SB Nation - Jin Soo Choi

Vasquez's Big Night Spurs Maryland to Big Win Over Winston-Salem State, 98-55

Ben Broman — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:04:39 -0000

1 day ago: Maryland's Greivis Vasquez shoots between Winston-Salem State's Stephon Platt, left, and Corey Morris during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)

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Maryland hadn't played in 10 days, but you couldn't tell from the final score. After a first half filled with up and down runs and hot shooting, Maryland pulled away in the second half on the strength of 27 points, 11 assists, and 8 reounds from Greivis Vasquez to beat Winston-Salem State, 98-55. Vasquez, for those not great at math, was just two rebounds away from Maryland's 4th triple double ever.

WSS - who was given a 0% chance of victory by KenPom - was more resilient than I expected them to be, at least in the first half. With just a few minutes to go in the first, it was a three point game. Somewhat shockingly, WSS was actually winning the rebounding battle after the first, too. But Maryland went on an 8-0 run with a torrent of Cliff Tucker threes to close the half and quickly ironed out the minor issues during the break. When they came back in the second half, the blowout was on.

I mentioned the scary negative - rebounding - and it does need to be addressed, heavily. That said, this was a very one-sided game once the lead got up to double-digits. No single player looked bad, either. Everyone, from Greivis Vasquez to Jordan Williams, was pretty good. Once Gary got in their ear about rebounding, they fixed up the rebounding, too. I don't think you can complain about this performance at all.

The two players that most stood out to me were the aforementioned Tucker and Adrian Bowie, who combined for 22 points. Bowie showed off a jumper that was literally nonexistent a week and a half ago, and his court vision and point guard skills looked better than ever. If he can play like this the rest of the year, I won't be freaking out about the PG spot next year. Tucker looked like he did against North Carolina last year: awesome on offense with a great stroke.

Greivis Vasquez had his best performance of the year, by far. I'm not sure how much we can take away from it - WSS is legitimately awful - but the hope is that it got his swagger back. If it did, he'll be back to his old self again, meaning his form should be on its way back.

As most people feared going into the game, there's not much to take away from this game other than Maryland could use a little bit of shoring up on the rebounding end. They were rusty, so we don't know how much of the slow start can be attributed to that, and Winston-Salem State is awful, so we don't know how much of the good can be attributed to that. It's a tough spot to be in.

Jordan Williams didn't see much PT until the second half, but he looked pretty good in his time. He ended up with 12 points and 8 boards in just 18 minutes. Maryland definitely looked a better team when he was on the floor. Hopefully this will lead to him getting some meaningful playing time again. James Padgett, on the other hand, was quiet and saw little playing time, even though Maryland was blowing them out with 10+ minutes. Dino Gregory had to get 4 fouls for Padge to even get on the floor in the second half.

Notable absence: Jin Soo Choi. No word on why he only played about 2 minutes at the very end of the game. Probably a Cliff Tucker "missed practice" deal. I would've expected him to get a lot more PT with the lead that big.

In the end, I'm not sure how much Gary and the crew can take out of it, but it was a good, easy win. Nothing like a little low-major fodder for a confidence booster.

James Padgett's Strange Disappearance: Cliff Tucker Part Deux In the Making?

Ben Broman — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:30:10 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

22 days ago: Indiana forward Derek Elston, right, is fouled by Maryland forward James Padgett as he goes up for a shot during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Bloomington, Ind., Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Enter Dino Gregory. Exit James Padgett.

In Gregory's first game back after the eight game suspension, he ate up a rather outrageous 33 minutes. Jordan Williams saw his playing time shrink to just nine minutes as a result, but the real curiosity came in James Padgett's playing time; which is to say, the fact that he got none.

Yes, Padgett played a grand total of 0 minutes despite Gregory looking average at best and rather rusty. Gary likely wanted him out there because he's shorter and quicker, allowing him to better guard the players on the perimeter. But offensively he was average and he was a liablility on the boards - in 33 minutes, he had just 3 rebounds. Jordan had 5 in 9. Also, when Padgett was in, EKU switched up the offense and started attacking the middle, which was empty when Dino was present.

On the other side of that coin, when Williams was in they'd start attacking from outside, and he'd be a liability then.

So, the question is, why not use James Padgett? He's a good middle man between the size and strength of Williams and the speed of Gregory. He'd be able to stay with people on the perimeter and still provide a defensive presence on the inside if he needed to. He's a better rebounder than Gregory, and he hasn't looked lost at all.

Oh, and even Jin Soo Choi saw playing time. Yes, Choi was on the floor more than Padgett. I'll let that sink in.

Is Padgett slowly turning into Cliff Tucker? That's a snap judgement definitely - it was just one game. But it's something to keep track of as the season goes on. Maryland should use him and utilize their depth, not keep him on the bench.

Any thoughts on Padgett's lack of run yesterday?

Maryland Rides Vasquez and Milbourne to 83-72 Win Over Eastern Kentucky

Ben Broman — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:36:49 -0000

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

11 days ago: Marylan's Greivis Vasquez reacts after scoring and getting fouled during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Eastern Kentucky, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009, in College Park, Md. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

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When Maryland needed him, Greivis Vasquez delivered.

He didn't start the game after showing up late to a shootaround and had some rough times, as he had all this year, but as the Eastern Kentucky Colonels sat down two, on a run, with Maryland unable to make a shot, Vasquez did what he had to do: make big shots. He ended up with two threes in as many possessions, and sparked Maryland's offense that, at the time, was completely out of sync.

Maryland rode the momentum and ended up with an 83-72 win over EKU, putting them at 6-3 on the year.

Despite a fast start for Maryland with Vasquez on the bench (13-5 when he entered the game, up 17 shortly after), Eastern Kentucky steadily fought back and eventually tied the game in the second half on the strength of ridiculously good three point shooting and solid defense. Shortly after, Maryland's offense caught fire, spurred on by two big threes by Vasquez, who had struggled somewhat up to that point.

Sean Mosley was quiet after a breakout week that included solid games against Villanova and Indiana. Part of that might have been due to Vasquez's offensive reemergence; he led all scorers with 20 and paired that with 5 assists.

Props go out to Eric Hayes for a great performance today; he's been extremely consistent all year and had an important 14 points with 4 made threes. Landon Milbourne also quietly went about his business, returning to form with 19 points and 9 rebounds. He made big plays and didn't have too many lapses. This is the Milbourne you remember from last year.

As for Dino Gregory in his first game: he was okay, but definitely rusty. Some of his passes were iffy and his defense was inconsistent, but his jumper was absolutely money and he showed some very encouraging flashes. He probably got the start thanks to the need for perimeter defense.

EKU's shooting ability and lack of size meant that Jordan Williams wasn't very well fitted for this game: he isn't great guarding 6-6 people on the perimeter. Still, in limited time, he had 4 points and 5 rebounds, which was pretty good. He had some problems and looked very much like a freshman, but I'm still encouraged.

The strange thing was James Padgett's lack of playing time. He didn't see the floor, despite Jin Soo Choi inexplicably getting PT in a close game. I'm sure the lack of size for EKU and their perimeter shooting had plenty to do with it, but I've never been all that impressed with Choi's defense at any level. Puzzling indeed.

I'll try to go for some more analysis tomorrow, but for now, I'm okay with this result. It was closer than it should've been, that's for sure, but Vasquez looked like he was getting out of his funk and EKU is a tough team to beat when they're hot, as they were. Maryland has plenty to work on - defense especially among them - but it could've been worse.

Maryland Overcomes Another Slow Start, Beats Chaminade in Maui, 79-51

Ben Broman — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:31:24 -0000

More photos » by Eugene Tanner - AP

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Maryland saw yet another slow start against an inferior opponent, but yet again overcame it with a strong finish to defeat Chaminade in the first round of the Maui Invitational and move to 4-0 on the year, 79-51. Maryland will move on to play Cincinnati and former recruiting fling Lance Stephenson tomorrow in the second round.

Greivis Vasquez matched his team's slow start, and continued his general poor play to start the year. Vasquez, who put up 9, is yet to score 10 in a game. Sean Mosley and Landon Milbourne took advantage of his absence, scoring 19 and 10, respectively. Cliff Tucker had a solid contribution off the bench with 7 points, and Eric Hayes was his usual steady rock of a guard - he won't get as much credit as he deserves for this game.

As ESPNU's commentators never let you forget, this was Chaminade's Final Four, so Maryland was guaranteed to get their best shot. It was definitely a closer call than it should've been, and Maryland's insistence on playing half-hearted defense and gravity's insistence on making shots rim out didn't help. Chaminade had a two point lead as late as 7:44 in the first half; that's obviously not acceptable. Still, Maryland soon outclassed the Silverswords; the talent difference was obvious in the second half.

The problem was the start. Maryland can make up a terrible shooting percentage pretty quickly against Chaminade; they won't be able to against Cincinnati, and especially not against Gonzaga. They need heavier doses of Greivis Vasquez, driving the lane, and fewer lower percentage shots - most of Maryland's misses early on were jumpers. Those should come later, once players are in the flow of the game. Hopefully this gave them enough of a scare to realize that.

As for the the daily report on the freshman bigs, well, Jordan Williams looked better than James Padgett again, except for one big problem: he refuses to dunk. The dude broke a backboard, so you know he can do, but he needs to start. He's missing out on and-ones, and missing a lot of chances inside. It's time to start slamming those home.

Otherwise, he looked good - he's getting more in shape by the day, and is inching ever closer to his first double-double (was just one point away). Padgett's coming along a bit more slowly. He still has work to do, but he also flashed some signs of brilliance, like a beautiful layup from Jin Soo Choi in garbage time. In fact, the later in the game it got, the better his play became.

We'll have a writeup on Cincy sometime tomorrow - they play tomorrow at 7 on ESPN.

Slowly But Surely, Maryland's Frontcourt Depth Returning

Ben Broman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:30:25 -0000

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It sounds all but official at this point that Dino Gregory will be making his return to the team on December 12, just in time for the big showdown against Eastern Kentucky. Now word also comes out that Jin Soo Choi could be back against New Hampshire tomorrow, and, if not then, he's likely a go for Maui.

While Choi's presence isn't entirely important, it does provide a solid five to eight minutes a game that Jordan Williams, who has looked a little rough at the end of contests, doesn't have to be on the floor. He's also a safety net if any of Maryland's three current big men get injured.

From that same link, it also sounds like Steve Goins is progressing along nicely with his chronic knee injury - that doesn't really indicate when he'll back, but it does give hope that he'll make a return sometime soon. Having Goins to provide five to ten minutes a night would be huge - the dude's a big body who can, at the very least, provide a physical presence matched on the team only by Jordan Williams.

As for Dino, he will miss the all-important Villanova game and the Maui Invitational, which could prove especially problematic should Maryland face Vanderbilt. The good news is that he'll have a few warm-up games to shake off the rust - Eastern Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, UNC-G, etc. - before ACC play, when his services will really be required.

The silver lining to it is that when it comes time for James Padgett and Jordan Williams to play against some of the ACC-level bigs, they'll have experience. They'll be better for having gone up against Villanova and Cincy/Vandy/Gonzaga/Arizona/whoever, and they'll be a lot more use when it comes time to play in the ACC, which is what really matters comes Selection Sunday. Obviously, having a nice OOC win to point to can do wonders (MSU and Michigan last year) but it's trumped by finishing third in the ACC.

The possible disaster is subsiding.

Jin Soo Choi Sprains Right Ankle, Leaves Maryland With Three Frontcourt Players

Ben Broman — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:45:11 -0000

The skinny, Asian Larry Bird/Beatle combo. Without a post game.

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Okay, so plenty of good things happened yesterday - like Greivis Vasquez with 13 assists, and the big men combining for 20 points and 15 boards - but one thing that wasn't good was Jin Soo Choi spraining his right ankle. While not as bad as Steve Goins' mystery knee injury, Gary said it "didn't look good", and that "hopefully" he'll be able to play on Tuesday against Fairfield. That's a pretty rough ankle sprain. Even if he plays, I expect his play will be affected by it for a couple weeks.

Calling JSC a "frontcourt" player is a stretch in its own right - the dude is still Nicole Richie-skinny and flailed around in the post - but he was a body, dammit. And that's a body Maryland doesn't have now.

The worries I had earlier about possibly dropping an early game due to a lack of bigs are evaporating, because James Padgett and Jordan Williams looked really good against CSU, but it's still a bit disconcerting that there are so few options. Williams will have to get in shape real quick - he needed to anyway, but now he'll really need to. He was visibly tired at the end and his earlier sprints turned to trots. He'll now have to absorb even a few more minutes.

The good news about it all is that Williams and Padgett are getting their feet wet quickly and are getting a lot of PT, and that's how players get better. When Gregory and Choi and Goins all return, the team will be much, much stronger, meaning the second half of the year should be pretty good. The bad thing about it is that if there's one more injury, I'll be legitimately scared, Fairfield or not. We're reaching a pretty critical point with these injuries.

Maryland Easily Tops Charleston Southern In Season Opener, 89-51

Ben Broman — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:08:48 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

FILE: Maryland's Landon Milbourne, right, goes to the basket against Indiana of Pennsylvania's Darryl Webb (15) during the second half of an NCAA exhibition college basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, in College Park, Md. Maryland won 75-54. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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Maryland scored first and never trailed in its season opener against Charleston Southern, using a 26-11 second half run to put the game away and ultimately win easily, 89-51.

The big stories of the day were Greivis Vasquez and the freshman duo of Jordan Williams and James Padgett. Vasquez ended up with just eight points on a very average shooting performance, but he added 13 assists, most of them wowing the crowd. Twice he dropped my jaw, once a behind-the-back fake to real behind-the-back, once a pass that started as a reverse layup. While flashy play and flashy passing are nothing new for Vaz, he's definitely in midseason form already.

Jordan Williams earned his first start of his career in the first game of his career, suiting up in place of the ineligible/suspended/whatever Dino Gregory. Luckily for Maryland, he also earned his first double-digit scoring game today, putting up 10 points in the first half alone, adding a bucket in the second. He paired that performance with 9 rebounds, again, most of which came in the first half. Williams was very impressive against a smaller CSU team, but clearly tired as the game went on. Most people expected that, but he'll have to work on his conditioning for ACC play. Maryland will need that type of performance to beat the Clemsons and GTs of the world.

Fortunately, when Williams tired, James Padgett picked up the slack. After only scoring 2 in the first half, Padgett picked up 8 points and 8 rebounds in the second. The opposite of Williams, he looked very average until later in the game, when he started to get in the flow of play. They were surprisingly effective when on the floor together, too, though I would hope we aren't in that situation too much.

The rest of the team performed pretty much how we expected them to. Landon Milbourne led all scorers with 16, and Sean Mosley scored just one fewer, with 15 on the night. Both looked very impressive - Mosley's jumper looked good, he hit all of his layups, and he was traditionally himself: just imagine last year's Mosley with a more developed offensive game.

Maryland actually had 5 total players with double digits, and only Jin Soo Choi and Ersin Levent didn't score at all. Very good performance. I'll get more into the minuses later in the week, but just know that the first game went according to plan.

Countdown to Tipoff: Jin Soo Choi

Ben Goldstein — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:53:54 -0000

Jin Soo needs to step up big time on defense while Dino's out. Otherwise, LM, Jordan Williams and James Padgett are going to be some very tired Terps.

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Jin Soo Choi

#11 / Forward / Maryland Terrapins

Height: 6-8

Weight: 185

Year: sophomore

Today's "Countdown to Tipoff" segment features everybody's favorite Division 1 South Korean born basketball player, Jin Soo Choi, (formerly Jin Soo Kim.)

Jin Soo instantly became a fan-favorite last season after dropping 20 points in an exhibition game against Northwood University...but then fell into relative obscurity as the season progressed. Why? Well, he's 6-8 and 185 pounds. Let me repeat. 6-8. 185 pounds. I've seen girls in middle school with bigger chests and arms than Jin Soo.

Now, the reason that this is important is because Jin Soo is sort of in-between positions. He's got the height of a power forward but his weight makes him more of a small forward. The problem for Jin Soo is that there is already a log jam of players at the three position and very few at the four. Therefore, if he wants to see time, it's going to be at the power forward spot. This scares the hell out of me, but before we get to Jin Soo's projection for the season, let's take a closer look at his game.

His Game:

JSC's greatest strength is his shooting. He was known as a shooter coming out of high-school and despite limited opportunities, has shown that he has the ability to nail the three. The fact that he's 6-8 helps, as he is able to see over shorter defenders and can get his shot off relatively easily. If Jin Soo ends up playing the four, he can draw bigger and slower defenders outside to the three line which can open things up in the paint.

In addition to his height and his shooting touch, Jin Soo plays fundamental, solid defense and loves to fly around the court.

Unfortunately, Choi seems to fly around too much and often looks confused. More unfortunate is the fact that despite his fundamentals on defense, he is unable to really defend anybody at the four spot because of his weight. He just gets pushed around in the paint too much. There's been numerous occasions, (including one in last night's exhibition game,) where Jin Soo tries to get position for a rebound and simply gets thrown out of the way. If this happens against Indiana University of Pennsylvania, what's going to happen against Derrick Favors, Ed Davis, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Trevor Booker? The bottom line is, JSC at the 4 spot could be disastrous because unless he gets on Friedgen's pre-Medifast diet, he's going to have a hard time covering anybody down low.

A Slightly Less Baseless Projection:

Now, if I wrote this post yesterday, it would have been a lot different than it is today. The loss of Dino Gregory has a huge impact on Jin Soo Choi's season. With Dino (and Steve Goins) out, we're left with Landon Milbourne, and the two freshmen bigs in the front-court. That's not a whole lot of depth. And if one gets in foul trouble, the other two are going to be logging major minutes.

With Dino out, Gary needs to have Jin Soo play some at the four spot. And that's exactly where Choi played for most of last night. This really scares me because I can't see him banging down low with any ACC bigs. We need Dino back. But until that happens, JSC is going to be playing significant minutes. I've offered two projections for Jin Soo Choi: one with Dino out, and one with Dino in.

Without Dino Eligible

Pts	Reb	Min
4.4	3.3	10.8

With Dino Eligibile

Pts	Reb	Min
2.9	2.2	8.1

What do you guys think? Are you comfortable with Jin Soo playing some 4? Am I being too hard on the guy? Lets hear it.

Halloween Scrimmage Notes

Ben Goldstein — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:33:38 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Another impressive day for the three seniors.

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Gary Williams and Co. held their second open scrimmage of the season this afternoon. For those of you that couldn't make it, here are my notes on the guys.

Jordan Williams: Had a decent scrimmage, a lot better than his first one. Some of the comparisons floating around to Braxton Dupree are premature and probably a little unfair. JWill did a lot of good things today. He brought down a ton of rebounds which was nice to see. Defensively, though, he was a little inconsistent. Williams had a great block on James Padgett on a fast break that drew a loud cheer from the crowd. Unfortunately, he also seemed lost on defense at times. There was one play where Williams missed an assignment and Gary did one of his "I can't believe that just happened, now I'm going to put my hands on my head" things. Overall, though, it was a solid day for JWill who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

James Padgett: Also had a solid day. He probably outplayed Williams, but not by that much. Padge initially struggled putting the ball in the hoop but got better as the game went on. It's clear that he's going to get significant playing time this year. He dropped 17 points and brought in 11 rebounds (6 offensive) on a 6 for 12 shooting day.

Jin Soo Choi: Jin Soo scored 8 points and had a couple of rebounds but didn't really stand out. It doesn't seem like he's really put on weight and he doesn't look greatly improved from last season. I doubt that he'll be in the regular rotation come ACC play but obviously a lot can change between now and January.

Sean Mosley: Mosley was good today and should be an even bigger part of the team this season. He seems a lot more assertive on the offensive end and also looks to have gained a step or two. Mosley's greatest strength on offense is probably finding the open man and he did a good job of it today, leading both teams in assists with seven. He also added 16 points on 6-11 shooting.

Adrian Bowie: Bowie had a decent day with 14 points and three assists. He wasn't too great from 3, though, shooting 1 for 6 from behind the arc. Bowie also played some point guard today and did a nice job of it. Still, he's probably the third PG option behind Greivis and Hayes.

Eric Hayes: The senior guard looked good and if he doesn't earn a starting spot, he'll be the first guy off the bench. Hayes scored 18 points on a 6 for 9 shooting day. He was 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. He also seems more comfortable this year. Hayes isn't flashy or loud but he's a huge part of this team. He'll have a big part in determining how successful the Terps are this season.

Landon Milbourne: He's a monster and should have a huge year. He seems more comfortable at the 4 which is good because that's where he's going to be forced to play this year. Landon finished with 21 points on 7 for 11 shooting and brought down 6 boards.

Dino Gregory: Dino stood out more to me than any other player on the court despite not really showing up on the stat sheet (it seems like he scored a lot more than 8 points.) Regardless, Dino was a defensive presence and looked pretty sharp on his mid-range jump shot from what I saw. There was one play where Greivis and Jordan Williams were on a fast break with Dino playing defense and Williams went in for a tomahawk slam. Dino swatted the ball into the crowd and let out a "Get that outta here!" It was awesome. Probably the play of the game.

Greivis Vasquez: Greivis is Greivis. He's the best player on this team and it's not close. Terp fans, appreciate GV because we're going to miss him next year. The guy just finds a way to score. He hit from three and created shots by driving to the lane with ease. There was one sequence where Vasquez hit two straight threes, then stole the ball on defense and threw a no-look pass to Mosley who slammed it home. He's the man. We'll go as far as he takes us this year.

A Few Other Notes:

- Walked onto the court after the scrimmage and saw Mychal Parker and Hippolyte Tsafack sitting first row. Both were laughing and seemed to be having a good time. Hopefully we'll have more on Hippo and how his visit went in the next day or so.

- Anybody who thinks that Gary isn't as intense or dedicated as we once was, you're wrong. He was screaming at the coaches and players in typical Gary fashion, all while sporting a neck brace from his recent surgery.

- The front court is by no means a strength this season, but it should be improved. Dino looks greatly improved, Milbourne looks more comfortable, and both the freshmen bigs seem like they can contribute.

- Steve Goins didn't play and according to Pat Stevens, he was out with a knee injury.

- The feel good moment of the scrimmage was when Ersin Levent hit a gorgeous turnaround jumper that drew a large applause from the crowd. Gary and Greivis both came over and gave him some dap. Pretty sweet for a guy that walked onto the team two weeks ago.

Jin Soo Kim Changes Name, Now Jin Soo Choi

Ben Broman — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:05:07 -0000

In what is probably going to cause the most confusion out of all the news from the summer, Jin Soo Kim has changed his name. Unfortunately, this renders the "JSK" moniker irrelevant. It's a shame, because JSC just doesn't sound too good.

From Terrapins Insider:

According to a source close to the player, Jin Soo legally changed his last name to Choi in February, though all of the necessary documents were not completed until late May when he returned to South Korea following the end of Maryland's school year.

...

Choi's parents separated when he was an infant, and Choi was raised by his mother and stepfather, Ilsung Choi. According to the source, Jin Soo desired to acknowledge the impact his stepfather has had on his life, which prompted the last name change.

This change is yet to be reflected on his profile on Maryland's official athletic site, but that's unsurprising considering this is coming from a "source".

I am going to have so much trouble adapting to this. I've always referred to him as JSK. It's just felt right. As alluded to above, JSC just sounds strange. Maybe we can think up something better before the season starts.

At first I was afraid some media members would have trouble with the switch, but JSK never got enough playing time to even really register in any commentators minds. Maybe Choi will be 15 pounds heavier and more aggressive?