Now that everybody has had a chance to take a few deep breaths after the rollercoaster ride that was the Georgetown game I thought I’d offer up a few thoughts headed into a stretch of five games over the next two weeks.

First off….the Georgetown game…by any measure was a megahit.

The Hype? Met by the game itself.

The Win? Invaluable to a team that is still fairly new to playing with each other.

The Crowd? Jesus H. Christ. I mean, it was insanely loud — even for a guy wearing headphones as I do. And the crescendo when they showed Greivis on the big screen in the last five minutes made the hairs on my neck stand up. Seriously, it has to be one of the great moments in the 13 year history of Comcast/Xfinity.

The End Result? Well, 2-0 beats pretty much any alternative, but there is plenty of work left to do, for sure.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

The one single thing that Maryland fans have to love is very obvious even after two games. College hoops is a guard’s game – particularly now with the shot clock set at 30 seconds. Last year the Terps won almost every close game they played (and there were plenty) largely because of their backcourt. The guards were so good down the stretch of games the two best will be like Brazilian soccer players….they’ll go down in program history with everyone referring to them by first names – Melo and Dez.

This year the part of Dez is being played pretty damn capably by Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon. While he does not seem to have the physical presence that Wells had (Big Ten wings were terrified of Dez last year) he does bring a really remarkable set of skills to the table. I have no doubt that he will have a few games this year with double digit assists. That’s really saying something when your two guard can do that for you. He also brings a wealth of big game experience with him. The Georgetown game was his 92nd collegiate game. He was never fazed by the moment.

You have to also be pleased by where Jake Layman and Robert Carter are right now. Layman came back to score 15 critical points in the second half against Georgetown after a dreadful first half that saw him shoot 0-4 with two airballs. I’m not sure last year’s Jake could have done that. Buoyed by an extra 20 pounds of muscle this season and playing in a lineup with threats at every spot his confidence is off the charts. The combination of him and Robert Carter being on the floor together makes things especially tough on opposing forwards.

I’ve seen a lot of players transfer over the years and a lot of times they lose some edge when they’re out of game competition after a year. I thought Carter was enigmatic at Georgia Tech. He could be a double-double machine but seemed to drift in and out of games and drift in and out of the post (read: too many jumpers, not enough post-ups). The new and improved Robert Carter has completely altered his body while adding a variety of crafty ways to score. Against Georgetown he scored on jumpers, post moves, an alley-oop and even a fabulous fade away swish from the elbow.

You know you’re living right when you can learn some really great lessons about your team AND celebrate a terrific win at the same time. Georgetown’s senior center Bradley Hayes averaged less than a point per game last year yet he completely lit up Terp defenders at every turn. He was never spectacular but he was very solid fundamentally and established position way too deep in the lane. As good as Maryland freshman Diamond Stone is on the offensive end he has a lot to learn defensively. And he will. The fact that he got his lunch money taken by a senior like that isn’t alarming. In fact, it’s actually pretty predictable.

Junior Damonte Dodd has come miles in two years. In between his freshman and sophomore seasons he worked to become a better free throw shooter and it paid off big for him and his team last year. I know he can score around the basket. He just doesn’t seem to have a lot of confidence in that part of his game. Maybe that comes from his minutes being limited or perhaps the fact that he sees himself as a defender first. That’s a good problem to have if you’re coaching him.

The most effective center in the Georgetown game was Michael Cekovsky. Noticeably bigger and stronger than last season, he appears to have made significant strides from last year. To have a skilled and athletic 7 footer coming in off the bench can be a real game changer. Between Dodd and Ceko the Terps appear to have two.

The next two weeks will be very telling for Maryland. The Cancun Challenge has some really tough teams in it. Illinois State is predicted to finish second to top ten (prior to the Tulsa loss) Wichita State in the difficult Missouri Valley conference. Rhode Island has a deep and talented team that won 23 games last year and is picked by most to win the league in the very underrated Atlantic 10.

Clearly the Terps need to approach this as a business trip if they expect to win it.

On the other side of the four games as part of the Cancun Challenge is a little game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. One can only hope that both teams show up undefeated and still atop the polls and that game gets the kind of buzz that it deserves. The guess here is that ACC preseason player of the year, Marcus Paige, currently sidelined with a broken hand, will be back and playing by the time of the matchup on December 1st.

And, if your goal is to stay atop those polls for the season you really wouldn’t want it any other way.

Chris Knoche
Chris Knoche

Terps Analyst

A fixture in the Washington sports scene since his days as a player and a coach, Chris Knoche has accumulated a diverse resume as a media presence in town for more than two decades. That resume has earned him opportunities on both national and local stages and made him a Washington DC staple on radio, television and in digital media.

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