Julian Reese – The Young Veteran

Game 6 of 37 Hofstra @ Maryland – Maryland surges late to a comeback win 69-67

Maryland surges late to beat Hofstra 69-67, as Martinez hits winning free throws.

#CAAHoops #B1G

Maryland has scheduled some tough mid majors to start their season. Quinnipiac, George Washington, Vermont, George Mason and Hofstra. All of those teams should finish in the top half of their respected conferences. With all that said Maryland has struggled with all of them, but Quinnipiac.

Hofstra took the Terps to the brink and had a chance to win the game with a shot multiple times. The execution just wasn’t there. Omar Silverio was blocked by Eric Ayala and subsequently fouled Ian Martinez on the loose ball deflection. Martinez knocked down both free throws, and after a couple of timeouts and fouls, Fatts Russell stole the final in bounds pass to end the game.

Ian Martinez hitting go ahead free throws

Hofstra plays small ball. This forced Turgeon’s hand at not even playing Qudus Wahab the entire second half. It looks to me Maryland is best built to play fast and uptempo, then pick and choose when to enter Wahab into the picture.

Jalen Ray for Hofstra was hitting contested three’s from all over the court. He is quick with the ball and showed the ability to penetrate and find the shooters on the perimeter. A career 39% shooter from deep, Ray is someone that will be heavily relied on all season. He finished with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and went 5-12 from three.

Zach Cooks is Hofstra’s other star player. He is in his fifth season (crazy even typing those words out) playing the previous four at NJIT. He is a flat out scorer. He can make the three, pull up from mid range and create space for himself with ease. Just super quick off the dribble. While he didn’t have a great night shooting the ability is very clear. I wish he would attack the lane more instead of all the jumpers, but maybe he knew the size of Maryland would be waiting on him. Cooks finished with 13 points and four assists.

As far as Maryland goes. Everyone chipped in a little bit here and there. The two guys that stepped up big time to me were Ian Martinez and Julian Reese. Reese has great hands and a soft touch around the rim. He fit the uptempo undersized style much better than Wahab, therefore he got more minutes. He still needs to work on his lower body strength, and the Big Ten bigs will surely test him early. He has a silky smooth mid range jumper and shows the potential to knockdown an open three. Reese had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Ian Martinez was the X factor in this game. While he is still learning as a decision maker and taking questionable shots, he stepped up when others struggled to make plays. Martinez is a good athlete. Has the ability to create off the bounce. He is also a tough and versatile defender. Stepping up and hitting those two clutch free throws with just four seconds left should be huge for his confidence moving forward. Martinez is instant energy off the bench and its a role he looks very comfortable with. He finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Up next for me is American @ UMBC on Tuesday.

Game 5 of 37 George Mason embarrasses Maryland in College Park

George Mason embarrasses Maryland in College Park 71-66

#A10MBB #RockWithUs #B1G #B1GMBBall #Terps

Coming into this game I was very intrigued to see how Mason was going to handle playing in College Park…. on a big stage…. with first year head coach Kim English. Well, they definitely answered any questions I may have had by handing the Terps their first loss in a very demoralizing fashion. Mason won 71-66.

Mason had three guys I wanted to see specifically. Jamal Hartwell II, DeVon Cooper and D’Shawn Schwartz.

Hartwell is a very slender and small point guard. Has some quickness and burst, but unless he is wide open for a three, he’s not much of a scoring threat. Hartwell basically just provided a ball handler that was steady.

DeVon Cooper is a solid all around guard. He can handle the ball. Score off the bounce, or see the open man on the perimeter. Very tough defender and extremely aggressive. Every time Maryland tried to drive the lane or feed a big man there were multiple Patriots surround and digging at the ball. Cooper was the perfect compliment to Schwartz in this game. Both players can create their own shots and made tough contested jumpers as well. Cooper finished with 16 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Schwartz with the ball at the top of the three point line

Schwartz was the best player on the court. I watched him in warmups before the game and no lie he missed maybe one jumper the whole time I was watching. I thought to myself, we’ll see if this can carry over. Its one thing to make open shots in warmups….. But Schwartz was on one this game. He made 6-1o from three and hit literally every clutch shot he took. Very intriguing prospect to keep tabs on. He has a strong pro ready body at 6’7 235. Flat out scorer at all three levels. He was making three’s, mid range pull ups and he can score in the lane also. Schwartz finished with 24 points, nine rebounds, six made three’s and three steals.

Two other players of note were Davonte Gaines and Josh Oduro. I remember seeing Coach English trying to convince Oduro to stay at Mason, on Twitter throughout the summer. Good thing he did. Oduro provides that true low post scoring threat that balances the rest of the team out. He has very good footwork. He used his pivot feet masterfully several times to score at the rim. Especially one in the closing seconds of the game. Oduro is still developing his shooting range, but his stroke looks solid and I think that will come in time. Gaines did a little bit of everything. Chipped in big time as a rebounder with ten. He also had 2 three’s and a total of 14 points.

And now to Maryland. This will be brief. Mason deserves the majority of this post. Maryland wasn’t prepared. Stagnant on offense. They gave effort on defense, but just weren’t good enough. They just flat out got beat. Coach Turgeon had many comments about the game on the radio when I was driving back home. He mentioned no ball movement, bounces not going there way, the bad practice the day before. There was a lot of things said. He also said the fans need to show up because their playing good teams and need them. I thought that was interesting to mention that after a loss like this to say the least.

Early first half crowd. It didn’t fill much more than that after either.

,Now he’s not wrong about the attendance. I just thought that wasn’t the time to say it. But to each his own I guess.

Donta Scott and Julian Reese were the two best players for Maryland. Scott kept them close throughout the game. He hit mid range and three point jumpers, as well as providing solid help defense. His athleticism has really improved with his quickness and leaping ability. He looks in way better shape this year. Scott finished with 18 points, ten rebounds, one steal and one block. Reese looked way better this game than previously. He was more decisive. He played physical, drew fouls in the post. He also hit a three pointer and looked comfortable doing so. Reese needs to play more and get involved more early to get him going. Very skilled low post threat with soft touch. JuJu finished with twelve points and three rebounds.

Although Ayala hit two three’s to bring the Terps within three under a minute left, he still struggled shooting overall. He has to improve his consistency. Ayala is at his best attacking the lane and using his strength and body control. That will setup everything else for him. Even making 5-12 from three, he finished 6-17 total and attempted zero foul shots. Thats not his recipe for success. Eric finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Nobody else did anything of note for the Terps.

Up next for me is Hofstra @ Maryland on Friday

Game 1 of 37 Quinnipiac @ Maryland

We’re back!!! Finally college basketball is back. I haven’t been able to attend a college game in person since March 8, 2020 when Maryland beat Michigan to share the Big Ten title with Michigan State and Wisconsin.

I was pretty surprised however with the lack of attendance. Yes, I know we are still pushing through the pandemic and all of that. But, it was still surprising to me. I guess it will come in time.

Well this game featured a Maryland team ranked #21 with some expectations of making a deeper run into March. They got senior transfer guard Fatts Russell from Rhode Island and junior center Qudus Wahab from Georgetown. Both will provide different options that the Terps clearly didn’t have last season.

Maryland had their way with Quinnipiac all night for the most part winning 83-69.

Russell is a lightning fast guard at 5’11 165 pounds. He looked like he may have bulked up some as well. Russell provided a few scoring bunches on breakaways or from attacking from the perimeter. His first step is explosive and fast. However, the question will be his outside shooting. He’s a tough defender and moves his feet extremely well. A real pest on ball. He finished with 12 points and 4 assists.

Wahab is 6’11 and 240 pounds. He looks every bit of a traditional 5. He has the ability to hit from mid range and looks comfortable doing so. He is strong in the post, but I would like to see him keep the ball higher more consistently. He also tends to fade a lot when taking jumpers while backing an opponent down. With that said, he was making them but I would like to see him more on balance. Wahab finished with 17 points, six rebounds and 2 blocks.

Quiinipiac’s stars of the game were junior shooting guard Matt Balanc (no not Matt LeBlanc, doubtful Joey has hops like Balanc) and senior shooting guard Tyrese Williams.

Balanc is already up for dunk of the year as he absolutely destroyed Russell on a breakaway. Russell sized him up and Leblanc definitely got the better of him. Balanc also showed an ability to get shots off and attack the basket at will. He will be someone to keep an eye on for sure. He finished with 25 points, three rebounds and five steals.

Williams, who struggled shooting last season, looked very comfortable last night. He was pulling up from very deep and looked solid in the catch and shoot situations as well. Would like to see more versatility on offense. More aggressiveness towards the rim, but maybe that will come later this season. Williams finished with 19 points and went 5-9 from three.

Other players I was interested in seeing like Eric Ayala and Xavier Green made impressions as well. Ayala is a scoring combo guard. He will be leaned on heavily to score and he should deliver this season in my opinion. I like his game, but want to see if he can get others involved more and step up his defense as well. Green looked every part of a versatile wing defender. That will be his role on Maryland.

For Quinnipiac senior center Kevin Marfo struggled. He’s an undersized big at 6’8 245. He struggled with Wahab and Julian Reese’s length inside. Of course he makes sure he rebounds and did the little things, but he was blocked several times at the rim. One thing that stood out to me was his ball handling and passing as a big. I wasn’t expecting that. Marfo finished with two points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The other player was senior G/F Jacob Rigoni. The Australian native is Quinnipiac’s all time leader in three pointers made. Consistent shooter, and when he actually attacks the lane he is a crafty finisher. He struggled shooting going 1-8 from three in this game. That was more of anomaly. This is by far his best skill. He finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists.

Of course I am mostly interested in watching the Senior’s due to my scouting service But If ever interested I can provide my perspective on other players as well.

On to the next game which is George Washington @ Maryland on Thursday night.