The Maryland Terrapins Men’s Basketball program currently finds itself in a pretty challenging situation. The upgrade in the talent on their roster over the last few years has brought with it a commensurate number of early departures…most permanent.
Most of what comes along with this situation amounts to good news. The most obvious is the fact that you have seriously improved the level of athletes and players in your program to the degree that you have a handful of guys who will have the opportunity to play the game professionally. Another is that you’ve given your program a level of street cred in the recruiting world that where kids and coaches see that you’re a candidate for players that want to use colleges as a rest stop on their way to getting paid.
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So now the Terps coaching staff finds itself in a tough situation. Of course they knew that seniors Rasheed Sulaimon and Jake Layman would be gone. The departure of freshman Diamond Stone could be seen from miles away. Robert Carter might not get drafted at all but he had graduated (respect!) and is at an age and a point in his life where he feels compelled to move on. It would have been great to have him back but I get it.
And then there was one.
Melo Trimble announced recently that he was going to test the waters to see where he stands in the eyes of NBA teams. His sophomore season was one of highs and lows and his struggles in the last six weeks of the seasons seems to have cost him in stature and potential $$$. I read with interest recent comments by former Maryland coach Gary Williams that Melo needs to “get his butt back in school”. While I agree with the gist of what he said and hope to see Melo wear the jersey again, the fact that Melo is testing the waters is exactly what Melo should be doing. For the first couple of months of the season we had been hearing that he was arguably the best point guard in the college game. No question he teetered down the stretch, but the way current NCAA rules are written it amounts to a no brainer for players in Melo’s situation to go see where they stand. He is in good shape in school and can come back if he chooses. The six-eight weeks he uses to examine where he stands will be spent working out all day, every day and then playing against great competition at the NBA’s pre-draft camp in Chicago. While his status may leave the Maryland program hamstrung for a while until Trimble makes a decision, this adventure was an easy call for Melo’s camp.
At this time you can probably only nominally plan for next season if you’re Mark Turgeon. No doubt the Terps will try and play to their strengths next season but, until the roster is set, you’re not even sure what those strengths are. Beyond waiting for the Trimble decision, the Terps staff is almost certainly very involved in the transfer market right now. Maryland has benefited as much as anybody over the past few years from taking graduate transfers. I’m rooting for Christmas to come soon and Santa to bring us a 3 and a 4. I swear I’ve been good…
Right now Mark Turgeon and company have a pretty fluid situation to deal with. Even if Melo comes back you have some decisions to make. Do you commence the Anthony Cowan era and use Melo Buddy Hield-style off the ball or do you showcase him as a point guard in preparation for a professional career (likely answer may be both)? Given the current roster and the players you know for certain are coming back, where will your points come from? What style do you see yourself playing? Can you run more? Given the fact that you’re retooling do you entrust your freshman with larger roles than you might ordinarily (likely answer is absolutely).
I think fans can be really too quick in writing players off. These guys all mature and grow at different paces. That said the upcoming season is critical to a portion of the roster. I would have thought after his freshman season that Jared Nickens was destined to score 1,000 points in a Maryland uniform and be a lock for major minutes as a junior and senior. Then he struggled for the majority of this past season and, all of a sudden, it becomes realistic to think he’ll never be anything more than a specialist. I love a lot of the things about Jaylen Brantley’s game. He can shoot and score and has a knack of being in the right place at the right time. He still has to become a better practice player and a much more tenacious defender. At his size you have to be a complete bulldog on defense if you expect to play regularly.
At the center position you have Damonte Dodd and Michal Cekovsky. They are what they are…big bodies with limited games. Maybe, just maybe, Ceko develops with more consistent time. Can they play together? Maybe. They’ll get that chance, I’m sure.
That brings us to the team unicorn, Ivan Bender. Almost mythical on Maryland message boards, he showed a pretty impressive skill set in really limited minutes last season but those glimpses had Terp fans clamoring to give him more minutes. One thing you have to look at is his production and willingness to do some dirty work. It may be apples to oranges but if you compare his numbers to Dodd and Ceko he will definitely earn a long look this year. Granted he played in mop-up situations but he averaged one rebound every 2.5 minutes whereas Ceko had one every 4.4 minutes and Dodd one every 5.7 minutes. Those are paltry numbers that need to improve. A lot of times I think rebounding stats can be overrated but it was a huge issue this past season where the team never rebounded to its size and it negated the ability to get out on the fastbreak and opportunities for easy offensive putbacks offensively and led to some agonizingly long possessions on the defensive end.
The one thing that is certain is uncertainty. The one great thing about this program right now is the locker room. It’s a team full of good guys that get along well. Sure, there is a lot of talent headed out the door but there will be an infusion of youth and energy that is sure to be a breath of fresh air for Maryland fans. Winning 55 games in a two year period will spoil you. It’s easy to get used to the success but you have to realize that it came with good players, hard work and a little bit of luck sprinkled in. There remain good players in the program. The staff will have them work their asses off, no doubt. Now they could use a gift or two from Santa and a sprinkling of luck.
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.