Maybe I think I can see things that others can’t but I truly believe that the dominant comeback Sunday against GW might have opened up the eyes of Coach Turgeon to some tendencies of some of his players that might not had been exposed yet. Though Coach vehemently denies that the press will enter his game plan regularly, I am not buying this.
Last year as the season wore on, the one main defense that ignited the team was the press. It gave Duke fits, it threw many of our opponents off and most importantly it took a team without a strong point guard out of the unsuccessful half court sets.
Sunday against GW, we witnessed a different team once Maryland put Jake Layman on the man throwing the ball in as the guy who triggers the press. For 10 minutes Maryland was able to freelance, get open shots, steal the ball and generally cause confusion and chaos for the Colonials. Whereas the Terps lack that experienced point guard, the strength of its players is driving strong to the hoop. Freshman Roddy Peters excelled in this high pressure situation. The 14 point lead was erased quickly (without Dez Wells who had fouled out) and minus a malarky call against Charles Mitchell late in the game, Maryland should have won this game.
But even in a loss there is a lot to learn. Has Nick looked better this year then the last 10 minutes of the game? Will Layman get better looks in a chaotic sort of game. Did we learn that in this kind of game, Penn State transfer Jonathan Graham was an energizing asset. Yes we will give up some drives for easy buckets but that is already happening now several times a game. By the way think back to the UConn game–was it not high pressure defense that turned the game from a Huskie blowout to a last possession game.
You just don’t have to institute a press when you are hopelessly behind. Also, you don’t have to press for 40 minutes. But my guess is that we will begin to see much more of the press. The Terps have gotten off to some terrible beginnings this year. Change the tone, turn the heat on—94 ft of Hell.
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