Latest Loss Might Have Been Maryland's 9th NCAA Tournament Life Biting the Dust

With Maryland’s overtime loss at Virginia yesterday, the Terps might have put the final nail in their season’s coffin. Long gone were the unbridled optimism of November and the slightly bridled optimism of January. Already projected as being on the outside of the bubble looking in, they probably needed to beat the Cavs, take care of business at home against Wake Forest this Thursday night, and then win a couple games in the ACC tournament to cement their NCAA resume. Now, Maryland most likely will have to win the conference tourney to get in.

...and I wouldn't count on that.

It’s tough to pinpoint exactly where this Maryland team’s season went wrong, but I would list their problems in this order: youth (7 freshman and sophomores in their regular rotation), being too deep in actuality, and no point guard play to speak of. Being young is not overly unusual in today’s age of college basketball, but the other 2 can be killers…and Coach Mark Turgeon, who I like a lot, is not completely innocent in those factors either.

Depth is great when you can build a consistent rotation and style of play. The Terps could go big, small, or use a conventional lineup. But it can be a killer with a young and vastly up-and-down team. When things aren’t going well and you have a lot of guys on your bench that can play, it can be tempting to give everyone a quick hook. And when you’re coaching a team that excels in turning the ball over and taking ill-advised shots, it can be pretty easy to give into that temptation. Alex Len and Dez Wells were the 2 guys that seemed to (and deservingly so) get consistent playing time every night, but at times Turgeon seemed to mix and match lineups this year like a chef who just couldn’t seem to produce the flavor combination he desired no matter how much he altered the ingredients. This team played dumb and mistake-prone, that’s for sure, but you wonder if the constant subbing sapped Turgeon’s young players of confidence and continuity at times. To be able to go to the bullpen when someone’s not getting it done is great, but there’s also something to be said for developing a consistent rotation where everyone knows what is expected of them every game.

Sometimes, too many options is just as bad as having not enough options in the 1st place.

This is related to my 3rd point, as it was no more evident than with Terp point guard Pe’Shon Howard. As deep as Maryland was, Howard was the only true point guard in their 10 man rotation. Despite showing flashes of being a solid player when he could stay healthy during his 1st 2 seasons, Howard’s play this year seemed uneven at best. Even early on, he looked like a guy who had lost all confidence in his game. Midway through the year, Turgeon made a gamble in benching him, but it never paid off. Playing guys who were more used to playing off the ball, like Nick Faust, Seth Allen, and Wells proved just as shaky, and once Howard was reinserted into the lineup, he seemed even more mentally fragile than before. The end product was a team that probably didn't perform up to their full potential, and unfortunately some of that blame falls on the coach also, as year 3 of Mark Turgeon's tenure at Maryland will surely be his most critical by far.