Turkey Day looms, and the University of Maryland Terrapins currently have lots to be thankful for. Before feasting Thursday, the Terps will spend the early part of this week in Mexico for the Cancun Challenge.

Having beat Rider Friday to move to 3-0, the Terps next face Illinois State (2-2) Tuesday night, and the winner of Rhode Island (2-1) / TCU (2-1) on Wednesday night.

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

We will take a further look at the Challenge opponents, but first some thoughts on what we’ve seen so far from Maryland.

Transfers Robert Carter and Rasheed Sulaimon are major pieces, and are playing like the experienced, talented players they are.

Carter has good size, and a nice intermediate shot. When close to the basket, it’s been fun seeing his array of hook shots.  He’s going to consistently be an effective interior option. It was interesting Friday, when in the 2nd half, he was briefly utilized at the 5 in a smaller alignment. There has been talk that during his year of ineligibility his 3 point shooting had improved (he shot 26% from 3 in 2013-14 with Georgia Tech on 2.3 attempts per game), but he is 0-4 so far on the year. For this MD team, I don’t they need him hoisting shots from outside. He’s currently second on the Terps in rebounding per game (6.7 per) despite playing 5 minutes less per game than Layman. That’s the key for me. You need him attacking the glass, and winning there. While he lacks the top-shelf athleticism that Chris Wilcox had, this is the most talented PF Maryland has had in years.

Thank goodness Sulaimon decided to join the Terps.  Our BSL Colleague Chris Knoche has already mentioned that he’s a strong on-ball defender. That’s a good thing, because that isn’t a strength of his teammates. I’ve been impressed by his floor game. Not just when Melo Trimble is off-the-floor, and he’s been running the offense as the 1; but when they’ve shared the floor together. Sulaimon is the Terp right now that is looking to make the extra pass. The guy that is creating looks, and opportunities for his teammates. Need him to drive, and dish? He can do that. Need some outside shooting? He can provide that. He’s currently leading MD in minutes played per game (33.7). So far this year, he’s been playing the role of the facilitator. Currently 5th on the team in scoring (8.7), I think it’s quite possible that more and more of the offense will go through him. If that happens, he has to do a better job of getting to the line (just 2 foul shots through the first 3 games). At the level of minutes he’s getting, I think he has the ability to be a 15ppg scorer.  Can he increase his scoring, while also being counted on to be MD’s best defender, and the backup 1?

It’s not hard to see why Diamond Stone was one of the five best recruits in the Class of 2016. 6’11, 255 lbs. Moves well. Great footwork. Advanced offensive skills. Confident at the foul line. A shot out to 15 feet. I’m not sure I see a 1 & Done type player though. It’s clear he needs more time in a weight room. It’s also clear that while he is a good athlete, he’s not some above-the-rim high flier. In the Georgetown game, he was pushed around a bit. Against Rider, MD got back into the game going through him. It’s important to look at him as part of the overall solution, and not place the expectations of him being the savior. He’s a Freshman. He’s going to have positive moments, and not so great ones. What I really like so far, is I think he has some edge to him. He might not be able to greatly improve his strength during this season, but the cardio has to get a bit better. He’s only playing 17 minutes per at this point, and has looked gassed at times. As I said with Carter, I think the key to watch is his rebounding. In those 17 minutes, he’s averaging a very respectable 4.3 boards. That’s 12 in 38 minutes against undersized Mt. St. Mary’s and Rider opponents, and 1 in 14 vs. Georgetown.

This is not going to be a prolific offensive team. They don’t have great scoring punch, and won’t create enough offense from defense. What they are going to have to be, is an efficient offense. Limit the bad shots. Get inside. Get to the foul line.

Coach Turgeon seemingly does not like to press. Historically we only see him go to it when the team is struggling. I’d like to see it incorporated more. MD slept through the first 25 minutes plus Friday night vs. Rider. I think had MD been more aggressive defensively, it could have woken up the Terps earlier. That activity creating some breakaways and run outs for MD. (I sure miss Wells. MD isn’t some slow plodding team, but it’s not a team of high fliers either. Another above the rim 2/3 that could get out in transition would be huge.)

Turgeon’s perspective seems to be that he doesn’t want to gamble in that regard. That he wants more of a base defense. Get back, get set, rebound, and limit second looks. Nothing wrong with that per se, but I’d be comfortable with allowing some easy looks (when the press was broken) in-exchange for a more open game, which leads to more possessions, and points for the Terps. What really bothered me about the Rider game was not that MD was pushed by a mid-major on their home court – it was that Rider was in that game without having some great shooting night from outside. They weren’t draining 3’s (4 of 15), nor were they regularly getting to the line (6 of 8). They were simply beating defenders off the dribble, and too often not being contested at the rim.

Trimble’s FT shooting (18 of 26, 69%) seems like an early aberration. He didn’t make 86% of his attempts last year by accident. It’s amazing how often he goes to the floor. I’ve found myself holding my breath a few times already this year hoping that he maintains his health. Hasn’t been a great three games for the Sophomore, but when MD needed him the most (vs. Georgetown) he came through. Even with misses, he put his head down and got to the foul line 18 times.

Jake Layman has scored in double figures each game so far, and has had at-least 9 attempts per game. He’s leading the team in rebounding (7 per game). After no FT’s against Mt. St. Mary’s he had 7 attempts vs. Georgetown, and 5 vs. Rider.  If he continues to rebound, and get to the line; I’ll be happy. While he’s a capable outside shooter (38% last year on 3.4 attempts per), I’d be fine with more of his offense continuing to come inside. I think MD plays better when he’s aggressively attacking the rim. Defensively, he does his best work at the top of the 1-3-1 Turgeon likes to use. Going forward, Maryland needs him to lock down opposing 3’s. If I’m Turgeon, that’s what I’m challenging him to provide.

Michal Cekovsky’s strength gain is evident. There are a number of things to like about his game. His play against Georgetown was vital. What disappointed, was that effort vs. the Hoyas was followed by 7 minutes of nothing vs. Rider. It’s about consistency. Turgeon said before the year that Damonte Dodd was capable of being the National Defender of the Year. Hyperbole or not, it was obviously a compliment to Dodd’s defensive ability. I’m being a broken record at this point, but you need him to rebound. In the last two games, he has 4 boards in 30 minutes. That’s not acceptable. He’s not going to score beyond put-backs and dunks; so when he is on the floor he has to be disruptive defensively, and he has to strong on the boards.

Before the opener, I said that I thought Jared Nickens would average 10-12 ppg, boosted by Dion Wiley not being around. Right now, Nickens is at 7ppg, in 24 minutes per. He’s taken five 3’s in each of the 3 games. hitting just 2 of his last 10. He’s a quality shooter, no doubt that his percentage will increase. Need a bit more versatility to his game though. Improvement with the dribble drive, and posting up. He has 7 boards in the opener, but just 7 combined in the last two games. As with Layman, if I’m Turgeon, I’m challenging him to improve on the defense end. With respect to Varun Ram, MD’s second best perimeter defender behind Sulaimon was Wiley. Without Dion being available, you need Layman and Nickens to make opposing wings work.

Three games into his Terps career, Jaylen Brantley has seemingly been written off by many Maryland fans. As we said before the opener, with MD having lost Wiley, Brantley’s one of the more interesting players on the roster. He played 16 minutes vs. Mt. St. Mary’s. He’s played 5 minutes since, including just 1 vs. Georgetown. The clear takeaway there is that Turgeon did not believe Brantley was ready for that stage. Building Brantley up during this season needs to happen. If he can’t get to a point where he provides usable minutes as the reserve 1, that really impacts the roster. If he can, then Sulaimon can spend more time looking for his shot, vs. running the offense when Trimble is on the bench. Brantley has routinely been described as having a quick first-step, and being a good creator for others. Having had a year of JUCO under his belt, it will be very disappointing if he’s just not usable in any capacity this year. With that quick first-step, I’d also hope that he can be an answer defensively against smaller, quicker guards that MD faces this year. As much as any other MD player, it’s important that Turgeon is able to coach up Brantley.

When MD needed a spark Friday, Turgeon inserted Ram. You know Ram’s always going to play with energy, and be active defensively. You also know it would be detrimental to MD if the Terps ever had to give him significant time. 2-3 minutes a game (non-garbage time) might be worthwhile, just to give the starters a chance to catch their breath.

Before the opener, Knoche mentioned Ivan Bender saying, “Bender can really play. On probably half of the Terp teams in the last decade he might have started and fans would have loved him and his feel for the game. He may get no burn whatsoever.”

Maryland has a loaded front-court, and Turgeon has found Bender any minutes so far. With the current style of play, it’s probably not necessary. If Turgeon incorporates a more open-court game, and you just want to throw active, rested bodies at the opposition; maybe we see him. Maryland has three games until facing North Carolina. Then after Carolina, Maryland has Saint Francis, UConn, UMES, Princeton, and Marshall prior to the start of Big Ten play. If Bender is going to get any run this year, seems to me that you would be looking to find spots to play him in these OOC games before the conference schedule begins. (You could say the same for Brantley.)

My overall expectations for the year have not changed. I think the focus right now has to be forgetting about the NCAA Tournament. Forgetting about comparing this MD team to the best MD teams of all-time. I think the focus should be on improving month-to-month. 3/5s of the starting line-up is new. Despite all of the experience that Carter and Sulaimon have overall; it’s still a guy that wasn’t eligible last year and a guy that this time last year was playing at Duke. It’s a transition for them, and it’s a transition for their new teammates as well. Stone has played three college games. Three. Let’s let him breathe. Focusing on minutia now, will allow MD to compete for their larger goals later. Before thinking about playing in the National Tournament, I’d be keeping the attention on the Big Ten. Winning the regular season conference title. Winning the conference tournament. Building the tournament resume.

You know the other thing MD’s players (and their fans for that matter) should be focusing on? Having fun, and enjoying this moment. With UNC’s loss yesterday, MD figures to be the #2 team in the country in the rankings this week. Maryland isn’t perfect, but there is an awful lot to like. This has been a long-time coming. All of us should be enjoying it!

Getting back to the idea of enjoyment, gets us back to the Cancun Challenge. Not sure how much sun-and-fun MD’s players will get, but has to be worse things than getting on a plane and flying to Paradise for a couple of games.

As we said above, Illinois State is 2-2. Wins over Morehead, and Houston Baptist. Losses vs. San Diego State, and South Dakota State. CBS Sports predicted the Redbirds to finish 2nd in the Missouri Valley Conference. Player stats can be found here.

Rhode Island was predicted by CBS to win the Atlantic 10. Unfortunately for them, they lost E.C. Matthews – a contender for A10 POY – to season ending injury. The Rams have beat American, and Cleveland State, and lost a close game to Valparaiso when Towson transfer Four McGlynn missed two late 3’s. Player stats can be found here.

Texas Christian is a major-conference team, but picked by nearly everyone to finish in the cellar of the Big 12. So far they’ve beat Southeast Louisiana, and Houston Baptist, and lost to South Dakota State. Six Horned Frogs are scoring in double figures.

Clearly MD should be favored to win these forthcoming two games. What’s important is how MD plays, and hopefully having some fun while they do it. Teams are going to hunt the Terps. They have to embrace it, and look to make a statement each night, vs. every opponent they face.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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