More news forthcoming.
- Andrew
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Kendall Marshall: Why I Hate You
When the grief is over, beef is over/
I'll be fly when Easter's over
The All-ACC teams came out last week, and in what should not have nearly been a surprise to any Maryland fan who has paid attention to the ACC, Terrell Stoglin did not make the first team, despite leading the league in scoring by three and a half points. In fact, he wasn't even the top vote getter among those who didn't make first team - more on that in a minute. Perhaps only moderately more surprising was the fact that no one really said two words about this snub. Don't get me wrong, I think there were valid cases to be made against Stoglin's inclusion. He was by far the best scorer in the league, but he didn't do a lot of the other things that players need to do well, and he played for a bad team, albeit something that was only tangentially related to his play at any given time. In any event, he would have been a more than valid selection, and if the name on the jersey were different but the performance the same, he'd have been there.
However what gets me is that there was an uproar over the picks. Commentators were absolutely up in arms that Kendall Marshall didn't make the first team. The Andy Katzes and Seth Davises of the world seemed aghast. This guy is a first team All-America, of course he should have been first team all conference! So is this a travesty? Nope. Let's turn it down a few thousands notches, kids.
Kendall Marshall is, first of all, a spectacular passer. Make no mistake that as much as I hate him, he makes some superlative passes. The trouble is that once you get past that, there isn't a whole lot there. Marshall, despite a few big games in the past two or three weeks, has yet to show himself to be a capable scorer at just 7.4 points a game. The typical rejoinder to this is that he's a "true" point guard (whatever that means), that he doesn't need to score, and that he doesn't try to show what he can do because his job is to pass. While it's certainly true that he does have a role as a facillitator, that's not the whole story.
Marshall takes just 10.8% of his team's shots while on the court - basically half of what an average player would take. Of the ACC's 73 regular (approx. 16 minutes a game) players, only Duke's Tyler Thornton ranks lower. It's one thing not to shoot very much and to be a pass first distributor, but it's quite another to shoot so infrequently as to take yourself out of the equation almost entirely against a good defensive team. And more to the point, Marshall isn't very effective on those occasions when he does shoot, hitting under 50% of his two point shots, about 33% from three (with less than one make a game), and only 71% from the stripe. Those numbers aren't awful, but considering how rarely he does shoot, that ought to mean he's picking his shots and taking the very highest percentage shots that he can get.
Then there's the matter of defense. Kendall Marshall pretty simply doesn't play much of it. You only have to watch the games to see that he has trouble matching up against more skilled guards. This is another area where Marshall's team helps him out. He has the luxury of having an outstanding shot blocking front court to erase mistakes when guards get past him and attack the rim, which is not exactly a rare occurence. Look at when Marshall matched up with Faust yesterday. Nick didn't have his best shooting performance of the season at 4-13, but he was able to get past his man and into the lane almost at will when he had the favorable matchup with Marshall. He does get a decent amount of steals, but that's not nearly enough to overcome the fact that he's the weak link defensively in his backcourt and on the team.
Marshall is also a poor rebounder, finishing 67/73 in defensive rebounding and 72/73 in offensive rebounding. Some of this is because of his position, but his numbers do not compare favorably to recent UNC point guards like Lawson and Felton neither of whom were "big" guards.
So what you're left with are the assists, and those numbers are great, but even then, they need context. Marshall plays on an ultra-talent offensive team that runs up and down the court, giving him copious opportunities to drop dimes. No doubt, if the offense is a car, Marshall is a great driver, but he also got handed the keys to a Ferrari, not a Ford Escort. His big men are also outstanding at running the floor and beating their man, giving the opportunity for Marshall to find them for an easy one past the defense if he keeps his head up. Not every PG can make those passes or have that vision, but even the good ones will be able to do it pretty often.
Anyway, Marshall doesn't really lead the country in assists despite all of that. He's second behind Scott Machado. If you look at Assist percentage, the percentage of his team's baskets a player records an assist on while on the floor, Marshall falls even further to sixth in the country. Still spectacular, but hardly quite as record setting when you look at a number that accounts more fully for Marshall playing 38 minutes a game these days with outstanding teammates in an up and down the court offense.
I've been watching the ACC for a long time, and Marshall is a very good point guard. So was Ed Cota. But does anyone really think that Marshall is a overall player than recent point guards like Steve Blake, Raymond Felton, Ty Lawson, Greivis Vasquez, Chris Paul, Stephon Marbury, Nolan Smith, or Jay Williams, not to mention dozens of others? Not being in that category doesn't make Marshall a bad player, but it does mean he's not an elite one.
Now I may be a little biased. I'll admit that I don't like Marshall. Really the problem is that I don't like seeing his fat, ugly father on my television screen. His fat, ugly father had the audacity to tell a tall tale about how Gary failed to give Marshall the time of day when he was a recruit despite it being clear to anyone with an interest in recruiting that Marshall's fat, ugly father would never in a million years have considered sending him to Maryland, regardless of the staff's level of effort or whether he was good enough to go to UNC and play the point.
I'll be interested to see what happens next year if Marshall comes back without the services of Barnes, Henson, and Zeller. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, but I doubt it.
I'll be fly when Easter's over
The All-ACC teams came out last week, and in what should not have nearly been a surprise to any Maryland fan who has paid attention to the ACC, Terrell Stoglin did not make the first team, despite leading the league in scoring by three and a half points. In fact, he wasn't even the top vote getter among those who didn't make first team - more on that in a minute. Perhaps only moderately more surprising was the fact that no one really said two words about this snub. Don't get me wrong, I think there were valid cases to be made against Stoglin's inclusion. He was by far the best scorer in the league, but he didn't do a lot of the other things that players need to do well, and he played for a bad team, albeit something that was only tangentially related to his play at any given time. In any event, he would have been a more than valid selection, and if the name on the jersey were different but the performance the same, he'd have been there.
However what gets me is that there was an uproar over the picks. Commentators were absolutely up in arms that Kendall Marshall didn't make the first team. The Andy Katzes and Seth Davises of the world seemed aghast. This guy is a first team All-America, of course he should have been first team all conference! So is this a travesty? Nope. Let's turn it down a few thousands notches, kids.
Kendall Marshall is, first of all, a spectacular passer. Make no mistake that as much as I hate him, he makes some superlative passes. The trouble is that once you get past that, there isn't a whole lot there. Marshall, despite a few big games in the past two or three weeks, has yet to show himself to be a capable scorer at just 7.4 points a game. The typical rejoinder to this is that he's a "true" point guard (whatever that means), that he doesn't need to score, and that he doesn't try to show what he can do because his job is to pass. While it's certainly true that he does have a role as a facillitator, that's not the whole story.
Marshall takes just 10.8% of his team's shots while on the court - basically half of what an average player would take. Of the ACC's 73 regular (approx. 16 minutes a game) players, only Duke's Tyler Thornton ranks lower. It's one thing not to shoot very much and to be a pass first distributor, but it's quite another to shoot so infrequently as to take yourself out of the equation almost entirely against a good defensive team. And more to the point, Marshall isn't very effective on those occasions when he does shoot, hitting under 50% of his two point shots, about 33% from three (with less than one make a game), and only 71% from the stripe. Those numbers aren't awful, but considering how rarely he does shoot, that ought to mean he's picking his shots and taking the very highest percentage shots that he can get.
Then there's the matter of defense. Kendall Marshall pretty simply doesn't play much of it. You only have to watch the games to see that he has trouble matching up against more skilled guards. This is another area where Marshall's team helps him out. He has the luxury of having an outstanding shot blocking front court to erase mistakes when guards get past him and attack the rim, which is not exactly a rare occurence. Look at when Marshall matched up with Faust yesterday. Nick didn't have his best shooting performance of the season at 4-13, but he was able to get past his man and into the lane almost at will when he had the favorable matchup with Marshall. He does get a decent amount of steals, but that's not nearly enough to overcome the fact that he's the weak link defensively in his backcourt and on the team.
Marshall is also a poor rebounder, finishing 67/73 in defensive rebounding and 72/73 in offensive rebounding. Some of this is because of his position, but his numbers do not compare favorably to recent UNC point guards like Lawson and Felton neither of whom were "big" guards.
So what you're left with are the assists, and those numbers are great, but even then, they need context. Marshall plays on an ultra-talent offensive team that runs up and down the court, giving him copious opportunities to drop dimes. No doubt, if the offense is a car, Marshall is a great driver, but he also got handed the keys to a Ferrari, not a Ford Escort. His big men are also outstanding at running the floor and beating their man, giving the opportunity for Marshall to find them for an easy one past the defense if he keeps his head up. Not every PG can make those passes or have that vision, but even the good ones will be able to do it pretty often.
Anyway, Marshall doesn't really lead the country in assists despite all of that. He's second behind Scott Machado. If you look at Assist percentage, the percentage of his team's baskets a player records an assist on while on the floor, Marshall falls even further to sixth in the country. Still spectacular, but hardly quite as record setting when you look at a number that accounts more fully for Marshall playing 38 minutes a game these days with outstanding teammates in an up and down the court offense.
I've been watching the ACC for a long time, and Marshall is a very good point guard. So was Ed Cota. But does anyone really think that Marshall is a overall player than recent point guards like Steve Blake, Raymond Felton, Ty Lawson, Greivis Vasquez, Chris Paul, Stephon Marbury, Nolan Smith, or Jay Williams, not to mention dozens of others? Not being in that category doesn't make Marshall a bad player, but it does mean he's not an elite one.
Now I may be a little biased. I'll admit that I don't like Marshall. Really the problem is that I don't like seeing his fat, ugly father on my television screen. His fat, ugly father had the audacity to tell a tall tale about how Gary failed to give Marshall the time of day when he was a recruit despite it being clear to anyone with an interest in recruiting that Marshall's fat, ugly father would never in a million years have considered sending him to Maryland, regardless of the staff's level of effort or whether he was good enough to go to UNC and play the point.
I'll be interested to see what happens next year if Marshall comes back without the services of Barnes, Henson, and Zeller. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, but I doubt it.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
I Don't Know, Man
Like, I just don't know.
It should be easy to be optimistic about the Terps even with a rough season. A new coach means that hope springs eternal and that the GOLDEN AGE of Terrapins' hoops is upon us with the impending commitment of the Harrison twins followed by God Knows Who Else. But here we are at 16-12, coming off a terrible loss, probably headed for 16-14 and no postseason once again, and it sucks.
Should I be so tired of this season? My expectations weren't high. I expected about 17 regular season wins, and there's still a substantially non-zero chance that happens. The team, while far from terrible as far as the talent on the roster goes, isn't nearly great enough to overcome the lack of depth that has hit it over the past few months.
But still how many games can this team play poorly in the second half? How many times can the head coach take a public swipe at his best player? How can you handle a team that has played so well at times losing to the worst team it has lost to since Gary lost to Coppin State way back in his first season here?
I counted myself an early believe in Mark Turgeon, and I don't rescind that at all. Not yet at least. I know that it's mostly frustration, but the first year could have gone better. Most folks have nothing but praise for the new guy, but me? Not so much.
More to the point, the recruiting trail has been ablaze for the Terps in the last year. Yes, there have been some nice commitments, but the program isn't really much past where it was last spring. Alex Len and Shaq Cleare were big gets, but the groundwork had been laid before Gary retired. Jake Layman was a huge win and a great scouting job by the staff, but in reality he only just replaced Justin Anderson who left for douchier pastures in Charlottesville. Seth Allen might be good but he's an unrated combo guard with injury issues - is he that much better than Sterling Gibbs would have been? And let's not get started with the latest commit. Welcome to the family, Damonte, but let's be real, if Gary had signed such an, er, under the radar prospect, people would have screamed bloody murder. No matter how good the Turge thinks he was when he saw him work out, the kid doesn't get an offer if the staff doesn't miss on Mitch McGary, Robert Upshaw, Amile Jefferson, Robert Carter, et al. It's really not a good start to have put together this recruiting class, with just one highly touted big man and no point guards (unless you think Allen is), given the team's needs and the six scholarships to play with.
Either way, it should be interesting in the coming months. Any underclassman on the roster with the exception of Padgett and Faust have to be considered as possibly not on the team for next season for whatever reasons. I still have plenty of faith that Turgeon is the guy, and I realize that I'm just being a whiny little bitch. Let's just hope that year 2 is better than this one.
It should be easy to be optimistic about the Terps even with a rough season. A new coach means that hope springs eternal and that the GOLDEN AGE of Terrapins' hoops is upon us with the impending commitment of the Harrison twins followed by God Knows Who Else. But here we are at 16-12, coming off a terrible loss, probably headed for 16-14 and no postseason once again, and it sucks.
Should I be so tired of this season? My expectations weren't high. I expected about 17 regular season wins, and there's still a substantially non-zero chance that happens. The team, while far from terrible as far as the talent on the roster goes, isn't nearly great enough to overcome the lack of depth that has hit it over the past few months.
But still how many games can this team play poorly in the second half? How many times can the head coach take a public swipe at his best player? How can you handle a team that has played so well at times losing to the worst team it has lost to since Gary lost to Coppin State way back in his first season here?
I counted myself an early believe in Mark Turgeon, and I don't rescind that at all. Not yet at least. I know that it's mostly frustration, but the first year could have gone better. Most folks have nothing but praise for the new guy, but me? Not so much.
More to the point, the recruiting trail has been ablaze for the Terps in the last year. Yes, there have been some nice commitments, but the program isn't really much past where it was last spring. Alex Len and Shaq Cleare were big gets, but the groundwork had been laid before Gary retired. Jake Layman was a huge win and a great scouting job by the staff, but in reality he only just replaced Justin Anderson who left for douchier pastures in Charlottesville. Seth Allen might be good but he's an unrated combo guard with injury issues - is he that much better than Sterling Gibbs would have been? And let's not get started with the latest commit. Welcome to the family, Damonte, but let's be real, if Gary had signed such an, er, under the radar prospect, people would have screamed bloody murder. No matter how good the Turge thinks he was when he saw him work out, the kid doesn't get an offer if the staff doesn't miss on Mitch McGary, Robert Upshaw, Amile Jefferson, Robert Carter, et al. It's really not a good start to have put together this recruiting class, with just one highly touted big man and no point guards (unless you think Allen is), given the team's needs and the six scholarships to play with.
Either way, it should be interesting in the coming months. Any underclassman on the roster with the exception of Padgett and Faust have to be considered as possibly not on the team for next season for whatever reasons. I still have plenty of faith that Turgeon is the guy, and I realize that I'm just being a whiny little bitch. Let's just hope that year 2 is better than this one.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What the Fuck Did I Just Watch?
How is any of this possible? How can we be 0-6 at Miami since they joined the ACC? They have NO fanbase and have made the tournament once in that time frame. They usually aren't even close. Then we come in here, and they're without their third leading scorer. But instead of winning, we go down by 16 late in the game. And then after a furious comeback, Miami loses their second and fourth leading scorers to fouls in the first overtime and end of the second half, respectively. But of course your Maryland Terrapins cannot capitalize.
I though for sure they were going to play the Benny Hill music at some point during this game because of how stupid everyone involved was. The refs were comical. A bad, questionable T early on against Miami. A double T against Turge after a terrible charge call against Faust. General mayhem all over the place. Reggie Johnson fouled out with a tech for grabbing Faust driving to the rim well after the whistle had blown for a foul out on the perimeter. Both teams played spectacularly dumb basketball. Miami looked like they had no clue how to play with a lead. They gave the Terps a chance to get back into the game by settling for running down the clock after breaking the press rather than attacking the basket, even when they were only up by three or five. The Terps just made mistake after mistake when given the chance to win. Stoglin's long jumper at the end of regulation - granted, a missed foul by the refs - was a terrible look, especially when he had a step to get closer to the rim and maybe draw more obvious contact.
Most of all, the point is that this isn't a moral victory. This team was playing a mediocre Miami team without some of its best players for some or all of the game, and couldn't even manage to take away a win. The team, frustratingly enough, is not getting better as the season goes on. To the contrary, the only notable wins came against Notre Dame and Colorado in the first month of the season. Pe'shon Howard has been generally uneven (to say the least) at the point guard position, and Alex Len has struggled big time since his hot start, although he did have a nice game tonight.
It's so damn frustrating. WE ARE MARYLAND! How can we not win just one damn time at Miami. They're never good. They're never particularly talented. They've never been well coached.
AND ANOTHER THING...
Do we ever just get fucking lucky? I mean, we played good defense on that one key possession and they inbound with four left on the shot clock. The idiot catches the ball and doesn't even realize that he has to shoot for about three seconds, then hits an absolute PRAYER he chucked up from thirty feet. And of course the refs conveniently miss a blatant goal tend on the first possession of the second OT which set the tone for how the game would end. That's pretty much automatic. If the ball is above or near the rim after a shot, and a guy taps it in, if it's not clear that it ISN'T a goaltend, you always see the refs call it. Just not here, and not now.
I though for sure they were going to play the Benny Hill music at some point during this game because of how stupid everyone involved was. The refs were comical. A bad, questionable T early on against Miami. A double T against Turge after a terrible charge call against Faust. General mayhem all over the place. Reggie Johnson fouled out with a tech for grabbing Faust driving to the rim well after the whistle had blown for a foul out on the perimeter. Both teams played spectacularly dumb basketball. Miami looked like they had no clue how to play with a lead. They gave the Terps a chance to get back into the game by settling for running down the clock after breaking the press rather than attacking the basket, even when they were only up by three or five. The Terps just made mistake after mistake when given the chance to win. Stoglin's long jumper at the end of regulation - granted, a missed foul by the refs - was a terrible look, especially when he had a step to get closer to the rim and maybe draw more obvious contact.
Most of all, the point is that this isn't a moral victory. This team was playing a mediocre Miami team without some of its best players for some or all of the game, and couldn't even manage to take away a win. The team, frustratingly enough, is not getting better as the season goes on. To the contrary, the only notable wins came against Notre Dame and Colorado in the first month of the season. Pe'shon Howard has been generally uneven (to say the least) at the point guard position, and Alex Len has struggled big time since his hot start, although he did have a nice game tonight.
It's so damn frustrating. WE ARE MARYLAND! How can we not win just one damn time at Miami. They're never good. They're never particularly talented. They've never been well coached.
AND ANOTHER THING...
Do we ever just get fucking lucky? I mean, we played good defense on that one key possession and they inbound with four left on the shot clock. The idiot catches the ball and doesn't even realize that he has to shoot for about three seconds, then hits an absolute PRAYER he chucked up from thirty feet. And of course the refs conveniently miss a blatant goal tend on the first possession of the second OT which set the tone for how the game would end. That's pretty much automatic. If the ball is above or near the rim after a shot, and a guy taps it in, if it's not clear that it ISN'T a goaltend, you always see the refs call it. Just not here, and not now.
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