Yes, Kevin Love is Ready to Go

I've been saying this around for some time now, so I decided to consolidate with a post.

Kevin Love is ready for the NBA. Now all of you know.

Wait ... You're asking why? Well he should marinate another year in college, he won't be a good pro, he's not athletic, he's white, blah blah blah, etc. I've heard these lines of reasoning plenty of times each.

Here's the deal: The kid is good. Pac-10 Player of the Year award-good. First team All America-good. This past season, he had spectacular averages: 17.5 points per game, 10.6 rebounds per game, 1.44 blocks per game and even hit about one three per game. How many freshmen average a double-double that aren't named Michael Beasley or Kevin Durant? And unlike those guys, he was the best player on a team that made it to a Final Four. Plus, although his outlet passing is already much-ballyhoed, you can't discount that it's a marketable skill that no one else has. Plus, who else can make full-court shots like it's their job?

Right now, ESPN has him as a lottery pick, and I believe this is a fair evaluation based on Love's success in college and his array of post moves and ways to score. The draft profile right now basically says the same stuff that most people are saying (good, but can't jump, not big enough, etc.).

Look, just say Kevin Love isn't going to be a good pro. So what? What more reason does he have to stay in college? Win a championship? I can't blame the guy for turning down a "college education" for lottery-pick money. These days, you have to protect your body like its an investment - you can't afford to get injured.

In addition, Love had an incredible season. Incredible seasons are followed by raised expectations. Why should Love subject himself to increased scrutiny by people trying to poke holes in his game? What if he already has hit his ceiling and doesn't improve? Let's not forget just how special a guy like Tyler Hansbrough is, who vastly improved statistically by staying another year (He should go, too - you don't do better than Player of the Year).

What if he hits a sophomore slump? Does he go the way of Josh McRoberts and drop stock like it's goin' out of style? It's not good business. If you have a good season, go and get paid! How can anyone hate on that?

Kevin Love is one of those guys that will work hard on his game and always try hard to make it in the league. In terms of attitude and maturity, you can't ask for much more of a young man, especially when there are so many Pacmans running around. The adjustment will definitely be hard, but another season in college probably has more risk than reward.

So smile, Mr. Love, when you get that paycheck. Smile when you sign that shoe deal. Don't hide it - it feels good. Even if you don't turn out in the NBA, either way, you're gonna get to spend that money.

It didn't take four years of college to make that no-brainer.

Photo Credit: AP

On the Rise...

Terps are on the rise everywhere. It's true - the press is starting to scramble for information and stories about Gary Williams' team that's ripping up the ACC.

As many sites now recognize (I saw this over at East Coast Bias), Greivis Vasquez earned top spot last week in the country according to ESPN.com's Andy Katz, and James Gist was cited by The Sporting News as last week's best. Very cool stuff.

But I think the star article today is one I read in The Diamondback this morning by Daniel Kobrin. He makes the claim that Greivis Vasquez is the best player in college basketball, which I couldn't possibly agree with, but I follow his logic. Please read it so you can follow my logic from here on out.

Kobrin masterfully sums up my feelings about Greivis and how the fans treat him. He's never gotten the respect from his home crowd that he richly deserves. When he does well, Terp fans gloss over it. When he makes mistakes, everyone screams to bench him. I try to defend him and change the mass perspective whenever I get the chance.

While I definitely think that racial undertones are involved in this issue, I also believe that the Maryland faithful desperately want Eric Hayes to be the next Steve Blake because they perceive the two to be similar players. Hayes is solid, but he's no Steve Blake, and I doubt he'll go on to follow Blake in the NBA as a starting point guard.

I think the tide is finally starting to turn: ESPN recognizes his contributions, as does The Sun. College basketball is an emotional game - we can't pretend that every player should be a quiet, dignified guy who doesn't ham it up or celebrate after a good play, however inappropriate. Yes, Greivis is emotional, but so are Terps fans, and no Terp fan likes to be told to hold back their emotions (however inappropriate). He has faults, but so does every player. I encourage fans to embrace the player Greivis is, because he's pretty damn good at what he does.

Tonight as most are well aware is the Duke game, part II. I'm feeling vaguely optimistic about our chances tonight - Maryland plays Duke in Cameron better than any team in the country, and we were only at the start of our upswing when we first played them. I feel confident with all our starters at this point, but we'll need three things:

KEYS TO THE GAME:

- Bench has to contribute (Someone besides Dave Neal, please.)
- Perimeter defense has to lock down on their shooters.
- We need to make threes.

I think this is very doable, and really I feel like if we can accomplish two out of three, I think Maryland has a really good shot at winning this matchup.

See you on the flip side and Go Terps!

Yeah, We're Gellin'

So if you happened to catch the Maryland game last night, you were treated to a pretty good game that (understandably) got passed over by the major networks. Really, neither Maryland nor NC State is a power player right now, and the ACC is a huge mess anyway.

But it honestly was a great game - close enough to make you nervous, but Maryland played well throughout for the most part. Even when they were behind, there were rollouts galore. And in the end, they finish the Wolfpack with a game-closing finish that put them to bed long before the final seconds. Terps pick up a W, taming the Pack 84-70.

The game was marked by tremendous individual performances. Check out these stat lines:

- James Gist: 30 pts, 9 rbds, 3 blks, 13-18 from the field
- Greivis Vasquez: 13 pts, 15 asts, 9 rbds, only 4 turnovers

Gist had a career-high in points, and Gravy tied the school record held by Terrell Stokes for assists in a game. In addition, all starters scored in double digits, the team went 6-10 from long range, and shot 85.7% from the charity stripe. They also outrebounded NC State 36-26, gave up a scant 11 turnovers, and generally dominated after a case of the misses. Add a free T-shirt to that mix, and wow, what a game!

Anyway, it was clear to me that Maryland had a solid all-around effort, and for the first time, I was very comfortable watching Greivis run the offense. He looked very in control throughout gameplay and a 15-4 assist-turnover ratio is really good.

So just so we're clear, I want everyone to realize that Greivis is good. Last night, I was sitting next to someone who said, "Gosh I hate Greivis." I quickly helped explain why she really shouldn't hate him.

In the conference, he's fourth in scoring, second in minutes played, and first in assists. In fact, in the last national rankings, he showed up at No. 11 in assists per game (which will go up after the latest game). It's true that Eric Hayes has an excellent ATR, but Greivis' is set at 1.5, which isn't too bad, and will probably improve. In addition to all that, he's good for over 5 boards per game, third-best on the team. What I'm really trying to say is that I was right back when everyone wanted him benched, and I'm right now. Try and find another point guard who averages 17.1 ppg, 6.35 apg, and 5.2 rpg. Even if you do find a player like that, it will be pretty hard.

Gist, by the way, is pushing for all-conference honors right now. In conference play, he's averaging 18.3 ppg and 8.6 rpg, and he's also playing more minutes, too. Bambale Osby is another guy who's exploded in ACC play, averaging a very respectable 14 ppg and 9.1 rpg. Even Landon Milbourne is doing better now.

I'm very excited for this team - they're making me regret leaving them for dead on the NCAA bubble. Yes, there's a lot more work to do, but before conference play, I estimated that they needed a 10-6 record in the ACC to make it in to the tournament. Well, they only have to go 4-3 the rest of the way to reach that once-lofty goal, and besides a game versus Duke in Durham and one against Clemson at Comcast, there's not much fight left in the schedule. Of course there is still the ACC tournament to consider, and I think that we should win at least one game to make it in the dance, but that's still a ways off.

Not that ESPN's projections mean anything, but Maryland is starting to show up in them. In bubble talk, Andy Glockner has essentially scooped the Terps into the bracket as the 4th ACC team. In the recent Bracketology, Joe Lunardi has Maryland as a 10-seed. Ohio and American seem like a season ago, don't they?

Have a great day and Go Terps!

Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun, AP

Haters: Greivis Vasquez isn't going anywhere so everyone chill

Last night, the Terps demolished Morgan State, 89-65. Eric Hayes tied a season high with 19 points and Gist dropped 18. But neither of them were the best player.

Although it's true that Hayes lit a fire under the team after a scrappy first half by hitting 4 big shots, the highly controversial Greivis Vasquez showed up big in the stat column: 17 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds. Yes, he had 7 turnovers, but he had three 3-pointers and hit all of his free throws as well. It's hard to argue that Vasquez did anything but his job last night.

In a happy coincidence, an article came out this morning about the polarizing Maryland point guard who had this to say:

"People are either gonna love me or they're gonna hate me," he said. "That's who I am."

Well, it's true. I encourage everyone to read the article.

I've heard a lot of muttering in the arena when I'm at games and when I talk about the team. I'm talking about Maryland fans themselves. The mutterings usually consist of phrases like these:

- "He makes such stupid decisions!"

- "Why is he taking so many shots?"

- "Eric Hayes should run the point."

I don't disagree. Vasquez, so far this season, has been pretty poor for a starting point guard. I think I sufficiently pointed this out earlier. However, today is a perfect day for the release of the article - the day after Greivis played well in a game.

As much as he hold the team back with turnovers, bad shooting or sloppy defense (how about Jamal Shuler calling him out?), when he plays well, he carries the team, the crowd and the world on his shoulders. Remember his near-triple-double at Cameron Indoor Stadium and how he was basically dominating and pissing off the Cameron not-so-Crazies (A.K.A. The Pointers)? Yeah, I do.

He is epically more athletic than Hayes, faster and more confident. I love Hayes, and he's definitely been living up to his shooting hype, but he has a hard time creating his own shot and when he started at the point last year, he wasn't as inspiring as Vasquez can be. And for those who argue that Hayes makes better decisions, last year Vasquez had a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio and Hayes had a 1.8; that's really not that much of a difference. Plus, since both Hayes and Vasquez are playing the most minutes on the team, almost complete games, what's the big deal? It's not like Vasquez is going anywhere and Hayes can run some plays if Gary wants.

I really don't think Vasquez should be as hated as he is. All players are different. Some are the same night-in and night-out, and some are gamblers - the kind of guy that goes on and off. Vasquez (so far) has been inconsistent, but as he showed last year in the Illinois game and the Duke game, he will play lights-out basketball in big games when people count him out.

Amusing Greivis notes:

- I think he's in love with Kobe.

- He was in one of the greatest high school games ever. Montrose Christian vs. Oak Hill Academy in 2006. "The Game" featured not only Maryland commits Vasquez, Landon Milbourne and Adrian Bowie, but also future UNC star Ty Lawson and the one and only Kevin Durant. Here's some highlights of the star-studded event. Bowie hit a shot for the win at the buzzer.

- The USA/Venezuela game mentioned in the article was an absolute joke. I'll leave you guys with the highlights.