Maryland making noise in the NBA: March 4-10

Former Terps hoops stars Kevin Huerter, Alex Len and Jake Layman have been major contributors to their respective NBA teams this season. Huerter and Len are in the regular rotation for the Atlanta Hawks, especially Huerter, who has earned a starting role as a rookie. Layman provides a spark off the bench for the Portland Trail Blazers and has shown his immense potential at times this season.

Tracking their success for the rest of the NBA season, TSR takes a look at how Huerter, Len and Layman fared each week. Here’s a look at their performances from March 4-10.

Kevin Huerter (2018-2019: 27.2 MPG, 9.5 PPG, 2.7 APG, 3.2 RPG)

Playing four games with the Hawks last week, Huerter was effective, but not always efficient. His team’s week started March 4 with a 114-113 loss at Miami, in which Huerter played 24 minutes and posted 13 points, three rebounds and two assists. He hit three shots from beyond the arc against the Heat, but would outdo himself in that area later in the week. Coming back home to play San Antonio March 6 and Brooklyn March 9, Huerter scored just 11 points (3-for-18 from the field) combined in those outings and hit just one shot from deep. He did have four rebounds in each of those games and dished out five assists against the Spurs, but the Red Mamba saved his best for the end of the week. In a 128-116 win at home March 10 against the New Orleans Pelicans, Huerter dropped 27 points--just two off his career-high--while also ripping down four boards and dolling out three assists. Huerter hit four threes against the Pelicans and scored 17 of his points in the second quarter, which was the best scoring quarter of his young career.

Alex Len (2018-2019: 19.6 MPG, 10.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 0.9 BLKPG)

Len has seen a slight uptick in minutes with John Collins and Dewayne Dedmon sidelined recently, and he is making the most of his added time. Last week got off to a slow start for him as he scored just two points with four rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes. But the fifth-year pro has played 29 minutes in each of the Hawks’ last three games and has scored in double figures in each of them (11 points vs SA, 15 points vs Bkn, and 19 points vs NO). His hot shooting from downtown continued during that stretch as he hit six threes in that span, highlighted by three in a 19-point, nine-rebound performance against the Pelicans. His role might revert back to the bench soon with Atlanta’s frontcourt expected to return to full strength sooner than later, but Len has proven that he can give his team good minutes when they need him.

Jake Layman (2018-2019: 18.6 MPG, 7.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG)

Layman has been one of the most efficient players for the Trail Blazers when he does get time off the bench, but minutes were hard for him to come by last week. The acquisition of Rodney Hood at the trade deadline and the increased health of Moe Harkless have severely cut into Layman’s production recently, but two of this three games last week were solid. Playing 17 minutes in a nine-point loss at Memphis March 5, Layman shot 4-for-6 from the field to finish with eight points to go along with his six rebounds. Two nights later at home in an overtime loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Layman was virtually absent, playing just 16 minutes, shooting 0-for-3 from the field and scoring no points--on his birthday, nonetheless. He followed up that poor performance with an encouraging one March 9 in a 127-120 win over the Phoenix Suns. Layman played 25 minutes in that game and posted nine points, five rebounds, an assist and two blocks. He has proven he can get it done at both ends of the floor for Portland this season and should continue to make the most of his minutes when he gets them.