Just some quick takeaways from yesterday's hoops media day after talking to the players, Turgeon some more, etc.
- Dion Wiley is back and he's going to have a MAJOR impact on this team. As much as Turgeon praised Wiley heading into last season, he seems to be on even another level this season. Beyond basketball, Turge talked about his maturity off the court, how well he's now doing in the classroom and how much more work he put in slimming down (and he had already put in a ton of work in that department). He's gone from about 250 down to 202 this week. Turgeon says he's at 85-90% but Dion himself says he's basically 100%. I'm going to go out on a limb and say I think he finishes as one of Maryland's top 3 scorers and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him No. 2 right behind Melo. With his size and defensive ability, I think we could see some Wiley at the 3 in smaller lineups with Cowan at the 1 and Melo at the 2.
- Justin Jackson is going to start at the 4 and be maybe one of the biggest surprises in the Big Ten. Everyone from coaches to players have raved about Jackson with even Cowan yesterday telling me how he's a good enough ball handler they are comfortable with him bringing the ball up the court and initiating the offense if necessary. He's got a freakish 7'3" wingspan and knows how to use his length both on the boards and on offense. The biggest knock on him last spring as he was finishing up his prep year was his jump shot, but by all accounts, his shot looks good and he's shown some range. Teammates also talked about his vision and how well he sees the court, with other bigs saying they will ask him how he saw a play develop so early when they couldn't. Turge also continues to call him a guard that will play the 4 to start, so don't be surprised to see him some at the 3 when they need to go big against a team maybe like Purdue.
- Cowan might not start right away, but he's going to see major minutes at the 1. Turge yesterday said that Cowan is fast, calling him maybe the fastest player in the league. What does that mean? I think it means that we are likely to see much faster tempo with Cowan in the game as they will really try to push the ball up the floor and possibly beat some teams in transition. Turgeon also talked about how Cowan is a good defender and gives them that pesky backcourt defender that gives other guards trouble. As for Cowan and Trimble playing together with Melo off the ball, Cowan said they have done some of that in practice and the relationship he and Melo have built through the years just really makes things natural when they are on the court together. Cowan said the biggest thing he's learned from Melo since being at Maryland is how to play ball screens, which are an integral part of the offense.
- This team is LONG. Really long. Honestly, I can't remember the last time Maryland had this much length. You've got Justin Jackson with his freakish 7'3" wingspan, then you've got Ceko, Kevin Huerter, Josh Tomaic, Jared Nickens and Micah Thomas who are all also very long. It will be interesting to see if Turgeon takes advantage of all of this length with any pressing, trapping or zone looks (not likely on the last one).
- This team is deep. As hard as this might be to believe, this is the first time in Turgeon's tenure in College Park that he's had a full roster of 13 scholarship players. There's a lot of competition for minutes and there are likely to be some odd men out. Transfer senior LG Gill is going to see minutes at the 3 and 4 while Huerter is going to see minutes at the 2 and 3. There's also been a lot of talk of the improvement of Ivan Bender and then there's Ceko who was in and out of the rotation last season. Minutes could be tough to come by in the backcourt for guys like Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley. Nickens likely needs to show he's much improved defensively while Brantley simply has some very talented guys in front of him despite being singled out as one of the best practice players so far. In the front court, minutes are likely going to be hard to come by for freshmen Micah Thomas and Josh Tomaic as they look to add strength and get acclimated to the college game.
- Being ranked in preseason polls matters. No, it doesn't really matter as far as the team and their goals and what they do day to day, but Turgeon said it's important to stay relevant. After two straight 27-plus win seasons, Maryland couldn't afford a drop off. Assistant coaches worked their butts off to pull of this freshman class and it looks like it's going to pay major dividends. Turgeon was also very clear it's important for recruiting, too. Kids want to play for ranked teams and play in the NCAA tournament. Maryland seems to finally be back to a place where that's the expectation year in and year out. Of course, they still need to go out and prove they are among the nation's top 25 teams, but being ranked early is a good start.
- Dion Wiley is back and he's going to have a MAJOR impact on this team. As much as Turgeon praised Wiley heading into last season, he seems to be on even another level this season. Beyond basketball, Turge talked about his maturity off the court, how well he's now doing in the classroom and how much more work he put in slimming down (and he had already put in a ton of work in that department). He's gone from about 250 down to 202 this week. Turgeon says he's at 85-90% but Dion himself says he's basically 100%. I'm going to go out on a limb and say I think he finishes as one of Maryland's top 3 scorers and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him No. 2 right behind Melo. With his size and defensive ability, I think we could see some Wiley at the 3 in smaller lineups with Cowan at the 1 and Melo at the 2.
- Justin Jackson is going to start at the 4 and be maybe one of the biggest surprises in the Big Ten. Everyone from coaches to players have raved about Jackson with even Cowan yesterday telling me how he's a good enough ball handler they are comfortable with him bringing the ball up the court and initiating the offense if necessary. He's got a freakish 7'3" wingspan and knows how to use his length both on the boards and on offense. The biggest knock on him last spring as he was finishing up his prep year was his jump shot, but by all accounts, his shot looks good and he's shown some range. Teammates also talked about his vision and how well he sees the court, with other bigs saying they will ask him how he saw a play develop so early when they couldn't. Turge also continues to call him a guard that will play the 4 to start, so don't be surprised to see him some at the 3 when they need to go big against a team maybe like Purdue.
- Cowan might not start right away, but he's going to see major minutes at the 1. Turge yesterday said that Cowan is fast, calling him maybe the fastest player in the league. What does that mean? I think it means that we are likely to see much faster tempo with Cowan in the game as they will really try to push the ball up the floor and possibly beat some teams in transition. Turgeon also talked about how Cowan is a good defender and gives them that pesky backcourt defender that gives other guards trouble. As for Cowan and Trimble playing together with Melo off the ball, Cowan said they have done some of that in practice and the relationship he and Melo have built through the years just really makes things natural when they are on the court together. Cowan said the biggest thing he's learned from Melo since being at Maryland is how to play ball screens, which are an integral part of the offense.
- This team is LONG. Really long. Honestly, I can't remember the last time Maryland had this much length. You've got Justin Jackson with his freakish 7'3" wingspan, then you've got Ceko, Kevin Huerter, Josh Tomaic, Jared Nickens and Micah Thomas who are all also very long. It will be interesting to see if Turgeon takes advantage of all of this length with any pressing, trapping or zone looks (not likely on the last one).
- This team is deep. As hard as this might be to believe, this is the first time in Turgeon's tenure in College Park that he's had a full roster of 13 scholarship players. There's a lot of competition for minutes and there are likely to be some odd men out. Transfer senior LG Gill is going to see minutes at the 3 and 4 while Huerter is going to see minutes at the 2 and 3. There's also been a lot of talk of the improvement of Ivan Bender and then there's Ceko who was in and out of the rotation last season. Minutes could be tough to come by in the backcourt for guys like Jared Nickens and Jaylen Brantley. Nickens likely needs to show he's much improved defensively while Brantley simply has some very talented guys in front of him despite being singled out as one of the best practice players so far. In the front court, minutes are likely going to be hard to come by for freshmen Micah Thomas and Josh Tomaic as they look to add strength and get acclimated to the college game.
- Being ranked in preseason polls matters. No, it doesn't really matter as far as the team and their goals and what they do day to day, but Turgeon said it's important to stay relevant. After two straight 27-plus win seasons, Maryland couldn't afford a drop off. Assistant coaches worked their butts off to pull of this freshman class and it looks like it's going to pay major dividends. Turgeon was also very clear it's important for recruiting, too. Kids want to play for ranked teams and play in the NCAA tournament. Maryland seems to finally be back to a place where that's the expectation year in and year out. Of course, they still need to go out and prove they are among the nation's top 25 teams, but being ranked early is a good start.
