Some observations...
*Ticket demand at MD is much much greater than at Penn State. We must never sink to the Penn State level. Bryce Jordan Center is a great building but nobody cares at all. They have silly NBA-style things every media timeout. I saw maybe 30 students in their student section at Penn State. Maryland fans are super excited this year although their team is fading now and will not live up to the Final Four expectations.
*Malcolm Hill cares. It wasn't the 39 points that impressed me as much as his willingness to play physical defense against a bigger guy the whole time. If everyone gave his effort, we'd have a much better team. I think he has some kind of right hip injury (something like a bad bruise) but he gives it his all anyway. Penn State fans were really impressed with him.
*I don't know what is wrong with Kendrick Nunn but he was just awful. I think he is just in a funk because I still saw the occasional flash but he just wasn't 100% there.
*Maverick Morgan looks improved. He has certain athletic limits but he has figured out how to play within himself and be effective. Maryland didn't really defend him but he scored at will when given the opportunity.
*Finke has hit the wall. He just doesn't have anything left this year. Too big of a role this year and his body wasn't ready for it.
*JCL is a bit lost but has talent. He has really quick hands and I think he will be a menace on defense as an upperclassman. I expect a big leap from him next year. Missing a chunk of the offseason really hurt his flow.
*DJ Williams looks very promising. I was most excited about him, as he is a bit larger than I had realized and looks very fluid on the court. I'm thinking he's a Joe Bertrand, but maybe a year ahead of that schedule. Don't sleep on him. He gave Hill some good minutes of rest that probably would have helped a lot earlier in the year.
*Point guard is a giant black hole. Just a total embarrassment on both offense and defense. You can't go 3 on 5 or 4 on 5. There is no offensive system because there is nobody to run it. No more than 2 players are working together at any given time. It is even worse in person than it is on TV. I don't even know what position Alex Austin is supposed to play but he is just a body that goes in when they are trying to correct freshmen mistakes.
*It seems like a small miracle every time we stop someone on defense. Again, there is no system where guys make each other better. Sometimes we at least are moving around and trying to do things, but the concepts of help and recovery are totally absent. 3-point shooters get left open routinely and every team lights us up because it has never been that easy for them. On-ball defense is terrifying as we can't stop anyone with our PGs.
*I feel really bad for these guys because they do seem like they care and that they are trying. The team has not quit and they are not tuning out the coaches. They just are not equipped to compete this year. We have almost no bigs and we have absolutely no point guard. Even though some other guys have talent, the whole is so much less than the sum of the parts. This team has a hard ceiling and it is very low.
*I can't say there is any great coaching happening, but I can't say that this is indicative of the future either. Add Abrams, Lucas, Black, and Thorne to this roster and take Austin, Tate, and Lewis off the court. Then give everyone else an offseason to get back to 100% and figure out how to play on a real team. You won't recognize this group in 2016-17. Groce made a lot of mistakes to get us to this point but if he gets good recruits in 2017 then I'm willing to buy into one more year just because nobody should have to go out like this.
*Ticket demand at MD is much much greater than at Penn State. We must never sink to the Penn State level. Bryce Jordan Center is a great building but nobody cares at all. They have silly NBA-style things every media timeout. I saw maybe 30 students in their student section at Penn State. Maryland fans are super excited this year although their team is fading now and will not live up to the Final Four expectations.
*Malcolm Hill cares. It wasn't the 39 points that impressed me as much as his willingness to play physical defense against a bigger guy the whole time. If everyone gave his effort, we'd have a much better team. I think he has some kind of right hip injury (something like a bad bruise) but he gives it his all anyway. Penn State fans were really impressed with him.
*I don't know what is wrong with Kendrick Nunn but he was just awful. I think he is just in a funk because I still saw the occasional flash but he just wasn't 100% there.
*Maverick Morgan looks improved. He has certain athletic limits but he has figured out how to play within himself and be effective. Maryland didn't really defend him but he scored at will when given the opportunity.
*Finke has hit the wall. He just doesn't have anything left this year. Too big of a role this year and his body wasn't ready for it.
*JCL is a bit lost but has talent. He has really quick hands and I think he will be a menace on defense as an upperclassman. I expect a big leap from him next year. Missing a chunk of the offseason really hurt his flow.
*DJ Williams looks very promising. I was most excited about him, as he is a bit larger than I had realized and looks very fluid on the court. I'm thinking he's a Joe Bertrand, but maybe a year ahead of that schedule. Don't sleep on him. He gave Hill some good minutes of rest that probably would have helped a lot earlier in the year.
*Point guard is a giant black hole. Just a total embarrassment on both offense and defense. You can't go 3 on 5 or 4 on 5. There is no offensive system because there is nobody to run it. No more than 2 players are working together at any given time. It is even worse in person than it is on TV. I don't even know what position Alex Austin is supposed to play but he is just a body that goes in when they are trying to correct freshmen mistakes.
*It seems like a small miracle every time we stop someone on defense. Again, there is no system where guys make each other better. Sometimes we at least are moving around and trying to do things, but the concepts of help and recovery are totally absent. 3-point shooters get left open routinely and every team lights us up because it has never been that easy for them. On-ball defense is terrifying as we can't stop anyone with our PGs.
*I feel really bad for these guys because they do seem like they care and that they are trying. The team has not quit and they are not tuning out the coaches. They just are not equipped to compete this year. We have almost no bigs and we have absolutely no point guard. Even though some other guys have talent, the whole is so much less than the sum of the parts. This team has a hard ceiling and it is very low.
*I can't say there is any great coaching happening, but I can't say that this is indicative of the future either. Add Abrams, Lucas, Black, and Thorne to this roster and take Austin, Tate, and Lewis off the court. Then give everyone else an offseason to get back to 100% and figure out how to play on a real team. You won't recognize this group in 2016-17. Groce made a lot of mistakes to get us to this point but if he gets good recruits in 2017 then I'm willing to buy into one more year just because nobody should have to go out like this.
