‘Bunch of little guards’ need to come up big
Terps backcourt must shoot, communicate better vs. Buckeyes
COLLEGE PARK — During his team’s program-best 20-2 start this season, Maryland men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon used nearly the same starting lineup every game.
In putting together an 8-1 record to begin Big Ten Conference play, Turgeon relied on a similar rotation, particularly in the way he mixed starting guards Melo Trimble and Anthony Cowan with a bench led by junior Jaylen Brantley.
While the size of Maryland’s backcourt has not been the only problem in the team’s past two games — losses to then-No. 23 Purdue last Saturday at home and at Penn State on Tuesday night — it seems to be an area opponents are trying to exploit.
“We are who we are. We got a bunch of little guards,” Turgeon said after the 70-64 loss to the Nittany Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center. “That’s who we are. It hadn’t affected us. But our rotations weren’t good, our communications. We made some unbelievable mistakes out there, defensively. We just could never get them out of the funk.”
Said Trimble: “We just couldn’t adjust on the defensive end. We couldn’t get any stops and play in transition.”
Going into today’s game against Ohio State (15-10, 5-7) at Xfinity Center, No. 21 Maryland (20-4, 8-3) will face a team that has recently changed its backcourt rotation.
Since sophomore JaQuan Lyle rolled an ankle in practice and was relegated to a
“Our rotations weren’t good, our communications. We made some unbelievable mistakes out there, defensively.” Mark Turgeon, Maryland men’s basketball coach on the Terps’ 70-64 loss at Penn State on Tuesday night
backup role, the Buckeyes have won two straight with sophomore C.J. Jackson taking over at the point and redshirt junior Kam Williams at shooting guard.
Williams (Mount Saint Joseph) tied a career-high with 23 points in Wednesday night’s 70-64 home win over Rutgers. It was announced Friday that Lyle had left the team because of a family emergency, and wasn’t expected to play today.
Asked Friday about the difference Jackson has made in the starting lineup, Williams said by telephone: “He really knows how to move the ball, get us up the court at a fast pace. One of our best weapons is our transition offense.”
Maryland’s guards have struggled to contain their counterparts in recent games, particularly the past two.
Against Purdue, freshman Carsen Edwards scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, including what turned out to be the game-winning free throws with 2.6 seconds left in a 73-72 win for the Boilermakers. Against Penn State, freshman Tony Carr finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.
To compound the problems, Maryland’s guards have struggled offensively in the past two games.
Trimble has shot eight of 28, including 1-for-8 on 3-pointers, missing all six shots he took and scoring just one point in the second half against Penn State.
Cowan made just two of 15 shots against Purdue and Penn State, including going 0-for-5 against the Nittany Lions. After a three-game stretch in which he had 14 assists and just one turnover, he had two of each in State College.
After averaging nearly 10 points and shooting 11 of 21 from the field in wins over Illinois, Iowa and Rutgers, Brantley has scored just 12 points and shot two of 11 in four games since, including one of five against Penn State.
Turgeon believes that the Terps’ problems on the offensive end carried over on defense against the Nittany Lions.
“Usually offense affects the defense,” Turgeon said Friday. “I thought it did. Towards the end of the game, we even started to make more mistakes … giving up a dunk, things like that shouldn’t happen if we’re guarding the right way. It was one of those nights. We’ll bounce back.”
Given how opposing teams have tried to post up the 5-11 Brantley and the 6-foot Cowan inside recently, Maryland frontcourt players have to be aware of their help defense.
“Defensive rotations are always important, whether it’s on a post-up, whether it’s on a swing [pass] or whether we’ve just got to fly around, defense is never just one person. We’ve got to move on a string,” freshman forward Justin Jackson said Friday.
Said senior center Damonte Dodd: “We just try to come and help if we see a bigger guard posting one of our guards. We’ve got to be there just in case, but our guards, they’re pretty strong themselves. They can hold their ground. But if we see that they’re too deep and they need help, we’ll try to come and help them.”
Asked Friday whether he thought teams were making adjustments to the Terps, Turgeon said: “I coach by feel. We’ll see. Teams make adjustments, we make adjustments. I don’t think it’s our offense. We’re getting pretty good looks. Our defense has to be better, our rebounding has to be better. That’s really what we’re going to do tomorrow. Then if our defense is better, that will make our offense a little bit better.”
NOTE: Maryland will honor former longtime coach Lefty Driesell before the game by hanging a banner at Xfinity Center. Driesell, who coached the Terps from 1969 through 1986, will be joined by several former players. One of them will be Ohio State associate head coach Dave Dickerson, who played for Driesell as a freshman.