An exhibition game against a Division II opponent might not sound thrilling, but consider the last seven months for Maryland: offseason workouts and conditioning, summer pickup games, practice and three intrasquad scrimmages.

“It’s getting kind of boring playing against each other,” Greivis Vasquez said.

So excuse the players if Tuesday night’s game against Indiana (Pa.) excites them.  It’s meaningful for coach Gary Williams too, as he’ll be able to evaluate his entire team on one bench and come closer to figuring out what rotations and combinations work best heading into the regular season opener against Charleston Southern on Nov. 13. 

“The most important thing for me is just finding that eight, nine group that can go play and you take it from there,” he said.

Williams tinkered with several different lineups in Saturday’s scrimmage, and there hasn’t been any indication that he’s settled on a starting five.  Vasquez said on Monday that he isn’t sure who will grab the spots still in question.

The most talked-about conundrum—if you can call it that—is Eric Hayes’ situation.  The senior guard came off the bench in 14 of Maryland’s final 15 games last season, and Williams said at the time it benefitted Hayes because he was able to gauge the pace and tempo from the bench before entering the game.

At ACC media day last week, Williams pointed to Maryland’s first-round ACC tournament game against N.C. State as an example of the spark Hayes can provide.  The Terps fell behind 21-8 before Hayes made three 3-pointers in less than three minutes to cut the lead to four, and Maryland advanced to the second round with a 74-69 win.

At the same time, Williams also said that Hayes’ experience as a senior and calming presence could help Maryland from the opening tip this season. 

But then there’s the big-picture question: Will starting Hayes, who averaged a second-most 29.3 minutes last season, matter all much?

“I don’t think that’s a big deal for him,” Vasquez said Monday.  “All he wants is to win games.  I know people are creating a big deal whether he’s going to start or not, I think he’s still going to play 30 minutes, 28 minutes.  He did it last year, there’s nothing going to be different this year.”
   
So what Williams will probably learn more about on Tuesday is his frontcourt.  He said Monday that he hopes Dino Gregory, who was more of a rebounding and defensive presence last season, can build off some of his scoring progress in the offseason.  He’s been honing a midrange jump shot in particular since the end of last season. 

He’ll also be keeping a close eye on freshmen big men Jordan Williams and James Padgett, with whom Williams was pleased in Saturday’s scrimmage.  Still, an actual game will be the real test.

“Some guys play better in practice than they do in games.  Some guys play better in games than they do in practice,” Williams said.  “So you have to find out who the gamers are, who steps up.  That’s a gradual process.  In other words, because a guy plays bad tomorrow night that doesn’t mean he’s not going to play during the season.”

Goins update 

Williams didn’t have a conclusive update on sophomore center Steve Goins, who didn’t play in Saturday’s scrimmage because of a lingering knee injury.

“He was supposed to talk to his doctor from Chicago that did the surgery this afternoon.  I haven’t heard any results of that yet,” he said.  “He won’t practice today, and then the orthopedic doctor, Dr. [Craig] Bennett from here, is supposed to also talk with him before he plays or practices.  So we’re waiting to hear.”

Goins averaged three minutes in four games last season and had two points and two rebounds.

Scouting Indiana (Pa.)

Coming off a 22-8 season that included a second-round NCAA tournament appearance, Indiana (Pa.), has been picked to finish first in the PSAC West. 

The Crimson Hawks return four of their five leading scorers from a year ago, and three players—senior guard Thomas Young, junior forward Darryl Webb and sophomore guard Julian Sanders—were selected to the preseason All-PSAC West team.  Webb, who averaged 12.8 points and 9.2 rebounds, is the leading returning scorer.  Sanders came off the bench and is a threat from beyond the arc—he hit 73 of 177 attempts last season.

One familiar name for Maryland is 6-foot-8 forward Akida McLain, who played two seasons from 2004-06 for Boston College before being dismissed from the team in January of 2007.  He transferred to Indiana (Pa.) from James Madison.

“I thought they'd have a good team this year,” Williams said.  “They were picked first in their league in the preseason. … You really don't gain much if you win by 40 in any game. So hopefully this will be competitive.”

Photo by Christopher Blunck