In a rare move by Terps head coach Mark Turgeon, Maryland opened up its basketball practice to the public on Saturday to give everyone a little taste of what they can expect to see on the court in College Park this season.
The Terps' roster sports a lot of new faces but a core group of upperclassmen led by Melo Trimble, Damonte Dodd give this year's squad a solid foundation to build off of.
It's still too premature to make any conclusions about the Terps, but here are a few notes and observations from today's practice.
The Terps' roster sports a lot of new faces but a core group of upperclassmen led by Melo Trimble, Damonte Dodd give this year's squad a solid foundation to build off of.
It's still too premature to make any conclusions about the Terps, but here are a few notes and observations from today's practice.
- The first half hour of the hour and a half that was open was spent doing various drills. The team scrimmaged--Red vs Gold--for the final hour. The biggest takeaways just from seeing the team go through drills is that the Terps have a lot of guys that can shoot and more guys that can put the ball on the floor than they've had in recent years.
- The Terps were a little thin in the frontcourt today for their scrimmage. Michal Cekovsky and Justin Jackson both took part in drills but did not participate in the pickup ball. Cekovsky has been healing from a minor injury but Turgeon said after practice that Jackson slightly tweaked his ankle before the scrimmage and they decided to keep him out as a precaution. Turgeon added that if they had a game today Jackson would have played, so nothing serious to worry about on that front.
- Although Cekovsky didn't play in the scrimmage, I was still impressed with his new and improved frame. He's not Robert Carter Jr. big or anything like that, but it's easy to tell that Ceko has put in work in the weight room this offseason and I would compare his body transformation to that of what we saw from Alex Len in his final season at Maryland.
- The first lineups to start the scrimmage were as follows: Red Team - Trimble, Nickens, Huerter, Tomaic and Dodd. Gold Team - Cowan, Brantley, Wiley, Gill and Bender.
- Let's start with the leader of the team--Melo Trimble. Early reports from Turgeon at Big Ten media day were that Trimble looks the best he has ever been. I didn't see anything that wouldn't support that on Saturday. Trimble looked relaxed and confident out there, and with other ball-handlers on the team this year it looks like he'll get to play off the ball a lot more. Trimble his a couple of those floaters in the lane that he has shown before and that could end up being a major piece of his arsenal this year.
- Coming off an injury that kept him out all last season, Dion Wiley looks like he has already knocked a lot of the rust off. He's a plus defender and his mid-range shot looked excellent on Saturday.
- Dodd looks to be a very formidable big out there for the Terps. He's not gonna have some breakout All-American season in his senior year, but he is a great rim protector and his chemistry with Trimble on the pick and roll shouldn't be looked past.
- Anthony Cowan looks like he could use a little more lift on his three-point shot. OK, now that a little piece of criticism is out of the way, the true freshman looked phenomenal and well beyond his years in the scrimmage. Cowan is a tenacious defender who has a knack for stealing the ball, and his ability to get to the rim and finish on offense has grown leaps and bounds since I started covering him a few years ago while he was at St. John's. Cowan will quickly become a fan favorite because of how hard he plays and what he's able to do for a player his size.
- Last but certainly not least, the most impressive player to me on Saturday was true freshman Kevin Huerter. Huerter is going to be special. His length is going to help him a lot on defense and he has a propensity for blocking shots, but he is a little bit slow-footed still which will hurt him against quicker players that he guards. But he's still a freshman and his footwork and defense could become much improved over time. As far as his shot goes, it's silky smooth and he has some serious range. Huerter gets great height on his jump shot, making hard for defenders to get a hand in his face. As he continues to add bulk to his slight frame, Huerter will become one of Maryland's best all-around players.
