Maryland Terrapins point guard Melo Trimble is an elite college player with NBA Draft stock that fluctuates wildly. Every college player sees their draft stock rise and fall, but with #StayMelo there’s always been an added layer of over-analysis. At the beginning of his sophomore season, he was named B1G preseason player of the year.
The Terrapins were a trendy national title pick that preseason. Obviously, it didn’t work out that way, on either the individual or team level. Last season saw the narrative shift from “Melo Trimble has had a couple off nights” to “Melo Trimble is in a prolonged shooting slump” to “Melo Trimble just isn’t as elite as the media have made him out to be.”
It’s not Trimble’s fault he was named All-Big Ten first team and preseason player of the year. He can’t control how he’s covered, and he certainly didn’t ask to receive any added hype.
The former McDonald’s All-American is just a very fun guy to watch play the game of basketball, and he’s got an engaging personality to boot (you got to root for a guy who wore socks of Mr. Sparkle from that famous The Simpsons episode to B1G Media Day).
While his stock took a major tumble last season, here’s where it stands right now.
Melo Trimble NBA Draft Mocksourcing #StayMelo
-The Sports Bank (the only mock that matters!) #38 Sacramento
-NBA Draft Net #39 Sacramento
-Walter Football #53 Oklahoma City
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The 6-2 junior from Upper Marlborough, Maryland (we’re assuming that’s also Upper Flavor Country) struggled with body language at times last year, which is an indication of something to resolve mentally, not physically.
“He’s got to have the confidence, I can’t give it to him, his mom can’t give it to him. He’s got to find it himself, he’s got to borderline cocky out there, and I think he was tonight,” said Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon after the Terps rolled at Northwestern 74-64.
“He had an extra gear tonight, and his teammates knew he was feeling it,” Turgeon said of Trimble who led all scorers by a very wide margin with 32. Trimble finished 12-17 from the floor, 4-5 from three.
“I thought Trimble was fantastic, as good as I’ve seen him play, and he’s played a lot of good games, so that’s saying something,” Northwestern Coach Chris Collins.
This was Melo when he’s not mellow, this was Melo in attack mode getting to the tin, and converting in the paint. This was Trimble triple mode, when he’s feeling it from behind the arc. As Turgeon pointed out, he’s a great player, and great player guys should be allowed to have a night when they’re not making shots.
“He hadn’t been shooting the ball well from three, I think he was 3-22 from three coming into this one,” Collins pointed out. Trimble was on fire tonight, but he came in shooting just 29% from three in conference play, 33% on the season.
Added Collins: “I’m sure there were things we could have done a little bit better, but sometimes too a really good player is going to have a night like that, and it’s going to be tough.”
“And the addition of (Anthony) Cowan has allowed him to be an explosive scorer instead of a point guard, to play off the ball.”
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That right there is where Trimble’s future lies in the league. He won’t be a starting one, but he might be a decent back-up. Collins knows it, Turgeon knows it, and the scouts obviously do too. Trimble needs to further develop as an off-the-ball scorer. We know that he does a lot of things for his team when he’s not scoring, we’ve seen it.
He has shown an ability to penetrate, and either attack the basket, or pass off to his teammates. He can facilitate, but isn’t expected to be primarily a floor general at the next level. He’s got to show his combo guard skills, his ability to be a sixth man, off the ball scorer (finding more consistency with his outside shot would help).
The league’s move to more guard-centric “small ball” could be a boon for Melo Trimble.
Of course, he’s more than a bit undersized for this role in the NBA and thus he’ll most likely go in the second round in June, should he decide to forgo his senior season.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and Bold, contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication, CGTN America, WGN CLTV News and KOZN.
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