Big Ten Discussion

They are simply a disgrace to the Big Ten.

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Justin Jackson was quietly kinda terrible for Maryland this year so far, Iā€™m not sure how much that will actually hurt them lol. Good, bordering on great rebounder but struggled at pretty much everything else this season.

This is really frustrating out of them after the big win they had. God, I didnā€™t even know Hartford had a team and I went to school in Connecticut.

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He was struggling with his shooting because he had a torn labrum. And even then he was their best rebounder and arguably their most physical player. Canā€™t sugar coat this as an OK loss for them; even as a poor shooter, he gave them a physicality to bang through the B1G season.

Yes, he was a good, almost great rebounder. He was also a black hole on offense. I mean this is a guy with an eFG% of 41.6, a turnover rate of 25.6, and an assist rate of 11.8. The guys behind him on the depth chart are pretty good rebounders too. I think heā€™s the definition of someone who they could afford to lose, at least the way he was playing this year. If he was highest in usage by a ton then sure, that would suck badly, but he has an awful ORtg, lowest on the team, despite there being 5 guys all close with between 20 and 24 percent of possessions used. Obviously itā€™s not good that heā€™s out, but heā€™s certainly getting a Melo Trimble inflation on his effectiveness right now.

Going to go ahead and venture a guess that Jacksonā€™s labrum injury was bothering him throughout the year. No other way to explain such a steep drop off. Even though his numbers were down, him being out for the season means thereā€™s no chance of him regaining his previous form (obviously) and that is a big loss for Maryland.

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Disagree a lot, but whatever. If he has a labral tear he certainly wasnā€™t going to get better by the end of the season and heā€™s been objectively bad for them this year.

Point being, for Maryland to reach the ceiling many thought they had. Justin Jackson was going to have to play like many thought he was capable of. He hasnā€™t, he might not of, now he definitely wonā€™t.

Replacing his minutes with Jared Nickens isnā€™t likely to be a net-positive overall.

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Well yeah, thatā€™s obvious, but with a torn labrum he clearly had no chance of reaching that ceiling this year.

I didnā€™t say it would be a net positive, I wondered how badly it would actually hurt them compared to media narratives and then showed that if he played at the same level he had been (which again, is almost definite given what injury he has) it would be at a low level.

Iā€™d tend to agree with Wolverheel. If he has a torn labrum, itā€™s probably better for him to be out than to play. I think itā€™s very possible that Nickens plays better than how Justin Jackson has been this year.

And there was no hope of reclaiming his form this year if he had a torn labrum the whole time.

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Yeah, thatā€™s the key thing there. Obviously max strength Justin Jackson would be optimal, but it simply wasnā€™t going to happen this season. If he truly had it the entire time I think it was really dumb of them to try and have him play through it, even if he wanted to.

No dog in this fight but Maryland is down 24-18 at halftime to UMBC. Funny timing to the debate.

(Ended a blowout)

Even though it ended up a blowout, that mustā€™ve been the ugliest game possible to have a score like that.

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Well the news is that he had a torn labrum right? So thatā€™s the news everyone is reacting to. Not sure, but it seems like the previous narrative would be that he was going to rest for a few weeks over Christmas and be more ready for Big Ten play. Heā€™s not, so that is big news (and also explains why he had struggled).

The fact that he has a torn labrum verifies that he wasnā€™t going to improve from his brutal start to the year. Thatā€™s not an injury you can just rest for a couple weeks and then magically get healthy.

I have four excellent tickets to the Jacksonville game this evening if anybody is interested.

I could leave at will call or meet somewhere around Crisler Center

Bryant McIntosh injured his knee today. Looks like MRI expected on Monday. Would be a huge loss for NW.

How in the world was a 6:00 Sunday game over winter break against Jacksonville our first sellout of the year?

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Bender didnā€™t bring big production, but those are 2 losses to the rotation; lots of new minutes up for grabs in College Park