Near the end of the Terps’ third and final public scrimmage Saturday, senior forward Bambale Osby gave his teammates a reminder of what they’ll need to return to the NCAA Tournament this season.
Osby, who recorded 15 points and 13 rebounds, made a jaw-dropping block of sophomore forward Landon Milbourne’s dunk attempt late in the game to preserve his squad’s two-point lead.
For a team that lost 55 percent of its scoring from last season, defensive efforts like Osby’s are going to be necessary, said sophomore point guard Greivis Vasquez.
“The main emphasis is defense,” said Vasquez, who led all players with 27 points, including shooting four of six from 3-point range. “Our best offense has to be our defense, and we are willing to get to that point.”
“Not where we want to be, but that’s the latest to come,” said coach Gary Williams on where his team is defensively. “Defense is a day-to-day thing that you gradually get better at. All of a sudden, you play somebody that’s good, and you shut them down so you know you’re good.”
Williams deployed a half-court zone trap for the first time during the three scrimmages, and the lineup of Vasquez, Eric Hayes, Milbourne, James Gist and Osby used it to create havoc on a team of five freshmen, outscoring them 23 to five in the third ten-minute quarter.
Milbourne, the only player in that group of five who didn’t have significant playing experience last season, scored 10 points and added two rebounds.
“He is certainly good enough to play,” said Williams. “He was a high school forward/center really, and now he’s making the change to more of a guard-type player. It’s not going to happen overnight but he’s getting better.”
While Gist and Hayes tallied 15 points each, freshman guard Adrian Bowie once again led the freshmen in scoring with nine points.
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