Maryland Basketball (some football) recruiting news (Shaq, Layman Commits!)

[RonBurgundy&Gold]

Agreed. You have a 7 footer and your guards are rushing in for wild ass layups and losing the ball.

Feed the beast. Learn to feed the inside presence.

No doubt. I cannot wrap my head around not utilizing the bigs as much as possible considering the guards are terrible. Not one true shooter except maybe Aronhault but he offers nothing else. I keep wanting to blame it on having no real point that can control the dribble and distribute. But at the same time I cant help but think many other coaches would fare better with this team.

[Destino]

Len disappears. He doesn't command the ball. He doesn't dominate. This was a must win and he went 1-5 with three turnovers. This isn't the first game he's done this. If he can't score against Boston College then how is he going to fare in the NBA? He'll suck, that's what. He needs to develop, I'm with chipwich. If you don't show you belong in the NBA within the first two years chances are you'll end up somewhere else.

Disappointed in Maryland right now. They just had a huge win at home vs. Duke, you think they'd be mentally prepared for Boston College. Part of that is youth, part of that is Turgeon, and part of that is simply lack of skill. And heart sadly.

I've watched more Maryland games than I care too normally and my response to you would be this; Maryland has a horrible back court, a coach that doesn't demand the ball be fed inside (to anyone), and Len doesn't have the personality to force the issue. I'll agree also that he doesn't have the game to dominate and he struggles to deal with double teams. Len isn't a top flight prospect but he's a great deal better than he's shown on that team. He stays down on defense and doesn't jump at a lot of shots, that is NBA defense. He has some shooting range which is rare for a true 7 footer. He has a little variety to his offensive game around the basket, which isn't great but how many 7 footers in college can say the same? He can hit his foul shots. He's a willing rebounder. All of this is stuff the NBA wants. If he was 6'9 then he'd be an after thought but at his size he'll be a lottery pick.

---------- Post added February-20th-2013 at 02:56 AM ----------

What is most disappointing is that he doesn't want to take over games. He is very erratic with his intensity. He needs to develope a killer mentality. I want him to be the guy to put the team on his back! Unfortunately, he doesn't want to do that.

I think this loss is on the players. You can't coach heart!

Bigs have to be fed and guards have to be restrained. There isn't a guard on the planet that isn't happy to dribble around and jack up bad shots. There are very few bigs that maintain a high energy level when they don't see the ball regularly. You can't coach heart but you can manage it better than Maryland is doing. Now Len could certainly force the issue and start screaming at his team about it but I don't think he's got Shaq's personality and I'm not sure how good his English is. He certainly could stand to be a bit more arrogant and angry... both, when channeled properly, are assets when housed in a 7 foot frame.

[Buford]

Just sad. Sad and pathetic.

No excuses. That was awful.

[jobaga]

Bigs have to be fed and guards have to be restrained. There isn't a guard on the planet that isn't happy to dribble around and jack up bad shots. There are very few bigs that maintain a high energy level when they don't see the ball regularly. You can't coach heart but you can manage it better than Maryland is doing. Now Len could certainly force the issue and start screaming at his team about it but I don't think he's got Shaq's personality and I'm not sure how good his English is. He certainly could stand to be a bit more arrogant and angry... both, when channeled properly, are assets when housed in a 7 foot frame.

While I don't disagree with any of this, Len did not control the defensive side of the game either. I understand that BC kept running multiple players at him and he was going to have a hard time getting clean looks at the basket. He could have still dominated the defensive side of things, he could have made more of an effort on the offensive glass. My point is, there are many ways for a big to dominate a game and he didm't do any of them

[pjfootballer]

Typical for this season for us. Win a big one and then lose a clunker. Growing pains.

[skinfan2k]

when you have guards who don't know how to get your Big involved as well as position the ball to get him effective touches, thats going to lead to a disaster

[Destino]

when you have guards who don't know how to get your Big involved as well as position the ball to get him effective touches, thats going to lead to a disaster

Exactly. People can say "he should just dominate" but not all big men can do that. In fact very few big men can do that. The closest the NCAA has to that right now is Zeller and he's hardly what you think of when you think of a big man you can just throw the ball to and ask him to dominate. The team has to get bigs the ball where they need it and keep them involved.

[skinfan2k]

Exactly. People can say "he should just dominate" but not all big men can do that. In fact very few big men can do that. The closest the NCAA has to that right now is Zeller and he's hardly what you think of when you think of a big man you can just throw the ball to and ask him to dominate. The team has to get bigs the ball where they need it and keep them involved.

I dont think people understand that. Why do certain guys take off running and become successful. Most of them are legit PGs to get them easy baskets and know how to space the floor to create mismatches. I can't tell you how many times i have seen Peshon or someone throw it into the paint and Len gets doubled immediately. This team needs to learn basic principles of the triangle offense.

[Kosher Ham]

Ugh...I certainly don't think there is a current MD guard that is worth praise. They simply don't have that player right now.

[jobaga]

Exactly. People can say "he should just dominate" but not all big men can do that. In fact very few big men can do that. The closest the NCAA has to that right now is Zeller and he's hardly what you think of when you think of a big man you can just throw the ball to and ask him to dominate. The team has to get bigs the ball where they need it and keep them involved.

As I said, he can dominate without scoring a point. He did not have fire last night. He did not control the paint defensively, he did not offensive rebound, he did not have a good game...

---------- Post added February-20th-2013 at 09:59 PM ----------

I dont think people understand that. Why do certain guys take off running and become successful. Most of them are legit PGs to get them easy baskets and know how to space the floor to create mismatches. I can't tell you how many times i have seen Peshon or someone throw it into the paint and Len gets doubled immediately. This team needs to learn basic principles of the triangle offense.

I agree that this team needs a point guard. I noticed that Turgeon moved Wells to a point forward type position at the end of the game. Len gets doubled because, as a team, Maryland does not make teams pay for it. Len's decision making is not there yet and the outside shooting is very erratic. They are young and will learn...

[skinfan2k]

You can collapse on Len because there is no one to fear. Literally no one can shoot even a 18 ft jumper. Faust is a slasher and not even good at that. Dez is strong but he doesn't take it to the rim enough and teams leave him open since he doesn't have a jumper. Teams are learning that Lyman is the only one besides aronhalt who can actually shoot from outside

[jobaga]

Give him his due, Nick Faust had a great game today. I have been (and will be again) very critical of him this year, but he had probably his best game in a Maryland uniform today...good for him





I think it's in Alex Len's best interest to wait until after the draft to sign on with an agent...

[skinfan2k]

They need to run the table and split UVA/UNC and make it to the semi of the ACC tournament team. I think they can do it but they need to get Len involved

[Tulane Skins Fan]

They need to run the table and split UVA/UNC and make it to the semi of the ACC tournament team. I think they can do it but they need to get Len involved

I heard Jay Will say this, but I don't think they can lose another game before the ACC tourney. And then they need a deep run in the ACC tourney. They can't go 8-8 in the ACC and expect to be in the NCAA this year.

[skinfan2k]

I heard Jay Will say this, but I don't think they can lose another game before the ACC tourney. And then they need a deep run in the ACC tourney. They can't go 8-8 in the ACC and expect to be in the NCAA this year.

if they go 5-1 in the next 6 games, they are 10-8 in the ACC. they needed to go 10-8 or 11-7 to make the tournament