Just because Greivis Vasquez played against Kobe Bryant this summer doesn’t mean the sophomore guard has to be like Kobe.
That’s the message Terrapin men’s basketball coach Gary Williams sent to his sophomore guard through the media after the Terps’ 70-64 win over Hampton on Monday night.
“I just want him to be himself. I think sometimes now after the summer and everything and playing against Kobe and everything, he thinks he’s gotta play up here,” Williams said, raising his hands near his head. “He’s just gotta play like Greivis Vasquez, that’s fine. He’s a college basketball player, that’s what he is right now, just enjoy it, be that guy, don’t put any added extra pressure on yourself.”
In two games, Vasquez is averaging 19.5 points per game and is shooting 50 percent from the field, but has made just 3-of-13 from three-point range.
More troubling, though, are his 13 turnovers and poor decision making. When asked if he felt any extra pressure because of his summer experience, Vasquez said no.
“It looks like it, but I don’t feel any of it,” he said. “Things aren’t going my way lately, and that’s how it is. I’m not giving an excuse. I’m just trying to play hard, and I don’t have no answer for that. I’m not trying to be somebody else on the court. If [Williams] thinks I’m doing that, I’m not trying to at all. That’s not my goal. I’m just trying to be like him – win a national championship.”
Vasquez’s struggles aren’t the Terps’ only problem. They have lacked chemistry on the court, which is to be expected given all the new faces, and they have turned the ball over 42 times to two teams – North Florida and Hampton – that didn’t play an aggressive defense.
“We had some players playing with experience – not the new guys, but experienced players – that think they can get away with stuff,” Williams said. “Like making careless passes, not working hard to make sure you don’t walk on power moves, things like that. And that’s a matter of concentration. That’s a matter of really trying to get it in practice, so that when it comes time to do it in a game, it becomes automatic and you do it properly. And we’re a long way from there.”
Vasquez, who has been handling most of the point guard duties, took the blame.
“I’m just not doing a good job of leading the offense,” he said. “I don’t have any excuses. No excuses, I’m just gonna keep working.”
Tonight, the Terps play Northeastern, and it should give them another chance to work out the kinks before Monday’s CBE Classic semifinal game in Kansas City, Mo., against No. 2 UCLA.
If nothing else, the Terps will certainly be looking to take better care of the ball.
“We just need to be strong with the ball, be smarter with the ball, be more patient,” sophomore guard Eric Hayes said. “Not try to make the great play, make simple plays.”
n Adams steps down
Assistant coach Michael Adams has resigned due to personal reasons, Williams announced yesterday.
Adams was in his third year as an assistant coach with the Terps.
“I have really enjoyed my time at Maryland and hate to leave the team during the season, but family comes first,” Adams said in a statement. “I wish coach Williams and the team all the best moving forward.”
Adams becomes another recent assistant in a long line of coaches to leave the Terps. In the past four years, Rob Moxley, Jimmy Patsos, Mike Lonergan and Dave Dickerson have all left the Terps to coach elsewhere.
Assistant recruiting coordinator Robert Ehsan was promoted to replace Adams for the rest of the season.
n Terps ink two recruits
Forward Augustus “Gus” Gilchrist and guard Sean Mosley have signed national letters of intent to play for the Terps.
Gilchrist, a 6-foot-10, 235-pounder from Temple Hills, is Rivals.com’s No. 14-ranked power forward. He originally committed to Virginia Tech but was granted a release after having safety concerns about attending the school.
Mosley, a 6-foot-4, 200-pounder from Baltimore, was rated the country’s 13th-best shooting guard by Rivals.
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