Takeaways from Maryland men’s basketball’s impressive weekend performance

Maryland males’s basketball placed on a present this weekend, dominating each Saint Louis and Miami to say the Corridor of Fame Tip-Off title and make an announcement about what the staff could also be able to this 12 months.

Listed below are three takeaways from the weekend.

The offense flowed freely and effectively

The high-paced offensive set that Maryland head coach Kevin Willard has preached all offseason and within the early going of the season was executed about in addition to it might have been over the weekend.

After a couple of video games of difficulties hitting exterior pictures, Maryland got here out with a vengeance and commenced to hit three-pointers at a harmful clip. The Terps went 13-of-32 towards Saint Louis and 9-of-21 versus Miami, a 41.5% three-point proportion over the 2 video games. With fast possessions and a excessive quantity of scoring alternatives, that could be a recipe for achievement on the offensive finish.

Don Carey was the poster youngster of Maryland’s three-point taking pictures woes coming into the weekend — he was taking pictures simply 14% — however flipped that narrative on its head in two video games, going 8-for-19 from past the arc and showcasing why he has developed a status as a sharpshooter from his earlier stints at different colleges.

Fellow graduate guard Jahmir Younger continued his excessive stage of play, main his coach to reward the manufacturing from the guard place.

“I feel I’ve the very best backcourt within the nation proper now … I assumed these two younger males simply performed off the charts,” Willard mentioned.

The pick-and-roll with Julian Reese was additionally a dependable possibility, as he and Younger or whichever different ball-handler ran it with him confirmed prowess across the rim and completed as a rule.

Lastly — however actually not least — Donta Scott had two of the very best offensive performances of his profession over the weekend, tying his profession excessive with 25 factors Saturday and following that with a team-leading 24 Sunday. After a disappointing junior season, Scott has emerged as a viable high scoring possibility in his senior 12 months and is the undisputed chief of the group.

“They share the ball extraordinarily nicely. They’re a very good staff,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga mentioned. “And so they have the proper mixture of dimension to rebound and rating on the rim, and perimeter taking pictures that makes you stretch your protection out.”

Maryland performed with excessive ranges of power and depth

No matter whether or not or not the Terps’ pictures are falling or in the event that they’re main on the scoreboard, it’s develop into very clear that they play extremely exhausting for Kevin Willard. His hard-nosed, intense teaching model has evidently rubbed off on his gamers they usually appear purchased in to his system of suffocating protection and high-tempo offense.

“We have now unbelievably excessive character children who need to win, they usually perceive what it takes to win they usually’re bringing it each evening they usually’re getting rewarded,” Willard mentioned.

In Maryland’s first recreation of the weekend towards Saint Louis, the Terps merely took the combat to the Billikens and dared them to match their depth. They did the identical towards Miami and had resounding success in each video games.

“We get after it in follow, that builds our chemistry so much,” Carey mentioned. “I really feel like we’re nonetheless rising, we nonetheless have so much to, , get below our belt and nonetheless bought so much to study. So, it’s good getting the primary 5 wins and we simply bought to maintain going from there.”

Even whereas turning the ball over extra instances than Willard wish to see, Maryland was scrappy and did the little issues proper, crashing the boards, boxing out opponents and enjoying a bodily model of basketball that led to a 25-rebound benefit over the 2 video games. The Terps had been continuously making use of on- and off-ball strain, forcing Saint Louis and Miami to accept tough pictures and contesting them nicely.

“I feel , Julian, Donta and [Patrick Emilien] are all enjoying actually bodily inside. And I feel our guards are doing an awesome job … it’s not simply our large guys doing it,” Willard mentioned.

Reese was arguably essentially the most spectacular participant on protection, imposing his will down low and shutting off drives to the ring whereas standing his floor towards fellow forwards. Emilien additionally offered precious minutes and was hustling everywhere in the courtroom, locking up opponents and snatching clutch rebounds. He and Reese look to be a feisty one-two defensive punch down low for opponents to take care of.

12 months one of many Kevin Willard period is off to a blazing sizzling begin

It’s solely been 5 video games, however Maryland seems to be harmful — way more harmful than anticipated.

It was exhausting to take a lot from video games towards Niagara, Western Carolina and Binghamton, however Saint Louis and Miami offered the primary actual challenges for Willard’s first staff in Faculty Park. Saint Louis was a top-35 staff at KenPom coming into the sport and Miami was coming off an Elite Eight run. Each are NCAA Event-caliber squads.

If that’s the case, Maryland has an actual argument as not solely a staff that’s higher than its preseason bubble expectations, however a high 25 one when the AP ballot is launched on Monday. Coming into the 12 months, the Terps had been checked out as a staff with loads of query marks on the roster and one with ambitions of doubtless making the NCAA Event, which might be thought of by most to be successful of their first 12 months below a brand new head coach.

“I feel we’re actually not fearful about signature wins or the place we’re,” Willard mentioned. “I feel we’re, we nonetheless have a protracted technique to go. I imply, we’re good. We have now nice gamers, however we’re — they’re — nonetheless making an attempt to study this method.”

The season is barely one-seventh or so carried out now, so no particular conclusions could be drawn up to now apart from the truth that the Terps, at a minimal, have the upside to make some noise. When the pictures are falling and the protection is aggressive, Willard’s system seems to be like a factor of magnificence. It’s calculatedly chaotic. If its defensive strain and velocity is flustering an opponent, Maryland can compete with any staff.

Saint Louis and Miami are in no way the 2 greatest groups that the Terps will play this season. Not even shut. However, their end-to-end domination was a formidable assertion that exhibits that despite the fact that its play isn’t a completed product, Willard has his staff heading in the right direction.