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Maryland Basketball: Takeaways from Terrapins loss against Virginia Tech

By Sean Cole

Dec 1, 2021; College Park, Maryland, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon walks onto the court before the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2021; College Park, Maryland, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon walks onto the court before the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Maryland Basketball Eric Ayala Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Maryland Basketball Eric Ayala Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

Eric Ayala’s struggles

I do not mean any disrespect to Eric Ayala, as he has been a staple on the Maryland basketball team all of his four years that he has been on campus. After his junior year last season, he tested the NBA waters and eventually made the decision to come back to College Park for his senior season. As a Maryland fan, I was excited about that decision, as this year was his time to shine and to be the leader of the Terp’s basketball team.

There was a lot of expectation for Ayala this year, named to the preseason Wooden Award list, preseason All-Big 10, and was clearly going to be the leader of the 2021-2022 Maryland Terps.

Ayala so far this year is having a pretty good season. He is the leading scorer at 13.5 ppg, and  4.6 rpg. He is playing solid defense and doing almost everything that that needs to be done to win games.

Where is Ayala?. I want the leader of the Terp’s to take control of the game when necessary, I want the leader of this team to take control of the game down the stretch, I want the leader of this team to play with fire, passion, and emotion on both ends of the court. I want the leader of this team to “be the man”.

I don’t feel as though Ayala is the man.

Ayala needs to assert himself and become not only the leader on the court but the vocal leader as well. He needs to play with passion and emotion, as the calling card of the Terp’s is defense, which great defense translates into scoring offense.

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