Terrapin Takes, Monday 6/24: Jay Bilas, Landon Milbourne, & Alex Len
By Chris Bengel
- ESPN analyst Jay Bilas has always been an ACC guy, going back to his playing days at Duke. Bilas did a Q&A with Baltimore Sports and Life and touched on a range of topics from ACC preseason predictions to Jake Layman to Maryland’s point guard play. Bilas had high praise for Layman and he could be in for a big year. Obviously, Layman’s role seems to be coming off the bench. He is a guy who can shoot very well and stretch a defense, as Bilas pointed out.
- One of my favorite Maryland teams was the group of Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes, and Landon Milbourne. Testudo Times had an opportunity to catch up with Milbourne who is currently playing professionally overseas in Greece. He averaged 12.7 points-per-game to along with nearly five rebounds a game in his senior season in College Park. The Rockville native was a constant in the low post throughout his college career and was always productive while in a Terps uniform. Make sure you give it a read.
- As many people have beat into the ground, Thursday’s NBA Draft is one of the weakest in quite some time at the top. There is no clear cut #1 overall pick but Maryland center Alex Len could very well end up being picked by the Cleveland Cavaliers in that spot. It’s been well-documented that Len has potential but is very inconsistent. In this article on Lost Lettermen, Len is projected as being the latest source of heartbreak for Cleveland sports fans and a complete waste of a #1 pick. Granted, Len isn’t a surefire NBA superstar but he is worth using a top pick on. He has all the physical tools and we’ve seen him turn it in at times during his college career. Now I’m a statistics guy but even I don’t agree with this argument. Len’s career numbers are brought up which makes little sense in his argument due to the fact that Len struggled in his freshman campaign and was still getting adjusted to life in America. Sure there is a risk taking Len this high, but he has the greatest potential out of any of the big men.
- There is no link involved but Mark Turgeon appeared on Jon Rothstein’s radio show on CBS Sports. Turgeon spoke about Len and the current Maryland team. Turgeon said that Seth Allen will get most of the time at point guard with Roddy Peters contributing as well. There is no shock there for Terps fans. It doesn’t make sense for Peters to be thrown into the fire from day one, especially with Maryland facing a good Connecticut team in Brooklyn to open the season. Turgeon also spoke about Alex Len and stated that Len’s game is more suited for the NBA. At least someone isn’t bashing the kid as a potential #1 pick.