This weekend's horrific loss at Georgia Tech torpedoed what was left of any slim hope to get an at-large bid. What remains is for the Terps to start improving on demonstrating their ability to compete consistently with the best teams in the country. UNC offers them this chance.
On paper, the Tarheels are the most talented in team in the country with possible exception of Kentucky. Maryland is outgunned; but we have the players to compete if Turgeon can get his troops to play better defense.
Pankey must rebound from his career-worst effort against Georgia Tech. He needs to make his layups and stay in front of his man on the low block.
Faust and Len need to prove that they can consistently perform well regardless of the venue and opponent. Both have shown improvement of late; but a nice game from them tonight would bode well heading into the offseason.
At this point, Terrell Stoglin should realize that the teams plays its best when he is sharing the ball and finding the open man when teams double-team him. Team chemistry will only improve as Terrell becomes more of a distributor.
The outlook is still bright for our Terps. My biggest concern is at PG. The Terps seem to banking all their hopes on Pe'Shon Howard next year and then pray that the Harrison twins come the following season. I'd like to see the Terps hedge their bets a little. Maryland needs a pure distributor who can direct the half court offense and cut down on turnovers. The Terps are one of the worst teams in the country at getting assists and that likely won't improve much next season unless the Terps nab a late signee or a JuCo stud. To date, I've heard nothing on either front.
