Mosley himself has 47 starts, of which 25 are ACC regular season games. (Note these do not include ACC Tournament games) That stat alone should explode the myth that this team is inexperienced.
Indeed it is true that Maryland’s bench is young and inexperienced but that is true for virtually every team in the ACC.
I’m not sure how anyone could look at that table and claim that Boston College had an edge over Maryland in experience. Jackson and Paris may have a slight edge over Tucker and Bowie but seven starts and five minutes a game over two seasons is hardly a clear advantage. When you include Sean Mosley, as you should, it becomes preposterous to argue that Boston College was the more veteran group.
It is obvious that Bowie and Tucker have failed to take advantage of their opportunity to start as seniors and have failed to provide the steady hand that one would expect from seniors with their level of experience. Both have been erratic and are in some form of a crisis of confidence with their games. Stoglin seems to be taking a larger and larger share of Bowie’s playing time even though I think he has less of the blame for some of the recent losses. Tucker’s role is more problematic because the alternatives are not as attractive. Pe’shon Howard has struggled on offense the last few weeks and his shooting from outside and the free throw line has been abysmal. His turnover % is also a concerning 34.3 which limits his effectiveness.
Mosley could give playing time to Hawk Palsson, who is a true small forward, without a huge drop off on offense or rebounding. Tucker seems to offer the possibility of more offense than Mosley but neither are playing an efficient game on offense. Therein lies the dilemma. There are not a plethora of great options to replace the struggling Tucker and Mosley. I’m sure Gary Williams is hoping that if he sticks with those two that they will break out of their funks and become reliable scoring threats. It remains to be seen if that will happen. Mosley and Tucker both have a history of erratic scoring and persistent slumps.
Boston College started three guards against Maryland on Sunday: Reggie Jackson, Biko Paris and Danny Rubin. Between the three of them going into this season they had 49 starts, 20 in ACC games. Sean Mosley himself has 47 starts, of which 25 are ACC regular season games. (Note these do not include ACC Tournament games) That stat alone should explode the myth that this team is inexperienced.
Indeed it is true that Maryland’s bench is young and inexperienced but that is true for virtually every team in the ACC.
| Maryland | Average Min last two seasons (ACC Games) | Career Starts (ACC games) | Boston College | Avg Min last two seasons (ACC Games) | Career Starts (ACC Games) |
| Adrian Bowie | 19.8 (19.1) | 31 (15) | Reggie Jackson | 25.1 (24.6) | 20 (7) |
| Cliff Tucker | 13.5 (13.5) | 12 (3) | Biko Paris | 18.9 (15.3) | 29 (13) |
| Sean Mosley | 23.7 (24.7) | 47 (25) | Danny Rubin | 0.0 (0.0) | 0 (0) |
I’m not sure how anyone could look at that table and claim that Boston College had an edge over Maryland in experience. Jackson and Paris may have a slight edge over Tucker and Bowie but seven starts and five minutes a game over two seasons is hardly a clear advantage. When you include Sean Mosley, as you should, it becomes preposterous to argue that Boston College was the more veteran group.
It is obvious that Bowie and Tucker have failed to take advantage of their opportunity to start as seniors and have failed to provide the steady hand that one would expect from seniors with their level of experience. Both have been erratic and are in some form of a crisis of confidence with their games. Stoglin seems to be taking a larger and larger share of Bowie’s playing time even though I think he has less of the blame for some of the recent losses. Tucker’s role is more problematic because the alternatives are not as attractive. Pe’shon Howard has struggled on offense the last few weeks and his shooting from outside and the free throw line has been abysmal. His turnover % is also a concerning 34.3 which limits his effectiveness.
Mosley could give playing time to Hawk Palsson, who is a true small forward, without a huge drop off on offense or rebounding. Tucker seems to offer the possibility of more offense than Mosley but neither are playing an efficient game on offense. Therein lies the dilemma. There are not a plethora of great options to replace the struggling Tucker and Mosley. I’m sure Gary Williams is hoping that if he sticks with those two that they will break out of their funks and become reliable scoring threats. It remains to be seen if that will happen. Mosley and Tucker both have a history of erratic scoring and persistent slumps.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Terps stumble out of gate
Up to yesterday all the basketball team had proven was that they could be competitive against the better opponents they had played this season. There were no impressive or noteworthy wins, only hollow consolation in giving good teams a "scare" before eventually losing. It was open to debate what a series of close losses really meant or how illustrative those losses were about the ability of this group. The picture got a little more clear with a loss to Boston College in the ACC season opener. It is too early in the season to panic because the squad has failed to win a game against a equal or superior opponent to this point but the ugly loss to a mediocre Boston College team should make fans worry a little.
Last season the squad underachieved in th early part of the season and you could argue that the losses last season: Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Villanova and William & Mary were worse than the losses this season. Greivis Vasquez's early season funk had Maryland struggling but I knew at some point Vasquez would snap out of it. As great as Jordan Williams has played a dominant backcourt player like Vasquez will have more effect on his team. With this squad you have to wonder who in the backcourt will be able to run the offense and provide scoring from the wing. The struggles of Cliff Tucker, Adrian Bowie and Sean Mosley have been a hot topic after the most recent games. Terrell Stoglin has come off the bench to provide scoring along with some wild shot selection. What the upperclassmen guards lack Stoglin has in spades: confidence. At this point you have to hope that Tucker will snap out of his scoring funk, he has always been a streaky and inconsistent player, and that Sean Mosley rebounds from his dreadful play to provide decent scoring and solid defense. He is doing neither at this point. If Tucker, Bowie and Mosley continue their current level of play Maryland will struggle to put together the kind of ACC season that will see them return to the NCAA tournament for the 3rd year in a row.
The collapse of the defense was the most disturbing aspect of the loss to the Eagles. This BC team is essentially the same squad that went 6-10 last season and was terrible in many aspects. Steve Donahue had a good game plan against Maryland: chuck 29 3-point shots and push the ball up the court after made baskets. Maryland's defense was so horrible that this mid-major garbage offense actually worked. There will be many ACC games this season where the shots are not falling and the Eagles will lose. For its part Maryland made journeyman Biko Paris look like J.J. Redick as he drained six 3-point shots on his way to 22 points. In the 2nd half when the defense fell apart BC made 7/12 3-point shots and shot 52% from the floor. The rebounding margin that Maryland should have enjoyed also disappeared in the 2nd half as they grabbed only 13 rebounds to BC's 17. The Terps frontcourt should have dominated the makeshift Eagle frontcourt. With BC playing three guards and two small forwards for stretches that should have been a major vulnerability and it turned out Maryland couldn't exploit it. Instead the Eagles were able to stretch Maryland on defense and have them chase all over the perimeter without paying the price for a smaller lineup.
There were several critical stretches during which Maryland had a lead and could have given a cushion on the lead and probably put away a BC team that only hit 5 field goals inside the arc the whole game. With 6:43 left in the game Maryland had a 67-64 lead and stopped Boston College on three straight possessions but squandered their chances to increase the lead. Jordan Williams dominated BC for the whole game but Maryland took two jump shots by Dino Gregory and a missed 3-pointer by Stoglin before Paris hit a three on the other end to tie the game at 67. With a 2 point lead and less than two minutes left Cliff Tucker bricked two free throws that may have iced the game. Two possessions later Stoglin was fouled on the defensive rebound and missed the front end of the one-and-one, a virtual turnover, setting up Corey Raji to hit the game winning 3-point shot. A brutal stretch of basketball. Tucker then threw the ball away off an inbound and Maryland's fate was sealed.
I'm not sure where you go from here in regards to the rotations. Pe'Shon Howard and Haukur Palsson are the only real alternatives to Tucker and Mosley but don't have much chance of adding scoring over those two. Tucker's defense was abominable in addition and he isn't scoring at least he can play solid defense. The upperclassmen are in a crisis of confidence at the moment and they need to figure out their own game over the next few weeks because trips to Cameron Indoor and at Villanova loom in January.
Last season the squad underachieved in th early part of the season and you could argue that the losses last season: Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Villanova and William & Mary were worse than the losses this season. Greivis Vasquez's early season funk had Maryland struggling but I knew at some point Vasquez would snap out of it. As great as Jordan Williams has played a dominant backcourt player like Vasquez will have more effect on his team. With this squad you have to wonder who in the backcourt will be able to run the offense and provide scoring from the wing. The struggles of Cliff Tucker, Adrian Bowie and Sean Mosley have been a hot topic after the most recent games. Terrell Stoglin has come off the bench to provide scoring along with some wild shot selection. What the upperclassmen guards lack Stoglin has in spades: confidence. At this point you have to hope that Tucker will snap out of his scoring funk, he has always been a streaky and inconsistent player, and that Sean Mosley rebounds from his dreadful play to provide decent scoring and solid defense. He is doing neither at this point. If Tucker, Bowie and Mosley continue their current level of play Maryland will struggle to put together the kind of ACC season that will see them return to the NCAA tournament for the 3rd year in a row.
The collapse of the defense was the most disturbing aspect of the loss to the Eagles. This BC team is essentially the same squad that went 6-10 last season and was terrible in many aspects. Steve Donahue had a good game plan against Maryland: chuck 29 3-point shots and push the ball up the court after made baskets. Maryland's defense was so horrible that this mid-major garbage offense actually worked. There will be many ACC games this season where the shots are not falling and the Eagles will lose. For its part Maryland made journeyman Biko Paris look like J.J. Redick as he drained six 3-point shots on his way to 22 points. In the 2nd half when the defense fell apart BC made 7/12 3-point shots and shot 52% from the floor. The rebounding margin that Maryland should have enjoyed also disappeared in the 2nd half as they grabbed only 13 rebounds to BC's 17. The Terps frontcourt should have dominated the makeshift Eagle frontcourt. With BC playing three guards and two small forwards for stretches that should have been a major vulnerability and it turned out Maryland couldn't exploit it. Instead the Eagles were able to stretch Maryland on defense and have them chase all over the perimeter without paying the price for a smaller lineup.
There were several critical stretches during which Maryland had a lead and could have given a cushion on the lead and probably put away a BC team that only hit 5 field goals inside the arc the whole game. With 6:43 left in the game Maryland had a 67-64 lead and stopped Boston College on three straight possessions but squandered their chances to increase the lead. Jordan Williams dominated BC for the whole game but Maryland took two jump shots by Dino Gregory and a missed 3-pointer by Stoglin before Paris hit a three on the other end to tie the game at 67. With a 2 point lead and less than two minutes left Cliff Tucker bricked two free throws that may have iced the game. Two possessions later Stoglin was fouled on the defensive rebound and missed the front end of the one-and-one, a virtual turnover, setting up Corey Raji to hit the game winning 3-point shot. A brutal stretch of basketball. Tucker then threw the ball away off an inbound and Maryland's fate was sealed.
I'm not sure where you go from here in regards to the rotations. Pe'Shon Howard and Haukur Palsson are the only real alternatives to Tucker and Mosley but don't have much chance of adding scoring over those two. Tucker's defense was abominable in addition and he isn't scoring at least he can play solid defense. The upperclassmen are in a crisis of confidence at the moment and they need to figure out their own game over the next few weeks because trips to Cameron Indoor and at Villanova loom in January.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Starting Five Hold the Line
After Maryland's 99-56 win over hapless UNC Greensboro it appears that the struggling starters, Adrian Bowie, Cliff Tucker, Sean Mosley and Dino Gregory will keep their jobs for now. It may take some losses due to the slow starts that the senior dominated starting lineup before Gary Williams will make a change. To Gary's credit he values loyalty and that is a quality that Maryland fans can take a certain pride in the fact that their coach doesn't throw players under the bus like other ACC coaches have done in past years. It is probably worth noting that the current starters were all on the team when Williams went through one of the more tumultuous season's in his time at Maryland a few years ago when the team struggled to a 7-9 record but was able to get to the NCAA tournament. After that season Williams had made comments that the team "had his back" in the face of the most pointed criticism that Williams had experienced since winning the national title in 2002.
He also mentioned "the internet" in his postgame comments and indicated he was going stick with his starters even though he had considered making a change after the abysmal showing they had against Temple. I respect Williams' reasons for keeping the lineup intact. I still think the current starting five has demonstrated weaknesses that will become more apparent when conference play starts. As with the Temple game if this group plays poorly early in games, especially on the road, it will be very difficult for the team to come back against an ACC opponent.
UNC Greensboro is such a poor team it is hard to take much from the game. But there were some good things to be taken from the result.
Jordan Williams is putting together a sophomore campaign as a big man that no one has seen in College Park since Joe Smith. He has already recorded 7 double-double games and has been dominating in the early season. The sophomore is getting more help from James Padgett who had six points and 9 rebounds, mostly when the game was out of hand but has been elevating his play the last few weeks. Padgett still needs work on his defense and rebounding but he's getting better and better.
Terrell Stoglin is continuing his trip to stardom. He was unstoppable with 18 points off the bench in only 19 minutes. He can put a tremendous amount of pressure on a defense with his outside shooting and ability to dribble penetrate. He probably dominates the ball a little too much on offense and needs to work on his ability to orchestrate the flex but he can score and you can't really teach that. It looks as if Rob Ehsan and Gary Williams his another homerun with his recruitment.
Haukur Palsson also played well off the bench and Berend Weijs is slowly getting better on the offensive end. Both will be assets as the season progresses.
Mychal Parker also got some decent time and showed that he has some impressive physical skills. Parker needs a fair amount of seasoning but Gary Williams has stated on his radio show several times that fans will be seeing more of Parker as the year goes on.
Boston College is a big test for the Terps as they appear to be a fairly evenly matched squad, at least at the moment. Winning conference homes games will be essential for this group later in the season so it becomes a crucial game.
Monday, December 06, 2010
News and Notes
Apologies to my loyal readers for the lack of posts recently.
Phil Steele came out with his All-ACC picks for football and I think his picks are usually superior to the media selections. Torrey Smith and Kenny Tate, the best players on their side of the ball, were 1st team picks at wide receiver and safety. Tony Logan also was named as 1st team punt returner. Logan had a nice beginning of the year and then tailed off as teams stopped kicking to him.
Linebacker Alex Wujciak got a 2nd team nod which is fitting. Joe Vellano and Antwine Perez both got well deserved 3rd team selections at DT and safety. Adrian Moten was voted 4th team at linebacker.
I think it is pretty clear from that list that the defense carried this team.
Maryland will play in the Military Bowl against ECU later this month. Disappointing for the players and fans but they will still get their bag of swag so at least that is something.
The basketball team had a loss in Verizon Center, which is a house of horrors for Maryland, in the BB&T. The loss may provoke some changes in the starting lineup. Freshman Terrell Stoglin is developing into a potent scoring threat off the bench and may get himself in the starting lineup in place of the struggling Adrian Bowie. It was good to see James Padgett also putting together some nice back to back games against Penn State and Temple.
I'll write more on the basketball team soon but even though they have three losses I'm pretty positive about this team and their potential.
Phil Steele came out with his All-ACC picks for football and I think his picks are usually superior to the media selections. Torrey Smith and Kenny Tate, the best players on their side of the ball, were 1st team picks at wide receiver and safety. Tony Logan also was named as 1st team punt returner. Logan had a nice beginning of the year and then tailed off as teams stopped kicking to him.
Linebacker Alex Wujciak got a 2nd team nod which is fitting. Joe Vellano and Antwine Perez both got well deserved 3rd team selections at DT and safety. Adrian Moten was voted 4th team at linebacker.
I think it is pretty clear from that list that the defense carried this team.
Maryland will play in the Military Bowl against ECU later this month. Disappointing for the players and fans but they will still get their bag of swag so at least that is something.
The basketball team had a loss in Verizon Center, which is a house of horrors for Maryland, in the BB&T. The loss may provoke some changes in the starting lineup. Freshman Terrell Stoglin is developing into a potent scoring threat off the bench and may get himself in the starting lineup in place of the struggling Adrian Bowie. It was good to see James Padgett also putting together some nice back to back games against Penn State and Temple.
I'll write more on the basketball team soon but even though they have three losses I'm pretty positive about this team and their potential.
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