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Judging by the comments made on the blog on Monday afternoon, as well as e-mails I received Monday night, there seems to be a mixed reaction to the announcement that Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez will return for his senior season.
Some readers, justifiably, point to the fact that he led the Terrapins in scoring, rebounding and assists last season. Or that he was Maryland's most clutch performer. Or that he was a reliable source of energy, charisma and flair. Readers who use these arguments appear, well, ecstatic that Vasquez will don a Maryland uniform next season.
But others prefer to point out that Vasquez did not always make the best decision with the ball in his hands. Or that he sometimes seemed too interested in personal accomplishments (his triple-double, for instance). Or that his defense was not always sharp and his shot did not fall as often as some would have liked. And there's some legitimacy to those claims.
In the one season that I have closely followed Vasquez, here's what I know:
-- The dude wants to win. Badly. Always.
-- He was, without a shadow of a doubt, Maryland's best player last season.
-- He is cocky and endearing and ornery and charming. Often, he is somehow all those things at once. He speaks his mind more often than Coach Gary Williams and his staff would prefer.
-- The Terrapins would not have earned an NCAA tournament berth last season without him, and their chances of doing so again this coming season would have been greatly diminished had he chosen to stay in the NBA draft.
Here's the thing about Vasquez: You pretty much know what you're going to get every time he takes the court. For the most part, he was a consistent presence for the Terrapins last season. Even during the stretch when his shooting percentage sunk, he almost always found a way to score 10 or more points. How many other players on Maryland's squad possess that capability?
Now, you could argue that we never got to find out whether other players have that ability because Vasquez took so many shots. It's a debate I'm sure will carry well into the upcoming season.
-- Steve Yanda
