The sun still came out on Friday after a 24 Hour Odyssey in Louisville—Some thoughts
I was crazy anxious to get to Louisville after missing the 1st 2 rounds played in unknown parts of the US errrr Spokane
Great Terrapin turnout–1 full section off center court and probably 2500 scattered around the arena, taking advantage of absurdly low Stub Hub regional prices
Seemed like most of the neutral Louisville fans attending, got on the Terps bandwagon
Had lunch with a good friend who had moved to Louisville but was surprised when he said Pitino had no knowledge of the scandal–just laughed
Got to arena very early and watched Nova utterly destroy Miami and understood the rumors that the secret game with Maryland was dominated by Villanova
To the game:
The Terps dominated the 1st half but still trailed by 2. Bad sign. Real bad sign. Why trail– 2-13 from the 3 point line
Talked to Scott Green from rivals and I thought the Terps should mix in a zone because Kansas shot poorly in the 1st half and the Terps had 3 players with 2 fouls. He thought I was loco.
If you hadn’t noticed the bench was not overly productive lately–3 for Nickens, 4 for Dodd—period
Rasheed kept this game from being embarrassing –one of the toughest players ever to wear a Terps uni even if it was just for a year
What happened in the 2nd half–Melo was double teamed of the high screen every time. It just seemed like the Terps could not score.
Turge reacted to foul trouble with offense defense subs and then finally realized that only the starting 5 might be able to produce a comeback
It never happened after the 4 missed free throws at 52-46
Terps were out rebounded 43-28 and Kansas had 13 offensive rebounds– became the norm as we played better teams in the tournament
Last 10 minutes the team was just flat, I was just flat, the arena was flat and only the great pep bands from Maryland and Kansas kept life in the building
Factors—4 blocks for Layman, RCJ missed his 1st few shots which threw his game off
In these games usually the team that wins had the best player on the court.
No exception here–Pery Ellis was stupendous with 27 points.
I stayed around listening to Turge and Layman lament the loss and praise Kansas and finally split at about 1 AM
Ups to Layman for closing out his career on such a high note
Stopped in a pizza place and talked over the game with a bunch of Kansas fans who were overly gracious praising Maryland
Around 3 AM depression left and I looked back and realized how much fun the season was, and how it was to have Maryland basketball relevant again. Yes it was agonizing at times but what the heck for a weeks we were #2 in the nation and the dream was present again.
In summary—Good Job Turgeon, round of 32 last year, round of 16 this year, Next Year –who knows
NOTHING LIKE MARYLAND BASKETBALL !!!!!!
Hal Mendelson
Once again the same game plan as my grandson’s Pikesville Rec. League team. Dribble dribble dribble by point guard while 4 players first desperately ask for ball and then finally give up and stand around. No one in position to even try for the rebound when he desperately throws up a prayer as time expires. I think that what we are seeing is the Peter Principal….Turgeon as been promoted until he reached his level of incompetence. He cannot coach on the level of these top coaches. He is an excellent recruiter. He has made Maryland Basketball fun again. He has reached his ceiling. He CANNOT go further.
Diamond and possibly Carter to the pros. Melo moves to 2 guard and new recruit goes to the point. If Melo goes to the pros, the best he could do is the developmental league.
· 11/12/2019
freddy from boca
with the talent md had this yr not a good yr for the coach. team did not get better as the season went on. team had no half court offense. team can’t stop opponents from getting offensive rebounds. team can’t box out. coach doesn’t make adjustments in game. coach didn’t develop the bench.
yes they won a lot of games. 15 out of the first 16 against lesser talent. couldn’t win road games. rarely played with disciplined. talent can get you so far but good coaching and talent takes you a long way.
if bill self was coaching md and turgeon was coaching kansas…md would be on to the elite 8
· 11/12/2019
Joterp
How well schooled was Kansas the last 6 years with all 5 star recruits and continually losing in early rounds of the tournament. Turgeon had to incorporate 3 new players into a cohesive unit in 1 month of preseason practice.Just saying Maryland is talented does’nt make it so. Isn’t rebounding part of talent?Implying that Turgeon doesn’t teach or stress rebounding is ridiculous.Losing Dion Wiley really affected the Terps bench..the only offense off the bench was a spot up three point shooter.Very few teams can survive with just agood starting 5.Two yrs ago what were the expectations of Maryland fans?If you say 55 wins I would call you delusional.Give Turgeon the same amount of time as Bill Self ,who by the way is coaching at a blue blood program and did’nt have to rebuild from scratch like Turgeon.
· 11/12/2019
freddy from boca
self has won 12 straight big 12 titles. 2 time national coach of the yr. one of 4 active coaches to take 3 different teams to elite 8. (turge has been to 2 sweet 16’s), From 2006 to 2012, he had the best six-year record of any men’s coach in Division I history (197-29), been to 2 final 4’s and one national championship.
none knows how wiley would have played. he barely played as a freshman.
it’s turgeon and his staff’s job to develop the bench. it’s turgeon and his staffs job to teach as in teaching boxing out. as in teaching to keep the ball moving. make the extra pass.
md started the season 15-1 against primarily lesser competition and finished 12-8 in their last 20.
· 11/12/2019
Joterp
Self has coached at Kansas a program with top 10 recruiting classes each year..his teams have underachieved many times in the ncaa according to their seeds..I think he is a good coach..but how can you compare coaching Kansas with coaching Wichita State , Texas A&M and Maryland.Three very hard places to recruit..Sometimes a bench without talent , can’t be developed as easy as you think.Blueblood programs have 4 star players coming off the bench…Maryland is not there yet.They are just getting started.Damontae Dodd was recruited by no one…Jalen Brantley was 2 star from a junior college..Cekovsky is a project..Did Maryland overachieve last year?
· 11/12/2019
Michael in Boca
Turgeon was a fail as coach this year.
Yes he had to incorporate 3 new starters this season, but Carter practiced all last year wth the team, Sulaimon was a 3 year starter and a star for Duke. Stone was the only true green horn, and he was brought along very slowly. Plus Dodd and Checkov both had experience with the team.
And yer, they remained a disjointed band of individuals, never resembling a team.
Poor offensive schemes, ran no visible plays, stationary dribbling with no obvious movement. Resorting to one on one mostly.
No one knows how to set an effective screen. Mostly shadow attempts with ineffective jump outs.
Defensively a big sieve, with penetration at will. No blackouts, terrible 50/50 loose balls.
Superior talent against overall weak Big 10 schedule. Still allowing obviously less talented teams to challenge them to the end.
Yes they had no bench, but whose fault is that? Wiley was missed far more than anticipated.
So what are the prospects for next year? 3 star recruits are not going to cut it, if improvement is the anticipation. Best case scenario Trimble and Stone and Carter remain, but don’t bet on it.
Seems this season is the best we can project into the near future.
Which is not shining brightly, unfortunately.
· 11/12/2019
Joterp
Sulaimon was a star ! It’s no wonder Maryland’s talent was so overated and overstated all season with such evaluations. Robert Carter had reputation of an out of shape poor defender..he avraged 11 points at Georgia Tech as their main option.Diamond Stone played at small High School with no competition.
· 11/12/2019
Michael in Boca
Joterp, really ?
Diamond Stone was a 5 Star recruit rated top 7 national recruit by ESPN. He was actively recruited by final 4 programs Wisconsin, Connecticut, Louisville.
Sulaimon was a 3 year starter for a little program out of Durham called the Blue Devils. He averaged over 15 points.
Robert Carter Jr was rated as one of the most productive big men in the country after his sophomore season at GT. He averaged over 11 points and 9 rebounds.
That was before spending a year with the Md program and the twerp coaching staff and practicing with the team.
Adding them to already established possible top NBA draftees Melo and Jake, was considered as good and solid a staring unit as there was in the country.
· 11/12/2019
Allen Coleman
Everyone that posts here is very sports knowledgeable and deeply care for MD athletics. I certainly respect the opinions of Bruce and his supporters. That said, while things were not perfect this season, we did progress to the sweet 16 which is a nice accomplishment (see MI St). We underachieved on our presumed talent level and as Freddy mentioned did not improve as the season progressed in areas of deficiency. Lack of guard depth certainly affected Trimble and his hamstring. Sports are crazy, what can you do as a fan? Love my Terps regardless. Turgeon will learn from this season and in time we will be competing for championships again.
· 11/12/2019
freddy from boca
well said allen
· 11/12/2019
Brian
Turgeon certainly under performed this year but he significantly over performed last year. It’s not fair to expect him to be the next Gary Williams who got more out less than talent than just about anyone and is a hall of famer.
A consistent stream of 3 star recruits who buy into the system paired with the occasional 4 or 5 star kid is the best recipe for success at MD. It’s tough on coaches to continually rely on the senior transfers or the one and done players and not as much fun for the fans.
I’m assuming Stone goes pro but Trimble and Carter hang around for another year which should be great for the program. Count me as someone who’s optimistic for the future of MD basketball.
· 11/12/2019